Salford-based housing provider Salix Homes took eight members of its Customer Senate to Westminster to observe Select Committees in action. The tenants were part of a 40-strong team from the scrutiny panels of six landlords and travelled down to the capital to witness first hand how accountability works through the parliamentary Select Committees.
Barbara Harper, chair of Salix Homes’ Customer Senate, said: “I learned a lot about chairing skills and also how prepared the MPs were with their questions. There are a lot of similarities between the Select Committees and our customer senate. We’re both there to get answers and to make a difference.” Salix Homes’ award-winning Customer Senate is one of 10 social housing scrutiny panels chosen to be at the heart of a £1.2million training programme, designed to elevate the voice of social housing tenants.
The training, co-ordinated by the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS), will be funded by the Government Training and Support Fund as part of an initiative launched by Housing Minister, Mark Prisk in 2012 to give residents the advice and skills they need to hold landlords to account.