Member of the Tenants Advisory Panel, Mike Wiseman, provides some further thinking following his article in the last issue of WHQ.
To follow on from the theme of CCTV which I outlined in my article in issue 82 of WHQ published in March 2011, we can add a further ‘T’ to the equation alongside ‘trust’.
To achieve the trust we all strive for in the social housing sector, there must be absolute transparency in the activities of the landlord. This must be evident at all levels from the board down and become an inbuilt ethos.
A lot of registered social landlords have wonderful tenant participation programmes in which senior officers, staff and tenants are actively involved. In many, the transparency of operations is such that board meeting summaries, (obviously omitting financial and commercially sensitive content), are published on their websites and contained in newsletters.
To my understanding, this is not the case everywhere. How can we move forward in a trustful and transparent atmosphere if tenants are not aware of the decisions being made behind closed doors?
All tenant activities are in the public domain so management are fully aware of the tenant participation activities being undertaken by their tenants. So why, in some cases, aren’t tenants informed of the decisions being made by the board and management and summaries of these decisions made available to tenant forums and panels?
I believe some boards actually encourage tenants to attend board meetings as observers, before or after any confidential items are dealt with. What a trustful and transparent way to enjoy tenant participation and maintain an open relationship.
Surely the days of ‘them and us’ are disappearing fast, if not in some cases gone forever. So why the reticence to move into the 21st century and take the tenants completely into the trust of the executive and boards?
More and more boards are welcoming greater tenant involvement. But there are still pockets of the old style board management whereby tenants are only to be seen and not heard and certainly not involved. Surely all the decision making at board level affects tenants and as such the tenants should play a greater part in this decision making process?
The 27 pages of the regulatory framework mentions tenant involvement being at its core and tenant participation is mentioned on virtually every page of the framework. If we are to take the new framework forward in a positive manner with the boards taking ownership of their self assessment and welcoming tenants into their decision making, then an atmosphere of openness, trust and transparency is paramount.
With the final frontier barrier of mistrust removed, I think that the future for the Welsh social housing sector is bright and exciting.
Mike Wiseman
01792 204630