Office Closure Campaign

01 August, 2024 | Dundee Federation

The DFTA submitted a corporate complaint to Dundee City Council about the closure of the West and East Council Housing Offices to the public, along with the end of face to face drop in serices at Dundee House. No consultation was undertaken on these matters, with tenants or the wider community. We undertook a campaign and survey where we spoke to hundred of our tenants and residents about how this adversely affects them- in particular the less IT able, low income, the elderly and those with disabilities and highlighted these to the council. Our two stage complaint was not upheld.

Along with Dundee Fighting for Fairness and Dundee Pensioners Forum, twe then attended a meeting with the Leader of the Council John Alexander where we all presented our case and evidenced the need for face to face services- we were told this decision would not be revisited.

We then submitted a complaint to the Scottish Housing Regulator as we believed the closed doors represented a clear barrier to 'Easy communication with landlords' required by the Scottish Housing Charter (*note 1) However this was not upheld as the Regulator advised us that they did not have the power to tell council how to deliver their services.

Despite this we continue to fight the case for face to face drop in support to continue, in particular for tenants. We have been working with council staff on the roll out of community drop in housing support sessions across the City.

Watch this page for any updates!

*Note 1- Scottish Social Housing Charter November 2022 - gov.scot (refer to points 2 and 3 in particular)

Testimonials

'Becoming a volunteer to support tenants has been really interesting, we get lots of support and I have learned so much. After attending a Tenant Information Service conference last year- which was brilliant, I have been inspired to start to look into working in the housing sector.'

Kevin

‘I really enjoy the open tenants meetings and the wide range of topics they have that are relevant to us as tenants. It is great to have a cuppa and to meet with other tenants too'

Dorothy

‘I love that we get a chance to speak to a manager face to face at these meetings and ask any questions we have, we are usually able to discuss any ongoing issues we are having at the end too which is so good'

Heather

'I started getting involved with a local tenants group in order to address important issues in my local area- it really worked well and we got this issue resolved, we are keen to encourage anyone to set up groups and make a real difference to their communities. The DFTA can support you to do this.'

Robert

'I used to be scared to speak up at meetings, but through the amazing support and encouragement I have got as part of the DFTA, I now know that my voice matters and I now really like being able to speak up, I have also made some great friends and had a good laugh at times too!'

Linda

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Office Closure Campaign

Testimonials

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