North Tyneside Living Panel - 3 September 2025

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

 

Attendees

Tenant members: Bob, Eldon Court; Eleanor, The Orchard; John, Rosebank Hall; Sybil, Chapelville; Morag, Percy Lodge; Teresa, Rosebank Hall; Patricia, Moorcroft; Alison, Southgate; Ray, Charlton Court; Joseph, Chapelville; Rosemary, Rosebank Hall; Fred & Evelyn, Phoenix Rise, Thomas, Chapelville 

Odmond John, Morgan Sindall; Marie Ferguson, Morgan Sindall; Anthony Howe, NTL Manager; Mark Colvin, NTL Manager; Angela Melvin, Housing Engagement Manager

 

Apologies – Sue, Southgate; Margaret, Feetham Ct; Heather, Cedar Close; John, Windsor Grange; Linda Herman, Senior Service Manager

  

1. Notes Minutes of the last meeting and action log

 Brown bin collections were discussed last time, Moorcroft and Chapelville still have issues outstanding and MC will follow up. 

 

2. Performance update

MC ran through the scorecard, which had been sent out to panel members in advance with the meeting papers.

In relation to the repairs targets, which have not been achieved, OJ said there had been a change to how these are categorised and a quicker response time should be seen soon.  Figures have improved since December for the emergency repairs response time.    

More repairs are being reported, which could reflect the buildings getting older and more maintenance being required. 

With regard to the target for ‘appointments made and kept’, OJ said that if the given timeslot is missed, it is recorded as a ‘fail’, even if the tradesperson attended earlier than arranged.

A tenant highlighted the call answer target of 20 seconds, which is not being achieved and questioned whether that was feasible.  The 20-second target is in the Morgan Sindall contract. 

 

3. Review of NTL tenant booklet 

Panel members had received a copy to review, in advance of it being updated. 

One tenant had brought in a handbook specific to their site, which they had received when they moved in and included details of how things were operated.   MC responded that we don’t do specific ones anymore, however new tenants should get an in-depth induction where they are shown how to operate different things.  They can also ask their Housing Officer at any point if unsure how to use things.  

There was discussion on how best to highlight what the Housing Officer is responsible for and can do.  A list of ‘tasks’ and then columns to indicate what the tenant is responsible for and what the Housing Officer or wider service is responsible for may help, AM explained this approach has been taken with a separate repairs handbook which the council repairs team recently published.  Tenants agreed this could be beneficial and AM will pick up with Linda. 

AM asked if any final comments or suggestions can be sent through by Friday 12 September.

 

4. Volunteer Agreement

At the panel meeting in November 2024, a Volunteer Code of Conduct was agreed.   

AH explained that to take this further, and to reinforce the correct roles and responsibilities, in particular around safeguarding and tenants paying for activities, a more formal Volunteer Agreement is being considered.

There have been some discussions with VODA (the Voluntary Organisations Development Agency in North Tyneside) on how volunteers could deliver activities at NTL schemes, as there is no longer a dedicated activities co-ordinator. 

VODA are happy to work with us to develop a formal Agreement, and to explore options to find volunteers who could help tenants set up opportunities for activities. One panel member explained how at their scheme, tenants do exercise classes in the lounge by showing You Tube videos, which are popular.

The panel agreed that this work should be taken forward, with VODA’s advice, and an update will be brought to the next meeting in November. 

 

5. Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey 2025 

At the last panel meeting, Linda had run through plans for a customer satisfaction survey to be carried out in NTL schemes later in the year.

AM explained that, after that panel meeting, it became clear that this would be going out shortly before the annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) survey – this is a standardised questionnaire that is sent to random tenants across the whole housing service.  All social housing providers across the country must carry this out.  The 2024 TSM survey was sent out to a random sample of 5,000 North Tyneside Council tenants and 1,018 were returned.  Of those, 143 were NTL tenants.  

The panel received a report at their last meeting about the results from those NTL tenants who responded.  This showed that while satisfaction among NTL tenants in general remains high (and is higher than tenants in general needs properties), it has seen a decrease and we would like to understand more about the reasons for this. 

To avoid any potential confusion and sending out two surveys within a short space of time, the council’s research team advised that there would only be the standardised TSM survey going out in the autumn.  However, to increase the value of the data for the NTL service, more randomly-selected NTL tenants will receive it this time.

The council’s research team will attend the November 2025 panel meeting and do a focus group to help us examine potential reasons behind the decrease in satisfaction.  This part of the meeting will be done without any housing staff present for confidentiality and anonymity. 

 

6. Any Other Business

  • The annual tenants’ event is being held at the council offices on the morning of Friday 26 September and panel members are encouraged to attend if they can.  AM is keen for our involved tenants from all our tenant panels to have a role at the event and asked for any volunteers who would be happy to facilitate a table discussion to let her know. 
  • Bob volunteered to chair the next panel meeting, in November. 
  • General questions were asked about laundry services (an update on the current trial at Feetham Court will be brought to the November meeting) and electrical servicing for items such as cookers and hobs, which is the tenant’s responsibility.  A query about window cleaning at Southgate will be picked up by OJ.
  • MC suggested that panel members send any questions to AM ahead of the next panel meetings, so answers can be sought ready for the meeting.  The panel agreed this would be helpful.