Your Voice Forum Meetings

Your Voice Forum Meeting Summary 

Topic: Highrise Building & Fire Safety 

Introductions:  

• Olivia Hammond- Building Safety Assurance Officer 
• Mike Hutton- Strategic Lead – Home & Place 
• Lee Woods-Head of Compliance and Building Safety 
• Andrew Bevan-Resident Experience Officer 
• Emma Quayle-Resident Experience Manager 
• Waqas Alam-Resident Engagement Officer 

Residents present: 20 

Olivia Hammond presented the work her team has been doing to meet the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022. 

Key Points:

Building Safety Act 2022: 

• Building owners must demonstrate effective measures to identify and manage safety risks. 
• Residents in high rise buildings can raise safety concerns directly to Manchester City Council. 

Highrise Residential Buildings: 

Defined as buildings with at least 7 storeys or a height of 18 metres and a minimum of 2 residential units. 

Building Safety Risks: 

• Risks include the spread of fire or smoke and structural failure. 

Building Safety Regulator: 

• Established under the Building Safety Act 2022 to oversee safety standards of higher-risk buildings. 

Building Safety Cases: 

• Comprehensive reports detailing safety risks and measures to manage them, including fire safety and structural integrity. 

Mandatory Occurrence Reporting: 

• Requires building owners to report safety incidents or potential hazards promptly. 

Building Safety Resident Engagement Strategy (BSRES): 

• Outlines how residents can participate in safety decisions and share concerns. 
• Tailored to the resident profile of each building, with ongoing development and consultation. 

Current Initiatives: 

• Profiling Survey: Collecting data on communication preferences and evacuation support needs. 
• Resident Engagement Officers: Two temporary positions to lead survey data collection and engagement opportunities. 
• Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans: Developing plans for residents needing support during emergencies. 

Next Steps: 

• Developing consultation and engagement opportunities. 
• Relaunching the Highrise Building Safety Forum to gather feedback on meeting frequency, locations, and agenda items. 

Discussion: 

Question-How are we going to get this profiling information? 

Answer-Through the consultation survey we are currently doing by text, post, phone, and face to face by knocking on doors 

Question: How can people contact Waqas? 

Answer: A variety of ways, email phone 

Question: Why has my block not been prioritised first? 

Answer: It is based on an assessment of safety and risk of each building 

One resident noted it is good to see resident facing roles coming back as they have not had it for a long time 

One resident noted that we should put a poster or note on the communal noticeboards to let people know in advance that we are doing a text survey as people thought it might be a scam 

One resident said that they do not know who their housing officers are, and this information should also be posted on the board with their contact details 

Mike Hutton outlined the new housing officer model which will see an increase in visibility, and they will be visiting people's homes every two years. One resident said housing officers always respond by saying a particular issue is not within their remit. 

Daryl from Hammerton Road TRG said that we all need to work together to go forwards 

Lee Woods said that all the blocks had been appraised for improvements and the cost of remedying every issue was extremely high. The numbers of repairs reported have also increased dramatically. 

One resident mentioned fire doors that do not work properly. They asked why nobody checks the work has been signed off. One resident said that all work needs to be checked top to bottom after it has been completed. Lee Woods said that the suppliers are paid to check the work themselves. 

Lee Woods asked the meeting how we can create conduits to improve communication between residents and what is going on in each block. 

One resident suggested appointing a person per block that knows the problems there. Mike Hutton said that they are planning to do just this 

One resident said that it is very disheartening to wait for a job to be done and then it is done very poorly. 

We then broke into groups to discuss the following questions: 

Questions for Group Discussion: 

Highrise Building Safety Forum: 

How frequently would you like the Forum to meet? 

Group 1: Quarterly 

Group 2: Monthly at first and then reduce to quarterly 

Group 3: Quarterly 

What topics or issues would you like to see on the agenda? 

Group 1: ASB, Communal Works, Ground Works 

Group 2: Name of group. Comms, Planned works 

Group 3: Security, lifts, communication, and repairs were highlighted 

Where would be the most convenient location for these meetings to take place? 

Group 1: White Moss Road or Teams/Zoom 

Group 2: Whitebeck Court but consider other venues not necessarily council venues 

Group 3: White Moss Road or other council offices 

Involvement Preferences: 

    What kind of engagement opportunities would you find most valuable? (e.g., workshops, forums, surveys) 

Group 1: Workshop or other facilitated session. Choice of different workshops 

Group 2: Workshops/Survey/Individual newsletter per block. Group felt existing comms not working and people do not know what is going on 

Group 3: Surveys, letters, emails, and WhatsApp were valued. 

Preference for letters through the post to inform about meetings weeks in advance, followed by noticeboard updates in large writing. 

Consideration for visually impaired residents, suggesting calls or other methods to inform them. 

Are there particular decisions or topics you feel strongly about and want to contribute to? 

Group 1: ASB, Communal Works, Ground Works 

Group 2: Comms-information about planned improvements 

Group 3: Comms, Repairs 

Would you like to join the Resident Reader Group to review new and amended policies and provide feedback? 

Some people do not have a computer so maybe if a paper copy could be sent then more people would engage and join. Another suggestion was that the people writing the policy should go down, meet the residents, introduce themselves, take time, and discuss the policies before pushing policy out. 

One resident volunteered to join the group 

Your Voice Forum: Minutes of Meeting - 26 March 2025

• Date of meeting: 26/3/2025
• Number of residents present: 12
• Report Author: Andrew Bevan
• Topic: Resident Engagement
• Staff present: Claire Tyrell, Mike Hutton & Andrew Bevan

Vulnerability Policy

Definition: Vulnerability includes difficulties with everyday living due to mental or physical health issues, disability, age, or temporary conditions like pregnancy. It also covers residents needing extra support to manage their tenancy.  
  
Identification: Vulnerability can be identified through self-reporting, staff interactions, or external referrals. Signs include antisocial behaviour, neglect of home or garden, failure to respond to correspondence, and inability to maintain tenancy conditions.  
  
Characteristics: Vulnerable groups include older people, disabled individuals, care leavers, lone parents, people with mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, addiction issues, low literacy, and non-English speakers. Exceptional life events like bereavement, crime victimisation, domestic abuse, recent hospital discharge, pregnancy, refugee status, and exceptional hardship are also considered.  
  
Response: Recording and addressing needs, making reasonable adjustments.

Discussion Points

• Housing Ombudsman: Waiting for the policy.  
• Policy Scope: Covers issues that are not ASB but are annoyances.  
• British Gas: One resident mentioned British Gas asks vulnerability questions to assess needs.  
• Housing System (QL): Alerts show people's vulnerabilities.  
• Checks on Vulnerabilities: One resident asked if there are checks on whether vulnerabilities have worsened or changed. Claire responded that resources are not available for this.  
• Bi-annual Visits: Housing Officers will make bi-annual visits to identify vulnerabilities. Equans will also provide feedback alerts during property repairs.  
• Contact Centre: Discussion on improved waiting times to get through on the phone.  
• Online Repair Reporting: One resident reported a repair online but hadn't heard back for three weeks.  
• Introductory Contract: Confirmed it still exists. 
• Safeguarding Brief: Provided to all staff annually. Equans operatives receive an online Safeguarding course.  
• Hoarding Cases: Difficult properties to access, requiring trust-building.  
• Action: Change wording from 'disabled people' to 'person with a disability'.  
• Suicidal Procedure: One resident asked about the procedure for someone who is suicidal.  
• Policy Feedback: Group described the policy as holistic and expressed surprise it wasn't already in place but approved of the content. 

Good Neighbourhood Management Policy 

Scope: Includes neighbourhood management to meet Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). Covers neighbour disputes, non-statutory noise issues, parking, children playing, lifestyle differences, abandoned vehicles, garden maintenance, communal areas, environmental antisocial behaviour (ASB), vandalism, graffiti, fly-tipping, and litter. 
 
Maintenance: Grounds maintenance (grass, hedges, weed killing, trees), communal cleaning (high-rise and low-rise blocks), waste management (communal areas/bins, recycling, bulky rubbish).

Next Steps

Review feedback, consult wider, draft policies for comments, and implement approved policies.

Discussion Points

• Mediation Service: Evolved to recognise trauma. 
• Service Standards: Mike Hutton is revising them.
• Trees: Remain a grey area. 
• Additional Inclusions: Group suggested fly-tipping. Discussion on CCTV to combat this, but the issue often moves elsewhere. 
• Bins: Not enough bins near fast food places. Manchester City Council doesn't have the capacity to collect more rubbish. 
• Grass Cutting: Complaint about grass left on paths. Mike Hutton said paths should be cleared. 
• Communal Gardens: Grass cutting has been brought back in-house.

Actions 

Claire Tyrrell will compile everything into a policy and go out to consultation. One resident expressed willingness to be part of the consultation. 

Your Voice Forum: Minutes of Meeting - 26 February 2025

• Date of meeting: 26/02/2025
• Number of residents present: 8
• Report Author: Andrew Bevan
• Topic: Resident Engagement
• Staff present: Andrew Bevan and Emma Quayle

Introduction

Emma spoke about Manchester City Council Housing Services’ (MCCHS) resident engagement and involvement offer and discussed the recent TSM results which show only 41% of tenants felt that we listen to their views and act upon them, 44.85% feel we keep residents informed of the things that matter to them.

Discussion

There followed a whole group discussion about why residents might not feel happy with the current service. The points discussed were as follows:

1. Many residents still see MCCHS as Northwards Housing and the move into the council was just a name change. Northwards still comes up on Google and when using the website
2. Equans called one resident and said that they were coming to do a repair from ‘Northwards’ and then told the resident how terrible ‘Northwards’ were as a landlord
3. ‘There’s no point (getting involved), they don’t listen’ attitude of many residents
4. Residents cited the lack of Communications advertising improvements to the service; a lot of people still think call wait times are too long. We spoke about the recent improvements.
5. Confusion between MCCHS and MCC more generally. MCCHS is now getting the blame for failures in other council services
6. Confusing branding-front of offices has a different colour scheme to website and new proposed app has yet another proposed branding and colour. Although many liked ‘the Hive’ colour scheme.
7. No knowledge of who the housing officer is and no contact from one. The new Housing Officer operating model was discussed.
8. Overreliance on communication via the website and social media.
9. Allocation rules-homeless people with complex needs being housed in flats. In other areas of country, families with children could be housed as well in high rise buildings.

Suggestions

1. Consistent branding across all platforms to ensure that people understand who MCCHS are and what they do 
2. Arrange a clean-up of the area. Great British Spring Clean and explore funding for gardens and other clean-up activities 
3. Advertise current wait times for the contact centre on Facebook to show the improvement to the service 
4. Advertise volunteering opportunities 
5. More positive case studies promoted 
6. Once a year reach out with a paper newsletter or leaflets 
7. New tenancy packs to include information on how residents can get involved 
8. Concessionary gardening need to be identified at the let 
9. When we advertise engagement opportunities/events, can we state if they are wheelchair accessible/step free etc.

Actions

• Emma to find out if there is a limit on the number of concessionary gardens available.
• Comms team have created Facebook post of weekly CSC performance - to be published every week. https://bit.ly/41KbGNE
• MCC and Housing Services team members are participating in a large Litter Pick on Rochdale Road on Tuesday 1st April.
• Residents will be encouraged to sign up for the Great British Spring Clean and arrange their own litter picks - with advertising posts across social media, website and on the resident newsletter.