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