Update from Firbeck and Skelmersdale

George Arkless — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:59:16 +0100

For those who have been with TenantBook from early on, or read through some of the older postings I have received an update:

You may remember our discussions concerning the threat of full scale demolition being reversed following 4 and a half years

of opposition by the tenants and residents of Firbeck.

I am pleased to report that new kitchen installations have been carried out in all tenanted houses and Firbeck Court ( General needs) A programme of ne...

Carers Passport

George Arkless — Sun, 12 May 2013 07:46:30 +0100

We have depended on carers for generations, to save the NHS money, to save council services money and to help people continue living independent lives.

I'm not talking about paid workers, but people who have often put their own lives on hold, or even risked their education. Parents, sons, daughters or even just friends. Many would probably not recognise themselves as carers.

Without a doubt the most amazing carer I ever met was a 12 year old girl, who not only cared for her bed ...

Yarlington Housing Group

George Arkless — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 11:35:29 +0100

Yarlington Housing Group this week came under criticism for introducing its Household Action Plan (HAP) as a condition of new tenancies.

Initially I felt uncomfortable with the concept. It seems to play into the current government discussion about social tenants which seem essentially based on questionable use of statistics, assumptions and newspaper coverage.

However the criticism aimed at Yarlington has appeared disproportianate to what was being said.

The sHAPe s...

How the government has destroyed the future of many young people

George Arkless — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:05:45 +0100

I have edited this blog as it was based on inaccurate information.

This is what was issued yesterday 26/2/2013:

My child is away at uni, can I keep their room for when they are home in the holidays?

Answer

The new size limit does no allow for this, UNLESS the absence is temporary (less than 13 weeks or 52 weeks for students) and when the young person intends to return home.

www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn06272.pdf

Social Impact and small voluntary organisations

George Arkless — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 07:36:40 +0100

There is a huge push at the moment for organisations to measure their social value/impact, social return on investment or some other term which involves measuring the less tangible aspects of what we do.

For example, part of our contract with the council requires us to do a social audit. Something we have never done, and we have never been asked to see our social audit, this may be because each time I ask what is meant by this no one seems to know what it means exactly.

It might...

smoke mirrors and deceit

George Arkless — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:21:07 +0100

All the trademarks of any respected magician designed to cause illusions and to fool the audience perception and to make the audience believe in the unbelievable. Like many people I enjoy a good magic show.

They are also the trademark of a good conman using similar skills to prey on the weak and greedy.

Sadly it has become the trademark of this government and much of what it is doing.

In a recent speach on child poverty at the charity Kids Company he claimed some poor par...

Are there differences in uptake on social media between tenant types?

Peter — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:16:01 +0100

I wonder what the split is in terms of % take up of this kind of social networking for different tenant types. Of course the success of any social network depends on the contribution of its members...without that it is just one big empty 'shell'.

I am thinking that social tenants will be less inclined to be active than private tenants would be. I guess there are various reasons for this that we don't need to go into but that is my thought and expectation.

How are social tenants ...

Welfare reform, a flawed argument built on lies and deceit.

George Arkless — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 03:32:43 +0100

The arguments are getting old and tired, yet still Iain Duncan Smith keeps rolling them out for each of his victims and the public keep lapping them up.

Benefits trap the poor so we must reduce them to empower the poor to lead more productive lives. Worse still is the amount of fraud that is being committed. It is not fair on the taxpayer and we are returning fairness to the system.

The argument was used on social housing, to justify removing it from those who need it to give to...

Why are we so afraid of the truth?

George Arkless — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:12:17 +0100

Adeyemi Michael is a young film maker. When he was 19 a young lad knocked on his door and asked him to help set up a football team. The young lad wanted an alternative future from the ones offered by gangs in Peckham.

Adeyemis' film on how the team made a difference in the young boys' life after 4 years got him into the National Film and Television School. His graduation film was a very different story.

His young is Sodiq Adeojo, convicted for murder and...

Surf Optima for a Free Ride.....to Cashable Savings

Elaine — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:27:33 +0100

Do you want a free cost analysis to identify your organisation's 50 highest areas of spending that could be used to identify cashable savings?

To take advantage of this offer send us an excel download from your purchase ledger for your most recent trading year.

Good morning,

I am pleased to advise that we still have some space on the following course at Trafford Hall

Involving Younger Tenants

8-9 November 2012

Iain Duncan Smith is not only dangerous, but could he be about to over step the mark?

George Arkless — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:15:18 +0100

Iain Duncan Smith has said he is looking at using smart cards for 120,000 troubled families, initially, to stop their welfare payments to be used for buying drugs and alcohol.

A recent poll showed there was a lot of support for this, on the surface it looks like a good idea which would have benefits for the families involved.

We expect our leaders to make difficult decisions, but in doing so it is reasonable to expect them to make informed decisions based on all the evidence ava...

George Osborne's Speech

George Arkless — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:12:03 +0100

Listening to his speech this morning one question came to mind, what planet has he been living on?

Three years later, my message remains the same:

We're not going to get through this as a country if we set one group against another, if we divide, denounce and demonise.

It is a message his colleagues missed. But as David Cameron said 'judge us by what we have done, so I will leave it to the disabled, young, unemployed and those working part time on minimum wage who are now...

Has a Recession in Housing Been Caused by Government Policy?

Yvonne Atkinson — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:48:58 +0100

There is a really good item in todays Guardian which looks at how a recession has been created in housing . Here is a flavour of the comments

"Housing professionals know that housing benefit bills can only really be reduced if more social housing is built. With increasing numbers of people priced out of home ownership and unable to afford private rents in many areas, the proportion of housing benefit claimants in work has risen from 12.6% in 2010 to 17.8% today. Self-regulation, or ...

Housing Top Priority for Labour

Yvonne Atkinson — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:36:01 +0100

Let's hope that if Labour get back into government they will keep promises made in opposition. Inside housing report today that:

Tens of thousands of grassroots Labour members have demanded that the party hold a major debate on housing at this year’s party conference in Manchester.

They have voted housing as one of the top issues they are concerned about and in which they would like to see a dramatic change of direction from the government.

The result of a bal...

Is your repairs IT system clogged with 'inaccurate nonsense'?

George Arkless — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:21:50 +0100

This was the title of an interesting blog by John Little in yesterdays The Guardian.

I was interested in the article as I have always believed technology should provide tools to enable more effective work practices. The picture John paints is the opposite, where humans have become the tools to allow technology to work more effectively.

While John Little concentrated on the role of personal digital assistants (PDAs) for me the journey of a repair through the system showed up far ...

Financial skills training for social tenants

George Arkless — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:25:14 +0100

Research published last month shows financial skills training for social tenants produces possitive results.

The report also covers a lot of issues which would prove useful for landlords who are considering providing financial sills training such as what approaches to tenant engagement worked and what didn't, tenants preference to 1 to 1 training compared to groups sessions.

You can download the report at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/geography/research/pfrc/themes/fincap/pfrc1206.pd...

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