The Scottish Housing Regulator has today published its new plan for involving tenants and service users in its work. The plan shows how tenants and service users will stay at the heart of the Regulator’s work.
The Regulator will use a variety of initiatives to help it understand tenants’ and service users’ views and priorities. Many of these build on existing activities. It will continue to work with its National Panel of Tenants and Service Users. Established in 2013, the Panel now has almost 500 members and lets the Regulator hear directly about the experiences of a diverse range of tenants, people who are homeless and others.
Continuing to engage with tenant representatives will also be a key part of the Regulator’s work. It will do this through its Registered Tenant Organisation liaison group and the four Regional Networks. It will also speak with bodies who work on service users’ behalf.
The Regulator will also involve tenants and others directly in its regulation activities, helping it to stay focused on the issues that matter most to them. Its pool of independent, volunteer tenant advisors will be involved in activities such as reviewing information landlords produce for their tenants and feeding back on how the Regulator communicates.
The Regulator has also produced a short video that summarises its plan.
Michael Cameron, the Regulator’s Chief Executive, said: “We’re very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to tell us about their experiences and feed in their views and ideas. This direct tenant and service user feedback is essential to help inform and shape our work.
“The Covid-19 restrictions have made it more difficult for all of us to engage as we normally would. So we’ve been keeping in touch with our stakeholders in other ways. Last week I took part in a well-attended webinar organised by a tenant advisory body, and we’re all likely to be relying more on remote engagement for the foreseeable future.”
Read the Regulator’s plan for how it will involve tenants and service users in its work.
Notes to editors
- The Scottish Housing Regulator was established on 1 April 2011 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. Its objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of tenants and others who use local authority and RSL housing services. The Regulator operates independently of Scottish Ministers and is accountable directly to the Scottish Parliament. It assumed its full regulatory responsibilities on 1 April 2012. The Regulator consists of the Chair and six Board members. More information about the Regulator can be found on its website at housingregulator.gov.scot
- SHR sets out how it regulates social landlords in its published framework – Regulation of Social Housing in Scotland.