Tenant Participation Compacts

Compacts are part of the Government's agenda to improve local services, increase local democracy and strengthen and sustain local communities. They are locally negotiated agreements between councils and their tenants setting out how tenants can get involved in influencing decisions that affect them.

Their aim is to help councils and tenants develop a shared vision for their area, planning what they want to see changed or improved and agreeing how it will be done. Housing Associations are not required to have Tenant Participation Compacts. However, the Tenant Services Authority expects housing associations to show how their services have been commented on and influenced by residents.

While it is not a statutory requirement, Communities and Local Government expects all local authorities to have a Compact in place and to make it easily accessible and available to view on their website(s) or by making copies available in libraries etc. As part of the review of the main guidance on Compacts, the Interim Evaluation of Tenant Participation Compacts (carried out by Aldbourne Associates) was published in 2003. This found that all councils had published Compacts and that overall, they had provided tenants with greater opportunities to get involved in decision making about their homes.

More recently, a review of Tenant Participation Compacts was announced in the Community Empowerment White Paper - Communities in control: real people, real power (July 2008). As part of the first stage of that review, Communities and Local Government have commissioned the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRSER), to research :

the use of Tenant Participation Compacts
their effectiveness - where they are working well and why, and equally, where they are not working well and why not
stakeholder's views on the potential for Compacts and whether (or not) the current Tenant Participation Compact framework needs to be revised, and if so, in what way?

The Audit Commission Housing Inspectorate will look at local authority performance on Tenant Participation Compacts as part of their scheduled inspections, when looking at resident involvement. Under their Key Lines of Enquiry Inspection (KLOE) they look for a well established, effective and comprehensive compact/and or resident involvement statement. The compact should be up to date and relevant.

If tenants or councils are unhappy about their compact, in the first instance they should refer to their local Compact which should set out how complaints are to be dealt with. If the dispute cannot be resolved locally Appendix H of the National Framework for Tenant Participation Compacts (which gives guidance on using Tenant Participation Compacts to resolve disputes), may be helpful.