Tenant Empowerment GrantsGrantiau Ymrymhau Tenantiaid

TEG

Grantiau Ymrymhau TenantiaidTenant Empowerment Grants

TEG

Tenant Empowerment GrantsGrantiau Ymrymhau Tenantiaid

TEG

Grantiau Ymrymhau TenantiaidTenant Empowerment Grants

TEG

innovation & diversityThe Welsh GovernmentTenant Empowerment Grant programme

Ten years of

Contents

1. Introduction Keith Edwards, Director CIH Cymru

2. Innovation and diversity The TEG programme 2003 to 2013

3. Facts and Figures The range and type of TEG project

4. Case studies Good practice across Wales

5. Further Information Applying for a TEG and Agent contact details

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IntroductionI am very pleased to introduce the second innovation and diversity report on the Tenant Empowerment Grant – TEG - programme which since 2003 has made available over £1.3 million pounds to 172 groups from all parts of Wales. The strength of the programme lies in how it fast tracks resources to tenants groups based on partnership with landlords and resulting in improvements in engagement and services.

The Welsh Government is committed to supporting tenant participation and the TEG programme is an important aspect of that commitment. It is based on a simple proposition: when it comes to determining priorities and services, tenants are ‘experts’ and their views and involvement are essential if we are to move forward.

The variety of projects is truly impressive and unique to Wales. Local authority and housing association groups, initiatives by young and older tenants, projects driven by people with support needs have all received funding resulting in higher levels of participation and real changes at a local level. The reach of the programme has been equally impressive. As this report shows tenants from Bangor to Barry, Machynlleth to Monmouth have benefited from TEG grants.

Value for Money has always been integral to TEG. Since 2010 landlords have been required to contribute 25% of the actual costs of projects and together with other savings have delivered an extra 17 in real terms.

Empowering local people to have real say will underpin much of what we are ambitious to achieve. TEGs continue to play a major role in delivering real engagement and have proved their worth over the past nine years. Congratulations to every individual and organisation who’s work is acknowledged in this report.

Keith EdwardsDirector of CIH Cymru

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Innovation & DiversityFrom the outset the programme has been a major source of support for innovation including projects which deliver:

• estate level and landlord wide involvement in housing management• collaboration between tenants of a number of landlords• increased engagement and involvement of minority ethnic groups• improved participation by disabled tenants• tenant driven inspection, review and service design• options for involvement by young people

The programme has always had a focus on sharing good practice through for example the TEG website, articles in WHQ etc. TEG projects also feature regularly at workshops, seminars and conferences and a number of projects have won housing and related awards. In the early days of the programme there was also a programme of good practice showcase events and a good practice guide was produced in 2004.

The need to disseminate good practice more widely has been identified as key objective for the programme. This includes ensuring that tenants and landlords across Wales are able to draw on examples and adapt them in their local communities so as not to have to ‘reinvent the wheel’. In addition this will help build on current work to ensure value for money.

The second edition of the guide covers the 132 projects awarded funding between January 2005 and January 2013. A number of case studies are include in section 4.

The range of projects supported continues to expand, reflecting the growing sophistication of tenant participation across all sectors. They can be considered in the following categories.

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Strategic ReviewsIncluding business planning, asset management, tenant participation strategies, local tenant groups, representative federations, landlord wide forums and exploring tenant management options.

Service and Performance ReviewsThis includes specific techniques and approaches such as tenant inspection, mystery shopping and performance monitoring, and reviews of particular services including anti social behaviour, repairs and WHQS programmes.

Community AssetsIncluding reviews of community facilities, establishing resource centres and tenant advice services.

Skills DevelopmentIncluding training and development for tenants as inspectors, in IT skills (eg website), writing and editing (eg handbooks and newsletters), designing and carrying out surveys and accredited learning.

Environmental ProjectsIncluding planning environmental improvements, community gardening schemes energy efficiency and fuel poverty.

Particular groupsIncluding young people, children, supporting people programme, people with learning disabilities, women, tenants living in flats, LGBT tenants, BME tenants and communities, people with disabilities, tenants in rural communities, welsh speakers, homeless people.

Original and cutting edge projectsIncluding cross landlord scrutiny, training for trainers (including resources), alternatives to meetings, inter-generational involvement, changing tenure (shared ownership), direct access hostels and temporary accommodation.

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Grants by type of tenant group

number %Local Association 30 23Multi Landlord Group 10 8Landlord Wide Group 56 42Special Interest 36 27TOTAL 132 100

The distribution of grant by tenant group type reinforces that there continues to be a trend away from estate based tenant associations to a more diverse range of structures for involvement. Only one in four TEGs is now exclusive to one community whereas nearly half are either landlord wide or involve a number of landlords. Nearly a third of all grants have been awarded to groups that represent special interests.

Grants by approved TEG agents

number %TPAS Cymru 57 43Open Communities 51 39ROWAN 9 7WTF 7 5Others 8 6TOTAL 132 100

Four out of five TEG projects are delivered by two ATEGAs although both operate across Wales and have competed for funding at virtually every grant round. A number of new ATEGAs have also registered recently, and the total number that have received funding from 2005 to the present is eight. A number of ATEGAs have developed ‘specialisms’ in for example local tenant management and housing related support projects.

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Grants by type of tenant group

Special Interest27%

Local Association23%

Multi Landlord Group

8%

Landlord Wide Group42%

others6%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru43%

Open Communities39%

others8%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru41%

Open Communities39%

Local authority29%

Supported Housing

11%

Joint5%

RSL55%

All Wales3%

Mid Wales8%

North Wales29%

South East Wales40% South West

Wales20%

Grants by type of tenant group

Special Interest27%

Local Association23%

Multi Landlord Group

8%

Landlord Wide Group42%

others6%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru43%

Open Communities39%

others8%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru41%

Open Communities39%

Local authority29%

Supported Housing

11%

Joint5%

RSL55%

All Wales3%

Mid Wales8%

North Wales29%

South East Wales40% South West

Wales20%

Facts & Figures

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Applications by ATEGA number %

TPAS Cymru 66 41Open Communities 63 39ROWAN 12 7WTF 8 5others 13 8TOTAL 161 100

There is a an almost identical pattern when comparing all applications submitted with two ATEGAs again responsible for around 80% of the total.

Grants by Landlord number %

RSL 73 55Local authority 38 29Joint 7 5Supported Housing 14 11TOTAL 132 100

Landlord endorsement for TEG applications is a pre-requisite for support unless there are exceptional circumstances. Just over half of all TEGs go to RSL sponsored applications, with just under a third going to local authority groups, reflecting the increase in size of the former sector due to stock transfer.

A relatively small proportion (6%) were joint RSL / local authority TEGs. One in ten TEGs now goes to projects exclusively focussing on tenants with support needs.

Grants by type of tenant group

Special Interest27%

Local Association23%

Multi Landlord Group

8%

Landlord Wide Group42%

others6%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru43%

Open Communities39%

others8%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru41%

Open Communities39%

Local authority29%

Supported Housing

11%

Joint5%

RSL55%

All Wales3%

Mid Wales8%

North Wales29%

South East Wales40% South West

Wales20%

Grants by type of tenant group

Special Interest27%

Local Association23%

Multi Landlord Group

8%

Landlord Wide Group42%

others6%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru43%

Open Communities39%

others8%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru41%

Open Communities39%

Local authority29%

Supported Housing

11%

Joint5%

RSL55%

All Wales3%

Mid Wales8%

North Wales29%

South East Wales40% South West

Wales20%

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Grants by Locationnumber %

North Wales 39 29Mid Wales 10 8South East Wales 53 40South West Wales 26 20All Wales 4 3TOTAL 132 100

The capacity of the TEG scheme to reach all parts of Wales continues. The twelve local authority areas in South East Wales account for 40% of all grants, an under-representation in terms of population, local authority areas and numbers of social landlords. The six North Wales local authority areas receive just under a third of all grants with one in five going to South West Wales based tenant groups.

Grants by type of tenant group

Special Interest27%

Local Association23%

Multi Landlord Group

8%

Landlord Wide Group42%

others6%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru43%

Open Communities39%

others8%

WTF5%

ROWAN7%

TPAS Cymru41%

Open Communities39%

Local authority29%

Supported Housing

11%

Joint5%

RSL55%

All Wales3%

Mid Wales8%

North Wales29%

South East Wales40% South West

Wales20%

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Case StudiesDetails of over 172 TEG projects can be found at www.whq.org.uk/teg/index.php

The following are a flavour of the projects supported by TEGs between 2007 and the present.

Project The Peer Assessors ProjectTenant Group Join In Community Group TEG Agent TPAS CymruLandlord City and County of Swansea

The project was designed to enable a group of service users in the Join In Community Group to be involved in reviewing the supporting people services in Swansea. Supporting People in Swansea has developed a strong commitment to tenant and service user participation in the last few years. The JCG is a group of past and present tenants from various client groups who were committed, enthusiastic and wanted to help monitor and review support housing services. They were also keen to enhance their skills and qualifications and raise their self esteem and confidence as a way of promoting independence. Taking part in this process lead to volunteering and employment opportunities as well as raising standards in support services and achieving better outcomes for tenants.

Project Tenant 2 TenantTenant Group Mid Wales Housing Association Residents ForumTEG Agent TPAS Cymru

Mid Wales Housing Association has over 1250 properties across Powys and Ceredigion, an area a third of the total of Wales. The Tenants and Residents Forum wanted to play a leading role in training other tenants to get involved so that tenant participation across a large rural area is sustainable and long term. The project trained tenants as trainers and developed dedicated modules on:

• delivering training sessions• catering for different learning styles• developing and using a range of training resources

The knowledge gained by the Forum and the TEG Agent can be used to inform other ‘training the trainers’ projects across Wales.

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Project Newydd ASB MediationTenant Group ASB TenantsTEG Agent Open Communities

Dealing with Anti Social Behaviour continues to be one of the top items on the agenda of tenant groups whenever surveys are carried out. This project trained up a group of volunteers to become the ‘first point of contact’ for general ASB issues. It included intensive support:

• draw up person specifications for the role• interview and appoint volunteers• consult with all tenants• provide training on ASB law, tenants rights, witness support and legal remedies

The project built on the work Newydd undertook to achieve the Welsh Government Housing Management ASB Standard.

Project Bron Afon Supported Living ServiceTenant Group Bron Afon Housing Support ForumTEG Agent Open Communities

Traditionally tenants of Bron Afon Community Housing who live in sheltered housing have organised themselves to get their views across and improve services. However many older tenants don’t live in sheltered schemes and the group wants to find ways of engaging and involving all who live in Bron Afon homes. There was also a feeling that the existing Forum was only getting through to those tenants that were easier to reach. This project focussed on identifying barriers to involvement and equipping tenants with the skills and support to effectively participate. This including developing training on:

• running effective meetings• organising events• developing and carrying out surveys• recruiting members• producing newsletters• learning from others through a series of visits

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Project Introduction to Basic home DIY Tenant Group Perthcelyn Tenants and Residents Association TEG Agent Skill WalesLandlord RCT Homes

Skill Wales are a TEG agent engaging with clients and establishing themselves as a bilingual training provider operating throughout Wales. Tenants on the estate expressed a specific interest in completing a course that will allow them to carry out basic home repairs. This project is currently underway and involves a ten week course during which tenants complete a level 1 Agored Cymru qualification in basic DIY. RCT homes have also agreed to consider running further courses if the pilot course is successful.

One outcome is that tenants are offered “apprenticeships in the home”In addition under the Tenant Cash-back Scheme, residents have the chance to tackle everyday problems like leaky taps, fitting doors and painting and decorating. As well as receiving cash for their efforts - those who get a taste for DIY could also get on the career ladder with the opportunity of basic training programmes to help them develop their skills even further.

Project WHQS: FOD (Focus on Delivery)Tenant Group Caerphilly Tenant Information Exchange TEG Agent Welsh TenantsLandlord Caerphilly County Borough Council

Welsh Tenants supported by Arnold Phillips Limited (APL) are working with Caerphilly Tenant Information Exchange who have initiated this project. It is promoting the positive impact that Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) investment can have and supports independent and transparent scrutiny of the programme working with their landlord. The project is providing valuable lessons and tenant led scrutiny will be used to form the basis for a charter complete with tools that will be replicable across Wales. WHQS Focus on Delivery will ensure the standard is achieved and maintained, complimenting formal monitoring arrangements by Welsh Government and periodic review by the Wales Audit Office.

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Project Service user Participation StrategyTenant Group GISDA Service Users TEG Agent Open CommunitiesLandlord GISDA

GISDA is a registered Charity, which strives to raise awareness of homelessness in Gwynedd and works to reduce the problem of homelessness amongst young people in the county. The TEG projects helped create a service user participation strategy to ensure the young people have an input into how their services are delivered. It concentrated on the range, levels and methods of participation for a section of the community which needed support and guidance for the short term but who can then continually reshape the strategy for future services users.

Project Tenant Quality Assurance group projectTenant Group Pembrokeshire Housing Tenants Panel TEG Agent TPAS Cymru Landlord Pembrokeshire Housing Association

The Pembrokeshire Housing Tenants Panel wanted to develop their knowledge and skills to be able to independently assess and ensure the quality of Pembrokeshire housing services.

The project helped to:

• encourage involvement by tenants• establish the tenant quality assurance group • develop the skills knowledge and capacity of members• enable tenants to develop their knowledge of good practice in tenant quality assurance• involve tenants in the process of carrying out a quality assurance check of an identified

service area.

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Project Clear VoicesTenant Group Digartref Ynys Môn / Tenants Group TEG Agent TPAS Cymru Landlord Digartref Ynys Môn / Cymdeithas Tai Eryri

Digartref Ynys Môn provides supported accommodation on behalf of Cymdeithas Tai Eryri to young people who may have been affected by housing issues. The organisation supports those aged between 16 and 25 years to develop skills essential for independent living.

The project helped to:• look at the preferred options for involvement • explore the support needed to enable participation• develop the skills and knowledge to help organise and actively participate in the activities• build links and break down barriers with the wider community through looking at

equality and diversity issues• research and prepare an outline TP strategy for use by Digartref

The Clear Voice brand helped develop participation of current and former residents, increased the knowledge and skills of the group, and shaped future service delivery.

Project Flint Maisonnettes Tenant Group The Walks Residents Association TEG Agent Open Communities Landlord Flintshire County Council

The community is unusual in that it comprises 350 maisonnettes in the centre of Flint town. The nature of the properties means that achieving WHQS will be expensive and demanding. The maisonettes are very popular with the people who live there and the TRA were determined to ensure tenants have an effective say in any major decisions about their homes and community.

The group explored the possibility of establishing a community garden and the project offered valuable lessons on issues that matter to tenants and has a ‘read across’ to other groups throughout Wales.

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Project Tenant Assessment TeamGroup Joint Tenant ForumTEG Agent ROWAN Landlord DEVCO consortium

Following the introduction of a new regulatory regime for RSLs this project was based on putting tenants at the heart of self assessment. It involved developing a team of tenant assessors across four RSLs - Hafod, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda and Cynon Taf - within the DEVCO partnership with a total of 8500 homes. The Tenant Assessment Team includes three tenants and an RSL link officer from the four landlords. The project focussed on the Welsh Government’s new RSL assessment framework to ensure it:

• engaged with residents / service users, staff and partners• delivered objective assessments of performance focussing on outcomes• is based on services / issues that matter most to customers• leads to improvements that are implemented and managed effectively

The project involved producing training tools to support tenants assessing services of landlords other than their own. It builds on a number of previous TEGs that skilled up tenants to be involved in defining and monitoring the quality of services they receive and provides a useful reference for other tenant groups and landlords.

Project Increasing RepresentationTenant Group Tenant Monitoring Group TEG Agent Open CommunitiesLandlord Tai Ceredigion

Tai Ceredigion is the new RSL set up the county to transfer homes from the council. The Tenant Monitoring Group was very active in the process but following the ballot five leading members left to become Tai Ceredigion board members. The project focussed on developing opportunities for tenants to engage with and influence the new landlord with a particular emphasis on the north of the county and sheltered schemes as both were significantly under-represented.

The project has helped develop new ways of engaging tenants in rural communities and older tenants and will have potential relevance for other rural stock transfers.

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Project Creating and Monitoring Quality EnvironmentsTenant Group Quality Design Forum / Lower Hilltop TEG Agent Keep Wales TidyLandlord Bron Afon Community Housing / Tai Calon

Keep Wales Tidy worked with two communities to become empowered and give the tenants and residents new skills.

The project focussed on ensuring:

• tenants were aware of the environmental problems in their area• community safety issues were addressed• tenants gained skills to conduct community ‘walkabouts’

This project will help other communities identify and resolve the problems they face, with the back up from their landlord and help bring improvements to there community.

Project Ynys Lee – Co-operative StoreTenant Group Ynys Lee Tenants Group TEG Agent Open CommunitiesLandlord Costal Housing

Ynys Lee is an isolated estate with the nearest supermarket three miles away.Built around 1970 with a mixture 93 units of flats and houses. This project explored the feasibility of setting up a co-operative store in an empty ground floor flat with the aim of tenants running it themselves.

A Steering Group has been formed and has visited a similar initiative – a community shop on the Gower peninsular this visit only served to strengthen the resolve of the Steering Group to make a success of the initiative. The association has put in a planning application to change the use of a ground floor flat from residential to commercial use. The store will be used as a central hub in order to rebuild the community spirit and create networking opportunities and support, as well as a ‘drop in’ facility for everyone.

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Project Mystery Shopping for Tenants Tenant Group Cardiff City Council Tenants ForumTEG Agent Open CommunitiesLandlord Cardiff City Council

Cardiff council tenants wanted to have a dedicated group from hard to reach parts of the community including the BME, disabled and younger people in Cardiff, to ensure improved delivery of housing services. The project:

• recruited group members from under represented section of the community• planned and delivered training • organised a study visit to explore best practice in service improvement• reported findings to the housing department• promoted and publicised the work widely.

Through the project tenants have been able to suggest areas for improving services and delivering better value for money.

Project Training Young Tenants as Tenant Auditors Tenant Group Flintshire Local Voluntary Council TEG Agent TPAS CymruLandlord Flintshire County Council

Flintshire Tenants Federation had already created a successful Reality Checkers group so wanted to develop a similar group that would target younger people.

The project:

• established a tenant auditor group • developed the skills knowledge and capacity of its members• developed a sustainable approach to tenant participation• involved young tenants/residents throughout

The project succeeded in attracting young people who may not be interested in joining traditional tenants and residents groups.

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Project The Quality and Accountability projectTenant Group Denbighshire Tenants and Residents Federation TEG Agent TPAS CymruLandlord Denbighshire County Council

Denbighshire has a well established tenant and resident’s federation and a number of community voices of which work closely with the council housing services. During a review process tenants identified an aspiration to be more actively involved and to do the following:

• develop new options for tenant participation • promote the project widely to encourage involved and uninvolved tenants to participate• develop the skills, knowledge and capacity of tenants• develop new methods to monitor the quality of housing services and scrutinise landlord

performance• develop a sustainable approach to tenant participation

The project is helping the federation to participation and to be successful in attracting and recruiting new tenants.

Project Tai Cantref – Tenant Mentoring Tenant Group Tenants Voice TEG Agent Open CommunitiesLandlord Cantref Housing Association

The project is to build on Cantref’s existing volunteering policy and equip the tenants group with the skills to become tenant mentors. The mentoring group will provide an information signposting service to the wider tenant community on issues around general tenant participation opportunities as will as specific issues such as the imminent changes to housing benefit funding.

Going forward, the group can look to continuously develop basic modules of tenancy support to include issues such as fuel poverty and staying safe. In time the tenant mentors group will become experienced in the kind of difficulties their peers experience in an environment that is particularly important to fellow tenants.

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Further InformationHow to Apply for a TEGAll applications must be submitted by an Approved TEG Agent (ATEGA) on behalf of the tenants and residents group, using the appropriate Application Form (TEG 2).

Download the TEG 2 application form (pdf 1.9MB)Download the TEG Schedule of Terms and Conditions (pdf 280KB)

The following supporting documents should also be included with your application form:

• detailed proposal;• work programme;• budget breakdown; and • letter of support from the landlord(s).

Your application and supporting documentation should be sent to:

CIH Cymru 4 Purbeck House Cardiff Business Park Llanishen Cardiff CF14 5GJ

Or by email to michelle.glavin@cih.org

Applications are considered quarterly and must be received by the following dates to be considered in that quarter.

1. 30th April2. 31st July3. 31st October4. 31st January

Full deatils of the application process and criteria can be found at http://www.whq.org.uk/teg/applying.php

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Approved TEG Agents (ATEGAs)For more information on the approved TEG agents go to http://www.whq.org.uk/teg/agents.php

more info Birmingham Co-operative Housing Servicesmore info CG Consultancymore info Community Training Partnershipmore info Consult Capitalmore info Gayna Jones Ltdmore info Heart of England Consultancymore info Keep Wales Tidymore info Lottie Miller Training and Consultancymore info Marilyn Bryan Training and Consultancymore info n-ergy group ltdmore info Open Communitiesmore info Partners in Changemore info Phil Tomsmore info Rowan Associatesmore info Sazani Associates Limitedmore info Shelter Cymrumore info Skill Walesmore info Sylfaen Cymunedol Cyfmore info Tai Pawbmore info The Improvement Consultancy Ltdmore info Thomas, Jones and Battenmore info TPAS Cymrumore info Wavehill Consultingmore info Welsh Tenants

Tenant Empowerment GrantsGrantiau Ymrymhau Tenantiaid

TEG

Grantiau Ymrymhau TenantiaidTenant Empowerment Grants

TEG

Tenant Empowerment GrantsGrantiau Ymrymhau Tenantiaid

TEG

Grantiau Ymrymhau TenantiaidTenant Empowerment Grants

TEG