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February 2008 Dear New / Existing CASP Member, Please find enclosed a copy of a flyer which gives details of the Association’s next General Meeting – please come to the meeting on Monday 3rd March 2008! Following the CASP AGM in April 2007 the newly elected CASP Management Committee continues to work hard on behalf of all its members – registered and non registered members. In 2006 members agreed the idea of introducing a ‘free’ membership. Meetings would continue to be advertised in the same way (local press, etc) but flyers, updates, etc, would only be sent to those members who formally register as members of CASP. The Association, however, felt is was essential to send out one ‘quality’ mail out per year to every council street property tenant and leaseholder and will continue to do this ahead of the Association’s AGM. Investing in In April 2007 the Executive Member for Housing, Cllr Chris Naylor, was invited to attend the Association’s AGM and address the meeting on As expected, many members at the meeting expressed concerns about the Council’s possible plans to sell-off council street properties as a way to lever in much needed investment for More recently, it was announced that The CASP Management Committee remains united in the view – and has made this view known on a number of public occasions – that adequate ‘direct’ government funding for council housing is essential to safeguard public housing with democratic accountability. The CASP Management Committee has also asked for a commitment from the current administration that there should be no PFI (Private Finance Initiative), stock transfer or other sale of council housing, especially as the tenants and residents of The Association has also responded to Investing in Access a copy of the Association’s deputation / formal response to Investing in The Association believes that it is crucial that we move forward with a united voice, tenants and councillors from all political parties to actively campaign to secure the funding for its housing stock and to keep all our homes! In order to allow the Association to be as representative as possible, it is vital that we continue to listen (and act on!) the views of our membership. It is also important for our members to make their views known on this issue by attending the Association’s General Meeting on Monday 3rd March 2008! The Housing and Regeneration Bill Attention! An important Bill was introduced to the Commons on the 15th November last year (2007). The Housing Regeneration Bill will have far reaching consequences for all homes within the public sector. Various agencies will be abolished including the Housing Corporation and new regulatory bodies are being created, e.g. Oftenant. Among other measures Local Authorities will no longer have to be accepted by the Secretary of State on an “…….. annual disposals programme before (they) seek her consent to a large scale transfer of housing to the private sector” Nick Webb (Strategy and Commissioning Unit, Camden Council) has provided the below bullet points to help summarise the purpose of the Bill:
If you have access to the internet, for a much fuller picture, you can visit www.communities.gov.uk or google “The Housing Regeneration Bill UK”. As an Association, we have repeatedly made our views known on the importance of council street properties receiving a good quality and responsive housing service. From listening to our members we recognize that many tenants and residents feel that the services they receive from The Plan will mean changes to the way Are the changes going to mean genuine ‘improvements’ in the way services are delivered to tenants and residents? The Association’s General Meeting on Monday 3rd March 2008 will give tenants and residents a further opportunity to hear more about The CASP Compact (Action Plan!) with Since July 2005 a CASP Management Committee sub-group has been involved in developing a formal Compact with Camden Council. The Compact is not a legal document but it will provide an additional tool for CASP to use to ensure that tenants and residents are properly represented. Discussions around the development of the Compact have been guided by issues and concerns raised directly by council street property tenants and residents. One of the main aims of the Compact is to ensure that CASP is provided with the right level of support by Camden Council to enable it to function as an Association by meeting its day-to-day needs, and to involve LBC street property tenants and residents in the decision-making process regarding the management, maintenance and future funding of council street properties. CASP has also met regularly with the Executive Member for Housing, and previous Executive Members for Housing, in order to progress the CASP Compact. After numerous drafts (and many, many disagreements!) including much input from The CASP Management Committee and Camden Council will mutually monitor each other’s performance in delivering the aims set out in the CASP Compact. The CASP Compact is a ‘working’ document and will be reviewed at regular intervals. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the CASP Compact, please contact the Association (details below). A copy of the document can also be downloaded from our website: www.casweb.org/casp Hard copies of the CASP Compact will also be available at the CASP General Meeting on Monday 3rd March 2008 for members to take away. Camden’s Tenant Participation Strategy – Update The CASP Management Committee remains united in the view that the provision of TP services must be inclusive, accountable and accessible to everybody. One of the largest and most controversial challenges facing In consultation with Tenants and community groups from all over the borough they have developed “Tenant Participation for everyone – an inclusive Tenant Participation Strategy”. The strategy report is due to be discussed by *principles of inclusiveness will be applied across the board in all areas of our tenant participation activities and structures – from the language used in communications to the method of selecting tenant representatives, including those from under represented or marginalized communities and will ultimately strengthen the tenant voice and its ability to influence decision making. We are also determined to ensure that tenant participation mechanisms are effective and add value to the work that we do* *We propose that CASP are offered two representative places on each DMC with full voting and grant rights after registration. The Council focuses a considerable amount of resources to funding and servicing DMC’s and their members, funded from the Housing Revenue Account which street property tenants also contribute to. We believe that it is therefore fair and equitable to afford them full DMC membership. CASP will, of course, be expected to put in place appropriate nomination / election arrangements for its local DMC representatives* The CASP Management Committee aims to be kept informed and fully involved in the process in order to ensure that tenants and residents who live in council street properties are not left out of the loop! CASP District Walkabouts – Get Involved! In response to concerns raised by residents regarding the lack of opportunity for council street property tenants and residents to get involved in walkabouts in their areas, the Management Committee has successfully worked on producing a borough-wide ‘walkabout’ model, which has not only helped to identify a number of community safety and environmental issues, but which has also encouraged involvement in different ways from as many tenants and residents as possible. Walkabouts have now taken place in If you wish to know more about CASP walkabouts in your district, contact the Association for more details. If a council street property tenant or resident has an urgent concern about a repair to their property, or wishes to raise a community safety issue, we advise all tenants and residents to contact their DHO’s / Repairs in the first instance. However, if they still have concerns they are encouraged to contact CASP. CASP EDITORIAL BOARD – Get on BOARD and make YOUR views known! Since February 2007, the CASP Management Committee has been involved in the formulation of a CASP newsletter for council street property tenants and residents to be sent out with its annual mail out to every council street property throughout the borough – our last annual newsletter was sent ahead of the Association’s AGM in April 2007 and we aim to do the same this year. We would very much like to encourage as many council street property tenants and residents as possible to get involved in the formulation of the next CASP newsletter – you don’t need to be a formal member of the CASP Management Committee – we just need you to want to be involved in producing the newsletter. Do you have views on any issue affecting If you would like to get more involved, please contact the Association – we very much want to hear from you! Contact Details If you wish to get more involved in the work of the Association or want to forward your views, contact the CASP Committee at camdenstreetproperties@yahoo.co.uk. Alternatively, contact Paul Caton, If any tenant or resident would like this material translated, please contact the Association and we will do our best to assist. Many thanks for your support! |
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