Cosmopolitan believes that resident involvement should be at the centre of everything we do and we want to develop a culture of involvement that underpins all of our work. This enables us to support communities and strive for excellence.

We are committed to constantly improving the service we offer and believe that involving you and listening to your views will help us to do this.

 

The aim of the Resident Involvement Team is to involve as many of our residents as possible in improving services the Association provides.

 

There are lots of way you can get involved and you don't have to attend meetings if you don't want to.  Getting involved can mean lots of different things, from filling out a questionnaire to coming along to a fun day.  We don't expect you to be out of pocket when you get involved so we will always pay your travel costs and offer childcare or carers' costs if it's appropriate.  We also provide free refreshments at meetings.

 

• A Guide to Resident Involvement
• A Guide to Combating Barriers to Resident Involvement
• A Guide to Reimbursement of Expenses for Resident Involvement

 

 

You can get involved in a way that suits you, the choice is yours!

 

If you are interested in finding out more about the involvement options below contact the

 

 

 

 

We want to improve our services and we need your help!

Resident Inspectors are volunteers who are trained to monitor services, collect data and report on how well our services are responding to the needs of our residents.

 

Their role is to inspect and feedback from other residents on the services provided by Cosmopolitan Housing Association and make suggestions on how services might be improved.

 

Apart from meeting new people and getting involved in different activities, the training itself will contribute to building your self confidence and strengthening your employment profile.  We will also cover your travel expenses, together with any registered care costs and hope to give you a modest reward of some kind.

 

We would love to hear from you so if you would like any further details on this project or for a chat on how you could get involved contact the Resident Involvement Team on 0151 224 0204 or email getinvolved@cosmopolitanhousing.co.uk

 

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LOCAL OFFERS  

The Tenant Services Authority (TSA), the government organisation that regulates affordable housing in England, introduced a new way of regulating in April 2010.  Six national standards are now in place that all registered providers of housing services must meet.

These were created following the 'National Conversation' which consulted landlords and tenants up and down the country.

The new national standards are:

 

National Standard	Service Areas
1. * Tenant Involvement &        Empowerment	- Customer service, choice and complaints - Involvement and Empowerment - Understanding and responsing to diverse    needs of tenants
2. Home	- Quality of accommodation - Repairs and maintenance
3. Tenancy	- Allocations - Rent - Tenure
4. Neighbourhood & Community	- Neighbourhood management - Local area co-operation - Anti-social behaviour
5. *Value for money	- Value for money
6. Governance and financial viability	- Governance - Financial viability

*The national standard for Tenant Involvement and Empowerment and Value for Money  are cross cutting and therefore impact on all service areas.

 

 

The TSA has said that the quality of services should be discussed between landlords and their tenants and that services should be tailored to meet their needs and priorities.  These 'new' standards are being called Local Offers.

We recently carried out a survey of all our residents and asked you to put the 13 service areas (shown above) in order of importance.  The 5 services that are most important to you are shown below.  The most important service is shown at the top.

 

National Standard	Cosmopolitan Service Area
Home	1. Repairs and Maintenance
Home	2. Quality of Accommodation
Tenant Involvement & Empowerment	3. Customer service, Choice & Complaints
Neighbourhood & Community	4. Anti Social Behaviour
Neighbourhood & Community	5. Neighbourhood Management

 

We are now consulting with you in more detail to work out exactly what you want from us within each of these service areas and to ensure that the Local Offers are in place by April 2011.

A survey has recently been sent out to all our residents seeking their views on some changes to existing standards as well as proposals for offering more choice and new standards.

Do you have an idea for a change to our services?.  Your idea could be an improvement to the existing service, a new service or about the removal of a service that you feel is wasteful and unnecessary. Get in touch and let us know you can complete the online survey or contact a member of the Resident Involvement Team on 0151 224 0204 or email local@cosmopolitanhousing.co.uk