THIS SHORT PRESENTATION IS ABOUT THE COUNCILS’ PROPOSAL TO TRANSFER THE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY OF THE RESOURCE CENTRES TO SGTO

BACKGROUND INFORMATION THE TFMC CURRENTLY PAYS FOR FOUR RESOURCE CENTRES IN SOUTHWARK, ONE OF WHICH IS MANAGED BY SGTO. THE OTHER THREE ARE MANAGED BY THE COUNCIL. The Council managed RCs are staffed with 2 Tenant Training Officers who provide training & support to users SGTO managed RC is staffed with the Centre Administrator and on a rota basis, the Community Development Officers Currently, the Council managed RCs offer free photocopying, whereas SGTO is charging cost price copying with the view to start offering free photocopying shortly.

At present, there is no RC servicing tenants living in Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Council managed RCs are equipped with computers photocopiers, printers and internet access SGTO managed RC is also equipped with IT infrastructures including Updated Training Software on all MS packages. including Updated Training Software on all MS packages. We also have a growing Reference Library on housing, repairs, tenancy, fundraising, Bookkeeping, meetings and essential law books.

THE PROPOSAL

THE PROPOSAL IS TO TRANSFER THE MANAGEMENT OF THE 3 RCs CURRENTLY MANAGED BY THE COUNCIL TO THE TO MANAGEMENT OF SGTO PLEASE NOTE: TRANSFER OF MANAGEMENT DOES NOT CONFER OWNERSHIP RIGHT TO SGTO. SGTO WILL REMAIN ANSWERABLE TO TFMC AND WILL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE COUNCIL IN RELATION TO THE RCs.

SO WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS PROPOSAL?

BRINGING ALL 4 RCs UNDER ONE MANAGEMENT IT WILL MEAN BETTER SERVICE FOR TENANTS FIRSTLY, IT WILL BE PUTTING TENANTS IN CONTROL IT WILL MEAN PROVIDING A SERVICE THAT T&RAs WANT NOT OTHERWISE INCREASING OPENING HOURS INCLUDING LATE EVENINGS PROMOTING THE RCs TO INCREASE USAGE BY T&RAs IN LBS ON-GOING PATNERSHIP WORKING WITH RIMs & RIOs JOINT TRAINING INITIATIVES TO BENEFIT T&RAs

STAFFING

NONE OF THE EXISTING STAFF WORKING IN THE COUNCIL MANAGED RCs WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS WE INTEND TO MAINTAIN THEIR EXISTING CONTRACTS AND CONSULT WITH THEM ON STRATEGIES SGTO CDOs WILL COMPLIMENT THE EXISTING RCs STAFF TO DELIVER OBJECTIVES SGTO WILL INVEST IN TRAINING ALL STAFF TO OCR LEVEL 3 AND BEYOND TO ENSURE OBJECTIVES ARE MET ONE OF OUR OBJECTIVES IS TO ENSURE THAT ALL THOSE USING THE RESOURCE CENTRES ARE ABLE TO RECEIVE PROFICIENT SUPPORT & ASSISTANCE WHEN NECESSARY PROVIDED BY KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF IN A RELAXED & FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT

TRAINING

GROUP TRAINING SGTO & SOUTHWARK WILL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP TO CONTINUE THE PROVISION OF CORE TRAINING RELEVANT TO T&RAs. SGTO WILL HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ADMINISTRATING CORE TRAINING PROGRAMMES SGTO WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR COMMISSIONING EXTERNAL TRAINING PROVIDERS ON SPECIFIC COURSES SGTO WILL INCREASE INVESTMENT IN TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT TO FULLY SUPPORT T&RAs & STAFF ON A YEARLY BASIS.

DOES THAT MEAN SGTO WILL OWN THE RESOURCE CENTRE? THE SIMPLE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS NO NO CAN SGTO DO WHAT IT LIKES WITH THE RCs? AGAIN, THE ANWER IS NO

MONITORING

A MONITORING MECHANISM HAS BEEN BUILT INTO THE PROPOSAL THE COUNCIL WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR, ON A REGULAR BASIS, SERVICE PROVISION TO ENSURE THAT LEVELS ARE NOT JUST KEPT, BUT IMPROVED THE COUNCIL WILL MEET WITH SGTO ON A REGULAR BASIS TO REVIEW PROGRESS AND ADDRESS ANY ISSUES THAT HAVE RISEN

SO WHY SGTO? SGTO IS NOT RUN BY ONE (SINGLE INDIVIDUAL), BUT BY A COLLECTIVE EFFORT OF TENANTS GROUPS SUPPORTED BY A VASTLY EXPERIENCED STAFF TEAM. FOR A START:

SGTO IS A TENANTS FEDERATION IN LBS SGTO IS A TENANTS LEAD ORGANISATION SGTO IS A FORWARD THINKING AND AN INCLUSIVE ORGANISATION SGTO IS A NOT FOR PROFIT ORGANISATION ALL RCs REVENUE WILL BE RING-FENCED FOR THAT PURPOSE ONLY SGTO HAS AN EXISTING WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH SOUTHWARK

SO WHY NOW?

THE COUNCIL WILL STRUGGLE TO CONTINUE TO OFFER EXTENDED OPENING HOURS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE THE RCs ARE CLEARLY A DRAIN ON THE RESOURCE S OF SOCIAL INCLUSION/RIM TEAM SGTO IS NOW STRATEGICALLY PLACED TO OFFER A MUCH BETTER SERVICE AND SOURCE FURTHER INVESTMENT, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE.

SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

TENANTSAGAINST TENANTS

THE GOVERNMENT IS SUPPORTING TENANTS EMPOWERMENT AND ACTIVELY ENCOURAGING LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO COMPLY THE MANAGEMENT OF THE RESOURCE CENTRES BY TENANTS IS A WONDERFUL CONCEPT PROPOSED BY THE COUNCIL FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL TENANTS AND RESIDENTS IN THE BOROUGH

SOME GROUPS OF TENANTS ARE LOBBYING THAT THE RESOURCE CENTRES REMAIN IN THE HANDS OF THE COUNCIL AS AN ORGANISATION, WE RECOGNISE THAT PEOPLE ARE ENTITLED TO THEIR OWN VIEWS. HOWEVER, WE MUST ALSO RECOGNISE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR ACTIONS AGAINST THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES OF THE TENANTS MOVEMENT IN THE FUTURE NO TENANT HAS YET APPROACHED SGTO FOR CLARIFICATION IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSAL, AND YET, CAMPAIGNS ARE ALREADY IN MOTION

SGTO WOULD LIKE TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REASSURE EVERYONE THAT WE INTEND TO MAKE THE RESOURCE CENTRES A REWARDING EXPERIENCE FOR ALL TENANTS AND RESIDENTS GROUPS IN LBS, AND NOT JUST FOR THE LIMITED FEW. WE INTEND TO MAKE THE CENTRES MORE RESOURCEFUL AND INCREASE THEIR USEAGE ACROSS THE BOROUGH FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL T&RAs.

WE INTEND TO LISTEN TO THE VIEWS OF ALL T&RAs REGARDING OUR MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES NO ONE WITHIN THE EXISTING MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF SGTO WILL INTERFERE WITH THE PROGRESS OF THE RCs, BUT RATHER HELP TO FACILITATE IMPROVEMENT

SGTO IS NOT ONE PERSON, BUT A GROUP OF PERSONS WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL.

ANY QUESTIONS?