Minutes of the Full Federation Meeting held on
29^th August 2007 at Town Hall, Halifax

1a. Attendance

Nora Greenfield	Barker Close	Norma Marriott	Barker Close
Leslie Godfrey	Beechwood TARA	Sue Hodgson	Dodge Holme TARA
Bert Swaine	Haley Court TA	Iris O'Donnell	Haley Court TA
Eric Sutcliffe	Haley Court TA	Rita McWhirter	Heptonstall TARA
Margaret Coupe	Heptonstall TARA	Don McLean	Ling Bob
Val O'Leary	Kershaw TA	Bill Stafford	Kershaw TARA
Val Barker	Middle Mixenden TARA	Chris Lates	Pollit Fields TA
Esther Richardson	Pollit Fields TA	George Cameron	Shaw Lodge TA
Richard Guillot	St James Court TA	Janet Wilson	St James Court
Barbara Gunshon	St James Court	S Gilmore	Twin Towers
Ruth Rider	Twin Towers	Sue Molineux	Whinney Hill Park TARA
Janette Dunne	Pennine Housing	Val Morris	Pennine Housing
Adrian Gordon	Pennine Housing	Lisa Jackson	Pennine Housing

1b. Apologies

Alan Randall	Dodge Holme TARA	Carole Shaw	Fall Spring Gardens TARA
Grace Paradise	Fall Spring Gardens	Mary Battye	Headlands House TA
Brian Battye	Headlands House TA	Anne Lees	Moseley Drive Flats
Irene Mulhall	Mozeley Drive Flats	Anne Durkin	Pollit Fields TA
Val Bennett	Pollit Fields TA	Heather Stacey	Thornhill TA
Mick Stacey	Thornhill TA	Jackie Mullaney	Whinney Hill Park

2. Minutes of previous meetings

Agreed

3. Matters arising

None

4. Correspondence

None

5. Treasurer's Report

The financial report had been circulated to all members along with the agenda & minutes of the last meeting, the current balance, inc' the premium account was £12,820.57. A total of £1842.52 had been spent since the June meeting, this amount included the cost of attending the TPAS conference which was £1660.99 for 4 rep's to attend this weekend event. There were no questions raised about the accounts.

6. Pennine Housing Issues

a. Complaints Policy - Adrian Gordon

Adrian had circulated a copy of the revised complaints procedure with the agenda, he explained that this was not a new policy but a revision of the existing policy. When the Pennine Housing Complaints Policy became due for review it was agreed that Green Vale Homes would work with Pennine Housing to draft a policy for the Group. The policy would set out the Group's approach to complaints, whilst allowing some flexibility for each organisation to decide on its own procedure for the day-to-day management of complaints.

The policy has been updated to contain newer guidance provided by Pennine's regulators and to take account of the good practices that exist across the Trans-Pennine Housing Group and beyond. This review work was carried out by a group of staff, tenants and Board Members from Pennine and Green Vale.

The policy and procedures have not altered dramatically, however some of the main changes are as follows:

• We have broadened the definition of a complaint to "an expression of dissatisfaction whether justified or not". This has been done to help staff to recognise complaints, particularly those that might not appear to be "official" or "formal" complaints, but that are nevertheless important to the tenant.

• We are developing the way each team deals with, learns from and shares the issues that have arisen from each complaint. This will help us to improve the services we provide, and even show us where we need to develop new services.

A section on dealing with vexatious complainants has been included to help us deal fairly with complainants who might be attempting to circumvent the policy, or raise the same (or very similar) complaints in another way, as a result of which a disproportionate amount of time is taken up.

Adrian explained that this was still a draft policy and that Federation members had until the end of September to make comments, this can be done by contacting him on 01484 824330.

b. RESPECT - Janette Dunne

At the June meeting Amanda Garrard informed the Federation that Trans-Pennine (which Pennine Housing is part of) had now officially signed up to the Government RESPECT standard for housing management. Janette explained that she was the lead officer, responsible for ensuring that Pennine was in a position to deliver all of the RESPECT commitments. Work had been carried out to identify the areas where further work was needed in order to meet the RESPECT requirements. This had been done by looking at what the Government, Housing Corporation and the Audit Commission expected, identifying the areas of weakness. An Action Plan which identified the different tasks which need to be completed in the coming months was circulated to the members present, Janette suggested that it would be a good idea for the Federation rep's to take the RESPECT Action Plan back to their committees for discussion and to contact Janette with any comments or queries on 01484 824300.

Janette brought a case-study, about a family which had numerous problems and was the cause of lots of anti social behaviour on the estate where they lived, to the meeting for discussion. The meeting split into smaller discussion groups to discuss how Pennine should deal with this 'problem' family. Each of the groups gave feedback on the outcome of their discussion - all felt Pennine should be working with other agencies to look at how this situation could be resolved without resorting to eviction.

c. Mobile Phone Mast Policy

Val Morris explained that there were a number of tower blocks which have mobile phone masts situated on their roofs, all of these were installed when the properties belonged to Calderdale Council. The telecommunication companies, who own the masts, were originally given leases allowing them to site the masts on the roofs for 15 years in return for a sum of money - similar to rent. These leases are due to be renewed in the near future but before doing this Pennine wanted to get a policy into place to judge when and how new or renewed telecom masts are approved or not.

A staff working group had been set up to look at the content of the current leases, the revenue that was generated from the leases and research the latest medical information available to ensure that there no health and safety implications relating to the siting of masts on top of buildings.

The draft policy had now been produced, the important points are:

• Permission will only be granted for the equipment to be installed on high rise blocks except in extenuating circumstances

• Leases will not be automatically renewed

• All companies will sign a standard lease provided by Pennine

• The new leases will be for 10 years with a review after the first 5 years

• Tenants will be consulted about the proposed siting of any new masts

• The Operations Managers will be responsible for all enquiries and decision making relating to the masts

d. Decorations Allowance consultation feedback

Val Morris informed the meeting about the outcomes from the recent workshop held to look at how Pennine could improve the current decoration allowance scheme. The new proposals include giving new tenants B&Q vouchers to purchase paint, etc. rather than cash. They will be two payment levels £100 of vouchers smaller properties (up to 2 bedrooms) and £150 for larger properties. There are a number of other proposals including giving some properties a basic painting package to improve their appearance prior to letting.

There are many advantages for Pennine in using the voucher systems include a 13pence rebate from B&Q for every £1 spent - it is proposed that these savings are used to fund a 'Handyman Service' B&Q also run training courses which tenants can attend to improve their decorating and DIY knowledge.

7. Quiz Night Update

Everything was sorted including the purchase of the trophy, eleven teams had entered, including one from Sheffield. Sue Molineux was sorting out pie & peas and Peter Dawson was sorting the quiz questions.

8. Proposed View Days

There were two proposed view days for Federation representatives, the first is to Rossendale to look at Green Vale Homes estates, this will be held on Tuesday the 16^th October. The second View Day will visit the new Sheffield estates and will be held in November - date to be arranged. All Tenant Associations will be invited.

9. Mixenden Community link

Val Morris gave a power point presentation outlining the community cohesion project which has been developed by Mixenden Community Link. She also provided some myth busting information about the level of support provided to both asylum seekers and economic migrants and the benefits for us.

10. Feedback from the TPAS Conference

Very good feedback from the conference, information about the workshops provided by Brian & Mary Battye had been circulated with the agenda and Ruth Rider circulated her report at the meeting.

11. Any Other Business

Tenants Conference

Pennine have suggested moving the Tenants Conference from November '07 to Spring '08. There are a lot of important things happening at the moment including the launch of Key Choice and by early next year we will have a clearer idea about how well they are going. The meeting supported this proposal.

Valley View

Rita McWhirter informed the meeting that Heptonstall TA were currently in 'mourning' following a decision by the Council to allow Pennine to redevelop the Valley View sheltered housing site. She also stated that she was disappointed not to have received more support from the Federation during their campaign. Whilst there was sympathy for the Heptonstall position, it was pointed out that they had never formally requested any help or indicated that they wanted the Federation to take a course of action.

Eric Sutcliffe mentioned that Barker Close were in a similar position.

Update from the Training Group

Bill Stafford gave an update about the proposed training the group is currently arranging including the Involving Young People Conference

12. Date of next meeting

The next meeting, which will be the AGM, will be held on Wednesday 31^st October 2007 in the Town Hall, Halifax

The meeting closed at 9.05pm