Phil Morgan 2011-12
Welcome
As I commented last year, ‘I became confident of a market – in consultancy and commentating – for someone with integrity and honesty to stand up for tenant involvement and improving services.’ My approach to widening involvement – by improving services and anchoring it through robust scrutiny – remains as vital over this past 12 months.
I’m pleased to have worked with a range of landlords and tenants and helped realise the real achievements outlined here. And I’m pleased to be able to comment on major housing matters through 24dash.com and Housing magazine. I’ve relished the opportunity to speak at events and to judge the Housing Excellence and Housing Innovation Awards.
I’ve also continued my voluntary activity through Wulvern Housing, CIH North West committee, St Hilda’s CE Primary School and the Manchester Jazz Festival.
I welcome the same accountability that I insist on when working with landlords and tenants. Enjoy reading.
Phil Morgan
Consultancy
LB Hammersmith and Fulham
My main project during 2011-12 was reviewing resident involvement at LB Hammersmith and Fulham. Previous reviews had all proposed widening involvement which hadn’t been implemented. I spent time listening to residents, officers, councillors and MPs. My review concluded that the council’s approach to resident involvement, which had remained the same for 24 years, no longer worked. I led a consultation on a new resident involvement strategy and recruiting to new resident bodies.
Outcomes
• The council adopted a new resident involvement strategy – now more residents are involved in more ways with more impact on service delivery
• It consulted on ending the tenants levy
• As a result, it ended the levy – saving £170,000 a year
• A Local Residents’ Panel and Repairs Working Group were set up – including participants from diverse backgrounds with no prior involvement
• I worked closely with councillors, officers, residents, leaseholders and MPs, gaining bipartisan support
Central & Cecil Housing Care Support Resident Scrutiny Panel
I have continued my work with Central & Cecil’s resident scrutiny panel. I led an away day to discuss the implication of the Localism Act, closer working with the Central & Cecil board, how best to monitor its improvement plan, and widen communication with residents and staff.
I carried out a full review of the panel’s effectiveness including external comments from two active residents in Greater Manchester.
Panel’s impact
• Making a difference to the services and culture of Central & Cecil
• Monitoring performance on service standards
• Well placed to take on a monitoring role currently held by the operations committee
• Playing an active role in monitoring care performance as well as housing
• Using portfolio holders, reserving places for residents who meet the criteria and action tables to record agreed actions
Red Kite Community Housing
I have worked closely with Red Kite to develop its improvement commission which has an improvement and scrutiny brief, reflecting the organisation’s tenant-led ethos.
Outcomes
• Terms of reference agreed by the Red Kite board
• Three taster sessions for interested tenants and leaseholders
• Three staff sessions on the commission’s role
• Working with Red Kite staff and board to recruit 11 commission members
• Support for an induction and early work programme
Other consultancy work
• Nottingham City Homes – developing a co-regulation strategy with residents, staff and board members and setting out a new tenant involvement approach that emphasises widening involvement and service improvement. All proposals have been adopted.
• LB Croydon – supporting the resident scrutiny panel to complete its first service review of the council’s contact call centre. The report is with the panel for final agreement, and soon be presented to council officers.
• Jephson Housing Association – new work on its approach to tenant scrutiny
• Islington & Shoreditch Housing Association – a service review of cleaning and ground maintenance
• Family Mosaic Tenant Scrutiny Panel – support on co-regulation, its first service review and its relationship with Family Mosaic
• Green Deal for Sustainable Homes – authored a summary of parts 1, 2 and 3
Speaking
• East Midlands Tenant Participation Forum: Should tenant panels be accredited?
• Riverside South East Tenants’ Conference: How resident involvement has evolved
• East Kent Housing AGM and Tenants’ Conference: Tenant involvement matters
• LB Hammersmith and Fulham Leaseholders Conference
• Blackpool Tenants Academy: Key issues facing tenant scrutiny
• London Tenant Scrutiny Network: Preparing service review reports and key issues facing tenant scrutiny
Judging
• Housing Innovation Awards – 1 March 2012, London
• Housing Excellence Awards – 9 May 2012, Old Trafford
Commentating
• @philmorganblog
• 24dash.com
o Decent housing for teachers, nurses and young coppers, 26 September 2012
o Grant Shapps - the Good, the Bad and the Wikipedia entries, 21 September 2012
o Selling off dead expensive social housing, 28 August 2012
o Because volunteers are worth it, not worthies, 18 July 2012
o Swift and certain justice, 5 July 2012
o Housing's coming home to Manchester, 11 June 2012
o Working from home, 18 May 2012
o Payment of board members – the £100bn question, 8 May 2012
o A simple question for Mr Shapps, 25 April 2012
o Tenant involvement isn't ‘cuddly’, 11 April 2012
o The Tenant Services Authority – how to disappear completely, 10 April 2012
o Large scale voluntary transfer hasn't gone away, you know, 16 March 2012
o Mansion tax not bedroom tax? 17 February 2012
o Making the right to buy work for tenants?
o Tenant scrutiny is seriously detrimental to lazy landlords, 23 November 2011
o The FIT is dead, long live the Green Deal, 2 November 2011
• Housing magazine
o Defence Council Housing, 15 March 2012
o Green Deal jobs for tenants October 2012
With thanks…
Thank you to the tenants, residents, leaseholders, councillors and board members of LB Hammersmith and Fulham, Central & Cecil Housing Care Support, Red Kite Community Housing, Nottingham City Homes and LB Croydon for their support and tolerance of my advocacy of change.
Thanks more specifically to the following:
• Teresa, Geoff, Gerald, Shaun, Laura, John, Daniel, Anthony, Andrew, Paul, Janet, Ros, Shereze, Ibrar, Val, Sarah, Angus, Virginia, Michelle, Marilyn, Sheila, Susan Virginia, David, Tom, John
• Lee, Andre, Sally, Madeline, Laura, Meleri, Phil, Brian, Kieran, Jeanne, Winston, Rose, Derek, Adrian, Julia, Caroline
• Belinda, Jennie, Michele, Trevor, Neil, Robert, Donna, David, Christine, Jim, Khalid, Paula, Celia, Diana, Mohammed, Adam, Teresa
• Nick, Lesley, Kim, Kate, Janet, Andrew, Sheila, Afzaal, Cheryl, Gary
• Chris, Ian, Liz, Riki, Carol, Chris, Guy, Caroline, Ruth, Sheryl
• Wendy, Sue, Mike, Peter, Lyn, Lucy, Chloe, Helen, Brendan, Keith, Wendy, Sunnae,
Special thanks to Jane, Helen, Sarah, Debbie, Magnus, Sue, Barbara, David, Jeremy, Carla, Sue, Julia, Aileen, Geraldine, Michelle, Amber, Jon, Chris, Magician 73, Gill, Cathy, Deborah, my many salsa dancing partners, Simon, Radiohead and Helen
Dedicated to my lovely grandson Mylo
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