Organisation: First Choice Homes Oldham
Neighbourhood assessed: The Sholver Estate
Background
The Sholver Estate is located approximately three miles to the east of Oldham town centre and consists of approximately 1,000 properties, of which 658 are managed by First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO).
The housing management team deal with up to 20 cases of anti-social behaviour at any one time, ranging from neighbour nuisance to use of drugs, theft and violent crime.
Approximately half of the households receive Housing Benefit and nearly one in five of all working age people have a limiting long-term illness or disability. The estate suffers from extensive fly-tipping and litter problems, which the team work hard to manage.
Methodology
First Choice Homes agreed to participate in a pilot for the Keep Britain Tidy Cleaner Greener Safer Neighbourhood Quality Mark in February 2008 and applied to be assessed against Level 2 – Performer.
The application workbook was initially desktop assessed; this enabled the assessors to verify whether the evidence provided against each of the required activities appeared to have been met and to prepare a site visit plan.
A one day site visit was carried out by the assessors on 18th March 2008 to validate the evidence provided and to assess whether all the Level 2 requirements had been met to an acceptable level. During the site visit a range of one to one interviews and discussion groups were carried out with team members, managers, residents, partner organisations, and frontline staff.
Strengths
- Strong commitment from First Choice Homes Oldham management.
- Enthusiasm of the staff at First Choice Homes Oldham.
- Engagement with partners involved on the Sholver Estate.
- Commitment and enthusiasm of the Housing Team on the Sholver Estate.
- Commitment and enthusiasm of the partners – Street scene and Groundwork.
- Community like living there and want it to be better.
- Resident engagement on an estate with an unsure future.
- Clear recognition of the issues affecting Sholver by team and customers.
- A shared vision statement for the community.
- A clear action plan for the long term improvements of the estate.
- High regard for the Housing Team and Caretaking Team by the local residents.
- Good quality Caretaking Service supporting CSG projects ie Kerbside Collection.
- Clear methods for communicating with the estate and a consistent approach to feedback for all customers.
- Good awareness of individuals and team projects.
- Clear communication framework for sharing best practice internally and with customers.
- Some excellent practices for engaging with customers – highlights include BME projects, Youth Projects and Community Awards scheme.
Areas for improvement
- Getting residents to lead on actions eg walkabouts.
- Development of the Tenant Management Organisation – in preparation for potential regeneration.
- Raising awareness of the benefits of the Sholver Estate to the wider community in Oldham.
- Use expertise from colleagues on Youth Projects and BME Projects to engage with customers further.
- Continuous development of the framework for customer engagement on the estate.
Recommendation
After review of the submitted application workbook document, supporting evidence and the verification interviews held during the site visit, assessors recommended the applicant be recognised against Level 2 - Performer of the Cleaner Greener Safer Neighbourhood Quality Mark.