News on Camden Housing and Property Resident's Panel

Gillian Marston Executive Director of Supporting Communities

Gillian attended session 5 and gave a presentation about the work her team carry out regularly to help support communities. She covered the new “Neighbourhoods” scheme which is bringing together a range of departments across Camden council to develop working relationships between different teams so they can help each other support residents, including teams such as Green Spaces, welfare advice, caretakers, housing officers, mental health, community safety, housing repairs, social services and more. This will help create a seamless process for residents and make sure wires are not being crossed between Camden teams. Helping to build the community by listening to the residents of Camden and creating a stronger unit.

Another project underway within Gillian’s directorate is to include residents in budget allocation decisions, so they can decide where they wish to make improvements to the community and for them to have a voice on where the money is spent within different services that Camden council provide. All crucial and safety related work will continue to be funded, but this participatory approach to budget allocations will mean residents can have more of a say in what’s important to them around their homes.

Dominic Johnson Head of Resident & Building Safety

Dominic Johnson provided an overview on the work his team carries out post Grenfell and information on the idea of landscape works. He spoke about the building safety regulations and the new laws and how the regulator for social housing works. He spoke about the work we do as landlords to keep all residents safe.

Dominic Johnson spoke about the fire safety act and the new building safety bill. Dominic and the team have been focusing on the resident safety program which involves renewing residents fire safety door in Camden and carrying out annual front door inspections. He explained the challenges and how his team work to find solutions.

Residents Panel key views and ideas

During session 5, panel members discussed different aspects of feeling safe in their homes. They suggested different ideas which could help make residents safer including offering training to residents around fire safety. They discussed the role local resident groups can play including by facilitating local communication between residents, and how connecting people can improve safety.

The panel highlighted the importance of clearly communicating fire safety information, including making Fire Risk Assessments easily available, like at Camden.gov.uk/FRA, and how emergency exit plans could be displayed. They discussed the dangers of having flammable items stored in communal areas and especially along fire escape routes, as well as the critical importance of CCTV in keeping everyone as safe as possible.