What has been happening at New Charter? The Next Chapter

‘Dawn of a New Age?’  
Well for all the hardworking members of our Tenant Management Team (Scrutiny Panel), Resident Inspectors, Mystery Shoppers, Sounding Board and everyone else working on behalf of all tenants, we certainly hope so.  

Have the new coalition government really given enough thought to their review of the TSA?
It would be bordering on criminal if all the effort, training and experience gained over the last months, not to mention the cost of it all should go to waste. We sincerely trust that it is not a case of act in haste and repent at leisure.

Five members of the Tenant Management Team (TMT) have recently attended the TPAS conference and AGM in Birmingham where we gave a workshop on scrutiny.  The session went down a storm, and we are all feeling euphoric as a result.  The praise was overwhelming.

No time to sit and bask in glory however, we have a job to do and this year is just hurtling by.  Having just delivered our Grounds Maintenance Scrutiny Report to the Board, we are working with managers on an action plan to address our recommendations. Whilst our next scrutiny is about to get under way, we are also out and about talking to other tenants about National Standards and Local Offers, the Tenants Annual Report and how we can do better.  New Charter has established the ‘Xtra Factor Team’ consisting of staff together with National Standards Champions from TMT, Resident Involvement Monitoring Panel, & our TPAS mentor. We are on the phones, visiting TARAS, accosting people in New Charter shops, at bus stops and anywhere else they might be.  We want to speak to as many tenants as possible and we need more people to get involved.  

Summer has almost flown by in a flurry of consultation meetings, conferences and training courses.  Then along came the election and the resultant atmosphere of uncertainty about the future.  Will we still have a job to do?  Has all our effort been for nothing?

We are very proud of New Charter and the stance that they are taking.  Long before the dust began to settle, our Board announced that it would be business as usual and that we should continue to meet the deadlines that we have been working to.  Most importantly, no matter what Housing Regulation brings in the future, they will be supporting tenant empowerment and scrutiny will be the way forward.  Tenants will be the pulse that keeps the corporate heart beating.

The next months will be tough.  Gathering and collating the thoughts and aspirations of as many tenants as possible and converting them into policies and actions that will be used to shape the future, push the barriers and improve standards won’t be a walk in the park. With effort, stamina and enthusiasm great progress is possible.  We are looking forward to meeting the challenge.  

Let’s watch the “New Dawn” turn into a fantastic New Day.