Working Groups
The Federation works to improve services for all tenants in the city.
One of the ways we do this is by setting up working groups that work in partnership with Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) and the Council. Tenant representatives from groups across the City are involved in this work. If you are a representative of a tenants and residents association in Newcastle and would like to get involved in any of our working groups, please contact the Federation.
Currently there are four working groups at the Federation.
Tenant Investment Forum
The Forum was set up in 2001 and works to develop and monitor improvements to council housing in the city. It helps to set standards for the delivery and quality of improvement work, discusses the implications of different investment and funding options for improving council homes and identifies strategic priorities for investment. The Forum also contributes to the development of planned programmes of work and the formulation of surveys, including tenant satisfaction surveys to gain tenants' views on investment services and priorities.
Tenant representatives, officers from Your Homes Newcastle and the City Council and workers from the Federation all play a key role in the Forum.
The Forum usually meets every two months. You can view the last set of minutes here.
Repairs Development Group
This group was set up in 1999 to monitor, review and develop proposals for improvements to the repairs and maintenance service. The views of service users and service providers are used to inform its work.
Tenants' groups representatives, workers from the Federation, officers from the Technical and Maintenance and Housing Management sections of Your Homes Newcastle and officers from CityBuild and the Strategic Housing sections of the City Council are all part of the group.
The Repairs Development Group usually meets every two months. You can view the last set of minutes here.
Living in Flats Working Group
The Living in Flats Group was established in 2001 to develop and monitor the services delivered to tenants in flats across the city. This includes discussing the delivery of concierge services, security arrangements for blocks of flats and services to blocks of flats without concierge service. The group also works to ensure that tenants are involved in the development and monitoring of concierge services at local and citywide level.
Tenants' group representatives, workers from the Federation and officers from Your Homes Newcastle are members of this group.
The Living in Flats group meets on a quarterly basis. You can view the last set of minutes here.
BME Forum
We want all of our tenants to be involved in a way which suits them. Whilst Newcastle has strong and active tenants and residents associations, black and minority ethnic tenants are seriously under represented. For this reason, the BME Council Tenants Forum was established in 2007.
We aim to break down barriers to participation by addressing people's needs and providing a safe, supportive environment for BME tenants to have their say on the housing service. The group also seeks new ways to reach and involve black and minority ethnic tenants and increase awareness of their housing needs.
BME tenants, workers from the Federation, officers from YHN and Strategic Housing all take part.
The BME Forum normally meets on a quarterly basis.
