Minutes of the Full Federation Meeting
held on 25th June, 2008
at the White Swan Hotel, Halifax

1a. Attendance

Leslie Godfrey	Beechwood TARA	Audrey Smith	Bolton Brow
Susan Montey	Elland Lane	Moira Woodhall	Elland Lane
S Whilty	Elland Lane	Angela Gallagher	Elland Lane
James Hutchison	Elphin Court	Joan Coyne	Elphin Court
Pat Gomersall	Fall Spring Gardens	Grace Paradise	Fall Spring Gardens
Iris O'Donnell	Haley Court TA	Bert Swaine	Haley Court TA
Mary Battye (Chair)	Headlands House TA	Rita McWhirter	Heptonstall TARA
Margaret Coupe	Heptonstall TARA	Don McLean	Ling Bob
Bill Stafford	Kershaw TARA	Chris Lates	Pollit Fields TA
Rita Egdell	Pollit Fields TA	Val Bennett	Pollit Fields TA
Esther Richardson	Pollit Fields TA	Lorna Shackleton	Shade Pennine TA
Henry Jenner	Stansfield Crossley	Audrey Waterhouse	Towngate TARA
David Church	Towngate TARA	Jon Morton	Travis House TA
Marilyn Webb	Travis House TA	Ruth Rider	Twin Towers TA
Marguerite Sutcliffe	Upper Brig Royd TA	Betty Booth	Upper Brig Royd TA
Tom Miskell	Trans-Pennine	Val Morris	Pennine Housing
Jonathan Howarth	Pennine Housing	Mary Buchanan	Green Vale Homes

1b. Apologies

Brian Battye	Headlands House TA	Sheila Gilmore	Twin Towers
Heather Stacey	Thorn Hill TA	Mick Stacey	Thorn Hill TA
Val Barker	Middle Mixenden TARA

2. Minutes of previous meetings

Agreed, proposed by Rita McWhirter, seconded by Ruth Rider

3. Matters arising

Item 11 - Audrey Waterhouse mentioned that she was no longer able to attend the TPAS Conference in August

4. Minutes of Management meeting held on 30.5.08

These were circulated for information. No matters arising.

5. Correspondence

None

6. Treasurer's Report

Agreed - £3054.83 in General Account, £69.81 Cash in Hand and £5206.23 in Premium Account. Chris mentioned that this had been an expensive month as the TPAS conference costs had to be paid for.

7. Appointment of Secretary

Marilyn Webb from Travis House TA was unanimously elected Secretary until the AGM in October

8. Pennine Housing Issues

Draft Asset Management Strategy - Tom Miskell

Tom gave a short presentation to outline the content of the draft Asset Management Strategy which had been developed to ensure effective management of both Pennine and Green Vale Homes land and property. The strategy includes both the plan for reinvestment and maintenance of existing homes, as well as redevelopment and the provision of new homes.

The draft strategy outlines how both Pennine and Green Vale Homes will involve local communities through Estate Planning events and Scheme Panels. The Strategy will be supported by an Involvement Protocol which is currently being developed and will be consulted on at a future Federation meeting.

Copies of the strategy are available through the Tenant Involvement Section on 01422 284609

Voids Update - Jonathan Howarth

Jonathan provided the meeting with a progress report on how Pennine had been dealing with the backlog of void properties and some background information explaining how the voids problem had arisen.

Background

The introduction of Key Choice in September 2007 had led to an increased demand for Pennine properties. So far there has been 16048 bids (average of 38 bids per property), this meant that Pennine were in a position to let properties for which there had previously been no demand. In effect Key Choice led to a doubling in the number of 'normal voids' and Pennine's Void team were unable to meet the demand. Additionally, a review of the void standard led to an increase in the amount of work being carried out to empty properties prior to re-let. This created further problems for the Voids team who were already struggling with increased demand.

Solution

Pennine has brought in external contactors: ROK, Wakefield & District Homes and Green Vale Homes to help them deal with the backlog. The cost of this should be met by the reduction in lost rent. All the external contractors should be off site by the end of August and by the end of June Pennine is expected to be handling all new voids.

Some further work needs to be carried out with tenants to review the voids standard to work out what it NEEDS to be and also Pennine needs to carry out a benchmarking exercise to compare their performance with other Housing Associations.

9. Elland Lane and Travis House Update

Elland Lane tenants are really pleased that Pennine has listened to the views of local residents and decided to leave the bungalows alone. Sue Montey, Elland Lane TA, however pointed out that this is only half of the solution, the next step is to help people see how desirable the properties are by accompanying the Housing Officer when empty bungalows are being viewed by prospective new tenants. Elland Lane tenants also want Pennine to take a tough stance on tenants who do not look after their gardens. It was decided that this issue could be raised at the next Federation meeting when Geoff Killerby will be presenting information about how Pennine is dealing with Anti Social Behaviour.

Travis House residents are equally pleased that since the last Federation meeting Pennine has allocated £100,000 out of this year's budget to deal with their damp and condensation problems. Tenders are currently being invited from contractors to render the block of flats which will help insulate the properties. The Tenants Association hopes that the communal areas will be included in the work as they are currently a big problem.

The View Day held on the 4th June was a great success, Federation delegates were able to view the Elland Lane and Travis House problems first hand. People were pleased that Tom Miskell was present on the day and felt that they had been able to challenge some of his ideas, particularly in relation to new build - there was a general view at the meeting that new build was not always better and that a lot of the existing stock was as good, if not better, than some of the new build. Tenants who inspected some of the new build on the View Day felt that there was scope for improving the specifications.

10. Wheel of Engagement

Val Morris circulated a draft copy of the Wheel of Engagement which it is hoped will help raise awareness amongst tenants about the number of opportunities which are available for tenant involvement in decision affecting homes and communities. Most delegates thought the wheel was a good idea but a few felt that tenants would not use it. The plan is to circulate the Wheel of Engagement to all tenants later this year, along with more information about each option and a simple application form. Once people have responded, a database will established which will help identify which way individual tenants want to have their say.

11. 2009/10 Calendar - Mary Buchanan, Green Vale homes

Mary attended the meeting to get feed back on her ideas for the art work which will be used for next year's Trans-Pennine calendar and to discuss ideas for calendar theme 'Making a Difference'. Some delegates raised that this had already been discussed at Area Committees and agreement reached about the format, the recommendation from tenants was that the calendar needed to be a different shape e.g. long and thin, there should be space for tenants to write reminders against each date and it should be a low cost production. It was pointed out that the discussions at Area Committees was not about themes and artwork and tenants should also be involved in this aspect of the production.

One suggestion was that there should be no pictures on the calendar but other delegates felt that one of the purposes of the calendar was for Pennine to raise awareness amongst tenants about some of the work it is doing. It was also suggested that the calendar idea be abandoned entirely as tenants could buy one cheaply on the market, this suggestion was not supported by other tenants.

Mary Buchanan explained that by using a local printer she had managed to reduce the costs substantially, to a more acceptable level - the cost for Pennine of producing next year's calendar would be approx. £5,723.

The suggested theme of 'Making a Difference' was supported by the meeting and it was agreed that each month should promote different examples of where tenants had made a difference to their community. It was agreed that an item be placed in the next Federation newsletter asking for nominations from both Calderdale and Sheffield tenants. Mary Buchanan would ask for nominations for Green Vale and a selection of both would be put in the calendar (one for each month). It was suggested that Elland Lane and Travis House tenants should be nominated in recognition of their recent victories. Delegates agreed that photo's of each of the nominated communities should be the only artwork.

The final part of the discussion focussed upon how Mary should highlight important dates in the calendar, it was felt that having them at the back was not helpful. One suggestion was to have an important dates section on each page for that month. Mary is going to try to find a solution which works.

12. ENCAMS - Keep Britain Tidy

Val Morris informed the meeting that in September, Keep Britain Tidy is launching the first ever Big Tidy Up - which will be the biggest ever clean up. Information will be published in the next Federation newsletter about how Tenant Associations can get involved, ENCAMS will provide tabards and refuse sacks, as well as a guide to promoting your event.

13. Quiz Night

Following on from the success of last year's Quiz Night it was agreed to ask Peter Dawson if he could host another similar event. Val Morris will contact Peter and also check availability of NALGO bar in Northgate House. Grace Paradise and Pat Gomersall, Fall Spring Gardens, agreed to organise the Pie & Pea supper. Val will put an advertisement in the next newsletter.

14. Feedback from Working Groups

Big Picture

Ruth Rider & Margaret Coupe informed the meeting about a number of new products which she had seen at the Institute of Housing conference exhibition, these included new methods of heating houses, recycled ceramic tiles and a more efficient mechanism for replacing faulty kitchen units.

TARA Support Working Group

Bert informed the meeting that a letter had been sent on behalf of the Federation objecting to the threatened closure of Post Offices in Calderdale which it was felt could have an enormous impact on Pennine communities.

Training Group

Everything in hand for TPAS conference in August. Information was circulated advertising the National Tenant Voice consultation events being held in late June and early July.

15. Any Other Business

Rita McWhirter raised concern about a recent press article about the new Pennine properties at Hipperholme which read as though Pennine is planning to introduce a two-tier system of tenancies - Rita asked for Pennine to attend the next meeting to discuss.

Geoff Killerby to also attend next meeting to give a RESPECT update. Iris O'Donnell expressed concern about Pennine's approach to Jargon Busting, Mary (Chair) stated this had been picked up by the Management Committee.

16. Date of Next Meeting - Wednesday 27th August 2008 - venue to be confirmed

The meeting closed at 9.00pm