Agenda item

Andrew McNeil, Assistant Director, Housing Strategy:

a.    presented the proposed amendments to Lincoln Tenants’ Panel (LTP) Constitution for comments prior to referral to Executive

b.    advised that the LTP Constitution set out how the Lincoln Tenants’ Panel was to operate and explained that the Constitution was reviewed on an annual basis

c.    summarised the main proposed changes to the LTP Constitution as detailed at paragraph 3 of the report

d.    invited committees questions and comments

Question: Asked who would be involved in the selection process of members onto the Lincoln Tenant Panel.

Response: The selection process had not been formalised yet, it would likely be members of the LTP and Officers, but this would be checked and reported back to Policy Scrutiny Committee.

Question: Asked when the LTP Constitution would be implemented.

Response: The draft LTP Constitution had been considered by the LTP Panel and would be implemented once it was agreed by Executive.

Question: Expressed concern that the panel may become a self-selecting committee and asked if any objections had been received.

Response: No objections in relation to this had been received.

Comment: Referred to the proposal to change seats on the LTP being based on geographical areas and expressed concern that the whole of the City may not be represented.

Response: The proposal was that LTP members covered all Council housing areas in the City and would be expected to attend events in all areas. There had been issues previously where the LTP had focussed on a specific area and not the whole City.

Question: Asked why there had been a focus on one area of the City.

Response: It had been difficult to achieve a representative from all areas of the City on the panel.

Question: Asked how a broad representative from across the City would be ensured.

Response: Part of the selection process would be to ensure that there was a balanced representation on the panel.

Comment: Expressed concern that the proposed move to a more strategic approach was a significant downgrading of how tenants could have a say in how their estates were run.

Response: The panel was not an elective body. Previously there had been difficulties in getting a representative on the panel from all areas of the City. The drive for the proposal came from the LTP and it was felt that this would help to get people on the panel and cover all areas of the City.

Question: Asked if the revised constitution had been consulted on with all tenants.

Response: This would need to be checked and reported back to committee.

Comment: Expressed concern that the democratic voice was being down graded and suggested that a full consultation with tenants take place before the proposal could be referred to Executive.

Comment: Expressed concern regarding the shift from an election process to officers selecting members of the panel and suggested that checks and balances needed to be put in place to ensure that tenants were represented and that the panel was not run by the landlord.

Response: This was not the Councils intention and agreed that there needed to be checks and balances in place, this would be considered.

Comment: There needed to be some amendments to the revised constitution to make it more transparent. There needed to be a more proactive approach to recruiting members from across the City. Expressed concern that without this in place there could be a click of people on the panel from one area of the City.

Question: Asked how would the Chair and Vice Chair of the panel be selected.

Response: It was proposed that an independent person would select the most appropriate candidate against a specific criteria.

Comment: The Chair and Vice Chair should be elected by the tenant body as a whole.

Response: The proposal was that the tenants panel had a say as to who was elected and would be assisted by Officers.

Comment: Suggested that the proposal be referred back to the LTP for further consultation with tenants.

Response: Clarified that currently members were elected from the area committee/body and were not elected from an open election for all tenants in the City.

The committee requested that the comments raised during the discussion be considered and that the proposal be referred back to LTP for further consultation with the area committees and also an electronic consultation with tenants.

RESOLVED that the Lincoln Tenants Panel Constitution be deferred for further consultation and be brought back to Policy Scrutiny Committee in June 2022.