TIME`S UP FOR THE RIVERSIDE YES-MEN

`Put these

 nodding

donkeys out to grass`

 Some people call them nodding donkeys. Some call them useful idiots. Whatever name they get, they have always had an important role in the affairs  of the giant Riverside Housing Association.

 These donkeys are tenants  hand-picked by Riverside to represent their fellow tenants  in negotiations with the bosses.

Liverpoo-based Riverside has always maintained that these hand-picked tenants were independent.

But  that claim proved to be false particularly when  the Riverside  Carlisle regional  director appeared before  the city council  a couple of years back and claimed his scrutiny panel members were  independent. But councillors refused to accept this.

Now comes a  new deal for  Riverside`s 6,000 tenants and the question arises:how much longer  can the nodding donkeys exist.

The deal was put forward last week by Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation,  parent body of housing associations.The deal has been accepted by 44 housing associations including Riverside.

The deal is in the Together with Tenants draft plan which sets out to transform the balance of power between tenants and associations.

 The plan would place a new requirement in the National Housing Association`s code of governance (which the majority of associations adopt) for boards to be accountable to tenants and residents.

There will be a new tenant charter setting out what tenants and residents can expect from their landlords.

It says that tenants and residents should have “the power, information and agency to hold their landlord to account, and the charter will provide a mechanism to make this happen”. It talks about the need for a “culture of respect”.

The National Housing Federation is also working with the Centre for Public Scrutiny to convene a new tenant advisory panel to guide the development of the plan.

Alongside this, there are calls for a national voice for tenants to be set up.

Actions count rather than words is  the verdict on the  draft plan of the influencial social housing magazine Inside Housing. And it is actions which really matter says the magazine in a lukewarm welcome to the draft plan.

 Lukewarm too are critics of Riverside  who recall the many years of that organisation`s hostility to tenant groups.

A spokeman for Carlisle Tenants and Residents Federation which publishes this blog said today: “One  of the first actions of Riverside  when it took over the council houses in Carlisle was to abolish all tenant groups and then continue with a bossy regime in which the only tenant representatives were the nodding donkeys(useful idiots).

“It is now time that these donkeys were put out to grass. Or if you prefer it, it is time the useful idiots were given a medical prescription and told:

“Keep taking the tablets.

 

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803