Mon, 21 May 2012
A consultation exercise took place earlier in the year, proposing changes to housing, support and care for older people across the borough.
Many tenants and relatives took part in the consultation by attending the meetings and completing our questionnaires and we would like to thank everyone who had their say as your input is incredibly important to us.
The tenants who have completed and returned the questionnaire have been entered into a prize draw. Two lucky winners will receive Argos vouchers worth £100 and the last prize draw winner will receive an Argos voucher worth £50.
The council’s Cabinet reviewed a report on Tuesday 17 April 2012 and as a result, the following changes have now been approved:
Adoption of the sheltered housing standard
All kitchens, bathrooms, heating and ventilation in all individual flats, as well as communal facilities and areas, will be assessed against the new standard with all schemes/facilities being inspected by 2016.
Adoption of the decant policy
The policy explains the process used and the compensation payments for tenants who need to move, if their scheme is to close.
Core schemes
The following are set to become core sheltered housing schemes:
Greenham House
Danehurst
Frogley House; and
Edward Pauling.
These schemes will be used for extra community activities for older people in the borough. The core schemes will be tailored to make sure residential areas are kept secure and separate from the area where additional community activities are taking place.
Cluster schemes
With the exception of Loraine Road and Everglades, the remaining schemes will end up as clusters. The tenants of the cluster schemes will still have their own social activities taking place. A good example of this is a coffee morning event. Tenants will be given the opportunity to socialise with others and try out new activities at any other core schemes.
Changes to sheltered scheme managers - working arrangements
The changes will mean:
a sheltered scheme manager will still be designated to each scheme
the sheltered scheme managers will work from Monday to Friday and will continue to make daily calls
the Linkline visitor service will take over on Saturdays and Sundays; and
tenants do have the choice to opt out of the Linkline visitor service.
Until we are satisfied that sufficient safeguarding arrangements are in place, the changes in working arrangements for the sheltered scheme managers and the Linkline service will not be implemented until October 2012, at the earliest.
With regard to the future requirements for the resident sheltered scheme managers, authority has been assigned to the lead cabinet member for education, housing and human resources, to determine and agree the requirements for Hounslow Homes.
We will now work with Hounslow Homes to draw up a timetable to implement the changes. Tenants of sheltered housing schemes will be kept up to date on what is happening in their own scheme and in any other schemes across the borough.
If you have any concerns or would like to make a suggestion, please contact Barbara Perry on 020 8583 3758.