Getting involved and making a difference

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What is Resident Engagement?

Getting involved doesn’t necessarily mean having to travel long distances and spend hours at meetings. There are a variety of ways you can make a difference depending on how involved you want to be and how much time you can spare.

The primary function of Resident Engagement is to encourage and support tenants through a range of opportunities to engage with the housing service. It relates to the fair and equal engagement of tenants to involve them in service improvement, policy and management of the organisation. Facilitating a two-way process - to provide information and communicate with tenants about housing services, performance, standards and values, creating an environment for participation while offering minimal influence.

We will provide training information, support, transport and reimburse your expenses. You can find out more about some of the ways you could get involved in our Resident Engagement Strategy. If you have any questions or require further information please contact our Engagement Team in Housing and Property Services.

Consultation

You have the right to be kept informed. We will consult with you and keep you informed of any changes that affect the service you receive regarding your tenancy and your home. How we might ask about or gauge tenants’ opinion about the service:

  • Complaints and other feedback 
  • Surveys 
  • Road shows 
  • Tenant meetings 
  • Talking to Tenant Representatives 
  • One-to-one consultation about changes to your home 
  • NKDC Housing Facebook Group

We use the information we receive to help us improve our service to you. We share the results of our consultation with you through the tenants ‘At Home’ magazine, leaflets, letters and the website.

We consult with all tenants on major issues, such as updates to the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan, which sets out how the Council manages and maintains the housing stock and sets priorities for the future of the housing budget.

To meet tenants’ needs we consult our group of Tenant Representatives on any changes, amendments, developments and monitoring to the service. Not only do they give a tenants point of view on all service developments and changes, but they also assist the Council in making decisions and developing policies and procedures.

Tenant Liaison Panel (TLP)

What does the TLP do?

The Tenant Liaison Panel (TLP) is an advisory part of the Council’s decision making process, giving tenants a voice with which to promote their interests, in partnership with the Council as a landlord. The Panel considers a broad range of issues including consultation on Government policy, Council policy and procedures.

The Panel holds a minimum of four meetings per year with a view to giving tenant representatives the opportunity to discuss matters affecting their homes and the local environment. The forum involves Members and officers of the Council, and identifies areas where the representatives can influence decisions prior to debate by the Executive Board or other Council Committees.

The Tenant Liaison Panel aims to involve as many council tenants as possible from across the whole of the district, and urges representatives from as many communities as possible to come forward, to aid this and to ease the financial burden of involvement, The Council shall reimburse reasonable travel expenses.

Who is on the panel?

The Tenant Liaison Panel is a partnership consisting of five elected Councillors and all Tenant Representatives. All representatives must sign the ‘Tenant Representatives Conduct Guidance’.

The post of Tenant Liaison Panel Chair alternates between Councillor and Tenant representative, they each serve a two year term of office. More than one term of office may be served. 

Powers and duties of representatives

Duties

  • To identify issues of concern to tenants and residents.
  • To monitor and comment on the housing services policy and strategy.
  • To consider matters referred to the Panel by other committees and panels.

Powers

  • To request that the panel be consulted prior to the commencement of any project, scheme or initiative relevant to housing policy/ tenant participation.
  • To request that Council Officers submit reports to the Executive Board or other committees on the panel’s behalf.
  • To vote on matters referred to the panel for consideration. Each representative has one vote, with decisions being made by the majority vote

Tenants Investigating Services

The Tenants Investigating Services group is a sub group of the Tenants' Panel who investigate the service that tenants receive from North Kesteven District Council as a housing landlord.    

They choose the topic they want to investigate and have access to all the officers, documents etc or consult with other tenants to find out their experience of the service and if it is up to standard. The group also look at how other landlord’s standards compare to NKDC.

The evidence they gather is used to produce a report with a range of recommendations for improvement for all NKDC tenants. This report is presented to the housing department managers who assess the recommendations and decide if they can be implemented. Managers are required to give reasons if recommendations are declined.

Tenants representative

A tenants’ representative is someone who speaks on behalf of council tenants (and other residents) in their street or area - like a one person tenants’ association.

As a tenant of North Kesteven District Council you are best placed to help the Council tailor its services to meet the needs of tenants. Tenants now have a far greater role in the management of housing services. We need tenants to help develop the best service possible that meets the needs of all our tenants with the resources available to us. In short – we need your help. 

There is a tenant participation team to support tenants to become representatives and we provide or pay expenses for transport, childcare etc so you can attend meetings and training, help with stationary and use of office equipment if required and access to information about the Council and we provide and encourage representatives to attend training event.

If you would like more information or would like to be involved please email the Tenant Participation Team or call on 01529 414155.

At Home Magazine

At Home is the magazine for North Kesteven District Council tenants. The magazine features invaluable advice and news for tenants about their housing, the council and their local community.

To receive At Home via email, please email the Tenant Participation team and request to be added the email list.

To read the latest editions, see the downloads tab.

Annual report to tenants

We publish the Annual Reports for tenants based on the requirement of the Housing Regulatory framework issued by the Regulator of Social Housing. The Regulatory Framework is made up of several standards:

  • Home
  • Tenant involvement and empowerment 
  • Neighbourhood and community
  • Tenancy
  • Value for money

To receive the Annual Report via email, please email the Tenant Participation team and request to be added the email list.