Tenant Resources Group Terms of Reference

Main Purpose

The Tenant Resources Group role is to work with the council to influence and scrutinise the financial spending in relation to the Housing Revenue Account and to assist the council in ensuring value for money on behalf of tenants.

Objectives

Influence the Council’s financial plans and spending priorities
Ensure that decisions about capital and revenue expenditure reflect priorities agreed with tenants.
Monitor delivery of the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan.
Monitor the spending of the HRA to ensure the ringfence is enforced.
Ensure transparency in the process of setting rents and associated charges.
Work with the council to agree service charge and financial policies that have a direct impact with tenants (e.g. heating charge etc).
To make sure that SCC tenants’ views are included in national consultations.
To monitor and scrutinise the income to the HRA to help ensure that rent arrears are kept to a minimum.
Ensure that the work of the Resources Group is fed back to the wider tenant body on a regular basis

In order to achieve these objectives, the Resources Group will

Have representatives from the Resources Group as part of the Asset Management Project Board to share information and to determine and agree the most effective way to use capital funding to meet priorities.
Be involved in new capital initiatives, including policy discussion and decisions, for example energy saving measures.
Receive regular feedback on the implementation and progress of the HRA Business Plan.
Agree with officers how to present financial information to the wider tenant body and involve tenants in key spending decisions.
Examine proposals and priorities for revenue spend.
Work with the council on setting rent and service charges.
To ensure tenants have an influential role in the Procurement process
To regularly review and scrutinise the Performance Figures for Property and CP&D to ensure that performance is being maintained and improved.
Examine policies and procedures relating to rent collection putting forward suggestions for improvements as necessary.
Regularly check the government’s website for new Housing consultations and respond accordingly, opening it up to the wider tenants’ movement as appropriate.
Work collaboratively on reporting mechanisms to enable tenants and leaseholders to be kept up to date with the work of the group, e.g. articles in Tenants’ Link, contribution to the Annual Report, conferences.

Membership

The Resources Group will have a maximum of 12 members.

To avoid volunteer burnout and to increase the overall number of tenants involved Resources Group members cannot be members of the Tenant Scrutiny Panel.

When membership is low (less than 10 members), there will be no limit to how long a tenant can stay a full member of the group.

When the group has 10 or more members, an annual informal appraisal will take place with the facilitation of the Tenant Engagement Officer with the least active members of the group will need to reapply if there is a waiting list of potential new members.

Members will be expected to take an active role, to attend at least 75% of meetings, and to prepare between meetings as necessary.

Panel members must:

Be tenants of Southampton City Council (N.B. Leaseholders may make their contribution to these issues through the Leaseholder Forum)
Not be employed by Southampton City Council
Not be subject to any court proceedings for breach of their Tenancy Agreement
Agree to abide by the Code of Conduct for Tenant and Leaseholder Involvement

The panel may co-opt up to 3 individuals on to the panel to assist with specific areas of work.

Attendance at Resources Group Meetings

Members will be expected to attend a minimum of 75% of meetings, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Members will be expected to give reasonable notice and send apologies when unable to attend.

Should a member fail to attend 3 consecutive meetings without giving apologies then it will be assumed they no longer wish to be involved in the group.

Equality and Diversity

Resources Group members must adhere to the Council’s policies on equality and diversity and carry out their work without discrimination.

Code of Conduct

The Resources Group will be subject to the agreed Code of Conduct for Tenant Involvement.

Confidentiality

To encourage transparency and open dialogue with the council, some items that may be consulted on may be confidential in nature. These items will be clearly marked and members will be required to sign a data protection statement to ensure the understanding that these items are not discussed outside the group.

Selection/Interview Process

All tenants are eligible to join the Tenant Resource Group subject to them filling the criteria above.

People can express an interest through the online Get Involved Forms, through word of mouth or on a paper form at public events.

All interested tenants are able to attend up to three group meetings as an observer before going through an informal interview process.

If there are a number of vacancies (more than 3) within the group:

The prospective candidate(s) with have a chat with the Facilitating Tenant Engagement Officer to discover how they have felt observing the meetings and the skills they can bring to the group. Then, providing there has been no issues picked up during their observations they will be offered membership of the group.

If there a limited number of vacancies within the group (less than 3):

The prospective candidate(s) will hold a formal interview with questions based around the skills required for the group (analytical skills, questioning skills, understanding data etc).
The interview panel will be made up of 1 Tenant Engagement Officer and 2 existing members of the Tenant Resources Group.
The successful candidates following the interview will be offered places on the group.