Minutes of the Full Federation Meeting held on
5th December 2007 at Central Library, Halifax

1a. Attendance

Mary Battye	Chair
Nora Greenfield	Barker Close	Norma Marriott	Barker Close
Joan Coyne	Elphin Court	Bert Swaine	Haley Court TA
Eric Sutcliffe	Haley Court TA	Iris O'Donnell	Haley Court TA
Rita McWhirter	Heptonstall TARA	Margaret Coupe	Heptonstall TARA
Bill Stafford	Kershaw TARA	Don McLean	Ling Bob
Chris Lates	Pollit Fields TA	Rita Egdell	Pollit Fields TA
George Cameron	Shaw Lodge TA	Audrey Waterhouse	Talbot House
David Church	Talbot House	Mick Stacey	Thornhill TA
Heather Stacey	Thornhill TA	Sheila Gilmore	Twin Towers
Ruth Rider	Twin Towers	Dorothy Gregg	Upper Brig Royd
M Hepworth	Upper Brig Royd	Sue Molineux	Whinney Hill Park TARA
Sue Lewis	Pennine Housing	Stephen Batley	Pennine Housing
Val Morris	Pennine Housing

1b. Apologies

Alan Randall	Dodge Holme TARA	Sue Hodgson	Dodge Holme TARA
James Hutchison	Elphin Court	Carole Shaw	Fall Spring Gardens TARA
Grace Paradise	Fall Spring Gardens	Brian Battye	Headlands House TA
Val O'Leary	Kershaw TA	Val Barker	Middle Mixenden TARA
Irene Newhall	Mozeley Drive Flats	Anne Lees	Mozeley Drive Flats
Val Bennett	Pollit Fields TA	Anne Durkin	Pollit Fields TA

2. Minutes of previous meetings

Agreed

3. Matters arising

Heptonstall TARA are concerned about the level of disruption that the demolition of Valley View was creating for tenants living in the Longfield bungalows and flats. However, they also stated they appreciated the effort the demolition company was making to minimise the disruption.

Barker House TARA informed the meeting that a meeting had been held at Barker House to inform tenants that the scheme would be closing in the near future. The TARA was concerned about how they would continue without meeting facilities.

4. Correspondence

An invoice had been received from InSTEP Training for £145?????. Concern was expressed that the Federation member who had requested to attend this training event had cancelled at the last minute which meant that the bill still had to be paid. A further concern was that when this training event was originally brought to the attention of the Federation concern was expressed about the relevance of the course content. The event appeared to be aimed at ALMO/Council tenants rather than Housing Associations but the member wanted to attend.

It was agreed that in future the Federation needed to be more diligent when identifying training opportunities and, whenever possible, try to get reserves in place to attend a course in the event of someone cancelling at the last minute.

5. Treasurer's Report

The financial report was circulated

6. Pennine Housing Issues

a. Access to Tower Block Roof Space - Stephen Batley

Stephen Batley, Operations Manager for Upper Valley & Central Halifax, informed the meeting that there had been a general review of tower block health and safety issues which had identified that tenants living in St James Ct and Shaw Lodge still had keys to access the roof space, whilst tenants in other high rise flats didn't. A decision was taken to bring Shaw Lodge and St James Ct into line with the other 24 blocks. Stephen explained that it was the number of trip hazards on the roofs, rather than the fear of someone fall off the block; there were adequate barriers in place to prevent this happening, that had led to this decision being taken. If someone fell whilst on the roof, there was no way of letting anyone know. Workmen are always expected to go up in two's and also have to wear hard hats.

George Cameron, Shaw Lodge RA, stated that he felt it was a case of institutional nannying and asked how many accidents had there been in the last 14 years? George was concerned that by preventing tenants from using the roof space Pennine was denying them access to a valuable communal facility which was used for drying clothes and enjoying the sun in summer. Stephen explained that Pennine had a responsibility to protect tenants and if they had concerns they had to act on them. He went on to state that if the loss of drying space was a problem then Pennine would want to work with tenants to identify alternative arrangements.

b. Fire Safety - Sue Lewis

Last December there was a fatal fire in a Halifax block of flats, owned by another Housing Association, this has led to the tightening up of the Pennine's procedures. Pennine is currently working alongside the fire service to carry out full risk assessments of fire safety in flats, they have been advised that all communal areas have to be hazard free which means removing any mats, tables, plastic flowers, etc. Pennine is caught between a rock and a hard place, they understand that tenants want to make communal areas more inviting but, as a landlord, they cannot disregard advice.

Sue stated that the guidance given to tenants to stay put in their flat in the event of a fire had not changed and that Pennine were currently reviewing the information they give to tenants to make sure it meets with current fire regulations.

Ruth Rider asked if tenants would be allowed to put up Christmas decorations in communal areas? Sue explained that even fire retardant Christmas decorations were out of the question. Pennine are also currently checking fire doors - if they find any faulty doors they will either be repaired or replaced. A newsletter, setting out the requirements, will shortly be distributed to all tenants living in flats.

Finally, Sue asked members to inform Pennine if they received any conflicting advice from any fire officer. She stated that the Fire Service were aware that sometimes some of their staff gave out conflicting information and wanted to know when this happens so they can deal with the problem.

c. Homecare communication to tenants - Stephen Batley

Heptonstall TA explained that Homecare had recently carried out loft insulation work to Pennine properties in Heptonstall. Tenants were concerned that the first they knew about this was a letter from Homecare stating they were going to be doing the work, they felt that this put tenants in a vulnerable position as it could easily have been a scam. The association wanted to know if the letter should have come from Pennine or if there could have been an accompanying letter? They were extremely happy with the work itself, there was a noticeable difference in the warmth of the properties.

Stephen Batley responded by explaining about how Homecare were funded by the utility companies and often get money at short notice which means it is difficult for Pennine to provide advance notification of any proposed work. However, all of the Homecare workers should carry Identification and an article would be going in Homing In informing tenants that Homecare might be doing work to their homes. So far, Homecare have upgraded insulation to 2000 Pennine properties.

Elphin Court TA asked if the loft insulation in their flats could be checked. Stephen to look into this.

d. Equality for Disabled People - Sue Lewis

Sue Lewis explained that lots of Pennine customers have a disability or illness which holds them back. Pennine has spent the last couple of months talking to disabled customers about what is working well and which things Pennine are not so good at. Pennine want to identify the things which will make a difference - if Pennine get it right for disabled people, they will get it right for all of their customers.

Trans-Pennine is currently developing a Disability Equality Scheme which will setting out their commitment to meeting the needs of disabled customers. They have organised consultation events in Calderdale, Rossendale and Sheffield to ensure that disabled customers and service providers are fully involved in the development of the scheme and that their priorities are embedded into the 3 year action plan which is also being produced.

Sue distributed a draft copy of the Scheme and also an easy-to-read version which is being produced, she invited members to read through the document and to feedback any comments.

e. Handy Person Scheme - Val Morris

Pennine is hoping to have a new Handy Person service in place by April 2008, there will be two separate elements to the service. The first will be a service being offered to all tenants moving into a new property, they will be given a small amount of the handy persons time to do any minor DIY jobs that they might be struggling with eg putting up curtain rails or shelves - this part of the scheme will be funded out of the saving resulting from the changes to the decorations allowance scheme. The second part of the new service will be targeted at older/disabled tenants. There will be more information about the service at the February meeting.

f. Digital TV Update - Val Morris

Val gave a quick Digital TV progress update. Pennine has now identified a couple of possible contractors who would be able to carry out the necessary work to ensure all Pennine flats were able to receive a digital signal when the switch over takes place in 2011 (2009 Todmorden) - as yet Pennine has not made a final decision about which contractor to employ. Members of staff plus a Tenant Director, Iris O'Donnell, had been to look at how Six town Housing, based in Bury, had been dealing with upgrading TV aerials on their stock and to share any problems they had identified. Val was hopeful that work would commence in the near future, the likely starting point would be Todmorden because they will switch over in 2009.

g. Service Charge Review

Pennine Housing has recently been reviewing how well the introduction of Service Charges has gone. Both the review group and the independent auditors, Grant Thornton, were satisfied with the way the charges have been implemented and, more importantly, the fact that all of the figures add up.

The review group have identified two service charges where there is scope to alter the way the charges were divided up amongst tenants and a decision was taken to run two focus groups where tenants could discuss these possible changes in greater detail. The changes related to CCTV/Emergency Response charges and Caretaking/Cleaning charges.

All tenant representatives and anyone who had attended an involvement event in the past two years were invited to attend the focus groups and more than 50 tenants attended. Pennine explained that it was possible to shift the weighting of some of the charges, meaning that some tenants would pay slightly less for a service whilst others would pay slightly more. The result of doing this would be that the charges would more accurately reflect the level of service tenants were actually receiving eg tenants in high rise properties paying slightly more for cleaning/caretaking and those in low rise paying slightly less.

As there would be no impact on the total amount of service charge income collected, Pennine felt that tenants should lead the way on deciding whether to implement any changes. The focus group attendees, who were from a cross section of Pennine properties and districts, were given all of the financial information needed to make an informed decision. Both of the focus groups made the same recommendation, which was for Pennine to not make any changes to the weighting of service charges.

7. Involving Young People Conference

For sometime the Federation has been concerned that they should be supporting TARA's to develop the necessary skills needed to effectively engage with young people in their communities. This proposed event is seen as the first building block in this process. Both the Training and TARA Support Groups have been meeting with TPAS to further develop this exciting project. Bill Stafford and Chris Lates circulated the outline proposal which sets out the aims of the event, which is to:

• Show a clear indication of a commitment too engage young people

• Provide the chance to find out how other agencies involve young people

• Provide good quality workshops that with an opportunity to share experiences and good practice

• Provide a networking opportunity

• Provide entertainment to create a lively atmosphere

It was explained that this was not a conference just for young people but that young people would make a significant contribution to the day by helping tenant rep's to explore the barriers that stop young people from getting involved and discussing practical ways to involve young people. The intention is to invite young people from successful projects in other parts of the country to be speakers at the event eg St Basil's Youth Advisory Board in Birmingham and to contact schools with a view to young people providing the entertainment on the day.

It was agreed that the Training and TARA Support Groups should now proceed with making all the necessary arrangements for the event to take place in April 2008, funding for the event would come from the Tenant Involvement budget, as well as using any other external funding sources which can be identified.

8. New Year Party Update

Arrangements were all in hand for the New Year party to take place on Saturday 19^th January 2008, at the Maurice Jagger Centre in Halifax. Chris Lates has booked the entertainment and Iris O'Donnell has the tickets; these can be purchased directly from Iris on 01422 348041 or through the Tenant Involvement office. Iris circulated posters for groups to put up on community notice boards.

Unfortunately, there had been some confusion over the arrangement for the party and although there had not been any discussion at a Federation meeting Sue Molineux had also booked entertainment/food. A discussion took place about how to deal with this problem and Sue offered to cancel her arrangements. This issue highlighted the need for Federation members to ensure that they have an agreement from the meeting before entering into commitments on behalf of the Federation, avoiding any similar breakdown in communication in the future.

9. Committee Skills Training Update

The next Committee Skills course starts on the 10^th January 2008, 10.00am - 12noon at the Federation Office, 5 Lister Court. The course will run for 12 weeks plus an additional 3 weeks learning IT skills, the course sets out to teach you everything you need to know to run a successful committee and is accredited through the Open College. All TARA secretaries have been sent information and, so far, nine people are booked on to the course but ideally we would like a few more. For more information contact Jo Hartley on 01422 284518.

10. Volunteers for Working Groups

Still looking for volunteers to help out with the Working Groups. Audrey Waterhouse volunteered for the TARA Support Group and Bill Stafford for the Big Picture Working Group.

11. Venues for Future Meetings

Discussion about which was the most suitable venue for future meetings, Library and the Town Hall being the preferred venues. A vote was taken and it was agreed that, whenever possible, the Town Hall should be the first option.

12. Any Other Business and Date of Next Meeting

No AOB. The date of the next meeting is Wednesday 27^th February 2008 - venue to be arranged.

The meeting closed at 9.05pm