WCVA Training

Looking for new training opportunities? The Wales Co-operative Centre has announced training dates up until March 2009.

Its workshops cover a range of subjects including Business Planning, Marketing, Managing Performance and Recruiting Volunteers.

To get a copy of the timetable call 029 2055 4955 or log on to www.walescoop.com.


The Wales Co-operative Centre is a leading provider of training for the Third Sector in Wales. Its workshops are specifically designed for new or existing businesses including credit unions, co-operatives, social enterprises and other not-for-profit groups. Training is available to members, directors, employees and volunteers. The Centre has been supporting the Third Sector for over 25 years. Its experienced team of trainers are equipped with the specialist knowledge and skills to ensure that all its training is practical, relevant, inspiring and enjoyable.

Key Tenants Advocate Project (KTAP) Update - Statement to Members

The Welsh Tenants Federation has budgeted 3,000 to pay expenses and meet other costs of the key tenant scheme.

There are currently 4 key tenants on our books that have received training. Chris Brock, Phil Davies, (SW) Gerry Stevens (SE), Dave Rimmer (North Wales). CB, PD and GS have been active. Peter Bungay supervises the Key Tenants and Steve Clarke manages the scheme.

The role of the key tenant requires that they commit up to 5 hours per week voluntary and are able to travel in the region to support the development officer to set up new groups and assist in gathering evidence or information concerning helpline cases.

There are currently 3 people who have expressed an interest in being a key tenant. Key tenants have to complete an application form and make themselves available for training. People will be selected on the basis of demand for additional support in that area.

The budget for the KTS is not a designated ring fenced budget, therefore can be used in other ways to support any volunteering required to be undertaken by the management committee. This is a sensible approach since policy commitments may require management committee member to attend WAG or other policy events to ensure the WTF is visible and active on policy consultations.

Requests by national management committee directors to attend events are considered from time to time, the KTS budget is therefore also used as an overflow budget if this exceeds the allowances we have for NMC meetings and events.

In recent years, we have considerably changed the scheme with specific policy’s and procedures. We have developed a lone working policy (recently approved by NMC), data protection, consent enquiry, new forms for recording information and other measures to ensure that the clients and volunteers are safe and secure and protected.

The national management committee have also recently agreed that Criminal Record Bureau checks are also undertaken on volunteers and staff.

We are endeavouring to provide time to support more key tenants and will also seek to ensure that the principles of the scheme are extended to other projects we develop. However, capacity is at maximum at the moment with demand for support around 250 helpline cases p.a. forecast for 2008-9 up from 205 in 2007-8 and 80 in 2006-7.

Cheryl Budge, Company Secretary

Steve Clarke, Policy & Projects coordinator

PRESS RELEASE - Poor report from Wales Audit Office

Bro Myrddin Housing Association has received a ‘scope for considerable improvement’ rating from the Wales Audit Office (WAO), the organisation commissioned by the regulatory to inspect housing association performance in Wales.

The Wales Audit Office discovered there were concerns in seven key areas of service delivery and failed to demonstrate capability and was unlikely to make significant improvements in the future due to limitations in its capacity and weaknesses in its approach to strategic planning, management of performance and organisational support said the Wales Audit Office report.

Jeremy Colman, Auditor General for Wales, said “The services provided by Bro Myrddin Housing Association are consistently below the standard tenants are entitled to receive. The Association clearly needs to implement major changes in nearly all areas of its operations. The recommendations in this report will support the Association to set a clearer strategic direction, improve its planning and monitoring and become more resident-focused.”

The Welsh Tenants Federation are concerned that yet another small association in West Wales has been found to be not providing the level of services we would expect of modern housing associations. We will want to see the recommendations offered by the WAO implemented immediately with closer monitoring by the regulator to ensure that tenants begin to see improvements in the services they pay for.

“The report underlines the importance of a robust independent regulatory inspection system that highlights these failings”, said Steve Clarke, Policy and Projects Coordinator for the Welsh Tenants Federation. “Under the current review of the regulatory function suggested by the Essex report, we will want to see that such inspection processes are at least as robust as those in place currently, and that regulatory response to poor performance support tenants and the landlord to improve service standards”.

1. Further information can be obtained from the www.welshtenantsfed.org.uk

2. A copy of the report can be found at http://www.wao.gov.uk/news_2343.asp or by contacting the Welsh Tenants Federation at the address below.

--- CONTACT DETAILS ---

For further information please contact:
Steve Clarke, Policy Officer & Projects Coordinator
Welsh Tenants Federation
Milbourne Chambers
Glebeland Street
Merthyr Tydfil
CF 47 8AT

Mobile: 07879815479
Tel: 01685723922
Fax: 01685 722801
Email: steve@welshtenantsfed.org.uk
www.welshtenantsfed.org.uk

Breaking News - Ceredigion tenants vote in favour of housing stock transfer

Ceredigion County Council yesterday, (Tuesday 18 November 2008), received the result of a ballot of its tenants on the question as to whether or not they supported the transfer of Ceredigion's housing stock to the Tai Ceredigion Housing Association.

The figures for those who voted are as follows

Yes votes – 1,067 (58.3%)

No votes – 763 (41.7%)

Invalid papers - 3

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Turn-out percentage – 69.93%

Numbers eligible to vote – 2,621

Numbers who voted – 1,833

Further information can be found -

http://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=11460


"I am very pleased with the outcome of the vote, we (the tenants) have been working for 2 - 3 years towards this goal and I am looking forward to seeing the houses brought up to the 21st Century." Gail McFee, Vice Chair of the now board of Tai Ceredigion

New Voluntary Standard for Tackling ASB

The Welsh Assembly Government has issued the "Wales Housing Management Standards for Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour". The voluntary standards are aimed at Local Authority Housing Departments and Registered Social Landlords in Wales. The Assembly asks landlords to sign up to the voluntary standard as a demonstration of their commitment to its principles and process. Tackling ASB is a commitment to work towards a fair and just society outlined in the ‘One Wales’ agreement between Labour and Plaid Cymru.

The standard also acknowledges the vital role of other agencies including Community Safety Partnerships in tackling anti-social behaviour and emphasises prevention and enforcement, promoting rights and responsibilities for safe and sustainable local communities.

The standard has 7 key themes: A Commitment to leadership and accountability; Empowering and reassuring residents; Prevention and early intervention; Support to tackle the causes of anti-social behaviour; Tailored services for residents and provision of support for victims and witnesses; Protecting communities through swift enforcement; Encouraging community responsibility. The standard also includes a service-user led focus in the assessment and on-going monitoring of the standards.

Members of the WTF will have heard about these proposals last year. Members welcomed the development of the standard as a step in the right direction to ensure that a more systematic approach is adopted to prevent and tackle anti social behaviour by the minority of bad tenants and visitors. Steve Clarke, policy officer said “we welcome the standard and the voluntary commitment landlords will commit to ensuring the principles are delivered however, the standard should run alongside the good practice in administration which we highlighted earlier in the year as being seen to dealing with complaints around ASB is just as important.

When adopting the standard landlords are signalling their declaration to help create, sustain and improve communities that experience ASB and want to do something to mitigate its causes. There are many tools in the box for landlords to deal with anti-social behaviour including, injunctions, demotion orders, Anti social behaviour orders, Acceptable behaviour contracts and eviction for breach of tenancy agreement. The standard reflects how landlords should react and maintain a standard when using these as well as measures to help prevent ASB from occurring.

A full copy of the standard can be obtained for the Welsh Assembly Government website
http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/housingandcommunity/housing/social/managment/antisocialbehaviuor/antisocialstandards/?lang=en
Alternatively contact the Welsh Tenants Federation who can provide you with advice on how to develop an action plan, gather evidence and utilise support.

WTF Response to the consultation to Suspend the Right to Buy

We have consulted a sample of our members on the issue of the suspension of the right to buy by local authorities in areas of high demand. Currently WTF members have mixed views. Firstly, tenants believe that the Welsh Assembly Government was not set up to take away rights conferred on them by parliament. However, members do recognise that RTB has significantly depleted the amount of social housing stock. These members were disappointed that capital receipts were not used to re-invest in replacement social housing stock.

A further group of members believe that RTB should be abolished altogether replacing this with a right to take out a capital stake in their home which can only be sold to back to the landlord. These members also believed that government should match fund any investment made by the tenant to provide a pension provision for later life.

The Welsh Tenants Federation are consulting further through the next round of ATTAIN events. If you have any views you would like to express, please contact Steve Clarke or come along to our discussion events.

Mental Health & Homelessness: Joining up to Improve Access

These events are being run by Cymorth Cymru, the second of which is taking place on 30th September 2008 at Technium Cast Centre, Bangor these events are free to attend and are aimed at frontline workers across the health, housing and homelessness sectors.

If you wish to attend, please contact

Cymorth Cymru
Norbury House
Norbury Road
Fairwater
Cardiff CF5 3AS
Tel 029 2055 3687 Fax 029 2056 4165

Web: www.cymorthcymru.org.uk

The last event is:-
19th November – Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth

Additional information will be circulated regarding the North and Mid/West Wales events as we recived it.

WTF Policy Response - Social Security Amendments Act 2008

Back dating housing benefit

The Welsh Tenants Federation are dismayed at the proposals to reduce the number of weeks that tenants can backdate housing benefit from 52 weeks to 12 weeks.

The ability to backdate housing benefit is critical to help prevent homelessness, reduce poverty and disadvantage and runs counter to the governments anti-poverty agenda. The proposals outlined in the Social Security Miscellaneous (Amendment) Act 2008 will force landlords to make quicker decisions to evict in the knowledge that they cannot reclaim rent, service charges and community charge beyond 3 months. This may also restrict the time to work with tenants to resolve indebtedness at a time when the majority of policy is geared to proactive support.

The complexities of coming off and on housing benefit are already complicated enough, with problems experienced by people working as agency workers and for those who have seasonal employment. Further, employers are paying increasingly on a salaries basis even for low paid jobs, particularly where small commissions are attached. In these circumstances claimants would have to wait more than three months to obtain a proper assessment of earnings and therefore assess whether they would be eligible for entitlement. This may mean more frequent smaller claims for shorter periods resulting in a negative cost benefit to the department.

The measures also impact on people experiencing mental health problems who may require time to seek appropriate advice, make claims and have determinations made and will undoubtedly create added problems for people receiving housing related support.

Issues are also compounded by the length of time taken by local authorities to process housing benefit claims and make determinations. While provisions have been improved in recent years enabling tenants to make their claims by telephone and enable them to have that date as the start date for the claim, this does not resolve the problem of housing related advisory support services with tighter deadlines having to be met with decreasing resources.

The Welsh Tenants Federation believes that the measures will add pressure to landlords to use Ground 8 (mandatory eviction) with the measure undoubtedly figuring in any arrears which may be claimable beyond 3 months.
The Welsh Tenants Federation believes the proposed savings will outweigh any benefit to the public purse with an increase in homelessness; increase in indebtedness; a reluctance to come off benefits and obtain seasonal work and restrict housing benefit advisory workers efforts to work with their clients over a longer period to assist people who have a legitimate claim.

With limited resources in the voluntary sector, there will be undoubted pressures on the voluntary sector to deal with general indebtedness, with their own internal cost benefit decisions being a factor on the amount being contested, resulting in prioritisation of cases and a reduction in amounts for legitimate housing benefit claims.

Further, the proposals are also linked to amendments to pension credit system. We see no anti poverty measure in extending the eligibility to claim pension credit while abroad from 4 weeks to 13 weeks. We see this measure as benefiting those who can afford to spend a 3 month continual period oversees, rather than assisting people in such a basic provision as an eligibility to claim housing benefit due to real hardship.

Although the consultation period is now closed, further information about the proposals can be obtained from http://www.ssac.org.uk/ both CAB and Shelter www.shelter.org.uk have also made representations.


Steve Clarke
Policy & Projects co-ordinator
Welsh Tenants Federation

Mental Health & Homelessness Events

Cymorth Cymru are running a series of events on Mental Health & Homelessness, the first of which is takes place on 12th June 2008 at the All Nations Centre, Cardiff. The events are free to attend and are aimed at frontline workers across the health, housing and homelessness sectors.

The dates for the other events are:-
30th September – Technium Cast Centre, Bangor
19th November – Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth

For futher information and booking forms for these events, please contact:-
Cymorth Cymru
Norbury House
Norbury Road
Fairwater
Cardiff CF5 3AS
Tel 029 2055 3687 Fax 029 2056 4165
Web: www.cymorthcymru.org.uk

Mental Health & Homelessness: Joining up to Improve Access

These events are being run by Cymorth Cymru, the second of which is taking place on 30th September 2008 at Technium Cast Centre, Bangor these events are free to attend and are aimed at frontline workers across the health, housing and homelessness sectors.

If you wish to attend, please contact

Cymorth Cymru
Norbury House
Norbury Road
Fairwater
Cardiff CF5 3AS
Tel 029 2055 3687 Fax 029 2056 4165

Web: www.cymorthcymru.org.uk

The last event is:-
19th November – Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth

Additional information will be circulated regarding the North and Mid/West Wales events as we recived it.

TPAS Cymru and Welsh Tenants Federation Joint Annual Conference

Back to the Future - 20 Years of Tenant Participation
12th – 14th November 2008

This year we are looking at the past, the present and the future of tenant participation in Wales to bring you as always a conference that is full of interesting and informative plenary sessions, interactive workshops and great opportunities to network with tenants, landlords staff and other organisations from across Wales.


On Wednesday the main plenaries will review tenant participation in Wales in the ‘Count Us In’ report and will look at how tenant participation has changed the lives of tenants and landlords in Wales over the past 20 years and as always there will be plenty of opportunities to voice your opinion and ask the speakers questions.

On Thursday the main plenary will be discussing what the future holds for tenant participation and will be debating the Regulatory Reform and what it can do for Tenant Participation and findings from the Essex report. As usual the Thursday program contains a wide range of useful and interactive workshops and we will post further details of these shortly, so watch this space!

On Friday there will be more interesting and relevant workshops for you to attend and a fun and interactive closing session (details to follow shortly). The Chairs of both organisations will summarise the lessons learned at the conference to close the event.

If you are interested in attending booking forms will be available shortly from the websites of both TPAS Cymru and the Welsh Tenants Federation.

Please note that the residential bookings will be granted on a first come first served basis so get your forms in quickly when they are available to avoid disappointment.

Our aim is that this year’s program has something for everyone, so come and join us - we look forward to seeing you there!

The above program information is in draft format and may be subject to changes.