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Tenant Participation
Tenant Participation is all about you! It’s about you and what you think, it is a two way process involving sharing of information and ideas, where tenants are able to influence our policies and decisions and take part in consultation about the housing service.
We recognise that our services can be improved by talking to the people that use them. This is vitally important in the housing service and we are committed to working with tenants to get things right.
Tenant Involvement is also a key issue for the Government as they want to see that all councils are working with tenants to improve services.
Tenants, as customers of the housing service, are the best people to inform their landlord of how the service affects them, what they like and dislike and how things could be changed or improved.
By working together, both tenant and landlord can come up with ideas, which make a better quality service.
Involving tenants also allows us to help tenants understand how we operate and is about developing a genuine partnership between councillors, tenants and staff.
Current Consultation
One of our latest consultations is for our Council tenants as we are asking them what their priorities for improvement are for the coming year. Once we have a clear idea of what is most important to tenants in terms of service delivery, we will develop our ‘Local Offers’. If you are a Council tenant then please complete the 
Consultation - Local Offers form and return it to Tenant Particpation Officer, Bolsover District Council, Sherwood Lodge, bolsover, Derbyshire S44 6NF.
What benefits are there for the council?
Involving tenants in key decisions helps us provide services that we know tenants want and allows us to run a service that is tailored to the local needs of tenants.
Why should tenants participate?
Can you afford not to be involved? There are a number of reasons why tenants choose to participate with us, their landlord. The main reason is that it provides the opportunity for people to influence changes that directly affect them. We appreciate that your time is very precious but it also allows tenants to have a representative voice within housing.
Tenant Participation is no longer just about long evening meetings, agendas and lukewarm coffee. Participation is about us coming to you, listening to your views and making sure that they count. It is about the best method of participation for you and your circumstances.
We want to make it easy for people to get involved and we are constantly looking at new ideas and ways to involve people.
You may even have an idea or a suggestion about the housing service now. It’s easy to put that comment, suggestion or idea to us.
Your comment, suggestion or idea will go to the tenant participation officer who will make sure it goes to the right person and you will receive feedback.
One of the key things that tenants tell us is that they want more feedback when they do take the time to participate and this is something that we are working to try and improve.
What have tenants achieved so far?
Tenants have been working closely with us for a number of years and have had a lot of successes. These include:
- Working with councillors and staff to review the future of Council Housing
- Taking part in a review of the Tenant Compact
- Being involved in Challenge days to review the Repairs Service
- Setting standards for empty properties
- Producing a newsletter for Tenants called Homing In
- Working with housing staff to produce the Repairs Handbook
Tenant Compact
Over the last few months’s tenants, staff and councillors have been reviewing the tenant compact. This is a document that describes in detail the partnership between us and our tenants and our commitment to ensuring that Tenant Involvement is at the heart of the housing service.
How does the council help tenants who want to get more involved?
As well as providing a variety of ways for tenants to get involved we also provide training for tenants to allow them to develop the skills they need to be fully involved. A review of the skills and training that tenants feel they need will be carried out and the appropriate training will be provided by us for tenants.
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Last Updated on Monday, 08 November 2010 14:02
