MINUTES of a MEETING of the Medina Community Forum

MINUTES of a MEETING
of the
Medina Community Forum
held at 18.00 hours Wednesday 13 February 2013
at Lanesend Primary School, Love Lane, Cowes.
Members present:
Andy Pound (AP) (Chair)
Pat Sturmey (PS)
Brian Read (BR)
Jo Barrett (JB)
David Sibbick (DS)
Martin Johnson (MJ)
Others in attendance:
Howard Rose (Chair of Medina Board) (HR)
Officers in attendance:
Julie Adams, Neighbourhood Services Manager (JA)
Kate Bucci, Resident Involvement Officer (KB)
Becky Haydock, Resident Involvement Officer (BH)
Philip Taylor, Neighbourhood Housing Managing (PT)
Bryn Shorey, Property Services Director (BS)
Mark Batchelor, Divisional Director of Operations (MB)
Mike Stone, Contact Centre Manager (MS)
Jaclyn Jenkins, Contract Manager Planned (JJ)
Yasmin White, Resident Network Director (YW)
11 residents were present
Apologies:
(Members only)
Adrian Nicholas (AN)

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1 Welcome and introductions
AP welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.
Officers and CF members introduced themselves.
2 Quorum check
The meeting was quorate.
3 Apologies for absence
Adrian Nicholas.
4 Declarations of interest.
None.
5 Minutes of previous meeting
PS said that on item 100, p7, sentence should be changed to
read ‘four residents store their scooters outside their flats’.
Minutes APPROVED. PS proposed, BR seconded.
6 Actions arising from previous meeting
KB updated item 101, Vectis Road Allotment Association have
received their CF Grant money and will keep us informed of the
project’s progress.
7 Feedback on resident enquiries received
An enquiry was received at the last meeting regarding the
cookers at Park Court in Cowes. BH updated residents that all
the cookers have been fixed except for one. PT said that in
recognition of the unacceptable delay, compensation would be
offered to residents affected.
8 Reporting repairs presentation – Mike Stone
MS gave a presentation which addressed residents’ common
concerns with the Contact Centre, particularly how repairs are

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reported and appointments arranged. MS explained that 15
staff in Christchurch are forwarding calls to 2 staff in Ryde,
which causes ‘bottlenecks’ at busy times. MS explained ways
which the two teams are working to resolve these issues
including:
o More staff now taking calls at Ryde.
o More staff given ability to make appointments.
o Pledge to make appointments for residents if possible.
o Plans to be able to make appointments for subcontractors.
o Commitment to closely monitor situation.
Questions from the floor:
PS said that she had received complaints from residents that
calls were being ‘lost’ between Christchurch and Ryde. MS said
that all calls are monitored and he was not aware of any
significant issues. Hopefully this will be resolved by the new
measures they are putting in place.
Colin Turnage said that he had reported a repair which needed
more work. MS advised him to report it again.
9 Island Playing Fields Association
Alec Soars gave a presentation about the work of the Isle of
Wight County Playing Fields Association, which works to
protect and preserve outdoor playing recreation areas. The
society has created three designated playing fields on the IW –
Victoria Recreation Ground in East Cowes, Church Litten in
Newport, and one in Chale. Two more are in progress. AP
thanked AS for his presentation and said the Forum would
continue to support the work of the Isle of Wight County Playing
Fields Association.
10 Neighbourhood Presentation for Cowes – Diane Huskisson
DH gave a presentation about the work that is currently taking
place in Cowes. This includes:
o Working with partners – DH regularly attends Local
Action Groups to meet with partner organisations. DH
and BH have attended School Council meetings at
Lanesend School. BH attends Youth Forum.

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o Estate Improvements – there has been significant work
done through an Estate Improvement Grant to provide
resident parking at Moira House. PT explained that there
is also work planned on the scooter park at Park Court
for residents to store their mobility scooters. This has
also been funded through an Estate Improvement Grant.
o The Neighbourhood Housing Officer £500 fund for this
area is being used to support a forthcoming Fun Day at
Lanesend School.
o Anti-social behaviour – despite a recent injunction, a
tenant is still causing problems in the neighbourhood. DH
will be seeking possession of the property.
DS asked where that tenant will go.
DH explained that there is a support system in place for this
tenant but they will have to find their own accommodation.
o Resident Involvement – Maxted Close Residents
Association is progressing well.
o Arctic Road – after consulting with residents and noticing
that some of the gardens were in very poor condition, DH
is working with the Community Investment team to get
them cleared.
11 Affordable Rent Product Report – Julie Adams
JA introduced the report and explained that ‘Affordable Rent’ is
the term given to properties where we charge 80% of the
average market rent (instead of our normal rent), and use the
surplus this generates to support our development activities.
This process has been in place for one year and the target is to
raise £235,000 by 2015. If Spectrum reaches this target before
that date, we will stop creating Affordable Rent tenancies. In the
first year of this scheme, Spectrum has raised £101,000. There
are 17 Affordable Rent properties on the Isle of Wight. JA
acknowledged that there is a wide use of jargon and
abbreviations in the report, and will try and reduce this in future.
JB asked what ‘periodic tenancies’ meant.
JA explained that Affordable Rent properties are offered on a
fixed term tenancy of five years. If no change is made to the
agreement, then after this point it becomes a periodic tenancy.

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12 Report on staff changes – Julie Adams
JA advised that there had been two changes in staff since the
December meeting. The new Foyer Manager, Matthew Bell, is
hoping to attend the April CF meeting.
13 Board Feedback – Howard Rose
HR introduced himself and explained his role as Chair of the
Medina Board. HR began by telling the meeting that the Board
had held a minute’s silence to remember Jannaya Early, who
sadly passed away suddenly at Christmas.
Highlights from the last Common Purpose Board’s meeting
included:
o The Foyer for the Island (FFIL) will become part of
Spectrum Housing Group as part of the amalgamation
process. The FFIL trustees will be replaced by a steering
group, made up of former trustees, current and former
residents and Jo Barrett as a CF representative. HR
encouraged all CF members to visit the Foyer.
o The potential joining of Medina’s Maintenance Direct and
Spectrum Property Care as part of the amalgamation
process. The Medina board reminded themselves of key
issues:
o Value for money;
o Accountability to the CF;
o Benefits to Medina and the IW economy;
o Local service.
HR also highlighted that volunteer staff from Spectrum Property
Care had been awarded ‘Employees of the Month’ after
spending their weekend installing a new kitchen facility at the
Foyer.
JB asked how residents can find out who is Employee of the
Month.
YW advised that the Spectrum Residents’ Group will look at this
as part of their review of the residents’ newsletters.

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14 Spectrum Residents’ Group Update
YW advised that the last meeting of the Spectrum Residents’
Group had been cancelled.
AP said that the Forum would greatly miss Jannaya as a friend
and colleague, and extended their sympathies to her family.
15 Amalgamation Update – Yasmin White
YW gave a verbal update on the amalgamation progress
towards becoming one organisation, Spectrum Housing Group
(SHG). The key points for residents to note are that it does not
affect tenants in any detrimental way (for example any loss of
rights or services), and it gives the organisation more
opportunities for Value For Money savings.
HR explained that we are now at the stage of shareholder
decision-making and votes are being held.
PS asked if residents’ direct debits will need to be changed.
YW replied yes, but this can be done after the amalgamation
date of 1.4.13.
Brenda Yates asked when estates will get new signage using
the new branding.
YW said that this was one of the most common questions from
residents, and will happen after amalgamation. Wayne Morris is
keen that this takes place as soon as possible.
16 Future Direction of Maintenance Direct – Bryn Shorey and
Mark Batchelor
BS explained that the amalgamation of the housing
associations was a good opportunity to look at how we carry out
repairs, and combining the work of Spectrum Property Care and
Maintenance Direct. Amalgamation means that all employees
will become employees of Spectrum Housing Group instead of
individual subsidiaries. BS explained that the intention was to
keep local teams and retain Island-based staff for repairs in this
area. The benefits of becoming one organisation include:

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o Not charging VAT on work that we do in-house;
o Increasing the work that we can do for other
organisations to raise extra funds;
o Creation of a surplus which can be re-invested in the
business.
Colin Turnage asked about repairing roads and pathways on
estates. BS advised that if we do not own these then we cannot
repair them.
Doreen Harris asked if, as a leaseholder, she was responsible
for cleaning the guttering on her property. Jaclyn Jenkins
advised her to report it as a repair.
JB asked if small jobs would still be charged to residents. BS
advised that if repairs are the responsibility of the tenant they
would still be charged.
Mark Batchelor (MB) reassured residents that staff would not
be coming over from the mainland and there would still be a
local team. The intention is to improve our local service by:
o Better systems for staff including viewing jobs online;
o Better IT facilities for staff;
o Better VFM by enabling staff to work more efficiently.
BS explained that this would lead to more accountability as
Maintenance staff would attend Community Forums and
Service Improvement Groups.
Brenda Yates asked if residents would have priority over
external clients. MB said that the Board is clear that SHG
residents should have priority.
BS advised that a report on this issue will be going to the Group
Board in May.
David Gray asked why calls couldn’t be dealt with on the IW.
BS explained that the Operations restructure had moved central
systems to Christchurch, and now we are looking at way to
enhance the service. MB said that the appointment scheduling
systems could be introduced on the IW to improve the service.
He invited residents to visit the Contact Centre if they were

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interested to see how calls are dealt with.
JB asked if amalgamation would affect residents’ rent. BS
advised her that rents are controlled and have a set increase of
RPI+ 0.5% per annum across all stock. Amalgamation does not
affect this. HR advised that Medina rents will be going down
over the next four years as part of the rent restructuring plan.
17 Resident Network Director Update – Yasmin White
YW introduced herself and explained her role. Spectrum’s aim
is to involve residents in everything we do. Residents are
involved in each layer of the business and there are two
resident places on the new amalgamated Group Board.
Housing Associations are no longer regulated by inspectors.
Instead we co-regulate with our residents to monitor
performance. The Community Forums are a way of providing
power to residents in decision-making, and making Spectrum
more accountable to residents. YW explained that there is a
new ‘Menu of Involvement’ (copies available on request) which
lists all the involvement options that residents can take part in.
One of the new options is to join a ‘Service Improvement Group’
which will help look at particular areas of service, eg rents,
repairs etc.
18 Performance Report – Julie Adams
JA introduced the performance report and explained that our
focus is on the areas currently showing as red. These are:
• Former arrears – This figure includes former rent arrears
and other debts such as rechargeable repair costs.
Whilst work is underway to recover these monies, we are
also constantly adding new charges to be recovered so it
is difficult to see progress in the total % owed.
• Voids and lettings – some properties which have been
empty for a long time have been affecting our figures.
Although these are now let, the figures are calculated on
a rolling 12 month period. We are expecting to see an
improvement by the summer 2013and are also looking at
ways we can improve our voids process generally.
• Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) – we have not received the

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level of feedback that we should have from residents
who have experienced our ASB processes. We are
looking at other ways of collecting this including phone
surveys.
• Maintenance – Our colleagues in Maintenance Direct are
monitoring performance and ideas to improve services
have been communicated earlier in the presentations
from Mike Stone and Bryn Shorey.
• Complaints – this is also an area where we receive low
numbers of feedback from residents. Telephone surveys
are now a regular part of our procedures to increase the
level of surveys completed.
19 Grants and Funds Update – Phil Taylor
PT introduced and summarised the report, which gave an
update on the projects which have been awarded funding
through the Estate Improvement Fund, Resident-Led
Improvement Fund, and Community Forum Grants. PT
highlighted that work on these projects only began in June 2012
and staff have achieved a good level of expenditure. Key points
to note include:
• St Cross Court, Newport: This was approved in
December 2012 and is a significant piece of work that
may not be completed by 31.3.13. Residual works may
have to be funded out of the 2013-14 budget as a result.
JB asked if those residents have to re-apply. PT advised that if
a commitment has been made to complete the project and work
has begun, the CF could give it priority out of next year’s
budget.
Val Hullmann asked if the consultation around the Park Court
scooter storage had been completed. PT advised that it had.
The result was positive and would be communicated to
residents. The works had been ordered and are expected to be
carried out by 31.3.13.
PT advised that two projects had requested extra funding to
complete the work – Victoria and Albert Cottages allotments
and Tandy Close fencing.

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The Community Forum noted the report and APPROVED the
extra expenditure on two projects. All in favour.
20 Grant Funded Projects Applications – Phil Taylor
AP explained that applications for new projects are discussed
and considered at the Community Forum closed meeting, which
is held one week before the open meeting. This is to give the
CF time to fully consider the applications and go into details.
JB reiterated that although decisions are announced as
‘approved’ at the open meeting, this does not mean that they
are fixed in advance and the CF is happy to listen to any
discussion around new applications. More information about
each project is available to other residents upon request.
The new projects applying for funding are:
Community Forum Grants
• Foyer for the Island for Breakfast Club funding for 2013-
14.
• Vectis Corps of Drums for new instruments.
Resident-Led Scheme Improvements
• Preston Close, Ryde for landscaping and planting.
• Cleaver House, Havenstreet for communal storage and
seating.
PS asked if the Foyer project could run for more than one year.
JA advised that there are a number of funding options available
to continue the project after 1 year, including applying for a
further CF grant.
The Community Forum APPROVED the Resident-Led Scheme
Improvements.
The Community Forum APPROVED the Community Forum
Grant for Vectis Corps of Drums.
The Community Forum APPROVED the Community Forum
Grant for the Foyer Breakfast Club to be spent in 2013-14.

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21 Local Offers 2012 – Julie Adams
JA presented an update on the Local Offers which had been
introduced in 2012. A total of 2 Local Offers were approved and
both have been successful.
22 Local Offers – Anchorage Way – Phil Taylor
PT presented a report regarding a Local Offer for window
cleaning to a block of flats in Anchorage Way. Residents have
been consulted and there is a majority in favour. This will cost
residents £0.55 per week which would be added to the service
charge.
The Community Forum APPROVED the adoption of the Local
Offer.
23 Dates of 2013 Meetings
Residents were advised of the dates of the meetings for 2013.
24 Any other business
AP invited David Logan, Employment Advisor, to introduce
himself. David’s role is to provide advice and support to
residents to get back into employment – helping them write a
CV, write tailored job applications, and develop their interview
skills. This service is open to all residents and there will be a
number of drop-in sessions in Newport, Ryde, Cowes and East
Cowes. For more information, residents should contact their
Resident Involvement Officer.
Meeting closed at 20:15.
Accepted by the Forum as a true record of the meeting
Signed
Date