Council planning ‘appalling’ cut from tenants’ group

Dudley Council is planning to pull the plug on funding for a group which represents thousands of tenants.

The Dudley Federation of Tenants and Residents Association (DfTRA) receives a grant of £40,000 per year from the council but the authority’s director of housing says the payment should stop at the end of the current financial year.

Documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service say, after a review, the council does not believe the DfTRA delivers outcomes set out in new regulatory standards.

Kathy Jones, Dudley group director of housing and assets said: “The council has reviewed its current arrangements for engaging tenants as part of the wider ongoing work to ensure compliance with each of the Regulatory Standards set out by the Regulator of Social Housing (RoSH).

“To be clear this recommendation is a funding recommendation only, having identified that the service level agreement (SLA) with DfTRA does not deliver the required outcomes to support with regulatory compliance and, as such, does not demonstrate value for money when considering appropriate use of our tenant’s money.

“The funding decision would not prevent DfTRA volunteers from continuing to operate, nor does it impact directly on any individual tenants and residents associations in the borough.”

The DfTRA was established in 1991 and supports individual tenants as well as 13 tenants and residents associations with engagement with the council, providing advice and guidance for groups, small discretionary grants, lobbying for improvements and resolving issues. 

Funding from the council pays for an administrator for DfTRA and covers expenses like insurance and compliance with regulations around storing personal data.

Martin Smith, chairperson of DfTRA, said: “It is appalling the way we have been treated, nobody has ever challenged the SLA and said it doesn’t work, but now apparently it’s not working and we are not meeting regulations.

“It’s not our job to meet the regulations, that’s them as in housing standards and things of that sort, it’s not Dudley federation’s job to meet the regulations.

“The question needs to be asked, what are you replacing this with? If you talk to your councillors they cannot tell you what is going to replace it.”

The decision has yet to be approved by the council’s political leadership but opposition is already building within the corridors of power.

Cllr Ryan Priest, leader of Dudley’s Liberal Democrats, said: “This is a short-sighted decision and tenants deserve far more honesty about what is really happening.

“In Wollescote I have seen our local TRA work proactively with the council to get things done and host regular events for young people. They deliver real community value that doesn’t show up on council spreadsheets.

“We are calling on the Chair of the Housing and Assets Scrutiny Committee to bring this decision to his committee and allow for a debate rather than a rubber stamp”

Ms Jones said: “The council absolutely values the time and commitment of our tenants and volunteers, and the ongoing work to widen opportunities to get involved is designed to ensure that we hear tenant voice in breadth and depth and that this informs our service development and delivery.”

Mr Smith added: “If they are going to take the money away from us and something is going to replace it, they don’t know at this stage what that is. I think the tenants’ voice is going to be gone.”