New Government campaign to empower social housing residents to raise complaints and make things right

SOCIAL housing residents will be helped with improving their living conditions through a new Government campaign launched this week. 'Make Things Right' will help residents raise complaints if they are unhappy with their landlord and struggling to get problems resolved, with clear advice on how to progress issues to the Housing Ombudsman if necessary. The launch of the new campaign is a commitment from the Government as part of the social housing white paper:- 'The Charter for Social Housing Residents,' which set out a comprehensive action plan to make landlords more accountable for the services they deliver. The Charter aims to speed up the complaints procedure for social housing residents, by reducing decision times and ensuring effective resolution and improving access to the Housing Ombudsman.  The national campaign:- 'Make Things Right,' will run adverts on digital and social media channels, as well as music streaming sites, to raise awareness of the complaints process and barriers to these being progressed.

Housing Minister Eddie Hughes said:-  "The Charter for Social Housing Residents is clear that all social housing residents should receive a good service and reassurance that if you speak up, then things will be put right. While most landlords work hard to put things right when they go wrong, we want to ensure that all residents know how to raise complaints if they have to, and how to approach the Housing Ombudsman to escalate their concern.  That is why we are launching this new campaign to ensure those living in the four million social homes across England know how to access the complaints process to provide a greater voice for residents and refocus the sector on its social mission." 
 
Councillor James Jamieson, Local Government Association Chairman, said:- "Councils want all residents, regardless of tenure, to have the security of a safe and well maintained home which they are proud to live in. It is really important that the voice of all social housing residents is heard, and Councils are supportive of measures which improve standards and empower residents. This will give them confidence in ensuring that action can be taken to improve living conditions, where it is required."

The Charter will make landlords more accountable for the services they deliver, including access to a new information scheme for residents of housing associations and introducing a set of resident satisfaction measures that landlords will have to report against.  It has been created to ensure all social housing residents are treated with respect and dignity and sets out what every resident should expect from their landlord:-

1. To be safe in your home.

2. To know how your landlord is performing.

3. To have your complaints dealt with promptly and fairly.

4. To be treated with respect.

5. To have your voice heard by your landlord.

6. To have a good quality home and neighbourhood to live in.

7. To be supported to take your 1st step to ownership.

This comes as MHCLG figures show that 59% of issues raised by social housing residents do not make it through as an official complaint to the landlord, despite the resident being unhappy with the initial response received; with 35% of residents listing concerns around retaliation by landlords and neighbours as a reason for not raising an issue.  Clear and straightforward advice for residents on what steps need to be taken are available on the campaign webpage.

The Construction department goes viral

HUGH Baird College's Course Leader in Construction Multi Skills, David Manley, has recently taken his virtual learning 1 step further by creating his own YouTube channel. The channel features 'how to' videos specifically for his students to ensure they don't miss out on the practical elements of their course. Brickwork and The Built Environment students have really benefited from this new way of learning. The content filmed by David, features real working practices and activities from mid size and new development construction sites. The videos give learners a real understanding of the practical elements associated with their trade and how these techniques can be put into practice. During the live videos, students are encouraged to join in at home and can ask questions throughout.

The videos demonstrate a range of skills, including David physically building a timber frame construction system and a new build large extension using survey equipment, large plant excavators and dumpers. The decision to create his own YouTube Channel came due to David wanting to make the most out of the current situation and the demand for virtual learning that has increased during the Pandemic. It also gave David the opportunity to up skill the learners ensuring they are receiving the most current up to date practices. David said:- "Even before the Pandemic, I have felt that the construction trade qualifications have been somewhat:- 'lagging behind' in terms of utilising modern teaching methods, new ideas, resources and technologies. I feel the current situation is an ideal time to move forward and bring in new ways of making these courses and learning more interesting, immersive, and interactive. I feel my learners have gained inspiration from seeing their own tutor, performing jobs on site that 1 day they could be working on."

To access the YouTube channel, please visit:- YouTube.Com, or for more information on Construction courses at Hugh Baird College, please visit:- HughBaird.AC.UK, or alternatively call:- 01513534444.

Large majority of adults in the North West support tough new laws and sanctions on tech firms to combat child abuse

PEOPLE in the North West overwhelmingly back robust new laws to protect children from abuse on social media and want bosses to be held responsible for safety, new polling suggests. An NSPCC / YouGov survey found 89% respondents in the Region wants social networks and messaging services to be designed to be safe for children. The poll of more than 2,000 adults across the UK, including 210 in the North West, shows huge support for putting a legal requirement on tech firms to detect and prevent child abuse, while backing strong sanctions against Directors whose companies fail. 89% of respondents in the North West want firms to have a legal responsibility to detect child abuse, such as grooming, taking place on their sites. And 75% of adults support prosecuting senior managers of social media companies if their companies consistently fail to protect children from abuse online, while 77% of respondents in the North West want social media bosses fined for consistent failures.

NSPCC Chief Executive Sir Peter Wanless said it shows a huge public consensus for robust Duty of Care regulation of social media. He is urging the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to listen by ensuring his landmark Online Safety Bill convincingly tackles online child abuse and puts the onus on firms to prevent harm. He set out the Government's vision for legislation in December 2020. The survey found that just 4% of adults in the North West think sites are regularly designed safely for children, but 68% in the Region support a legal requirement for platforms to assess the risks of child abuse on their services, and take steps to address them. It come as the NSPCC's 'Delivering a Duty of Care' report, released earlier this week, assessed plans for legislation against its 6 tests to achieve bold and lasting protections for children online. It found that Government is failing on a 3rd of indicators (9 out of 27), with tougher measures needed to tackle sexual abuse and to give Ofcom the powers they need to develop and enforce regulation fit for decades to come.

Sir Peter Wanless said:- "Today's polling shows the clear public consensus for stronger legislation that hardwires child protection into how tech firms design their platforms. Mr Dowden will be judged on whether he takes decisions in the public interest and acts firmly on the side of children with legislation ambitious enough to protect them from avoidable harm. For too long children have been an afterthought for Big Tech, but the Online Safety Bill can deliver a culture change by resetting industry standards and giving Ofcom the power to hold firms accountable for abuse failings."

The NSPCC is calling for legislation to be more robust so it can successfully combat online child abuse at an early stage and before it spreads across platforms. They want a requirement for tech firms to treat content that facilitates sexual abuse with the same severity as material that meets the criminal threshold.

This means clamping down on the "digital breadcrumbs" dropped by abusers to guide others towards illegal material. These include videos of children just moments before or after they are sexually abused; so called:- 'abuse image series' that are widely available on social media. The charity also want Ofcom to be able to tackle cross Platform risks, where groomers target children across the different sites and games they use; something firms have strongly resisted.

In its report, the NSPCC called on the Government to commit to senior management liability to make Tech Directors personally responsible for decisions on product safety. They say this is vital to drive cultural change and provide an appropriate deterrent against a lax adoption of the rules. The charity wants to see senior management liability similar to the successful approach in financial services. Under the scheme, bosses taking decisions which could put children at risk could face censure, fines and in the case of the most egregious breaches of the Duty of Care, criminal sanctions.

They warn that Government has softened its ambition and at present just propose liability for narrow procedural reasons, which will only to be enacted later down the line. The NSPCC has been the leading voice for social media regulation and the charity set out detailed proposals for a Bill in 2019. The Government's White Paper consultation response in December set out the framework for an Online Safety Bill that is expected in the Spring.