Estates and Communities Panel - 19 November 2025

Location: North Tyneside Council offices, Quadrant, Cobalt Business Park

Attendees

Tenant members – Clare (Chair), Margaret, Linda , Christine, Marie Christine, Ronnie, Gaynor, Mary, Evelyn, Hilary 

Leeanne Rooney – Neighbourhood Manager (West); Angela Melvin – Housing Engagement Manager; Julie Brown – Operations Manager, Community Protection; Jane Allison – Housing Policy and Development Officer

 Apologies 

Tenant member - Clare

Gary Wilson – Neighbourhood Manager (Central); Toby Brown, Head of Housing Management; Lauren Young – Neighbourhood Manager (East)

1. Notes of the last meeting and action log 

Notes of the last meeting were agreed. 

Action log – social housing stigma: A tenant member had attended the AGM of the Stop Social Housing Stigma campaign and highlighted the ‘Call to Action’ report following their national survey which found that 69% of respondents feel stigmatised.  The report can be found here Annual-report-2025-A-Call-to-Action-2.pdf The Council is continuing to issue positive messaging across our channels, including the Our North Tyneside magazine and social media. This messaging focuses on highlighting positive stories relating to our housing services and communities. 

2. Communal block cleaning trial consultation

A briefing note on this had been shared with the panel ahead of the meeting.   We have over 300 blocks across the borough and have recognised that many are not being kept to the required standard, or how customers would like them to be kept.

The consultation results show that residents are in favour of a trial of a cleaning service.  We are currently considering how that could be provided in terms of what it would cover and frequency.  The panel will be kept up to date on progress.

3. Environmental Crime and Anti-social Behaviour Policy update

The panel had been sent a copy of the new draft policy ahead of the meeting. This policy was last published in 2020 and is due to be reviewed, with tenant input.  

JB explained that the Community Protection team covers environmental crime such as fly tipping, littering, graffiti and dog fouling; and works closely with the environment service. 

The draft policy includes response times, which vary according to the nature of the incident.  The panel have previously discussed environmental matters and those discussions are reflected in the updated policy.  

Tenants made some comments on the draft policy:

• There is a repeated paragraph on page 6, JB will get this amended.   
• The victim-centred approach was welcomed
• Good to have what the council can do clearly set out
• Reads very well
• Very comprehensive 
• Until it’s put into practice, we can’t know if it will work 

 The draft has also been shared with the new Leaseholder Panel.   All comments from the panels will be considered by the team, after which there will be wider consultation.

After consultation, the draft policy will be going to Cabinet for formal approval.  Separately, there is a White Paper currently going through the parliamentary process around new ‘Respect Orders’ which could change the powers and responsibilities we have.   We don’t want to delay work on our Policy, however we may need to amend it in future.  

The panel will be updated on progress at the next meeting. 

4. Neighbourhood and Community Promise

The panel had been sent the draft Promise document in advance of the meeting.  This sets out how we work in neighbourhoods, and how we work with tenants to develop and improve services.

Common themes have emerged from tenant feedback gathered from a variety of sources – panels, neighbourhood team conversations, events, consultations and our Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey. The Promise seeks to address those:

• More visible presence – contact details for different teams are included 
• More visits – the panel has been involved in developing our home visits.   We are also doing more drop-in events now and want customers to have an opportunity to engage with us informally, as that’s a great way for us to find out what’s going on in our communities
• Communication – how we communicate with customers and what we can do better
• Reminding tenants of responsibilities – this could be via home visits, or noticing gardens not being looked after.  We can then have a conversation with the customer and ask why it’s happening – is any help or support needed which we can provide.  We can also work alongside the Community Protection team, eg around issuing protection notices if necessary.
• Help for those who need a hand – tenancy and financial support is available and our neighbourhood officers routinely ask any support is needed; this could be financial, or help around the home or garden.  
• Anti-social behaviour – We continue to work on this together with other council services and partners; to think creatively on how we can improve services for our customers.

Feedback from tenants is invaluable and influences what we do.  We recognise that we need to have clear and easily accessible information on responsibilities and where to find support.   Tenants have told us that it would be helpful to have that information more clearly set out – this is what we are trying to provide here. 

We are working to pull everything around estates and neighbourhoods into a suite of documents – the Promise, service standards (see next agenda item) and the Good Neighbour Guide.  The Guide was developed with the panel’s feedback and all comments received were incorporated.  This has now been printed and is being distributed at property sign-ups and handed out at visits.  It is also available on our website. 

LR asked the panel for their views on the Promise document:

• Whether it was clear and easy to understand
• Whether anything is missing.

Once views from this panel and the Leaseholder Panel have been collated and considered, the draft will then go out to wider consultation during December/January. 

5. Service standards 

Ahead of the meeting, the panel had received a briefing note on service standards, how we handle enquiries and customer contact response times.   The document also includes related services provided by other teams – eg grass cutting by our environment team.

LR explained that service standards aren’t new, just not necessarily currently well-known and we are looking for this to be more easily available to empower tenants.  Response times vary from 24 hours to 10 working days, depending on the nature of the enquiry. 

The service standards will form part of the new tenant pack, will be published on our website and can also be shared at tenant visits.

The panel welcomed the service standards being clearly set out.   There were queries about the prominence of some of the categories, eg fly tipping, which the team will review.   The panel were asked to send any further feedback to AM by 1 December.    

6. Performance and complaints update

The panel had received the regular performance scorecard and complaints report with their meeting papers in advance.  

a) Performance scorecard

Tenancy home visits – we are not hitting targets but this could be due to issues of not being able to gain access, or staff absence.  The team always aims for a quality contact at each visit, which may take longer.  While visits could be done quickly, that would not deliver a good service for our tenants.

8-month visits – These are not achieving the target, but September performance (49.06%) shows an improvement on previous months.  This could be due to people not letting us inside the house – they may not want us to see inside, or they may simply not be experiencing any issues and therefore don’t understand why we want to visit.  Previously the team doing this were focused on income, now it’s broader about sustaining a tenancy and wider support needed.  We are trying to improve, but these visits can identify issues such as hoarding which need a range of teams to help and takes time.   We aim to spot issues early and take action to support the tenant to prevent problems escalating.

Communal block inspections – these are now at 100%, hitting targets.  Inspections are an opportunity for us to identify any repairs needed in communal areas and address any concerns with residents. 

Estate walkabouts – the majority are being completed, with good feedback from elected members who join them.  Customers are welcome to join in as well.  LR gave an example of one she did in Camperdown, where some issues were spotted and logged with relevant teams for action.  LR explained that timings of the walkabouts and the days of the week they take place on were varied for this year, as a direct result of feedback from this panel.   

b) Complaints report

Complaints have increased (20 complaints received during July-Sept 2025, compared to 9 for the same period last year, although those 2024 figures exclude those relating to Community Protection and ASB as that team only transferred to be part of the Housing service in November 2024).  

LR explained that there have been a lot of pest control issues and if they have not been dealt with in the way the tenant would like, that can lead to a complaint.  Some complaints arise from the person making the original complaint not agreeing with our response.  

The increase may be a positive thing in that people now know how to complain and have the confidence to challenge something they are unhappy with. However, sometimes people can be misinformed via social media, and we do also receive vexatious complaints. 

Communication complaints are often raised with ASB cases, as people don’t feel they have been kept up to date.  There are things we can learn from every complaint – what went wrong and what can we do to prevent it happening again.  

JA explained that the service development team work with complaints too.  A full deep dive review of 2024-25 complaints is going on now, to identify any trends which we can learn from.   

7. Any Other Business

The next meeting, in February, will have a focus on fraud.  AM invited panel members to suggest other topics for future meetings.   

If any panel member would like to volunteer to chair the next meeting, please let AM know. 

A further round of tenant drop-ins is being held over the next two weeks at Shiremoor Library, John Willie Sams in Dudley and Wallsend community hub and library.  These have been publicised in the council magazine and widely in the community, at social supermarkets, and via teams working with council tenants. Details will be promoted on social media too nearer the time.

On Tuesday of this week, several members of the panel took part in a focus day to look at our empty homes process, which is currently being reviewed by an internal team.  Tenants who took part fed back that they found the day really interesting and particularly highlighted their appreciation of the support provided and the focus on getting to know the individual tenant and understanding their needs, which may be complex.  The panel will receive further updates on this work as it progresses. 

There were some additional questions around waste and recycling, which AM will follow up with the environment team.