Unfair to dismiss tenants’ involvement as ‘unelected focus groups’

Published: 15 October, 2010

• I AM sorry that Richard Rosser thinks that Homes for Islington is “distancing ourselves from any meaningful dialogue with residents” (Letters, October 8).

I would like to invite Richard, an ex-board member, to come and see for himself the work we are doing.

We have significant resident representation on our board, including a tenant chair.

We provide excellent support to nearly 60 tenants’ and residents’ associations at a fraction of the costly services provided by the Federation of Islington Tenants’ Associations, which all tenants had to pay for.

Residents who attend consultative panels are consulted on all major decisions made by our board.

We have 900 residents who regularly comment on services through our resident involvement register.

I am sorry that Mr Rosser seeks to dismiss these views (as “unelected focus groups”) as they come from tenants who want to contribute but often do not have time to attend meetings.

Residents were extensively involved in the selection of new repairs and maintenance contractors.

Thirty residents are involved in carrying out mystery shopping exercises at area offices.

We run the award-winning Arsenal Positive Futures, which provides sports and recreational activities to 700 youngsters. 

Given the reduction in area offices, there have, of course, been changes in the boundaries that our area housing panels operate in but our commitment to them remains absolute.

Our work in resident involvement is such that we have been cited as being in the top 10 national performers in this area by the Audit Commission.

SIMON KWONG
Homes for Islington’s director of performance and service development