Date:
As reported last month, we are working with residents to develop different ways to increase opportunities for involvement. Establishing a JRHT Residents’ Assembly is a key part of this aim, as it will lead to better resident involvement on strategic issues. In the first meeting of the Assembly, 14 residents, along with JRHT staff, met to discuss the how the Assembly should work, as well as hear about some of JRHT’s current priorities.
We are adopting a ‘test and learn approach’ so we can be sure that the Assembly works for residents and so we very much welcomed feedback on how it should be run. Here are some of the key points which residents raised in the meeting:
- The Assembly should have decision making powers for the group to be useful
- There is interest and support in exploring the potential for appointing residents to the JRHT Board. Those elected would need to have full understanding of the responsibilities of this, including time the commitment, as well as training, guidance and skills
- Residents living in different types of housing may need different platforms. There are a mixture of tenants, leaseholders, shared owners and homeowners across JRHT with different experiences and needs. We will need to consider how, and if, a single group can represent everyone
- It’s important that there is transparency between JRHT and residents. Mistakes should be reported to residents and made clearly visible to people looking for this information on the website
- Residents need to be offered an opportunity to contribute to the agenda providing time for them to submit topics for discussion and deciding what needs to be the focus of each meeting
- Accessibility is vitally important and needs to be considered when setting agendas, arranging meetings, and discussing topics
- Minutes of Board Meetings should be accessible, and residents supported to find them. We hope to publish the first of these shortly.
It was agreed that the Assembly would meet again in the next couple of months to discuss the themes and ideas further. JRHT staff will work on progressing the actions raised to bring back to the Assembly for further discussion.
To find out more about the Residents’ Assembly and our resident involvement work, please get in touch with Georgina, our Resident Involvement Officer, at georgina.pike@jrht.org.uk