COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT STRATEGY

INTRODUCTION

This strategy document sets out Magna Housing Association’s (MHA) approach to community involvement.

For the purposes of this strategy, the term ‘community’ means our partners and stakeholders, for example, Police, Local Authorities, statutory agencies, parish and town councils, voluntary and community organisations and interest groups and members of the public. Residents of Magna properties are included as members of the community, but resident involvement activities specifically related to activities associated with our residents and  our properties  are covered under the resident involvement strategy.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS STRATEGY

Through the implementation of our community involvement strategy, MHA aims to:

Promote community cohesion and sustainability and help achieve agreement on potentially controversial issues
Encourage staff to work with other organisations to support community projects 
Communicate effectively with all of our partners and stakeholders
Help ensure all areas of expertise and knowledge are utilised  before decisions are made
Ensure opportunities for partnership working are maximised
Promote MHA positively to the wider community

These objectives help MHA achieve its strategic objectives:

To be excellent in our services and always improving
To achieve value for money in the use of our resources
To be the partner of choice for the communities and others we work with

POLICY CONTEXT

Some of Magna’s objectives in following this strategy correlate with statutory responsibilities imposed on Local Authorities, these include: The Local Government White Paper “Strong and Prosperous Communities” published in October 2006 which aims to give local people and local communities more influence and power to improve their lives.

Local Authorities are required to prepare a Sustainable Community Strategy which sets the strategic vision for an area.  Local authorities are now required, in consultation with local partners, to prepare a delivery plan for the strategy – known as a Local Area Agreement. The Local Area Agreement will include a single set of targets for improvement, tailored to local needs, agreed between Government and local partners.   Delivery of these priorities will be the responsibility of partners.

SUPPORTING LOCAL AUTHORITY STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

We are committed to supporting residents and communities in their efforts to adapt the services that influence the quality of life of residents and communities. We will work in partnership with our partners and stakeholders to ensure continuous improvement and local accountability.

We will support The Dorset Strategic Partnership covering  the main Local Authority area where we operate and have a significant presence and will work with the Devon and Somerset Partnerships where our involvement can have some significant benefit.

We will contribute to the effectiveness of strategic partnerships by:

Identifying the Strategic and Local Partnerships that exist in our main areas of operation
Ensuring that we are represented at key partnership meetings and that MHA plays an active role in delivering the Local Area Agreements
Promoting the role of these partnerships with our residents, partners and stakeholders
Sharing information and supporting partnership events
Consulting with strategic and local partnerships about key housing related needs and aspirations 

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS

We will identify opportunities and encourage staff to participate in working with community organisations on projects that will benefit our residents and raise the profile of MHA.

COMMUNITY EVENTS AND INITIATIVES

We will organise community events to enable MHA, our residents and community organisations to work together to achieve the objectives of this strategy.

We will promote our community initiative fund with community organisations and welcome funding applications for joint projects that will benefit our residents.

VALUE FOR MONEY

We will regularly review our community involvement activities to ensure that they are demonstrating value for money.  

MEASURING THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

We are committed to measuring the impact of community involvement on our activities.

The impact that partner and stakeholder views have had on our choices during the year
The impact that community projects funded through our community initiative budget have had on our residents
Future plans for community involvement

We will survey all partners and stakeholders on an annual basis about:

How well we have communicated with them 
the information they require from us
the quality of our services

We will also ask about what they feel our priorities should be for the future.