Annual Residents Conference
You are all invited to SHP’s conference for residents held every year. SHP aim to make this an interactive fun event where you can come along and find out more about SHP and its partners.
Coffee mornings in Sheltered Housing Schemes
If you are living in a sheltered housing scheme, come along to a coffee morning where you can give SHP your views. These are held regularly in all schemes where there is a communal lounge.
Complaints and Compliments
SHP values your feedback and welcomes you to complain or express your satisfaction with SHP through our complaints/compliments feedback form. All complaints are passed to the Customer Care Manager and we review complaints to ensure lessons are learnt.
Estate Action Plans
You can have a direct involvement in developing action plans for the estate or block where you live to deal with priorities you have raised in surveys and through local consultation. These will be used to encourage you to negotiate estate agreements in the future. The Neighbourhood Manager is responsible for producing and monitoring the Estate Action Plan and will consult with local R/A’s, residents, young people and local community organisations, for example Early Years Education providers in the area.
Estate Surgeries
You can visit your Neighbourhood Manager locally at an estate surgery. Every Tuesday from 10-12pm at the Riverside Centre, Durand Close and at Shanklin Village, Children’s Day Centre every Thursday between 1 – 3pm.
Estate Walkabouts
Get involved in your neighbourhood via an estate walkabout. These are inspections with residents, Neighbourhood Managers and sometimes local Councillors. They focus on the appearance of the estate, the condition and atmosphere of neighbourhoods and highlight any estate improvements needed. For more information about this involvement method see our Estate Walkabout information leaflet.
Focus groups
Attend a focus groups to give your views on a specific subject, for example when services are reviewed.
Housing Advisory Group
This is a cross party group of Councillors. The group oversee Housing Policy and performance; members of the public can attend and observe meetings.
Information Sharing
You can get involved quickly and easily by reading information from the Council, SHP and residents groups, including;
• Residents Association newsletters
• Homefront magazine
• SHP and SFTRA website
• A variety of information leaflets
• Tenant and Leaseholder handbooks
• SFTRA and SLA newsletters
Local Area Committees
The Council operates six local committees focusing on areas where people live. These committees also have the power to decide how £2m of public realm money should be spent on specific projects in each area. They meet every two months and R/A representatives attend on your behalf. Details of groups can be found on the council’s web site.
Residents Sounding Board
Any SHP resident can join the Sounding Board. This is a database or list of residents who have expressed an interest in getting involved and having a say about housing services. All you need to do is tell SHP what you’re interested in - for example, repairs, rent or anti-social behaviour - and how you’d like to be involved – for example, phone call, email, survey, meetings. SHP will then contact you regularly with involvement opportunities.
Roadshows
SHP will occasionally run roadshows to seek the views of a broader resident audience. Road shows will aim to be held at times that suit you, for example in the early evening and at weekends.
Residents Panels
Similar to an association but with no formal officer group, residents on an estate can form a panel to resolve issues and participate as a collective group, neighbourhood managers attend resident panels.
Surveys and Questionnaires
Take part in surveys and questionnaires to test your levels of satisfaction with service delivery areas such as repairs and cleaning.
ALMO monitoring group
This group monitors the performance of SHP, members include officers from the Council and SHP along with the chair persons from SFTRA and the SLA.
Leasehold Champions
A leaseholder can have the opportunity to represent their block by becoming a leasehold champion having a say in all leasehold issues.
Mystery Shopping
Be trained as a Mystery Shopper to test SHP’s front line services and feedback to us about how we are performing. We will use your feedback and experiences to improve the customer care and access arrangements we provide.
Reading Group
The reading group are involved in testing publications and leaflets that SHP produce. Documents will be tested against the Standards for Information, as set out in Chapter 5 of this Compact. Feedback from the reading group will be reported to the SIG/ SHP Communications group for final approval. Information approved by the reading group will be marked with a “Resident Checked and Approved” logo.
Repairs & Major Works
Whether you would like to have a say in the performance of the repairs service or participate in decisions about major works to your home and neighbourhood, there are a variety of ways you can contribute:
• Project Consultation Groups - These are set up to discuss major works projects taking place in your area. You can meet contractors and have a say over the choice of things like kitchen unit and worktop styles and paint colours for communal areas
• Steering Groups – These are set up before large borough wide projects like kitchen and bathroom renewals to give residents the opportunity to get involved in selecting contractors and making design decisions
• Repairs and Investment Group (RIG) – This is a resident led group that looks at the performance of contractors and monitors major works programmes. This group meets every other month and is attended by SHP staff so that issues raised by residents can be dealt with directly. The RIG also provides resident representatives to the Asset Management Group
Asset Management Group
This group consists of Council officers, SHP staff and residents representatives from RIG and meets quarterly. It’s purpose is to oversee the delivery of SHP’s Asset Management Strategy and to contribute to the annual review of the strategy
Resident Repair Inspectors
As a resident repair inspector you will help to monitor SHP standards for communal repairs in blocks or on estates.
Service Improvement Group (SIG)
Chaired by a tenant or leaseholder, the SIG look at how to improve SHP’s performance and solve operational problems. They help to identify future service reviews and feed into action plans that will shape services. This decision making group are responsible for raising standards, identifying outcomes for residents and any associated risks.
Tenants and Residents Associations
Join your local association or if there isn’t one start a new association in your area, with SHP’s help. R/A’s influence local decisions and provide community activities where you want them. We support associations in lots of different ways. (Can be more for Committee Members)
SHP Board member
SHP is managed by a Board of Directors which is made up of 12 members – four of these are residents. You can become a board member when we have a vacancy by applying and going through an interview process. There is a ballot to give residents an opportunity to vote for and elect resident board members. The monthly board meetings and its AGM are open and all residents are welcome to come along and attend.
Sutton Federation of Tenants & Residents Associations (SFTRA)
SFTRA Executive Committee meet monthly and work in partnership with SHP contributing to key decisions and monitoring SHP to ensure that they are performing well. SFTRA hold general meetings every two months and all residents are welcome to attend these meetings with residents choosing the subject to be discussed at general meetings. SFTRA have their own website and sponsor a youth website for “SFTRA Teens". SFTRA have their own well equipped office with a part time paid support worker.
Sutton Leaseholders Association
The SLA has a management committee and hold meetings every month. The SLA work in partnership with SHP in key decision making about leasehold issues. They also monitor and scrutinise SHP to ensure that they are performing well.