Resident Questions for Housing Area Panel
Reference Number: W3.3
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Department |
Housing Tenancy Services + Community Engagement |
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Date question raised |
18/08/22 |
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Date of Area Panel |
12/10/22 |
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Area in city |
West Area |
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Star rating applied by residents |
3 Star |
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Deadline for officer response |
19/09/22 |
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Name of officer responding |
Justine Harris & Keely McDonald |
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Officer job title |
Head of Tenancy Services & Community Engagement Officer |
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Title of Question |
Further clarification of EIB and EDB
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Issue: |
EIB – Residents would like to know how local people can put forward ideas, what projects have been funded over the last 3 years, how much money has been spent, what consultation is expected. EDB – residents are concerned that EDB budget is decreasing and feel that they should have a larger budget to manage directly to continue having genuine tenant lead decision making with the aim of improving tenants’ quality of life.
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Background: |
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Action requested by residents: |
Request a response for Area Panel with clear information on EIB and how the council plans to address the reduction in EDB funding |
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Officer contact details: |
Keely McDonald – Community Engagement Officer
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Officer Response: |
The Community Engagement Team has been promoting the Estate Development Budget (EDB) at in person events and online which has shown an increase in successful bids in 2022/23.
We are developing an engagement plan for next year to increase awareness further and will be co-producing a process for more people to take part in EDB decision making, including using online voting in the new financial year.
The Community Engagement Team will be meeting with Housing colleagues in October to look at the decreasing budget due to the reserves being depleted by the end of the next financial year, the aim is to ensure that the EDB budget is able to respond to the expected need in coming years. The following quotes were gathered from residents who had benefited from EDB bids and highlights the importance of the continued availability of this funding: · EDB has really helped us in our general aim of bringing pride and community involvement for our residents · Every project delivered has offered talking points and pride and thanks that we can make change to better the community Both the Estate Development Budget (EDB) and the Environmental Improvement Budget (EIB) are important when it comes to estate improvement. The EIB enables us to respond as a landlord to make improvements, whilst the EDB enables residents to come together to submit proposals. The budgets are distinct. Most of the EIB projects will now be driven by the findings of the Estate Walkabouts. As requested by residents, quarterly reports on EIB will come to Area Panels, these will show what improvements have been agreed, whether they were funded by the capital budget or HRA and what consultation has taken place. |
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Action: |
Recruitment of new part time post for West 18.5 hrs per week Recruitment of support worker for the current CEO, to enable them to fully deliver their work |
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Start date: |
Middle of October Meeting with Housing and Community Engagement to discuss EDB funding |
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End date: |
End of financial year 2023/24 for implementation of EDB Task and Finish Group Recommendations |