MEMBERSHIP

DFTAs General meeting is being held on Tuesday 28 April. You do not have to be a

Issue 39

member to attend. The subject for the meeting is Welfare Reforms and a member of

Newsletter from the Dundee Federation of Tenants Associations - April 2015

the Connect Team (Welfare Reforms Advice) will be attending to tell you about the
project and the assistance the team can provide. If you want to come along please give
us a call or email us for more information.

Become a Member
The DFTA encourages the establishment of Registered
Tenants Organisations (RTOs) within Council Housing Estates.
Most of the existing RTOs are affiliated members of the
Federation. We can provide information of a Registered Tenant
Organisation if one exists in your area. The Housing Department
has a Tenant Participation Team who will assist tenants in Council
housing who are interested in setting up a Registered Tenant
Organisation.
Details of Individual Membership will not be disclosed to any other organisation
and will only be used for the purposes of sending information from the DFTA.
Why should you take out a membership?
Membership demonstrates support for the work we undertake, with and on behalf of, Dundee City
Council tenants. There is strength in numbers and the more people there are the more tenants are
listened to. As a member you will be invited to the Annual General Meeting and General Meetings
throughout the year. If you cant manage for whatever reason we will keep you up to date with

Dundee City Council Housing Department hosted a consultation event on Sunday 8 February, as
part of the process for reviewing the Repairs Partnership agreement. Managers and staff from
housing and the environment department provided information to tenants, including DFTA and
Scrutiny Panel members, who attended. Staff also facilitated work shops to gather attendees views.
on repairs and the repairs process. A development manager from the Tenants Information Service
(TIS) was appointed to provide independent advice on the Review, assisted throughout the day and
compiled feedback report. Delegates experiences of recent repairs were discussed and views were
positive.
Areas for improving the Repairs service were highlighted as follows.

There is a need to ensure professionalism and positive attitudes from staff.

Repairs being completed right first time

You can contact us on Dundee 305718, email us your details to dfta@number10.org,

Better co-ordination of trades on multi trade jobs.

Text us on 07766383515 or go to our website on dfta.co.uk

Cyclical maintenance is sometimes done too early and quality control is important

Improve communication by texting/phoning

Provide tenants with better information on the repairs service

Tenants agreed the council provide an excellent response to emergency and non emergency
repair

Some tenants thought an intermediary category would be useful e.g. not an emergency but
quicker than 5 days

Some thought up to 24 hours is too long to complete an emergency repair, 6 or 12 hours

would be better

newsletters etc.
MEMBERSHIP IS FREE!

FREEPOST RTJK-YXHA-LSKL, DFTA, Number 10, 10 Constitution Road, Dundee DD1 1LL
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Repairs Partnership Review & Scrutiny

Repairs Partnership agreement continued:

Tenants do not currently understand how repairs are categorised

It was agreed that a repairs appointment system would increase tenant satisfaction

Tenants want the ability to book repairs appointments on the council website with reminder
texts to tenants
In the main, tenants agree there are plenty opportunities for tenants to share their satisfaction
or dissatisfaction on the repairs service
They would like to see better feedback on the outcomes of tenant survey finding
The council could be better at learning from complaints.

Tenants thought the key components of an effective repairs service are;

a flexible appointments system,
efficient communication,
well trained staff and excellent customer care
value for money
robust monitoring and quality control
clear categorisation of repairs
a high quality service
The outcomes from the Repairs Partnership Review was presented to the Best Value Review
group on 26 February and to the Housing Committee on the 9 March. An action plan with key areas
for improvement within the repairs service is to be compiled.

The Federation held a General meeting on Tuesday 24 February which was attended by
DCCs Housing Strategy Manager, to update tenants on the outcomes of the Repairs
Partnership Review

Scrutinising Housing Services:

The Scrutiny Panel is now well established and members have spent several weeks
on developing Terms of Reference which are the rules the panel will work to. The
Panels work for the coming year will likely have been agreed on the 31 March.
One of the main events coming up is having training from the Chartered Institute of
Housing in the Stepping up to Scrutiny Programme . This training will equip the Panel with the
skills to look in detail at the housing service and will include a live Scrutiny project. The housing
department is starting to pull together data for the Annual Charter Return (ARC) and one part of
this is doing a survey of tenants. This is known as the Star Survey (Survey of Tenants and
Residents) . This will be a face to face survey of a sample of tenants and residents carried out by
an independent research company Knowledge Housing
Letters have been sent to tenants in the sample areas telling them about the survey. The
interviewers will carry an ID badge with their picture and ID numbers. Information gathered will be
sent to the Scottish Housing Regulator and will also be available to tenants who got involved in the
scrutiny of housing services.
The housing department's performance will be published by the Scottish Housing Regulator at the
end of August and together, the council and the Scrutiny Panel will produce a Customer report at
the end of October.

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Housing Options Service

Scrutiny Continued:
If you are interested in finding out more, getting involved in scrutiny either as a Panel member or a
Tenant Led Inspector, please call Mary Docherty (Tenant Participation Officer ) on Dundee 307331
.
or alternatively you can email the generic email address at dcc.housing@dundeecity.gov.uk,
leave
your name and contact details and someone will get back to you.

Housing Options Service:

Homelessness and the prevention of homelessness is high on the councils list of priorities and to
this end, a move to a Housing Options Service has been implemented. The model being used is in
line with the new direction from the Scottish Government around focussing work on the prevention
of homelessness through introducing a housing options approach to housing advice and
homelessness prevention work.
This means that when a person uses the service, a member of staff will discuss the individual
persons situation and what their particular needs are. This service is there to assist people
presenting as homeless and also with people in danger of becoming homeless.
In addition to setting up the Housing Options Service, the restructuring of the Homeless Service
gives the opportunity to streamline temporary accommodation services by bringing together
temporary accommodation, allocation and management under the Temporary Accommodation
Team and team leader.
The Housing Options Service is now based in the East District Housing office. If you or anyone you
know is experiencing difficulties with accessing housing or need advice and information the number
to call is 01382 432001.
WISH Project (Women's Information on Security and Housing) The WISH project is funded
by the Big Lottery and is run in partnership between Dundee City Council, Dundees Women's Aid,
Barnardos Scotland and Action for Children.
The project is funded until March 2017.The service provides information and practical support to
women who have experience of any form of violence or abuse from an intimate partner. To date,
well in excess of 100 women in Dundee have received advice or assistance from WISH.
How can WISH help? The WISH project workers can offer comprehensive information and support
with housing, safety and security and legal options that may be open to women. Knowing the
options is the first step to regaining control of ones life and staying safe..
Staff are based at the East District Housing office on Pitkerro Road, but arrangements may be
made to meet at a suitable alternative location. Staff will help women in urgent need, but WISH is
not an emergency crisis service. Staff aim to respond to calls within 2 working days. In an
emergency, women should call 999. You can contact WISH staff on 01382 307344 or by
emailing support@wishdundee.org.uk

The Bottom of the Hill Tenants Association are holding their Annual General
Meeting on Thursday 30 April at 6.30 pm in the Tulloch Court Community
Space. You are invited to go along and find out what they have been doing
over the past year and in particular what they have achieved in their
Community Space. If you have any issues you would like to raise then please
go along. The housing officer and elected members have been invited to
attend. You can get in touch with the group by visiting the Our community
space on Facebook or by contacting Pamie on 0780 0740 885.
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