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UPDATE
- DECEMBER 2011...
Due to Funding delays &
Regulation requirement it has become necessary to put back the date
of our third & final assessment to 31 January 2012.
In the summer, this
year, our Chair - John James, was proposed & accepted as a member of
the NFTMO (National Federation of TMOs) Executive Committee, thus
strengthening our links with this national organisation.
Unfortunately, our Project Worker was forced to resign due to
pressing family matters. We then took on a temporary worker 'Abdi'
to fill the gap, he did so well that we made the position permanent
for the remainder of contract. We feel sure that many tenants have
already met Abdi in the course of his consultation work in the area.
On October the 13th,
our Chair - John James received an award from Ashley, Easton &
Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Partnership - for his work with St.
Judes TA & EARTH TMO.
On October 14th EARTH TMO, as a group, won the award from, BCC
Tenant Participation, for Learning & Development.
Officers, Board
Members & BCC Caretaking representatives went on a Study Visit to
'The Delves' & 'Sandbank' TMOs - both part of the WATMOS TMO
Co-operative in Walsall, this visit was particularly useful as it
demonstrated an efficient & sustainable working partnership between
the TMOs and Local Authority.
We have just completed
our fourth, successful, Financial Health Check. (this is to
ascertain that we are using our funding correctly & efficiently).
In
late September, this year, we submitted draft one of our Business
Plan to BCC and in early November we submitted draft 2, responding
to their comments on draft one, we are also starting to prepare the
'Offer Document', this document, on a successful Stage 3 Assessment,
will go out to all tenants prior to the independent Tenant Ballot.
We continue to work, in
partnership, with SDG (Somali Development Group) & the Avon &
Somerset Constabulary plus other local groups.
Our Board Meetings will
be held on the 2nd Thursday of each month, between 1pm and 2.30pm,
at our offices: 70 West St., Old Market, Bristol BS2 0BL.
Monthly Board Meeting
Schedule:
Thursday 12th January 2012 1.00pm - 2.30pm Thursday 9th February
2012 1.00pm - 2.30pm Thursday 8th March 2012 1.00pm - 2.30pm
Why not come along to our next Board Meeting and see for yourself
what it is all about about.
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Welcome...
We are EARTH Tenant Management Organisation Ltd. Our AOB (Area of
Benefit) consists of:-
St.Pauls & St.Werburghs, St.Judes & Upper Easton & Easton. We, and
many other tenants, are not happy with the constant changes the made
to the housing services and the quality of the services provided.
Our aim is to take over the management of the following services (as
listed below) and ensure that these services are provided more
effectively using housing staff who are answerable directly to our
tenants and leaseholders through our TMO Board.
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• response repairs
• caretaking
• grounds maintenance
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•
fly-tipping & litter
• estate management
• voids (empty properties) and re-lets
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TMO's IN PLAIN ENGLISH
There are 231 TMO’s nationally, registered with the
NFTMO, with others at final ballot stage, more in
development, 4 of those in Bristol, including ourselves.
EARTH TMO is not a council initiative - it was started
by a group of tenants pursuing their legal right to run
their own services (Response Repairs, Caretaking,
Grounds Maintenance, Voids & Estate Management). Please
keep in mind that it is only the services that we are
proposing to manage. Bristol City Council (BCC)
will remain your Landlord and the owners of your
property, with the exception of Leaseholders.
Although working in partnership with BCC we we are a
totally independent, tenant lead, company and not part
of the Local Authority.
We cannot, at this point in time, affect the operation
of BCC services, as mentioned in previous paragraph,
this will only follow a positive tenant ballot
(projected February 2012) carried out by an independent
body. All our current funding is aimed at training the
board members to a professional standard so we are
competent to assume the running of the services should
we receive a positive ballot.
Our funding comes from Central Government and our
training, in addition to study visits to other TMOs,
comes from a combination of the local authority,
independent trainers and our lead advisor who’s company,
Open Communities, also provide invaluable,
professional, support and assistance to EARTH TMO and
will continue to do so until the end of the process.
Having now passed our Stage 2 Assessment, our Stage 3,
and final, assessment (projected November 2011) is by
far the most demanding. It will be done by an
independent assessor appointed by the Tenants Services
Authority (TSA). A Large part of our Stage 3 work will
be to prepare a business plan detailing how we could
manage the services.
Once we pass Stage Three we will then prepare an “offer”
document, which will then be sent to all tenants within
our AOB, stating the services, as previously mentioned,
that we intend to manage, shortly after the ballot will
be carried out where all tenants will have the
opportunity to vote on whether they accept it and go
forward with TMO management or stay with BCC
management. This will be a postal vote, carried out by a
totally independent body Only then, if this vote
is in favour of the TMO, will we be able to take on the
management of the services from the local authority,
possibly in early 2012, following a sixth month
induction period where we will be opening a main office,
setting it up, employing professional staff, some of
them transferred from BCC & making sure that the whole
management structure is firmly in place.
Even assuming that we get a favourable vote, there will
be another ballot 2 years later to make sure that we are
doing the job to your satisfaction, every 5 years after
that.
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There are 2,246
properties in our AOB which, if successful, will make us the
largest TMO in Bristol, bigger TMOs have better financial
stability than smaller ones and we do intend to adopt a
'Local Office' policy, local offices offer better, localized
services such as:-
Caretaking:
Caretaking staff, although
possibly transferred from BCC will be employed by & be
directly responsible to EARTH TMO via our own Services
Co-ordinator We intend to maintain staffing levels within
our AOB and, actively encourage a positive, community based,
service.
Grounds maintenance:
We are going to fundamentally review the grounds maintenance
contracts in place at the moment. We know we can reduce
costs AND increase quality – we’ve already got some good
advice from other TMO’s across the country about how to do
this.
Repairs & Maintenance:
We intend to make changes. Firstly we want to improve the
service you get. Secondly the Repairs Contractor will be
directly employed by, and accountable to, our TMO Board. The
Council will no longer appoint and manage the Repairs
Contractor.
Staffing:
Under our TMO, all of
the staff responsible for providing the housing services
will be employed, directly, by EARTH TMO & managed via our
own TMO Manager – who in turn will report directly to
EARTH's Board. We have no intention of reducing staff, in
fact, one of the things we intend to do,if successful, is to
employ 6 skilled handy-persons to improve the minor repairs
service. |
remember...
it's all about
your home - your Community
and your life
get
involved and help
take control !
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Why a TMO?
With 231 live TMO’s across the country plus more developing
(4 of those in Bristol) they have to be getting something
right?. Those tenants receiving services (caretaking,
maintenance etc.) under TMO control are, statistically, 90%
(approx) more satisfied with the delivery & quality of those
services, The board officers, who guide TMOs, are & will
always be, unpaid, tenant volunteers from the local area
using their local knowledge - who better to understand local
problems?
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EARTH TMO offices are
at 70 West Street, Old Market. Please feel free to drop in fo
a friendly, informal chat within our Opening Hours: Monday to
Friday 10am to 2pm.
A cup of tea or coffee is always available & even a biscuit or two.
We will be happy to address any queries or concerns you may have.
If you are unable to make a personal call, you can also contact us
via:
Telephone: 01179 550 433
Email: earth-tmo@btconnect.com
Our Board Meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month, at:
SDG, 60 Old Market St. between 1 and 2.30pm.
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OPEN COMMUNITIES
FREE PHONE INFORMATION LINE
0800 073 1051
Email:
enquiries@opencommunities.org |
VACANCIES
We still have vacancies for a few board members (on a voluntary
basis), the only requirements are that you are a Bristol city
Council tenant/leaseholder and live within our 'Area of Benefit'
(Easton & Ashley - including St. Judes, St. Werburghs & St. Pauls)
and are able to give around 90 minutes, per month, of your time.
We are always looking for tenants to be involved at various levels
which are:- just signing up to register your interest - attending
the monthly board meetings - going on visits to other TMO's across
the country - taking part in the our professional training sessions
(great for your CV) - helping to man the office for a few hours a
week - any/all of the above, the level of involvement is totally
your choice.
We are just a few weeks away from our final assessment, assuming we
are successful & get a positive ballot, we are then just months away
from 'going live' , this is your chance to take an active part in
shaping the future of your area and some of it's housing services.
Please feel free to contact us via Telephone/email (see banner)'
if you wish to discuss the options. |
MEET YOUR BOARD
OFFICERS
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