Stronger Together on Welfare Reform 25 September 2013 Kim Gallagher & Linda Beel

1. Stronger Together on Welfare Reform 25 September 2013 Kim Gallagher & Linda Beel Coast & Country Tenant Panel

2. Transforming tenant involvement

3. Time for change

5. What’s working Clear roles and responsibility • Leaders – The Board • Shapers – The Tenant Panel • Evaluators – The Scrutiny Panel

6. Code of conduct • Action Plan • Terms of Reference • Corporate Planning • Company target setting • Leadership Team meetings

7. Transformed tenant involvement

9. Tenants lead the way

10. Tenants Talking to Tenants

11. Me and My Home

12. Shaping Development

13. Working with Others • Go on Boro! • Community Learning Champions • Workers Education Authority • Union Learn • Other housing providers • Womens’ Centre • NEP

15. Impact on North East • Estimated £380m loss • ‘Cumulative loss could be £940m in 14-15 C Beatty and S Fothergill, Hitting the poorest places hardest: the local and regional impact of welfare reform, CRESR, 2013

16. NE -Impact on disabled • Estimated 70,000 affected by changes to ESA • Loss of £175m • Estimated 33,000 affected by change from DLA to PIP • Loss of £128m

17. The media

18. Strivers Skivers Hard working tax payers Welfare scroungers Sanctions

19. Employment Unemployed Nov 12 – Jan 13 • National figure 7.9% • North East 10.1% • Redcar & Cleveland 12.2%

22. Why we needed to act! • Impact on Tenants • Impact on landlord So we • Talked to our Chief Executive

24. Tenants Together Together we can make a difference

26. The Campaign Launch • 72 tenant representatives, from • 25 housing providers, representing • 195,000 tenants

30. The Petition Stop Bedroom Tax!

31. Tenants Together Cutting the housing benefit of social housing tenants with ‘spare’ bedrooms will hit the poor, the vulnerable and the disabled hardest Coast & Country’s Tenant Panel is harnessing the voice and power of 100,000 social housing tenants to launch a mass protest to stop Bedroom Tax. Join us in our campaign and help get our voice heard in Parliament. Together we can make a difference!

32. Outcomes • The Petition – over 4,000 names so far • Local councillors lobbying for change • Tenants Working Together Facebook • Newsletters • Letters to MPs • Local MP to raise the issues at the Lib-Dem Conference

33. Lib-Dem Conference The conference ‘Condemns the bedroom tax for ‘discriminating against the most vulnerable in society They also said: ‘There is something going wrong when standards of living go forward for battery hens, but backwards for people’

36. Following on … • Radio interviews • TV interviews • Newspaper articles • Invited to other housing associations • Speaking at rallies

37. Revised allocations policy regarding bedroom tax arrears • Supporting Credit Unions • Local Food bank • Personal credit options including

39. Developing Digital Inclusion

41. Questions • What is your landlord doing about Welfare Reform? • What are you doing as tenant representatives? • What do you think is the way forward?

42. What you can do Talk to: • your Chief Executive! • other involved tenants • your M. P. • Local councillors

43. Consequences