Agenda item

This report provides an update on the range of environmental improvement projects that the council’s Resident Involvement Team in the Economy Department has undertaken with the resident-led Investment Group and showcases projects that deliver direct benefits to our communities.

It also provides an update on the wider involvement structure in housing and how H&F as a whole is coming together to develop a community engagement strategy to support the communities we serve.

Daniel Miller (Head of Community Engagement /Resident Involvement & Service Improvement Manager), gave a brief introduction and asked Magda Goncalves – (Resident Involvement and Governance Manager),  to provide a presentation on the  environmental improvement projects (EIP) delivered between 2020 and 2021, where over £500k of improvements had been undertaken on council housing estates. The presentation covered what EIP were, the levels of investment and the projects funded by the investment group. Further topics included: the 2020/21 Place Environmental Rejuvenation Programme Bids, updates on Neighbourhood Improvement Project (NIP) Bids in the North and South of the borough and the successful implementation of the H&F Urban Ecology Trail.

In the second part of the presentation, Daniel Miller gave an overview of Housing Involvement work. Information was provided on the Resident Involvement Strategy 2019 to 2022, the changing nature of involvement and engagement since the Covid-19 pandemic and current projects being worked on. Finally, information was provided on future activities and workstreams.

The Chair welcomed the comprehensive updates and acknowledged that a significant amount had been achieved since the last update.

Councillor Adronie Alford asked a series of questions. In relation to the sustainability of EIPs, she enquired if these were going to last and how they were going to be maintained. Turning to anecdotal evidence, she raised drug dealing which had occurred at St Peter’s Terrace and enquired whether planters and furniture would be removed to curtail this. In response, Daniel Miller confirmed that a joined-up approach was being taken and most of the projects were delivered by Idverde, who was also the Council’s grounds maintenance contractor. This meant it was important sustainable solutions were delivered which dovetailed with existing maintenance plans. With regards to longevity, Daniel Miller confirmed that the wood used for planters, seating and playground equipment was tantalised wood which had an estimated shelf-life of 15 years.

Addressing the St Peter’s Terrace issues, Daniel Miller confirmed that a Housing Management plan was in place to address these issues and the area of concern did not relate to the NIP project undertaken there.

Action: Daniel Miller to provide Cllr Adronie Alford with an update on the St Peter’s Terrace issues.

Councillor Adronie Alford commented that she had recently attended a Sheltered Housing Forum meeting and she was concerned about the reduced number of resident attendees. She asked whether a decline in numbers was representative of other forums. In response, Daniel Miller confirmed that this was not representative of other forums and he cited the Housing Representative Forum which had recently been attended by 20 resident representatives (which was an average number). However, he acknowledged attendance was important and officers were looking at ways to support representatives attend forums in greater numbers in the future, such as through more support to access online meetings and exploring the use of hybrid meetings in the future at a time when it’s safe to do so.

Councillor Adronie Alford acknowledged that officers were acting on a variety of involvement fronts and queried whether resources were being spread too thinly as a result. Daniel Miller confirmed he had a fully staffed team, and everyone had their own respective responsibilities. He highlighted the important role played by Block Champions and confirmed Officers reviewed current ways of working and the involvement structure and made changes as and when necessary.

Councillor Adronie Alford asked what support was in place for the gap sites and small blocks which were prone to suffering from anti-social behaviour. In response, Daniel Miller confirmed a Block Champions Forum had been established, so if residents wished to join these as part of the block champions forum, their input would be welcomed.

Action: Daniel Miller to provide further information on  the Block Champions to Cllr Adronie Alford.

Councillor Helen Rowbottom welcomed the progress that had been made. She asked what routes were used to engage those groups which did not have a strong TRA. Daniel Miller confirmed that during consultations, all affected residents were written to and postal and online feedback was also sought. The Resident Involvement Team also undertake door knocking as well as phone calls to verify that the improvements being made had resident buy-in. The Team were also using text messages to get important messages out to residents.

Councillor Helen Rowbottom asked whether it was a competitive bid process or if projects were initiated if there had been enough interest. In response, Daniel Miller explained the criteria the Investment Group had put in place to ensure that no specific site/s dominated funding streams and underlined the importance of achieving community buy-in and sustainability with these projects. Magda Goncalves reiterated the importance of feedback and highlighted that all consultations encouraged new suggestions from residents to keep ideas fresh and innovative.

The Chair, Councillor Rory Vaughan, welcomed the considerable number of projects that had been completed, the diverse range of active forums and the work which had been conducted on estates.  He asked if officers reviewed projects to assess their impact in terms of whether the facilities were well used (in the case of playgrounds) and what parameters were used to gauge the success of a project. In response, Daniel Miller confirmed that as many of these projects were very recent, assessing the effectiveness of the projects was the next stage officers would be looking at. A lesson learnt at this stage was to ensure that communities were engaged throughout the project and that by its conclusion, the outcomes reflected the groups original vision. Magda Goncalves confirmed the Authority now had a pro-forma in place which was used to collect data at the end of the project to look at what had gone well and what aspects might be improved in the future.

The Chair asked if successful projects were used a catalyst to engage even more residents. Daniel Miller confirmed that playgrounds were good examples of pocket improvements within blocks which residents reacted to and wanted transposed across whole estates. It was also noted that when ball courts were installed, there was further resident interest and engagement when murals (which sought their design input) were integrated within a project.

Councillor Adronie Alford asked if checks were made on projects, 18 months to two years after their conclusion to ensure they were sustainable. In response, Daniel Miller confirmed the Council were developing a community asset register which would list all local facilities, including their condition. In addition, the Council was working closely with Idverde to ensure projects such as community gardens were revitalised. Magda Conclaves highlighted the community fund which residents could also bid to use from Idverde.

Councillor Homan, Cabinet Member for Housing, commented that she had asked similar questions around the issue of sustainability and would continue to do so, to ensure that projects delivered value for money. She explained that engagement was at the heart of the Administration in terms of doing things with residents and not to them.

Councillor Lisa Homan thanked those residents which had put many hours work into making projects successful through their commitment to the forums and service improvement groups. She welcomed the scrutiny of Council performance by residents and agreed with the Committee that the move to online provision (necessitated by Covid) had been a challenge. However, aspects such as the voting buttons used at Resident’s Voice had worked brilliantly. Councillor Lisa Homan formally thanked the Resident Involvement Team for the innovation they had brought to resident engagement during the pandemic period. Closing her remarks, Councillor Lisa Homan referred to gap sites and the block champions and the importance of ensuring these areas were engaged.

Concluding the item, the Chair underlined the value of resident-led projects evolving to co-production, the importance of sustainability and given how recent some of the project work was, that a comprehensive evaluation process would take place at some point in the future.

RESOLVED

That the Committee noted and commented on the report.