North Tyneside Living Panel - 13 November 2025
Location: North Tyneside Council offices, Quadrant, Cobalt Business Park
Attendees
Tenant members – Bob, Eldon Court (Chair); Margaret, Feetham Ct ; Eleanor, The Orchard; John, Rosebank Hall; Fred and Evelyn, Phoenix Rise; Sybil, Chapelville; Morag, Percy Lodge; Patricia, Moorcroft; Heather, Cedar Close; Hilary, The Fold; Diane, Eccles Grange (Guest)
Odmond John, Morgan Sindall; Linda Herman – Senior Service Manager; Anthony Howe – NTL Manager; Mark Colvin – NTL Manager; Angela Melvin, Housing Engagement Manager
Apologies
Tenant members - Rosemary, Rosebank Hall; Marilyn, Tamar Court; Ray, Charlton Court; Alison, Southgate
Due to us having some new members, we are now limiting it to one rep per scheme, per meeting, to accommodate everyone and ensure tenants have the opportunity to speak. Meeting papers have been sent to those tenants not attending, for them to stay up to date.
1. Notes of the last meeting and action log
Notes of the last meeting were agreed.
Action log – some tenants said their brown bins did not have the stickers for collection. MC will follow this up, this will be in the new year though as collections are now ending for the winter.
2. Laundry token trial at Feetham Court
A briefing note had been sent to the panel ahead of the meeting, explaining the trial which is currently underway at Feetham Court.
This is going very well and feedback from tenants is positive. We are waiting for data to demonstrate the cost savings and a full evaluation will be done at that stage.
If the trial is to be rolled out, it will be done by replacing machines with coin-operated ones when they are due for replacement. A similar scheme for dryers is also now under consideration.
There were some questions about tenants with their own washing machine in their apartment and insurance, LH clarified that the individual tenant is responsible for that machine and any repairs or insurance relating to it, eg if it leaked and caused damage.
Insurance cover in general will be raised at tenant catch-up meetings to raise awareness of this, as there was some uncertainty amongst the group about whether the council provides contents insurance (it has done previously, but no longer does so). Information leaflets could be provided too.
3. Health and safety: near-miss incidents
A serious issue in all our schemes is knives and sharps being put in with general waste. This has resulted in 10 near-miss incidents in the last year when the cleaning team have lifted rubbish bags out of the bins and sharp objects have come through the bag. There have also been some incidences of injuries caused by this. Legal action can be taken if an injury occurs.
Panel members were shown images of a knife sticking through a bag, and a corkscrew. These will also be shared within our schemes and panel members were asked to take this message back and share with their neighbours.
Signage about sharps and safe disposal are in all bin stores. The images shared with the panel today will also be shared within the schemes.
We have changed the moving out standards recently and now, if someone is moving out, they (or their next of kin) must do a pre-termination inspection with a member of staff. This now includes specific instruction to dispose of sharp items properly.
4. Performance update
Ahead of the panel, tenants had received the regular complaints report and performance scorecard.
Health, safety and wellbeing targets are all at 100% and up to date.
OJ reported that repairs targets have seen a drop in performance for emergencies of 2% (to 94.2% against a target of 99%), which may have been affected by an increase in the number of jobs.
Routine repairs targets for quarter two (July-September) were at 91.5% against a target of 96%. This figure is similar to that achieved in quarter one (April-June).
Morgan Sindall is working with their supply partners to make sure they are attending within timeframes to improve. If the pre-arranged time window is not hit, even if that’s because the operative arrived earlier, this is classed as a ‘fail’ for not hitting the stated time window.
LH clarified that complaints to the complaints team should not be made about disputes with neighbours for personal reasons. We do try and deal with disagreements between neighbours, however due to confidentiality requirements we cannot tell other people in that building what is going on or what action we are taking.
LH asked that all tenants give the team an opportunity to deal with any complaints in the first instance. If required, it can then be escalated to the complaints team.
5. Any Other Business
A draft copy of an updated Tenancy Agreement was handed out. Copies are also going in communal lounges at all sites. Panel members were asked to take it away and provide feedback on whether it is easy to understand, and any thoughts on those sections relevant to NTL, to AM by 1 December.
Margaret kindly volunteered to chair the next panel meeting.
6. Tenant Satisfaction Measures 2024 survey results discussion
The second half of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the survey results around tenant satisfaction. This was run by the Council’s research team, with no other staff members present. The research team will follow this up directly with the service and the panel will be kept up to date.