Councillor Caroline Jackson, the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homelessness, approved the adoption of two new strategies for Lancaster City Council: the Council Housing Tenant Voice Strategy 2024-27, and the Resident Engagement: Building Safety Strategy. Both strategies are intended to ensure that Lancaster City Council complies with the new Consumer Standards introduced by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, and meet the council's obligations to residents with regard to building safety.

The Tenant Voice Strategy

The Council Housing Tenant Voice Strategy 2024-27 (available in full here) sets out Lancaster City Council's plan to engage with its tenants.

The strategy identifies five key objectives, which are:

1. Maximise engagement with council tenants
2. Use feedback to shape services provided by the council
3. Increase the skills of tenants
4. Develop strong and vibrant communities
5. Develop social and financial inclusion strategies to reduce loneliness across our estates

To achieve these objectives the strategy proposes a number of actions that will be taken, including:

• Paying for transport and childcare for residents who need it to attend meetings
• Holding meetings in convenient locations for tenants at convenient times
• Using a variety of different formats for meetings, such as online meetings, in-person meetings and phone conferencing
• Advertising engagement activities through social media, flyers, letters, emails, text messages and in-person
• Providing information about engagement activities through a bi-monthly newsletter, quarterly rent statements, and on information screens in communal areas
• Carrying out estate walkabouts twice a year on all estates
• Working with the Community Connectors, the voluntary sector and schools to make sure that marginalised groups have a voice
• Providing funding for local community centres that provide learning opportunities for tenants
• Providing opportunities for tenants to gain new skills by providing training on topics like food hygiene, first aid, and committee skills
• Holding an annual tenant awards event to celebrate tenant achievements
• Providing free wifi in communal areas of Independent Living Schemes
• Continuing to look for opportunities for tenants to engage digitally with the council

The document argues that:

It is crucial we keep tenants involved in a meaningful way to help shape the future of our housing services across the Lancaster District.

The council proposes to measure the success of the strategy by:

• Monitoring satisfaction with services
• Tracking the number of tenants who engage with the council
• Assessing qualitative customer feedback

Building Safety Strategy

The Resident Engagement: Building Safety Strategy (available in full here) sets out Lancaster City Council's strategy for engaging with residents on building safety.

This strategy puts residents of blocks of flats at the heart of decision-making about where they live.

It is a legal requirement for Lancaster City Council to have a strategy of this kind. The report explains that this is a result of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which led to a review of building regulations and fire safety, and new legislation, including the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Building Safety Act 2022.

These changes highlight the importance of residents feeling safe in their home and ensure that their views and concerns are listened to and acted upon.

Lancaster City Council already takes a number of steps to ensure that its blocks of flats are safe. The council has a Compliance Team that was set up in 2022 and is responsible for overseeing and routinely checking the safety measures in all residential buildings managed by Lancaster City Council. This team conducts routine inspections of buildings and fire safety equipment, conducts and reviews the findings of Fire Risk Assessments, provides residents with block-specific information booklets, and provides information on the council's website. The Compliance Team also works with Lancashire Fire and Rescue service to maintain the safety of Lancaster's residential buildings, and to provide a Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessment (PCFRA) for some residents.

Lancaster City Council has identified that the main concerns of residents in the three high-rise blocks managed by the council are:

• Security of communal areas
• Disrepair of their property, including communal areas
• Lack of communication from Lancaster City Council regarding building safety

The council intends to communicate with residents about building safety matters through dedicated letters, noticeboards, the Council Housing Matters newsletter, block-specific information booklets, the council's website, individual home visits, and regular pop-up events.

Lancaster City Council has a Building Safety Panel, made up of resident representatives from the three high-rise buildings in Lancaster, that meets monthly to discuss building safety. The Building Safety Panel links to Lancaster City Council's governance structure by reporting its findings to the Tenants Voice Meeting every quarter.

In addition to this strategy, Lancaster City Council will be providing training on fire and building safety for residents who would like to sit on the Building Safety Panel.