Issue - meetings

The Tenant Engagement Officer presented the report to the Board.

In relation to the progress listed in the Action Plan attached at Appendix 1, officers had been progressing key activities:

• Promotion of Tenant Engagement through new tenancy visits and the Tenant census (16 tenants had expressed an interest to be involved, with 12 successfully registered).  It was noted for the Welfare Adaptations Policy, tenants who had gone through the adaptation process had been consulted. RANT members had also been consulted on the Decent Homes Standard 2;
• Evaluation forms were completed for the Challenge and Change Review on Grounds Maintenance;
• A Tenant Census Form had been developed to capture desired communication options;
• Gov.notify was used to circulate 2,850 Tenant Newsletters May 2025;
• Housing Service Standards had been developed and approved by the Board;
• 5 Locality events were held July and August 2025 at 4 geographical locations;
• Annual Report 2024/25 was to be released in November 2025’s Bolsover Homes Newsletter;
• A Joint Tenant Conference with Chesterfield Borough Council and Rykneld Homes was held;
• The Tenant Engagement Officer had attended TPAS Scrutiny training;
• Tenants had been invited to attend a TPAS Tenant Scrutiny Members meetup online);
• 1 tenant had been recruited as a new member of Challenge and Change for the review on Anti-Social Behaviour (the review had commenced June 2025 and was due for completion March / April 2026);
• Site visits to completed voids were undertaken 12^th June 2025;
• Promotion of edition 10 of Bolsover Homes via social media had taken place;
• A feedback form was completed for Locality Groups on Compliments, Comments and Complaints; and,
• From April 2025 additional information was being provided on repair satisfaction (information now included the number of satisfaction surveys completed and the percentage of jobs completed.  This had also been reported to RANT).

Further details of the above were provided in the report.

The Assistant Director of Housing Management & Enforcement informed that the Tenant Engagement Strategy is due for review in 2026. An additional 30 minutes may be added to the next Board meeting for an informal discussion on the review.

A Tenant expressed the need for younger generations to participate in these tenant outreach groups / surveys / operations – it was acknowledged, though, that youth engagement was always a challenge.

A Member observed perhaps youth engagement was low because younger generations felt all was well handled by older generations.  However, the Council now had social media channels and so could pursue more contact avenues.

The Tenant Engagement Officer noted the majority of organised meetings took place during the day.  An evening session had been held and while not entirely well attended compared to other sessions, there had been an increase in the number of working people attending.

Providing incentives to complete surveys was briefly discussed (e.g. a £5 voucher).

Moved by Mrs. Angela Sharpe and seconded by Mr. Steve Bramley

RESOLVED that progress against the action plan, as stated, is reviewed and members       provide feedback on current activity.