Panel Achievements (Last 8 Sessions)Thomas Broad welcomed the panel and highlighted their accomplishments over the past eight sessions, including:<ul type="disc"><li>Visit to the Contact Centre: Panel members toured the contact centre to gain a better understanding of resident service operations.</li><li>Mystery Shopping: The panel conducted &quot;mystery shopping&quot; exercises to assess the quality of resident interactions with council staff.</li><li>DIY Video Suggestions: The panel proposed the creation of DIY video tutorials to empower residents with minor repair skills.</li><li>Feedback to Head of Neighbourhoods: Extensive feedback was provided to the Head of Neighbourhoods on various resident concerns.</li><li>Highlighting Repair Imperfections: The panel is actively engaged in improving the council&#39;s repair service.</li><li>Testing New Online System: Residents participated in testing a new online system for improved efficiency.</li><li>Text Message Updates: The panel advocated for increased use of text message updates to keep residents informed.</li><li>Valuable Resident Input: Key figures within the council acknowledged the valuable insights provided by the resident panel.</li></ul>Introducing the DMC (District Management Committee)<ul type="disc"><li>Toyin, Chair of the DMC, introduced herself and explained the committee&#39;s role.</li><li>DMC Responsibilities and functions: The District Management Committees (DMCs) meet four times a year to discuss local issues and housing committee reports. Once a year there is a joint meeting of all DMCs to discuss setting new rents. They also have funds available for residents&rsquo; groups to apply for.&nbsp;</li></ul>There are five DMCs:<ul type="disc"><li>Camden Town</li><li>Gospel Oak</li><li>Hampstead</li><li>Holborn</li><li>Kentish Town</li></ul>Understanding TRAs (Tenant and Resident Associations)Toyin provided a clear breakdown of the roles of DMCs and TRAs:<ul type="disc"><li>DMC Focus: DMCs address broader borough-wide issues and manage budgets allocated for resident-focused projects.</li><li>TRA Focus: TRAs represent residents within specific estates, fostering communication and collaboration.</li><li>Collaboration: TRAs collaborate with DMCs to bridge the gap between residents and the council.</li></ul>Resident ParticipationToyin encouraged residents to join DMCs and TRAs to actively contribute to their communities.Introducing the Good Life ProjectDom and his colleague presented the &quot;Good Life Project&quot; and Camden&#39;s well-being framework.Good Life Framework:<ul type="disc"><li>Focus: The framework emphasises safety, equality, and health as core principles for resident well-being.</li><li>Community Building: The project aims to foster stronger communities through resident participation.</li><li>Resident Input: A group of 20 residents actively contributed to developing the framework.</li></ul>Request: The panel requested access to the Good Life Framework slides for future reference.ASB Task Force &ndash; Beatrice McGuireBeatrice presented on the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Task Force, sparking a discussion on resident concerns.Resident Queries:<ul type="disc"><li>Policy Awareness: Residents sought information on how they would be informed about the new ASB policy.</li><li>Policy Comparison: The difference between the new policy and the existing tenancy agreement was clarified.</li><li>Resident Expectations: The panel outlined what residents could expect from the council when reporting ASB.</li><li>Source of ASB: Residents inquired about the origin of ASB issues on estates.</li><li>Education and Prevention: The importance of educating children about ASB from a young age was emphasised.</li><li>Resident Input: The panel requested resident input to shape the ASB policy effectively.</li><li>Mental Health Support: Residents inquired if the policy offered mental health support mechanisms.</li><li>Estate Structure and Security: Discussions included the layout of estates, CCTV cameras, and parking concerns.</li></ul>&nbsp;

Resident Panel Meeting- Session 9

The Panel opened with a welcome and short presentation from the Mayor of Camden, Councillor Nazma Rahman.&nbsp;&nbsp;Councillor Rahman spoke about her role as Mayor, how she was elected, and her chosen charities. After introductions, Panel Members had an opportunity to ask Councillor Rahman questions.&nbsp;The focus of the session was on the &lsquo;Repairs Citizen Project&rsquo;. Panel Members heard from Alice Black, Senior Project &amp; Policy Officer, and Tony Castle, Head of Repairs &amp; Operations, who gave an overview of their roles and an introduction to the project.&nbsp;The Repairs Citizen Project is a trial initiative developed by the Repairs and Policy teams. The idea is that Camden residents are supported to perform their own minor repairs and to help friends and neighbours. Camden would support residents to do this with funding, expertise and resources. This initiative is based on the belief that supporting residents to run some services that will be accessed by more people earlier and take pressure off council services.&nbsp;Housing Ombudsman&nbsp;Tony Castle, Head of Repairs &amp; Operations, presented two recent complaint cases which had been escalated to the Housing Ombudsman Service. &nbsp;This shows that the Housing Ombudsman have found maladministration on Camden&rsquo;s part. Tony explained some of the details surrounding these cases, and we discussed where things went wrong, in each case as well as what actions Camden are putting in place, to ensure the same problems do not happen again.

Visit from the Mayor of Camden- Session 8

We started off the new year with the 1st anniversary of the Housing &amp; Property Residents Panel and celebrated in style with a fantastic cake from a local baker based in Camden.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Panel has come a long way in its first year and has helped us take a more proactive approach, on many various topics relating to residents, their homes and the environment they live in. &nbsp;We are incredibly grateful to every member of the panel for sharing their take on these matters including issues relating to the cost of living. &nbsp;This feedback included information on how we supported our residents through these challenging times. &nbsp;&nbsp;The information from the Panel, also provided by the panel, has helped us to come up with the idea of a &lsquo;DIY tutorial video&rsquo; for repairs to show tenants, which repairs they are responsible for completing themselves. &nbsp;It also explains how the enhanced repairs service works and what, if anything, it will hopefully achieve, going forward. &nbsp;&nbsp;Fire safety in the community, has also been addressed and based on the success and excellent engagement we&rsquo;ve had throughout the first year of the Panel, we have increased the number of panel members and number of panel member sessions per year. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Resident Panel's 1 Year Anniversary. Session 7

To become more open and honest about how Camden housing directorates operate, we have created a panel of 22 residents from across the 5 districts of Camden. 

This site will contain information and updates on the panel, and we are also seeking views of Camden housing residents to supplement the work of the panel.