Thursday 7 November 2013

Phil Morgan’s annual report, 2012-13

My third annual report – a great opportunity to outline another successful year working with a wide range of clients. Most have involved developing approaches to resident scrutiny, some on reviewing resident involvement and wider cultural change.

I am heartened by the response of residents to join scrutiny panels. And I thank staff, managers, board members and councillors for providing this opportunity to drive forward these improvements to services. I’m pleased to be at the heart of these cutting-edge approaches, like developing care scrutiny within resident scrutiny panels.

In my role I support, advise, present, train, mentor and learn. My work continues to be challenging and rewarding. I continue to speak at conferences and events, and was pleased to be part of the recent International Union of Tenants’ Congress in Krakow. Likewise I am a prolific commentator, mostly, but not exclusively, on housing issues. And, as well as someone who works with volunteers, I am an active volunteer myself.

Consultancy
C&C Resident Scrutiny Panel
I have just finished my third year working with C&Cs Resident Scrutiny Panel. The Panel’s work has resulted in improvements in services – contractor appointments, revised rent statements, a resident IT strategy and a new resident complaints panel. The Panel has just completed its first service review into security, which is currently being considered by C&C. I also supported C&C to develop a comprehensive resident engagement policy.

The Resident Scrutiny Panel has a strong emphasis on care and includes a care resident and a relative of a care resident. It receives safeguarding reports and a member sits on C&C’s safeguarding committee. The Panel’s work on scrutinising care services was featured as a Housing LIN case study and a Guardian article. This emphasis on housing landlords’ care is cutting edge and could drive accountability forward.

Jephson
Over the past year I have worked closely with Jephson to agree terms of reference and recruit a Resident Scrutiny Panel. I also helped Jephson develop innovative approaches including the recruitment of staff advocates to support scrutiny and involvement. The Panel has just completed its first service review into resident involvement – it is meeting with senior Jephson staff and board members to discuss the report and any next steps. I also helped recruit a Resident Involvement and Scrutiny Officer.

Shropshire Housing Group
Building on some early work, I have worked with Shropshire Housing Group to agree the terms of reference for a Resident Scrutiny Panel. We have just recruited ten Panel members. I look forward to working with them during their induction and the Panel’s first service review.

London Borough of Croydon resident scrutiny panel
I have continued to work with Croydon’s Resident Scrutiny Panel – scoping its second service review and helping capture findings and recommendations for both service reviews. We have discussed these with the relevant lead officer.

Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association
I was pleased to support Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association develop its first service review into cleaning and grounds maintenance. The report was discussed and agreed with the association’s housing services subcommittee.

Family Mosaic resident scrutiny panel
I spent some time with Family Mosaic’s Resident Scrutiny Panel to define its role and agreeing changes to its terms of reference. Together we identified the findings and recommendations of its first service review of the customer care line and submitted a report with recommendations that were agreed with Family Mosaic.

Peabody Trust Resident Consultative Panel
I have started working with the Peabody Trust’s new resident consultative panel to support members in their new roles – responding on emerging policy and reviewing progress on the resident engagement action plan. I also helped recruit the resident scrutiny panel.

Over the year I have also worked with the London Borough of Islington Residents' Improvement Taskforce on their role as an executive members. I have just started work, alongside my colleague Jane Eyles, with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and its resident scrutiny panel. I also finished work with Red Kite Community Housing’s Tenant Improvement Commission.

Speaking
I continue to be an in-demand speaker. This year I spoke at:
·       Omfax annual conference
·       Chartered Institute of Housing South West conference
·       Chartered Institute of Housing Midlands conference
  
·       Eastern Resident Involvement Champions conference
·       London Tenant Scrutiny Network events
·       Chartered Institute of Housing North West Resident Scrutiny event
·       Swedish Union of Tenants
·       Hull Tenants Forum
      Midlands Network for Resident Involvement Conference and meeting

Together with Sarah Hockey and the support of Sanctuary Housing, I organised an event for scrutiny panel members in Liverpool. We ran a report and an article based on the event, together with a Chartered Institute of Housing North West event at Liverpool Mutual Homes. The Guardian published a second article based on this work.

I was also a judge for the Housing Excellence and Housing Innovation Awards, 2013.

Commentating
I have an ongoing relationship with BBC radio with recent slots on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Radio Three Counties, BBC Radio West Midlands and BBC Radio Kent.

I continue to blog and write articles for dash 24, Housing magazine, The Guardian, Inside Housing, Private Rented Sector update, GRANTfinder and Clearview Systems.

   More thin blue line of regulation, 24 May 2013
   Joining up health and social care? 15 April 2013
   The dignity of Labour, 8 April 2013
   Direct payments - time for a U-turn? 26 February 2013
   Virtual shelter, 13 February 2013
   The tenant army rises, 9 January 2013
   The thin blue line of housing regulation, 10 December 2012
   Swift and certain justice, 11 June 2012

Volunteering
I am proud to be Vice-Chair of Wulvern Housing. Being a board member helps me tremendously with my wider work with landlords and tenants as well as my commentating. A highlight has been contributing to establishing and running a peer review for Wulvern with Trent and Dove Housing. 

After three years I stood down as a board member for the Chartered Institute of Housing North West. I still speak at their regional events in the North West and elsewhere.

I continue to volunteer for the excellent Manchester Jazz Festival and am chair of the personnel committee at St Hilda’s Church of England Primary School. And I was one of 120 volunteers at the stunning Speed of Light Show at Salford Quays.

I was pleased to be asked to moderate a session with representatives from many countries at the International Union of Tenants’ recent congress in Krakow. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many friends again.

You can find me on Twitter here – I comment on many topics, not just housing. My website is www.philmorgan.co.uk

Thanks
I rely on so many other people to make my work successful. I’m sure I will have missed some from this long list of thanks – so thanks to them too.

Jane, Sarah, Helen, Chris, Debbie, Jeremy, Julia, Adrian, Chris, Meleri, Maddie, Phil, David, Ann, Barbara, Kathie, Richard, Caroline, Julia, Helen, Tracey, Chris, Chris, Guy, Tim, Sheryl, Carol, Caroline, Eamonn, Gary, Vanessa, Tim, Mark, Alice, Crystal, David, Geraldine, Josephine, Magda, Anthony, Wendy, Nalini, Belinda, Michelle, Rob, Donna, Khalid, Jim, Paula, Jennie, Trevor, Neil, Michelle, Amber, Jon, Sunnuva, Ross, Pauleen, Matt, Angela, Sharon, Claire, Michelle, Sue, Sue, Sue, Ellen, Elaine, Andrea, Deborah, Jim, Sarah, David, Freda, Roger, Ngoni, Mark, Magnus, Anna, Bertil, Sven, Nadja, Penny, Lars, Jorgen, Barbara, Anne, Lesley, Elisabeth, Anna, Maria, Anders, Tracey, Helen, Nichola, Sam, Sarah, Aileen, Geraldine, Catherine, Ron, Barbara, Sarah, Jackie, Nirmal, Sheila, Michael, Sally, Margaret, Penny, Andrew, Gill, Rafael, Rebecca, Michael, Jo, Cathy, Debbie, Martin, Graeme, Laura, Sumitra, Joanne, Joanna, Aoife, Ron, Geoffrey, Josephine, Gill, Clair, Sue, Jackie, Jackie, Jackie, Julie, Lydia, Helena, Aydin, Rachel and Mylo.



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