tenant panel wins regional award page 5 · tenant newsletter, april 2017 issue 42 nwldchousing...

Tenant newsletter, April 2017 Issue 42 NWLDCHousing @NWLDCHousing

Spring Gradens Page 2Lindon and Verdon new community centre opening Page 3 View your rent statement and pay online Page 4

Pick up your free Better Journey cards and Keep Safe cards Page 5Competition time! Page 6How is your council performing? Page 7

If you would like this information in another language, Braille, LARGE PRINT or audio, please contact our Resident Involvement Team on 01530 454 605 or [email protected]

Inside this edition

Tenant panel wins regional award Page 5

Intouch April 2017.indd 1 28/03/2017 14:54:34

Message from the In Touch Editorial PanelThe editorial panel is a group of involved residents working in partnership with the Resident Involvement Team to keep you informed on issues that affect tenants and leaseholders of North West Leicestershire District Council. If you would like to make any comments or contribute to the magazine, please contact the Resident Involvement Team on 01530 454605 or [email protected]

ContentsSpring Gardens 2

Leicestershire County Council election 2017 2

Linden and Verdon - new community centre opening 3

View your rent statement and pay online with My Rent Account! 4

Direct Debit 4

Pick up your free Better Journey cards and Keep Safe cards 5

Tenant’s panel wins regional award 5

Competition time! 6

How’s your council performing? 7

Manage your council tax account online 7

Coalville events 8

Leicestershire County Council elections 2017Elections for Leicestershire County Council will be held on Thursday 4 May, 2017. Use your vote and help shape Leicestershire’s future.

Once elected, your county councillor will be involved in making decisions about how the services Leicestershire County Council provide are delivered during the next four years.

To vote in this election your name must be included on the Register of Electors. You can register to vote or update your details online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or contact the Electoral Registration Officer on 01530 454512 or email: [email protected]. for advice. You must be registered by 13 April 2017, to be able to vote on 4 May.

Visit www.leicestershire.gov.uk for more information on this election.

Spring Gardens!Lawrence Foster is one of our tenants who lives in Ravenstone. Lawrence tends to the garden he shares with his neighbours - mowing the lawn, maintaining the borders and growing fruit and veg.Lawrence says he enjoys gardening as it keeps him active, helps with depression and he really enjoys seeing the plants grow and watching all the insects scurry about the garden.

Top tips from Lawrence for spring time in the garden

• Plant bulbs deep to help avoid damage when you are digging in the garden.

• Spread seeds you have collected in autumn and ensure you irrigate them.

• Don’t cut the hedges until at least July / August as birds will be nesting in them

• If using seeds, freeze them for a day or two before planting them, this will help them germinate.


On Friday 27 January, Councillor Roger Bayliss officially opened the new community centre on Verdon Crescent in Coalville. The opening was attended by local residents and staff from NWLDC.The local Tenants and Residents Association (TARA), which will operate from the new centre, laid on a delicious spread of food and drink to celebrate the opening.Hilary Prime, Chair of the Tenant’s and Resident’s Association, said: “We are all so grateful to North West Leicestershire District Council for providing the new community centre, which we helped to design and fit out. It is a great place where we can meet as a group and promote all our community activities.”

Lindon and Verdon new community centre opening


View your rent statement and pay online with My Rent Account!From April 2017 all tenants will be able to check their rent account online. Once you have registered, you can see your transactions, check your balance and pay your rent by either debit or credit card.Registration is quick, easy and of course – it’s free! Head to nwleics-self.achieveservice.comOnce registered you will also be able to sign up to view your council tax statement and make payments online.

Prize draw for everyone who registers in the next year!You will be automatically entered into a monthly prize draw to win either one week’s rent paid or a decorating pack to the equivalent value and every three months, one lucky tenant will also receive one month’s rent paid by North West Leicestershire District Council. Just register and opt to receive fewer paper rent statements to be in with a chance to win.

How to registerIn the letter accompanying your April statement we’ve included the information you need to submit your registration. Once this is complete, you’ll be able to log on securely any time of the day or night (using a password set by and known only to you) to view your rent statement, make payments and let the council know about any changes to your details, such as your contact number or email address.

Problems paying your rent or need help with your online rent account?If you need help with your online rent account please contact [email protected]

If you want to check your council tax, business rates, housing benefit or council tax reduction account why don’t you register with us online?Information you can view includes:Housing benefit or council tax reduction• How your benefit has been calculated (private

tenants only)• Details of payments sent to youCouncil tax and business rates• Online access to your council tax account or

business rates account at any time • View bills online including the

balance outstanding and see previous payments

• Request payment by direct debit• You can sign up to receive an eBill rather than a

paper based bill.

Manage your accounts online

View your bill

s online

anytime with #

paperfree

Business rates

– Benefits –

Council tax

www.nwleics.

gov.uk/paper

free


Pick up your free Better Journey cards and Keep Safe cards

The Tenant Scrutiny Panel (TSP) has won the ‘Excellence in Scrutiny’ award at the tpas central awards 2017.tpas (formerly the Tenants Participation Advisory Service) is a national organisation that works with housing providers to help improve tenant involvement and co-regulation.The Tenant Scrutiny Panel is a group of six tenants who volunteer their time to carefully examine services offered by our Housing Department. The panel forms judgements about the cost and quality of these services and offers recommendations to help the services improve.So far, the Tenant Scrutiny Panel has inspected

and helped to improve services including:• How we deal with anti-social behaviour• Our responsive repairs service• How we promote and publish our key

performance indicators.This is a great accomplishment for the Tenant Scrutiny Panel, who will now go on to represent the central region at the national tpas awards in July. For more information about the TSP and to find out how to join the panel contact the Resident Involvement Team on 01530 454605.For more information about tpas, please visit www.tpas.org.uk and to find out more about the awards themselves, visit www.tpasawards.org.uk

Tenant panel wins regional award

The Police and Crime Commissioner has launched a new scheme to help people feel more safe and confident whilst using public transport.Better Journey cards help to let a driver know if a passenger needs extra help. They provide passengers with a range of different messages, which they can use depending on their individual needs or disability. Messages on the cards, which are given to the driver when you get on the bus, include: • Asking the driver to wait until a person has found a seat before moving off

• Asking the driver to alert the passenger when they have reached a particular stop

• Asking the driver to be patient because the passenger has a hidden disability, or has difficulty speaking

• There are also blank cards to write individual messages.

This initiative works hand in hand with the council’s ‘Keep Safe Places’ scheme, which provides safe havens for people to go if they are out in our town

centres and need some help – whether they are feeling unwell, vulnerable, upset, scared or distressed. The scheme includes Keep Safe cards where you can write emergency contact details, important medical information and any other useful information.You can pick up your free Better Journey and Keep Safe Cards together with a Keep Safe wallet at Keep Safe Places in North West Leicestershire:• Ashby Library• Ashby Tourist Information Centre• Coalville Library• North West Leicestershire District Council• Marlene Reid Centre• Shopmobility Coalville• Hermitage FM Community Cafe A full list of Keep Safe Places across Leicestershire can be found at www.nwleics.gov.uk/keep_safe_places_scheme


Snowdrop Daffodil April Flower Umbrella Spring Sprout

Bloom Nest Butterfly Thaw Picnic Garden Caterpillar

Hatch Sunshine Leaf Plant Rainy Lilac Rainbow

Spring Word Search Find all the words

E L S P R I N G I N Q B F V V G V JY U S D N X V R A Y L F R E T T U BP Z Y R E U Z A P R I L X G K H P IX Q T D D H J N R H E N X L N C D LH B P N R I J F B X X N Z R R A U RS R W R A L L I P R E T A C F L H AS G M E G L B P E S Y B Z F Y I Y IO V C I Q H P P T M M U O C N L N NW E M S I F O Z Q O J D D E X M I BA N H X W R T F A O I E R V E U A OH I M J D H X O H L M I E Q F L R WT H G W Y T P Z C B L G X L B W E RD S O M S I F J T F P E O U P M R TC N U U C Y A Q A C Y W R A H G Q FS U T N G P E N H L E M Y B O P X RH S I W Y F L Z P R U W L U M Z T XO C M I W T O V U V O W L Q T U X BC L M P Z N I T U O R P S O Z T Q V

Competition time!Winners of our

January InTouch competition

Number of bunnies you have found: ............................

Your name: ................................................................

Address: ....................................................................

...................................................................................

Telephone: ................................................................

The competition this time is to count the number of bunnies scattered around the pages of In Touch. You could win a £20 High Street Voucher. Please submit your answers by Monday 15 May.Either fill out the form and return to us at Resident Involvement, North West Leicestershire District Council, Council Offices, Coalville, Leicestershire, LE67 3FJ or email us your answer at [email protected] with your name, address, telephone number.

How many bunnies can you count?

Owen Haskett

Tammy Holders


October - December 2016Target Actual

Communities

Anti-social behaviour cases resolved / closed successfully (year to date) Not applicable 29

Repairs

Appointments made and kept by the repairs service 98% 99%

Repairs completed within target 98% 94%

Rents

Rent loss due to empty properties 1.80% of the rent roll

1.16% of the rent roll

Current tenant arrears – start of year Not applicable £392,478.00(2.18% of rent roll)

Current tenant arrears – end of current period 3% of the rent roll

1.69% of the rent roll

Former tenant arrears – start of year Not applicable £281,243

Former tenant arrears – end of current period Not applicable £277,416

Empty homes

Average time it takes from the former tenant leaving to the new tenant moving in.

40 days 37 days

Customer promise

Number of complaints received Not applicable 26

The number of complaints resolved at first contact Not applicable 13

£

To Let

How is your council performing?

We have introduced new dates and frequencies for paying by Direct Debit. These are free to use, convenient and easy to set up - giving you greater flexibility.You can now choose for

payments to be taken monthly on any day from 1 – 28 of each month. If you already pay your rent by Direct Debit but would prefer the payment to be requested on another date, please contact the Rent Accounting Team using the details provided below.If paying your rent monthly does not work for you, have you considered paying your rent each week by Direct Debit? If you choose this option, payments will be taken from your bank account each Friday.

With Direct Debit you are always in control, saving you time and money with the protection of the Direct Debit Guarantee.What’s more, if you pay by Direct Debit you will be automatically entered into an annual prize draw where you could win up to £240 in discounts on your rent for the following year. If you would like to set up a Direct Debit or move your Direct Debit to one of our new dates please call Charlie, Ciaran or Amanda in Rent Accounting on 01530 454798 email [email protected] details about the Direct Debit prize draw and terms and conditions please visit www.nwleics.gov.uk/draw

Paying your rent by Direct Debit has just become even easier


MAY - SEPTEMBER 2017

COALVILLE

ChooseCoalville ChooseCoalville For more info visit www.choosecoalville.co.uk

L VE YOUR LOCAL MARKET WEDNESDAY 17 - WEDNESDAY 31 MAY | COALVILLE MARKET

CONSTRUCTION CLUB SATURDAY 10 JUNE, 24 JUNE, 8 JULY, 22 JULY, 5 AUGUST, 19 AUGUST 10.30AM - 12 MIDDAY

6 - 12 YEARS COALVILLE LIBRARY

FRIDAY 9 JUNE 7PM CENTURY THEATRE

THE SPELLING BEELEICESTER COLLEGE PRESENTS THE MUSICAL

PICNIC IN THE PARKSUNDAY 25 JUNE 6PM - 9.30PM

COALVILLE PARK

SATURDAY 8 JULY - SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER COALVILLE LIBRARY

SUMMER READING CHALLENGE!

FRIDAY 4 AUGUST | NEEDHAMS WALK COALVILLE

COALVILLE BY THE SEA

PROMS IN THE PARKSATURDAY 24 JUNE 6PM - 9.30PM | COALVILLE PARK

AGES 3-12 YEARS


tenant panel wins regional award page 5 · tenant newsletter, april 2017 issue 42 nwldchousing...

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