Winter 2011 (1.9 MB PDF) - Angus Council

Housing news
focus on performance
Our performance in summary
Overall, we’re continuing to improve our
performance and we’ll try to do even
better wherever we can. We’re collecting
more rent than at any time in the last four
years, our contractors continue to complete
repairs within timescale and the number of
homelessness decisions made in 28 days
continues to rise. However, our half year performance
in letting homes is disappointing
and we could do better. We need to question
why it took us 48 days on average to
relet a home and establish what we can do if
anything to turn performance around.
Security over the winter months
When the clocks go back you should be thinking
ahead—a house that looks unoccupied is
tempting to criminals.
That is the seasonal warning from Tayside
Police. While it may or may not send a shiver
down the spine of householders, it will hopefully
prompt you into thinking about home
security. The easiest way to avoid becoming the
victim of crime at this time of year is to make
sure your property is well lit and windows and
doors are all properly secured.
Claire Taylor is Tayside Police Crime Prevention
Officer and works alongside council officers in
the Joint Services Team. Claire said: “When you
are out in the evening set timer switches to lights
and radios to give the impression of an occupied
home. Checks should be carried out on
all external lighting to ensure they are working.
All doors, windows, sheds and lock ups should
be secured properly to prevent the opportunist
thief. Tools and ladders should be locked away in
sheds or garages to prevent them being used to
facilitate a crime. Setting curtains or blinds to try
and prevent the opportunist thief from window
shopping is also a must.
Can you help us to improve?
We’d like to widen out the membership of our tenant
scrutiny panel that meets to discuss our performance with
our senior managers and works with us to set meaningful
targets for the coming year. We’d like to hear from you if you
have an interest in examining how we’re performing with
an interest in asking managers about the performance of
the services they manage. This scrutiny process helps us to
examine critically what we’re doing and how we’re doing it:
if you scrutinise us well, this should assist us to improve our
performance continuously.
If you would like to join our tenant scrutiny panel or you’d
like to find out more about the panel and the work it does,
get in touch with us today.
I would advise householders
to security
mark all valuables with
the relevant postcode
and house number and
make an inventory of
their property. Doing so
makes it easier to return
stolen property to its
Claire Taylor
rightful owner in the
event that it is recovered. Above all, be a good
neighbour, particularly if you have older or vulnerable
neighbours. Ask them if they require any
assistance to make their homes safer and keep
an eye out for them, as well as anyone coming
to their door.’’
In Angus, ‘Safe as Houses’ is a security initiative
to aid victims of crime, the older, disabled
and vulnerable members of the community. For
further information contact Angus Care & Repair
on 01307 463232. •
For further advice on security you can contact Claire at
the Joint Services Team on 01307 477477.
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