Leon Tricker
Portsmouth, UK.
I am a Service Improvement Manager for Guinness Hermitage, which is a company within The Guinness Partnership. I have worked in housing for 8 years, and took up my current position in December 2008. I am passionate about delivering the services our resident's want: my grandmother used to be a Hermitage Housing tenant, and she was an expert in how services are received! I believe the key to success is openness, fairness, and a culture of resident involvement and empowerment that translates their ideas into actual changes in service delivery. Outside of work... I am married; I write freelance articles for football publications; I follow a couple of football teams (Portsmouth and Havant & Waterlooville); I enjoy listening to and writing avant-garde electronic music; and I am considering becoming a dog trainer.
Recent activity
Comments (8)
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Comment on: ALMO to engage tenants through smartphone app
@ Melvin Bone
If it's available for iPhone it should also work on iPods, and millions of people own those.
Also, this article from November 2011 suggests almost half of UK adults own smartphones: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/28/iphone-sales-triple-october
I'm pretty sure some of those people live in social housing.
In fact I know they do - I've met them (and their iPhones)! -
Comment on: ALMO to engage tenants through smartphone app
I'm sure Northwards have incentives / rewards that appeal to other people.
I'd argue that for many years certain groups have been excluded from initiatives / incentives due to over-reliance on 'traditional' methods of engagement. So a targeted incentive is perhaps appropriate in this case, and I don't think it's unusual in any sector to promote a new product with a competition or incentive.
I'm wary of writing the idea of 'apps' off purely on cost grounds. You could easily start arguing against any form of involvement / engagement on that basis.
It would be interesting to get a follow-up on this story to find out how successful the app has been. But I'd rather be ambitious and give something a go rather than write an idea off in case it doesn't work. It's much easier to think of reasons not to do something than to take a risk and aim for progress.
One thing I am sure of is that smartphones will get cheaper, gradually become the norm, and people will rely on them more and use them in many different ways . I'm sure there were some sceptics when landlords started using email and websites. -
Comment on: ALMO to engage tenants through smartphone app
An interesting point, Rick. But does every incentive have to appeal to everyone? Or is it better to have a range of incentives aimed at different people?
I'd argue that the traditional methods of gathering feedback or encouraging involvement have only ever appealed to a select demographic - for example those who have the time, inclination, or ability to read publications, fill out written surveys, and attend daytime meetings.
I'm sure Northwards have incentives or methods of engagement for people who don't have access to a smartphone, or aren't interested in technology. And I'm sure some of the people who will engage through this 'app' have not been able to engage, or have not been interested in getting involved, via traditional methods.
Horses for courses and all that. Surely the imprortant thing is that everyone has an opportunity to engage in some way or another? That's how I would define 'equality' in this context. If we take the view that every initiative has to be available, or appeal to, every individual... well, I think that's the road that leads to a 'one size fits all' approach. -
Comment on: Grainger mulling social housing arm
As well as 80% market rents, I wonder if another attraction for private landlords is the steady de-regulation of social housing?
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Comment on: Grainger mulling social housing arm
As well as 80% market rents, I wonder if another attraction for private landlords is the steady de-regulation of social housing?
Discussions (4)
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Paying resident expenses in advance / 'petty cash' expense payments
We are reviewing the way we pay resident expenses for involvement activities. It would be great to find out if your organisation has any of the following problems, and how you deal with resident e
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Aids & adaptions to meet non-medical needs (e.g. cultural/religious practices.)
I'm looking for policies / guidance / best practice / opinions on aids & adaptions on non-medical grounds.
A specific example would be the Muslim requirement to cleanse with water afte -
'The Big Question' - quickly gathering views / surveying
Guinness Hermitage are considering an additional way of consulting with tenants. The idea is that every time we speak to a tenant, at the end of the conversation we ask one question on a par
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Local Offers - how are you developing them?
I've been involved with developing Local Offers for Guinness Hermitage (GH), which is part of The Guinness Partnership (TGP).
I'd be really interested to hear from residents and staff
Posts (24)
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Posted in: Who and what are the Key Stakeholders in a Housing Assoc
I'd add that 'think tanks' , pressure groups, professional bodies, and charities can also be classed as stakeholders.
Just be aware of the political or other agendas that these groups might have!
Relevant examples off the top of my head:
Shelter.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Centre for Housing Policy
Centre for Social Justice
CIH
NHF
Policy Exchange
IPPR
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Posted in: Aids & adaptions to meet non-medical needs (e.g. cultural/religious practices.)
Hi all - thanks for all the contributions so far.
Alasdair - I'm no legal expert, but is it true to say "a douche attachment adjacent the WC contravenes the WRAS Water Bylaws IN ALL CASES"?
The document you linked to suggests there is a requirement to comply with Water Fitting Regulations (WFR), and then goes on to suggest solutions to ensure you are complying.
This may mean an additional cost, that we may need to pass on to the tenant. But am I right I thinking there are ways to fit a shower hose for personal cleansing, and comply with the WFR?
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Posted in: Resident led Scrutiny - Landlord Approval of Terms of Reference
I'm not an expert, but I can tell you what we are doing at Guinness Hermitage (housing association).
Our Scrutiny Panel is made up of representatives, chosen by residents, from our resident area panels. It is still in the process of being set up, but the Scrutiny Panel will invite the staff they need to attend meetings and answer questions (kind of a 'select committee' approach.)
We have paid for an independent mentor to work with residents to set up the Scrutiny Panel. We paid for it (or rather residents did through their rent!), but residents did the advert, the interviews, and selected who they wanted to work with.
The TOR are still being worked on by the Scrutiny Panel and their mentor. The group recently did a presentation to our Board on their progress.
It is taking time but I'm really happy with the approach we've taken - more importantly I think our residents are happy because they have 'owned' this process from start to finish.
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Posted in: Paying resident expenses in advance / 'petty cash' expense payments
We are reviewing the way we pay resident expenses for involvement activities. It would be great to find out if your organisation has any of the following problems, and how you deal with resident expenses claims.
We currently pay in advance for mileage claims and we have accounts set up with train and taxi companies and hotels. We give residents the relevant account numbers if they prefer to book their own travel/accommodation, or one of our involvement officers does it for them.
However, some expenses claims are submitted 'on the day' of a meeting or event. Often this is for a bus fare or a small mileage claim, or it's sometimes because someone can't afford to wait for an advance claim to be processed: they need the cash back straight away. Because our stock is widely dispersed we often don't hold meetings at our offices - we use community centres, schools etc - and besides our offices don't take cash payments for rent so we don't have any 'petty cash' or 'floats' in our offices.
So our staff don't have access to petty cash to pay these 'on the day' claims. They often pay the expenses out of their own pockets and claim it back, but sometimes staff can't afford to wait until the next payday to get the money back.
The simple solution might seem to be to put a float / petty cash in all of our offices, but this might involve installing safes, and putting in place procedures for cash handling.
One other question re. paying expenses in advance. Can anyone confirm if this practice breaches any financial regulations?
Ultimately we want a solution that means tenants aren't 'out-of-pocket' for any longer than necessary.
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Posted in: Aids & adaptions to meet non-medical needs (e.g. cultural/religious practices.)
Thanks for your input Anon. Having looked into this further it seems there is currently little 'best practice' or guidance in this area.
The point you make re. the 'thin end of the wedge' is another one we've been discussing. One counter-arguement is that we should take a proportional approach - i.e. not being able to do everything is no reason not to do some things.
For example, we have guidelines for translation requests. We would translate, say, a tenancy agreement and terms and conditions. But we wouldn't translate an entire sign-up pack or customer handbook. I'm thinking that we should perhaps have similar guidelines for cultural/faith based adaptions.