Tenant committees
Content owner : housing@knh.org.uk Last updated : 05/03/11
About tenant committees
Tenant committees give tenants and residents the opportunity to influence KNH and Kirklees Council decisions affecting their areas. These meetings are open to the public.
There are four tenant committees in Kirklees, one to cover each of the four neighbourhoods managed by KNH:
- Batley and Spen
- Dewsbury
- Huddersfield North - which covers Huddersfield Central, Deighton, Dalton and the Dearne Valley
- Huddersfield South - which covers Crosland Moor, Colne Valley, Newsome, Almondbury and the Holme Valley.
Who can sit on a tenant committee
A Tenant committee is made up of:
- A representative and substitute elected from each of the tenants and residents associations in the neighbourhood
- A representative from the Kirklees Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations (KFTRA) Management Committee
- The Tenant Director for the neighbourhood who acts as an observer and link with the main Board.
Who can we put forward to represent us?
The two people you put forward must live in the area either in a council house or former council house originally sold under Right-to-Buy. Members of the Board or an employee of KNH cannot be tenant committee representatives because of the possible conflict of interest.
How do we nominate our representatives?
KNH will write to all the tenants and residents associations in the neighbourhood once a year asking them to elect their representative and a substitute to sit on the tenant committee for the forthcoming year.
If for any reason you have a vacancy during the year you can elect someone else to represent you for the remainder of that period.
Are the meetings open to the public?
Yes - meetings are generally open to the public to observe but they will be asked to leave if there are any confidential matters being discussed. Members of the public are not normally allowed to speak or ask questions but can do so, at the discretion of the Chair, if what they want to say is relevant to the agenda item. The Chair should never allow any members of the public to dominate or disrupt the meeting in any way.
The tenant committees' powers
Who will make the final decisions?
The Board are still responsible for making any final decisions but this new structure will allow tenants' views to be fed directly into the decision making process. Additionally, as the tenant Director of the KNH Board for the area, will be present at the Tenant Committee, they will be aware of the committees' views when attending the Board.
Can we recommend estate improvements?
Yes - each neighbourhood has a tenant-led environmental works budget and tenant committees decide which projects are funded.
What about other services on our estate?
The main focus of the tenant committees will be on services managed by KNH. Managers from other related services, will be invited along to the meetings from time to time to pass on information about their services, especially those services covered by the Quality Guarantee and to address any concerns tenants' might have about their performance.
Can the tenant committee do anything about services that are not up to standard?
Yes - the Quality Guarantee covers a range of services provided on council estates, setting out the minimum standards that customers can expect. The tenant committee will be able to issue a formal performance improvement notice, if KNH or any other service providers fail to achieve these standards. This will then be investigated by the Customer Services Panel who will report back to a subsequent meeting of the tenant committee.
Organisation of committee meetings
Meetings are normally held on a six-weekly cycle to coincide with meetings of the KNH Board. Additional meetings may be called if there are any urgent items to be discussed.
How will decisions be made?
Where possible, decisions will be taken by a consensus of opinion. Where a vote is needed each tenants
and residents association will have one vote, which can be cast by their representative on the committee or
their substitute if the representative is not present.
least a third of those tenants and residents associations entitled to attend at the tenant committee,
must be represented for a decision to be taken by the committee.The KFTRA representative and Tenant Director
do not have a vote.
Voting will normally be done by the show of hands. The tenant committee support worker will hand out
voting cards to those entitled to vote before the vote is taken to prevent any confusion about who has the
right to vote that evening.
A secret ballot can be arranged if the meeting prefers.
Who will chair the meetings?
An election is held at the September meeting to elect a Chair and Vice Chair for the coming year from the representatives of the tenants and residents associations. These elections will be conducted by a secret ballot.
Those standing for election as Chair of the Committee must live in a property rented from the council. This restriction does not apply to the Vice Chair.
Who decides what is discussed at each tenant committee?
A planning group will meet about a month before each cycle of tenant committee meetings to decide what should be included on the agenda and put together a rolling programme of items for future meetings.
This group will consist of :
- The Chairs of the four tenant committees
- A representative from KFTRA
- The Chair of KNH
- Senior managers of KNH.
The rolling programme will be based on what is coming up at the KNH Board and any requests for items
from tenants and residents associations or KFTRA.
There are several ways that you can ask for an item to be put onto a future tenant committee agenda.
You can
- Ask at the meeting
- Use the post-card included in your TRA pack
- Telephone or email the tenant committee support worker.
Your request will first be considered by the agenda planning group, who may get back to you for further clarification.
What happens if someone behaves badly at the meeting?
If someone behaves badly at a meeting, the Chair will ask that person to leave and their behaviour will be reported to their tenants and residents association. If this happens more than once they will be excluded permanently.
This includes the use of any racial or other offensive statements, jokes or remarks whether aimed at another individual present at the meeting or not, disruptive behaviour and the use of threats or intimidation towards other members.
Help for members
Will there be transport available to get to the meetings?
Yes - where there are sufficient numbers, arrangements will be made for a minibus to pick people up and
drop them off afterwards, otherwise you will be able to claim expenses.
Where possible you are encouraged to use public transport or share a lift to keep costs down. The cost of
taxis or any other expenses can only be paid with prior arrangement with the Neighbourhood Operations Manager.
To claim your expenses you should always complete an expenses claim form. Copies of this form can be found
in your tenant committee pack or are available from the support worker.
The costs of public transport can be repaid in cash on the night by handing in your completed expenses
claim form to the tenant committee support worker with a bus or train ticket where possible.
If you attend by car, you will be paid by the number of miles travelled. This includes any additional
miles used to give someone else a lift. Your completed expenses claim form should be either handed to the
support worker or posted to the Finance Manager based at Perseverance House. You will then be sent a cheque
for the amount claimed. To save on administration costs, please claim for two or three meetings at a time,
if this is possible.
Will training be provided?
Yes - a number of training sessions are being arranged which will benefit tenant committee members. Attendance at these is optional.
