tpas members handbook
DESCRIPTION
Find out about the variety of membership services TPAS offers.TRANSCRIPT
WWW.TPAS.ORG.UK
MEMBERS HANDBOOK
A quick reference guide for getting the most of your membership.
WWW.TPAS.ORG.UK
We hope you will make good use of the variety of services we offer, and add your experience to them.
TPAS always welcomes your comments on the services we provide and any suggestions for improvement. If you have any comments, please contact one of the staff or a member of our Board of Directors.
We look forward to working with you.
CONTENTS
Page 2 Round Up & EzinesPage 3 TP Workers group Page 4 TPAS websitePage 6 Helpline & Information servicePage 8 TrainingPage 9 EventsPage 11 Consultancy
DEAR TPAS MEMBER,
WELCOME!!
TPAS is the leading national tenant involvement organisation. We’re unique in that our membership is made up of local tenants and their landlords. We represent over 1700 tenant and residents groups and 220 landlords. Our mission is to promote effective tenant involvement and empowerment.
Being champions of co-regulation, we believe in enabling housing practitioners and tenants to work together to improve their communities. TPAS are at the forefront of joining up government policy with front-line service delivery and grassroots tenant groups.
As a TPAS member, you benefit from a range of key services and discounts. This handbook provides a handy reference guide to the benefits and services available and how best to maximise the value you get from your TPAS membership.
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We love to feature our
members stories in the ezine. Contact us [email protected]
to be involved.
ROUND UP
About our members for our members!You will receive our Round Up magazine bi-monthly.
Packed with news, views and good practice from the housing world Round Up is an indispensible benefit of being a TPAS member. You can have up to 5 people receiving postal mailings from us.
TIP• If you would like to feature a
story in an issue of Round Up or would like to receive extra copies please contact the Membership Team on 0161 868 3500.
TPAS EZINE
Our weekly ezine is sent every Thursday, it is jam packed with news, views and stories about tenant involvement and housing – let us round up the week for you and point you in the direction of the stories and comments you should be reading!
Every week you can look forward to reading..• Latest Housing news• Information on Key events• Policy updates• Info on TPAS publications• Funding news• Query of the week
SERVICES TO TPAS MEMBERS
There is no limit to
how many people can receive the
E- Zine – to subscribe email us at
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TPAS@12
This fortnightly e-bulletin brings you the top stories in resident involvement and empowerment over the past two weeks. It hits your mailbox at 12 o clock every second Tuesday – so keep an eye out!
To subscribe to TPAS@12
email us [email protected]
TP WORKERS GROUP
The TP Workers group is a Yahoo based email forum for Tenant Participation & Resident Involvement workers across England.
The purpose of this group is to promote networking, share good practice, information and advice – the group is a mine of resources that members can share freely between each other and is free to join.
This nationwide networking group has over 400 members so you can be confident that there is someone who can offer advice or support for any question or problem you may have – recent topics of discussion have been:
• Future Funding of the Housing Ombudsman
• Customer Engagement and tenant volunteer incentives
• Resident only groups• Laptops for engaged tenants• Mystery shopping
TIP• Email us at [email protected]
if you would like to join the TP Workers group.
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WEBSITEWWW.TPAS.ORG.UK
The TPAS Website is a unique resource for Social Housing Landlords and Tenants. The website is updated on a regular basis to keep you informed of the very latest TPAS publications, events, courses and members information.
You can download case studies sharing good practice and useful information sheets.
TIP• Some of our pages are for
Members only - you will need to set up your own username and password to access the members’ only pages - click on register on the front page of the website to complete the online form.
SOCIAL MEDIA
We use a range of social media platforms to engage with our members so make sure you give us a ‘like’ or a ‘follow’
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www.facebook.com/tpasengland
Follow us on Twitter - @tpasengland
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TENANTS AND RESIDENT GROUP MEMBERSHIP
As a landlord member, all of your recognised tenant and resident groups, scrutiny panels, board members etc are invited to join as TPAS tenant members for free!
All we ask is for a list of your recognised tenant and resident groups with their current postal and email addresses, they can then start to enjoy all the great benefits that TPAS membership offers.
JOB ADVERTISEMENTS
The TPAS website receives an average of 15,000 hits per month, the majority of these are people active within the sector. As a member of TPAS you can advertise up to two jobs per membership year on our website for free! Contact us [email protected] for more information.
TPAS CORPORATE INFORMATION
MISSION STATEMENT
TPAS is committed to building strong communities through effective tenant and resident involvement. We work to ensure tenant, residents and landlords have access to good quality information, advice and training to allow them all to play an integral role in their homes and communities
MANAGEMENT OF TPAS
• The Board of Directors consists of 9 representatives with a balance of Landlord, Tenant and Independant representatives. The Board act as Directors of TPAS which is a not for profit limited company.
• If you would like to know more about becoming a member of the Board or would like a copy of the TPAS constitution, please contact us on [email protected] or call 0161 868 3550.
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How we can help you
• When possible, we will answer enquiries over the telephone via the Members’ freephone Helpline
• We can supply any information you require on resident involvement and all related issues.
• We can provide TPAS data, which includes information sheets on specific subject areas, good practice and case-studies.
TIPS• Keep us supplied with
information on what you are doing in tenant participation, including anything innovative or interesting that you think other members might find useful.
• Put us on your mailing-list for all the reports/newsletters/handbooks you produce for tenants in your area.
HELPLINE AND INFORMATION SERVICE
TPAS offers a unique Helpline and Information Service which is free to members. Our Research Officer is always on the lookout for examples of good practice and has a vast knowledge of current legislations and national initiatives.
TPAS maintains a number of computerised databases containing useful information to help deal with the wide variety of enquiries received from members. There is no limit to the number of enquiries you can make, but please allow for the fact that, depending on what you are asking for, there may not always be an immediate response to your enquiry.
Give us a call to discuss any issue you may have, big or small – we are always happy to help. You may want to discuss...• Safeguarding Policies • Setting up a tenants panel• Questions about committee members• Opening a bank account for a TRA
Call our Research Officer on 0161 868 3531 or Members Freephone on 0800 731 1315 or email [email protected].
FREEPHONEHelpline and
Information Service
0800 731 1315
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CASE STUDIES
TPAS produces a wide variety of free case studies highlighting good practice on a wide range of resident involvement projects from across the country. Case Studies are available to download from the members’ area of the TPAS website or you can request copies to be emailed and/or posted to you.
TIPLet us know if you have a story to share - you could be featured in our next case study or ezine!
INFORMATION SHEETS AND MEMBERS BRIEFINGS
TPAS produce an array of free member briefings over the year. These can be on new legislation, changes in regulation, emerging agendas or current debates in housing.
All information sheets are written by TPAS and are a valuable resource to enable you to understand a topic quickly and easily. We will always give the TPAS view on issues so you can be clear how we think resident involvement may be affected. Members Briefings are available to download from the TPAS website.
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If you wouldlike to discuss your
particular training needs, please contact the Training
Department on0161 868 3520
As a member
you receive a 25% discount
on courses booked
E LEARNING
These popular accredited on-line and tutor-led accredited courses are a great way of learning plus great for developing IT skills.
Courses include:
• Understanding Tenant Scrutiny • Understanding Performance Information• Chairing Skills• Role of a Community Representative • Effective Meetings• Getting Involved Online –Social Media• Involving Everyone• Options for Involvement
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF HOUSING ACCREDITED TRAINING
TPAS offers bespoke training packages including
• Level 3 Award in Resident Scrutiny• Level 2 Award in Community Action
in Housing• Active Learning for Residents
TPAS TRAINING
TPAS provides an extensive range of training courses for all types of organisations and people, including front line and senior staff, community representatives, tenants, board members and elected members.
We offer a comprehensive, relevant and varied range of topics; from scrutiny through to skills development and understanding performance and procurement
TPAS members receive preferential rates on all TPAS training courses and Events
IN HOUSE TRAINING
Where we come to you at a time and place to suit. Our approach is to agree exactly what you would like to achieve from the training session and then devise a programme and content to suit you and the participants. We prepare a bespoke training pack and course materials.
PUBLIC COURSES
Throughout England on a range of topics, usually in central city centre locations to make travel easier.
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REGIONAL EVENTS
TPAS holds regional meetings in each of its six regions. All are FREE to attend and there are normally 2-3 per year in accessible locations. These meetings are a way to meet and network with other members in your region. There is normally two key speakers on national or local issues with a particular emphasis on sharing best practice. Details of these free meetings are put in the E-Zine and on the website.
We are always keen to host these meetingwith our landlord members so if you wouldbe willing to provide a room and a speakerplease contact us on [email protected].
TIPVisit www.tpasconference.org.uk for information on the conference, programme topics and booking forms – we would love to see you there!
EVENTS
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The TPAS Annual Conference is by far the largest tenant involvement event in the housing calendar, offering a wide variety of workshops and speakers.
The TPAS conferences will give you the opportunity to:
• Debate national issues that are affecting all tenants
• Gain new skills to support great involvement in your organisation
• Learn how tenants have successfully shaped, influenced and improved services with their landlords - See the impressive results tenants have had from scrutinising their housing services
• Engage with organisations outside housing to find out what we can learn from other sectors
As a member you
receive a 25% discount on
places booked
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TPAS AGM
TPAS members are invited to an Annual General Meeting (AGM) each year. The aim of the AGM is to consider the work plan for the coming year and discuss the report from the previous year.Visit www.tpas.org.uk for the date of our next AGM and minutes from the last one.
NATIONAL EVENTS
TPAS also runs major national events. Our one-day events focus on important national topics, bringing together a large number of tenant and landlord delegates to debate key issues with major speakers.
TPAS AWARDS
Celebrating the achievements of trailblazing tenants, landlords and partners. The awards are split into 3 regions, Northern, Central and Southern. Category winners from each region go forward to the national final.
Tenants who go the extra mile, landlords and tenants working together and great ideas that show what can be achieved when people are truly involved are what we recognise and celebrate in the TPAS Awards.
Visit www.tpasawards.org.uk
for more information
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HEALTHCHECKS
A free resource for TPAS members, the healthcheck is a short assessment tool based on the key principles of resident involvement and the core themes from the Landlord RIQ with the purpose of highlighting areas of best practice and identifying areas of potential weakness with a view to helping you deliver high quality services.
SCRUTINY
Focussed on the ideology of Resident Led Self Regulation (RLSR) our scrutiny services can help you achieve tenant-led scrutiny anywhere from the initial set up of a scrutiny panel, to developing robust strategies, terms of references and independent mentoring.
OTHER CONSULTANCY SERVICES
• Independent Tenant Advisors• Local offers• Resident involvement reviews• Independent/group mentoring• Mediation• Advice and support• Solution focussed training
If you would like more information or would like to discuss how TPAS services can help your organisation, please call 0161 868 3500 or email [email protected]
CONSULTANCY
TPAS CONSULTANCY
Resident involvement makes good business sense and here at TPAS we offer accreditations and other consultancy services to help you achieve your corporate objectives, demonstrate effective tenant empowerment and help you evolve as an organisation.
We have three highly experienced regional consultancy managers alongside a number of audited associates who are committed to working as closely as possible with you and your organisation in achieving quality resident involvement and tenant empowerment
ACCREDITATION
We offer three different types of accreditation;
Landlord RIQThe Resident Involvement Quality standard is an assessment of your approach to resident involvement through the careful inspection and evaluation of your involvement strategy to enable you to continuously deliver and improve the services on offer to your customers.
Contractor Alongside the Landlord RIQ -TPAS contractor accreditation is an assessment and evaluation of all aspects of contractor resident involvement in terms of your organisations approach to responsive repairs, maintenance and capital works.
QASA rigorous yet supportive assessment of your tenant scrutiny arrangements against a framework developed collaboratively by the three industry leaders in co-regulation - TPAS, CIH and HouseMark.
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MEMBERS CHECKLIST
Make sure you use all of our great benefits to get the most from your membership!
All staff members signed up to receive our newsletters
All involved tenants signed up to receive our newsletters
Tenant groups registered for TPAS membership
Register to access the TPAS website members area
TPAS member stamp displayed on your company website
Have you booked your consultancy health check
Visit the website for useful case studies and information sheets
Have you booked your free training session
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TPAS, Suite 4B Trafford Plaza, 73 Seymour Grove, Manchester, M16 0LD
Telephone: 0161 868 3500Freephone helpline for Members: 0800 731 1315 Email: [email protected]
Web: www.tpas.org.uk
Facebook: /tpasengland
Twitter: @tpasengland
CONTACT US