Green Party

Green Party City Councillors have responded to the Audit Commission's verdict on the City Council Housing Department by calling for more tenant involvement in key decision-making.

In coming to a verdict of 'poor with uncertain prospects for improvement', one of the criticisms made by the Audit Commission was that the Council has failed to consistently consult tenants on its key decisions. Green Party Councillors would like to see tenant reps involved more in central Council decisions but would also like to see tenants in particular parts of the city given more influence over the running of housing in their area, including through the establishment of Tenant Management Organisations.

Adrian Ramsay, Leader of the Green Party City Councillors, said: "This report says what tenant reps and opposition councillors have been saying for a long time: that overall the housing service is in severe need of attention and that the Council needs to do far more to engage tenants in its work. The report highlights a number of specific problems, such as poor response times on the Council's contact phone number, inadequate systems for officers working to tackle anti-social behaviour and poor estate management in some areas.

"The Green Councillors recently proposed that the Council establishes a Housing Scrutiny Committee so that there is permanently a group of trained councillors in place to monitor what is happening in the department and play a constructive role in securing the necessary improvements, working alongside tenant reps. I think the findings of this report emphasise the need for this even more."

Tom Llewellyn, Housing Spokesperson for the Green Party City Councillors, added: "I'm especially concerned about the report's finding that 'systems in place to check staff compliance with policies are generally weak'. This is one of the lessons that needs to be learnt over the Greyhound Opening issue.

"The Council needs to put more attention on improving its work as a landlord. This calls into question the decision made last year to merge the Head of Landlord Services and Head of Strategic Housing positions.

"A new culture of openness and collaborative working with tenants and councillors is needed from the Housing Department. It will take time, but with such a collective effort I hope the performance of the department can improve significantly, and housing officers on the ground can be given the systems and support they need to provide a good service."

Samir Jeraj, Community Engagement Spokesperson for the Green Party City Councillors, said: "The failure of the Council to comply with the Code of Practice on Racial Equality in Housing is more than shocking. In saying that the Council has a weak approach to diversity issues and may be indirectly discriminating against people, this report calls into question the Council's decision to certify itself as meeting Level 2 of the Equality Standard. Tackling these findings of the Audit Commission must be a priority."

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