Making Your Views Known Service Standard
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These are the standards you can expect from Ascham Homes when you take part in the management of your home.
More detailed advice is available in the ‘Residents Information Pack’ and the ‘Tenant Participation Compact’.
We recognise the importance of involving you in the decision-making process. We are committed to getting tenants involved effectively, especially in influencing our service standards and performance. We are looking to increase tenant representation in all areas in which we work.
We will consult you on housing management matters and give you an opportunity to make your views known.
We will consult before major changes in policy:
- individual tenants or as part of a group (estate, block or area)
- recognised tenants’ and residents’ associations & estate stakeholders
- leasehold forum meetings
- area Contract Panel meetings
- stakeholders and equalities group
- Tenants’ Council, and
- Tenant Investment Working Party
We will listen to your views through:
- customer satisfaction surveys
- focus and benchmarking groups
- feedback from the ‘Ahead’ newsletter, and
- Community Forums and Tenants Council
We will provide a dedicated staff resource for residents in the form of the Community Advice and Involvement Service (CAIS).
CAIS will:
- help tenants to form tenant and resident associations through advice, guidance and support
- research and promote good practice in resident involvement
- increase the number of tenants’ and residents’ associations and estate stakeholders
- improve the effectiveness of existing tenants’ and residents’ associations through training and capacity building
- promote equality and diversity initiatives to increase the level of Black and multi-ethnic tenant and resident involvement in Ascham Homes decision-making structures and panels, and
- work in partnership with other local authorities, and statutory and voluntary agencies to tackle social exclusion and help build stable communities.
We will provide residents with the tools they need to be effective.
A Tenants Resource Centre at 195 Wood Street E17 3NU provides access to computers, laminators, scanners, reprographic equipment, Internet and e-mail access, free telephone use, and a tenant information library.
The Centre also has access to a number of Community Centres, conference venues, and tenants’ meeting rooms that can be used free of charge for business purposes.
Grant Funding
CAIS, located at the Tenants Resource Centre, provides grant funding as well as advice for setting up tenant and resident associations.
Financial assistance is provided to tenants in two ways under the Start Up option. We provide an initial feasibility grant of £250.
Where an association has been running for more than a year, grant funding will be based on the following formula:
No. of properties Baseline funding Funding per household
No. of properties | Baseline funding | Funding per household |
Up to 50 | £150 | £2.00 |
50 – 100 | £250 | £2.50 |
150 – 200 | £300 | £3.00 |
200+ | £350 | £3.50 |
Grant funding under both options is meant to support the TRA with their administrative costs such as:
- phone costs
- stationery
- postage
- out-of-pocket expenses
- hall hire
- refreshments, and
- IT equipment, including Internet and emailing facilities.
We will provide all new TRAs with a basic stationery pack which will include:
- headed paper
- stamps
- envelopes
- pens, pencils, and
- pads of lined paper
TRA executive committee members will also be provided with photo ID cards to allow them to carry out their everyday business on their local estate and within Ascham Homes and LBWF offices.
Training and Capacity Building Initiatives
We are committed to provide recognized TRA committee members with training in a number of basic aspects that will help sustain and support tenants’ involvement. These include:
- induction training
- minute taking and book keeping skills
- chairing meetings skills
- equalities and diversity training
- recruitment and selection skills, and
- leaflet and publicity design.
We will make sure that our TRAs are subscripted members of the Tenant Participation and Advisory Service (TPAS) so that all TRAs will have access to good practice and benchmarking resources and capacity building opportunities.
We will also make sure that where a TRA has responsibilities for managing a community centre, they receive an initial subscription to the National Association of Voluntary Community Groups and receive one year’s subscription to Community Matters Magazine.
We will compile, design and distribute to every recognized TRA a tenants and residents association training and good practice manual which will cover:
- the role of TRA executive committee members
- role of TRA members
- TRA rights and responsibilities
- managing TRA finances
- tips on fund raising, and
- how to claim out-of-pocket expenses.
For more information, please see the ‘Tenant Participation Compact’.
As stated in our Tenant Participation Compact, we will:
- agree the level of dedicated resources, both money and staff, available for tenant participation throughout the borough
- consult in advance of any budget issues that may affect tenant participation
- examine and introduce innovative approaches to tenant participation
- undertake regular reviews of consultation processes to ensure continued efficiency and effectiveness
- work in partnership to create specifications for all contracts, including utilities, housing repair and management
- inform tenants about the scope and progress of any major works or any projects that may affect tenants quiet enjoyment of their homes
- support tenants’ access to independent advice
- recognise and value the independence of all tenant groups
- recognise and value tenant representatives’ voluntary contribution and time, and
- review and update tenant participation standards each year.
Performance targets
Our aims include:
- having 41 Tenants and Residents Associations in operation in 2005/06, 47 in 2006/07, and 53 in 2007/08
- satisfying 75% of tenants with opportunities for participation in management and decision making in relation to housing services provided in 2005/06, 76% in 2006/07, and 77% in 2007/08
- satisfying 77% of ethnic minority tenants with their opportunities for participation in management and decision making in relation to housing services provided in 2007/08 (during our next satisfaction survey), and
- satisfying 79% of non-ethnic minority tenants with their opportunities for participation in management and decision making in relation to housing services provided in 2007/08 (during our next satisfaction survey)
Customer care
We will provide good customer care to all our customers, our staff will be friendly, polite and keen to help you, dealing with your enquiry with sensitivity and discretion.
We will:
- wear a visible identity badge
- promote and provide equality and fair treatment for everyone
- reply to all correspondence within seven working days
- provide a contact name, office and e-mail addresses, and a direct dial number in all our letters
- deal with all complaints within 28 days and learn from them
- write in plain English
- answer your phone call within five rings, telling you who we are and asking how we may help you
- forward our phone to colleagues when we are out of the office
- call you back on the same day if you call before 1pm or call you back by 1pm the following day if you call after 1pm
- make sure all our publications are available in the most common community languages, and other formats such as audio tape, Braille and large print
- communicate through interpreters and British Sign Language (BSL) signers for residents who have specific needs, and
- do our best to give you information and advice about other local services that we do not provide, including services provided by the council and by other agencies.
Further, we agree to:
- provide your personal details when we pass your enquiry to a specialist, together with the details of your enquiry so, that you do not have to repeat it to another person
- keep the appointment that you have made and tell you beforehand if we have to cancel it
- carry out customer satisfaction surveys of at least 10% of our customers, and
- keep you informed of how well we are doing in delivering the service.
You can help us by:
- treating your home and surroundings and our staff with respect
- telling us about any changes in your circumstances so that we can provide you with the best possible service, and
- telling us what you think of us.
We will use customer feedback to improve our service. Please tell us if you feel that we have not met any of the service standards.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can make a formal complaint. The leaflet ‘Ascham Homes Complaints Procedure’ gives you information about making a complaint and is available through all of our outlets. Our staff will help you make a complaint if you are not able to do so.
How to contact us
You can access our services in a number of ways.
Telephone Ascham Direct on 020 8496 4197
The lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday for a full service.
If you live in Billericay or Wickford, you can phone Ascham Direct on 0845 3000 363 (charged at the local rate).
You can write to us at:
Ascham Homes, 1 Wood Street, Walthamstow
London E17 3JU.
You can e-mail us at:
direct@aschamhomes.org.uk
direct@aschamhomes.org.uk
Please note that although we check this site regularly during the day, you should not use it to report urgent repairs.
You can visit us at:
Ascham Homes, 1 Wood Street, Walthamstow
London E17 3JU.
Open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday
Ascham Homes (Billericay office)
16 Morris Avenue, Billericay, Essex CM11 2LB.
Open 9am to 11am, Tuesdays and Thursdays
16 Morris Avenue, Billericay, Essex CM11 2LB.
Open 9am to 11am, Tuesdays and Thursdays
In an emergency outside the normal hours, as mentioned above, contact the joint Ascham Homes and London Borough of Waltham Forest emergency service on: 020 8496 3000
Other useful contacts:
Waltham Forest Direct, 772-776 High Road, Leyton, London E10 6AE
Waltham Forest Direct is the London Borough of Waltham Forest Council’s contact centre.
For all council services, call them on:
020 8496 3000
Community Advice and Involvement Service (CAIS)
Telephone: 020 8496 2690
Telephone: 020 8496 2690
CAIS is based at the:
Tenants’ Resource Centre
195 Wood Street
Walthamstow
London E17 3NU.
Tenants’ Resource Centre
195 Wood Street
Walthamstow
London E17 3NU.
Open 10am to 12 noon and 2pm to 4pm, Monday to Thursday, and from 10am to 1pm on Fridays (this may change).
Ascham Homes's publications
You can get copies of our service standards, information leaflets, Decent Homes programme, Tenants Compact and Residents Information Pack from:
- Ascham Homes reception at 1 Wood Street
- Waltham Forest Direct Shops, and
- Social services public reception areas
If you would like us to post a publication to you, please call Ascham Direct on 020 8496 4197.
You can download all our publications from this website.
Related Documents
These are the standards you can expect from Ascham Homes when you take part in the management of your home (270 KB)