Good
riddance to Taroe and its hypocrisy
Gavin Williamson is a great
survivor …heading off unprecedented attacks as education secretary following the school examinations` fiasco.
No such luck for Michael Gelling, the man who aimed
to lead the country`s tenants. As this blog reported a week ago, Mr Gelling has thrown in the towel.
His Runcorn-based tenants`charity Taroe - the
Tenants` and Residents` Association of England - is to close. Its roots go
back nearly half a century and at its
peak it claimed to have three million tenants` and residents`members.
After
such success, this blog now asks: Will Taroe and its chairman Mr Gelling be
missed.?
The
answer might be contained in a curious
but damning story involving one of the Taroe members, Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`
Federation (then known as Carlisle and Rural Tenants` Federation) which publishes
this blog.
The
story started when the federation was asked by Taroe to arrange a regional
conference in Carlisle.
Officers
of the federation were very happy to make the
arrangements i.e. arrange for the
venue, arrange for the attendance and the
participation of the Mayor of Carlisle, arrange for the accommodation of Taroe
representatives and arrange for Carlisle delegates to attend.
In
addition, as a special goodwill gesture, the officers produced a special
newsletter for the conference containing conference details and a prominently-displayed
“welcome-to-Taroe” article.
Officers were happy to do all this in a spirit of
goodwill and comradeship and expected nothing in return.
What in fact they did receive was coldness and
suspicion from the Taroe officers plus rudeness from Chairman Gelling.
The rudeness was an accusation from Mr Gelling
that our special newsletter was political. The newsletter was also shameful in its criticism of
the giant Riverside Housing Association of Liverpool.
So Mr Gelling told the delegates that he was banning distribution of the newsletter
to delegates.(The newsletter,
emphatically was not political and is reproduced below.)
Mr Gelling
then went on to make a conference speech mainly devoted to the empowerment of
tenant members. His speech went on
praise the big housing associations including Riverside for their
financial help to Taroe.
The federation delegates were staggered by all this from Mr Gelling… urging the empowerment of tenants and at the same time banning a tenants` publication
which clearly represented empowerment.
Such hypocrisy …
It wasn`t difficult for the Federation delegates to see the real reason for Mr Gelling banning
the newsletter. The real reason was that the newsletter listed the many
failings of Riverside contained in an Audit Commission report. (That report is also reproduced below).
Finally, it emerged the Mr Gelling was in fact a
Riverside tenant. Federation delegates wondered how
significant that was in view of the fact that Riverside funds helped to keep
Taroe afloat.
On which side of the fence was Taroe?. Was it on the
side of the tenants of England or on the
side of the big housing associations and others which funded its operations?
Needless to say, all this led to
an angry response from the federation. And as no better explanation for the
day`s events was forthoming from Mr
Gelling or his executive, all further contact with Taroe was suspended.
There seems to be no doubt that
other tenants` and residents`
organisations had similar dealings with foot-in-all- the camps-Taroe.
So it is no surprise that the death of that
organisation has been reached. The surprise is that it has taken so long.
Nor is it a surprise that the Federation now says :
Taroe: good riddance!
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THIS IS THE FEDERATION CONFERENCE NEWSLETTER
CARLISLE COMMUNITY VOICE
FEBRUARY 2010
WELCOME TO
T.A.R.O.E.
CARLISLE
CONFERENCE
Tenants`
and residents` groups in the Carlisle Area welcome
delegates of the Tenants and Residents` Organisations of England
(TAROE) to their Carlisle
conference which is being held in
Morton Manor Community Centre on January 28.
The conference is
being opened by the Mayor of Carlisle, Councillor William Graham. Helen Lane of
the government` s housing regulator, the Tenant Services` Authority, will
give the keynote address. Delegates from all over the north of England
have been invited.
Arrangements
for the conference have been made by Carlisle
and Rural Tenants` Federation which is affiliated to TAROE and is the parent
organisation of community groups in the Carlisle
area.(The annual report of Carlisle and
Rural Tenants` Federation is on the back of this newsletter)
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FEBRUARY
2010 ISSUE
NUMBER 2
Good wishes from
Eric Martlew M.P.
The first
issue of Carlisle Community Voice,
published
in November, was welcomed by
many
people. Eric Martlew M.P. e-mailed his
best wishes saying:”I am looking forward to
future issues of Carlisle
Community Voice”.
Here is
another issue, Eric. Hope you like it!
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PETTERIL
BANK GROUP” WOULD BE
LOST”
WITHOUT CHURCH SUPPORT
Elders of
the Family Church, Petteril Bank, were party hosts at the annual pensioners` pie and pea
Christmas party in the church, organised
and funded by Carlisle South Community Association which is based at
Petteril Bank.
The pie
and pea party has been held in the church for several years and is a joint
effort between the church elders and the association. Jean Hall, Vice
Chairman of the association, thanked everyone who helped, particularly the
elders, David Gwynne and David Johnson
.The
elders allow the association to use the church for meetings and other functions all
through the year and make no charge.
Jean
said: “Carlisle South would be completely lost without the great help and
support of the church. We want the
elders to know how much this is
appreciated”
Carlisle
South also funded a Christmas party for members and friends from other Carlisle
groups- all members of Carlisle and Rural
Tenants` Federation. and other helpers for their efforts hospitality.
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Report by Chairman
Tom Johnson MBE at the annual
meeting of Carlisle
and Rural Tenants`Federation
City communities get strong
support and failing Riverside
gets a challenge
THE SAD DEATH of our chairman Ralph Aldersey
has dominated our year.
Ralph brought to the Federation the same
qualities of leadership and social
responsibility that distinguished his earlier public life, as a county and district councillor.
His great efforts held the Federation
together and guided us forward during the very difficult period after the
Federation was unceremoniously dumped and had its funding withdrawn by Carlisle
Housing Association
Ralph went on to fight hard for the
Federation and took the battle to the floor of the city council chamber where he roundly condemned Carlisle Housing
Association`s slanderous untruth that the Federation had ceased to
exist.
Ralph is very badly missed by us all.
I was invited by the Federation to become
Acting Chairman and was honoured to do
so . I wish to thank members for their loyalty, help and support.AN IMPORTANT EVENT this year was the Audit
Commission`s first inspection of Riverside Carlisle (the new name for Carlisle
Housing Association). The Federation was invited to give evidence to the
commission. This evidence was critical, but fair.
The highly-critical report on that inspection
highlighted the many failings in Riverside`s
management of its 6000 former Carlisle council houses.
These failings had been well known to the
Federation for several years. The many
attempts by the Federation to get Riverside
to remedy these failings, sadly, proved abortive. Now, the Federation must try
harder.
The Federation has had a very active and
successful year. Well-attended monthly meetings have been held regularly and
the Sub Group has also met monthly. We said a reluctant goodbye to Edith Harper, a very long-serving and loyal
Federation member, who has chosen to “retire”. All good wishes, Edith.
MEETINGS HAVE BEEN HELD with city councillors
of all three political parties and with Mr. Eric Martlew, the city M.P.All
these meetings are ongoing. A meeting in London
was held with Margaret Beckett M.P., then Minister of Housing.
The Federation continued to support the city
tenants` and residents` groups, particularly Shaddongate Residents`
Association, Botcherby Residents `Group and Carlisle
South Community Association. Representatives of the Carlisle
Save Our Streets campaign have been welcome guests at our meetings.
The sheltered housing, Westhill House, Brampton, has been of
special concern because one of our members served on the social committee there
for several years.
The Federation has been at the forefront of
those who supported the Westhill residents
at the closure of the home by Riverside.
It has also been at the forefront of those who were critical of
Riverside`s inadequate plans for the home. The Federation`s constructive
criticism helped to prod Riverside to come forward with improved plans for the
home.
In
addition, the Federation has been very critical of the problems of dual loyalty
caused to those members of the city council serving on the governing board of Riverside
A SIGNIFICANT EXAMPLE of this came during the
council debate on the Riverside plans for
Westhill. One council member chose to
give his loyalty to Riverside
rather than to his electors. His controversial decision is being challenged by
the Federation and talks are planned with the councillor.
The Federation is also challenging the
gagging measures imposed by Riverside
on those members of the city council serving on its governing board. It is also
challenging the use by Riverside
of its persistent complaints procedure
and is also challenging Riverside about Freedom of Information provisions Despite
these challenges, and despite our
continued and long-standing criticism of Riverside,
the Federation has continued to attempt to resume a dialogue with Riverside. Sadly, at the
moment, Riverside
says it has no wish to meet the Federation.
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Press
statement issued by Carlisle and Rural Tenants` Federation
RIVERSIDE`S CARLISLE HOUSING FAILINGS
TARGETTED BY WHITEHALL WATCHDOG
Serious
weaknesses in the operations of Carlisle`s biggest landlord, the Riverside
Carlisle Housing Association, are revealed in a report this month (October2009)) by
the Government watchdog, the Audit Commission.
The report
pinpoints the weaknesses and makes several equally serious criticisms. The report follows the commission`s recent inspection of
Riverside, now the owner of 6000 former council houses which it
acquired seven years ago.
Highlighted
in the report is criticism of
Riverside`s seven sheltered housing schemes and follows similar criticism by three Carlisle councillors at a meeting of the city Development Control Committee in
August.
At the same meeting of the committee, a former
Carlisle mayor, the late Mr. Ralph Aldersey, also attacked Riverside`s
sheltered housing policy when he appeared
for Carlisle and Rural Tenants` Federation of which he was chairma
The
Federation has campaigned for more than three years against Riverside`s poor
sheltered housing. It has also campaigned for
more than three years against some of Riverside`s other operations
The Audit
Commission report says:”The
sheltered housing stock does not meet modern requirements or comply with
disability discrimination legislation”. Riverside
has been slow to address the issue, leaving older tenants in accommodation that
does not meet modern day requirements “.
The fact that
Riverside has not yet decided what to do about its “poor
quality sheltered housing schemes” is a ”barrier to improvement,” says the
report which adds a recommendation that Riverside must” identify the current
and future housing needs of older people
in the city.”
Other main
criticisms in the Audit Commission report are as follows:
Too many
empty properties: An
above average number of properties are empty and they are empty for a long time
before being re-let.
No help
for disabled: Riverside
is not working with the city council to help disabled customers obtain major
adaptations or agree how they should be dealt with. Current policy is out of
date and does not reflect current practice. Riverside is not helping some of its most
vulnerable tenants at a time when they need it most.
Poor value
for money: The
strategic approach to improving values for money is poor. Values for money
checks are not strategic or structured and it is difficult to see where
efficiencies have been made.
Too many
evictions: Too high a
number of tenants are evicted, mainly
for rents arrears. Riverside evicts more tenants for rent
arrears than most other social landlords. Riverside
now recognises that its policy is is too heavily weighted towards enforcement.
In the last two years, evictions increased from 35 to 42, mostly single men who
had been tenants for more than a year. In addition to the personal distress and
hardship, each eviction costs £9000.
No
involvement of customers: Monitoring
of Riverside`s work and reporting back to tenants is of a ”mixed” standard. Customers are not
closely involved in the management of the income management service. A focus
group of six customer representatives has not met since last year and has been
mostly involved in designing leaflets rather than in the way the service is
delivered. Riverside
does not know its relative performance or engage fully with customers and
others to understand how its service can
be improved.
Phone
calls lost: A
significant number of phone calls are lost or abandoned before being
answered. Tenants are not always able to
make an enquiry or report a repair.
No
computer link-up: There
is no effective use of staff resources on providing information about the
condition of the stock of houses. The computer system used to store this
information does not work with other systems for updating the number of
empty houses or replacement work .
Tenants
pay too much: Fuel
poverty and thermal inefficiency of homes does not get proper attention. Some tenants have to pay too high a proportion of
their income to heat their homes.
Tenants
kept in the dark: Too
little information is given to tenants
on decorating grants and disturbance allowances. Tenants have to spend their own money to
bring their homes back up to standard after improvement work . Tenants are not made aware of what support is available
to them.
Below average re-letting: Re-letting of properties continues to
be below average.
Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`
Federation publishes this blog.
Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277
