Purpose
To provide a structured forum for residents to co-design the approach that Oxford City Council (OCC) should take to enabling meaningful resident involvement and engagement, ensuring that their views help shape the involvement and engagement structures, activities and methods for involvement, ensuring that our residents voices have influence and are heard at the top table.
Context
The Council is transforming the work of its housing services in response to new Consumer Standards from the Regulator for Social Housing. These standards require landlords to deliver safe, well-maintained homes and to listen to tenants’ voices. The Resident Involvement Co-Design Group (RICDG) is part of this transformation, helping to ensure that OCC’s approach to resident involvement reflect residents’ views and priorities.
Objectives
- Understand OCC’s recent transformation and direction of travel towards establishing a new approach to involvement and engagement.
- Understand the regulatory framework around resident involvement, with specific reference to the Regulator of Social Housing’s Transparency, Influence and Accountability Consumer Standard, and consider how best to meet that standard through the new approach.
- Consider a range of diverse inputs and approaches from stakeholders across the social housing sector and better practice models from Local Authorities to support the development of the new approach
- Consider the ongoing Resident Involvement Strategy development work and associated sources of recent resident feedback to support the development of the new approach.
- Understand OCC’s organizational needs around resident involvement and consider how best to build them into the new approach.
- Enable the views of OCC staff to be brought into the process.
- Promote the work of the group with other residents and OCC staff.
Outcomes
- A well informed, clear and strong set of resident-led recommendations proposing a new approach to involvement and engagement for OCC to consider, with a view to approval and implementation.
- A revised Resident Involvement Strategy for consideration by OCC as it progresses toward OCC Cabinet approval in November.
- A newly informed and empowered group of residents well-placed to move into the newly proposed approach alongside others.
- New levels of trust and respect between residents and OCC staff evidence of productive co-working.
- Evidence that OCC is compliant with the Regulator of Social Housing’s Transparency, Influence and Accountability Consumer Standard:
2.2.5 Registered providers, working with tenants, must regularly consider ways to improve and tailor their approach to delivering landlord services including tenant engagement (also known as resident involvement). They must implement changes as appropriate to ensure services deliver the intended aims.
Membership
- 8 to 12 residents (tenants, shared owners and leaseholders), selected to reflect a mix of tenures.
- Members are encouraged to attend all sessions and contribute constructively.
- Members will receive support and training to ensure that they can successfully access the group and understand the information provided to enable them all to contribute effectively.
- In addition to the Group Conduct statement below, members will be expected to adhere to a full RICDG code of conduct.
Meeting Format
- The outcomes of the RICDG will be facilitated by the Resident Involvement Team across a series of 4 sessions starting 6pm Wednesday 16 July and completing 4 September.
- Sessions will be held online via Microsoft Teams from 6pm to 7.30pm on the following mid-week evenings:
- Session#1 - Thursday 17 July: Introduction to the Co-Design task.
- Session#2 - Tuesday 5 August: Co-Design starts.
- Session #3 - Wednesday 13 August: Co-Design continues.
- Session #4 - Thursday 21 August: Co-Design concludes.
- Session #5 - Thursday 4 September: Presentation of recommendations to the Director of Housing.
- Residents will receive documents in advance and a substantial reading pack at the end of Session #1
Influence and Sign-Off
- Meetings will be recorded, minuted and shared with RICDG members and relevant OCC staff within 24hrs of each session
- RICDG recommendations will be presented to the Director of Housing at Session#4
- Finalized RICDG recommendations will be taken to OCC’s Housing Board for approval
- Post Housing Board approval, the finalized RICDG’s recommendations for the new approach to resident involvement will be implemented by the Resident Involvement Team and associated OCC staff
- The outcomes of the RICDG’s work will be reported to OCC Cabinet via the Executive Member for Housing to ensure our residents voices are heard at the top table
Group Conduct
- Encourage and respect diverse views and experiences
- Contribute constructively and listen actively
- Maintain confidentiality on sensitive matters
