Signed, Sealed and Delivered - Residents Reach Agreement

Compact Celebrations:Toasting the signing of the WALH Tenants' Partnership Agreement are (from left): John Hill, Nicola Byrne, Frank May, Peter Gee, Joan Tickle, Patsy Murray, Colin Grime, John Waterworth, Pat Kenny, Jackie Ely, Elaine Davies, Jane Fairhurst and Irene Carter.

Wigan’s Tenants have been working in partnership with Wigan & Leigh Housing (WALH) to review its Tenant Participation Compact. The compact is an agreement between tenants and WALH and sets out how they can become involved in the decision making process for their own homes. Since December 2002 a working group consisting mainly of tenants, but also including elected members and WALH staff was set up to update the document. Through consultation and working closely with staff the group agreed the content and design of the new Tenant Participation Compact. And being a straight-talking, no nonsense bunch the first thing the group changed was the name, ditching Tenants' Compact for the user-friendly title Tenants' Partnership Agreement.

There was cause for celebration at the annual WALH Tenants' Conference recently when the group decided that it had reached final agreement and the document was ready to be signed-off. The finished product was launched at the Conference on Friday September 19.

The emphasis of the finished article is how tenants can become more involved in decisions about housing services through such things as tenants and residents groups or by joining one of WALH's focus groups. These look at issues such as anti-social behaviour, rent arrears or allocations.

Another avenue is the Housing 100 panel. This is for people who don't have the time to commit to being involved in a residents' association, but want the opportunity to have a say in service delivery. People on Housing 100 are invited to join the numerous focus groups being set up, so they can be involved in a more ad hoc way.

The document also lays out what support Tenants & Residents' Associations (TRA's) can get, such as the funding available to them and the support that can be offered by the Tenant Participation team.

It also goes into detail about the Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations (FOTARA) and the benefits of being involved.

Joint chair of WALH Cllr Stephen Parker said: "This agreement is very important to everyone at Wigan and Leigh Housing. It shows that the organisation is committed to providing the best services possible and it will do this by consulting with its tenants and acting on what they say. WALH can only succeed thanks to a partnership such as this one where the tenants have a strong voice in how we shape the service for the future." -ends-