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Are gloves finally off?
• HOMES for Islington (HfI) has been trying to dispense with the Federation of Islington Tenants’ Associations (FITA) since HfI as an arms’-length management organisation was forced on residents back in 2004 by the Lib Dem administration (Closure looms for ‘thorn in the side’ tenants’ group, February 13).
Islington Council and HfI first made FITA sign restrictive contracts to maintain its funding, with clauses that included a ban on criticising HfI. Last year, they attempted to get the area housing panels to vote FITA out of existence, which was unanimously voted against by residents.
The only good thing to come out of this is that at least HfI and its directors are finally showing their true colours as a corporate body. HfI and its board have effectively ignored and disregarded the housing panels’ voice.
While HfI’s professed aim of reaching all black and minority ethnic residents is a noble and important objective, in my experience the way to achieve this is through effective grassroots community work. Destroying an organisation like FITA with a historic base in the community makes no sense.
I’m not clear how HfI plans to achieve this aim, as it certainly has not consulted any of the tenants’ and residents’ associations or involved them in reaching a decision, which is exactly what it should do if it was remotely sincere about involving and encouraging residents’ participation in the management of their homes. Instead, it’s a board decision.
The argument about needing to make funding cuts is equally nonsensical since evidence uncovered by the Tribune showed that HfI is quite happy to spend five times as much money, running into hundreds of thousands, arguing over legal disrepair issues rather than on actually maintaining residents’ homes.
HfI is also perfectly happy to fund strategic residents satisfaction surveys and handpicked focus groups. As chair of several resident groups, I do not know of one resident who believes HfI warranted three stars from the Audit Commission. So perhaps HfI is more interested in creating facades to further its strategic plan than in listening to genuine, heartfelt feedback and acting on it.
It remains to be seen what will happen next, but what comes to mind is that old saying: keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Now that HfI is not holding the purse strings, one wonders how much more active residents will become now that HfI has finally wielded the axe on FITA. Are the gloves finally off? Has HfI shot itself in the foot?
JUSTINE GORDON-SMITH
Holly Park estate, N4
• THE decision of HfI to cease funding an independent FITA must be condemned.
Over the years FITA has bent over backwards to conciliate HfI and Islington Council to the extent that the chair of FITA even consented to become the mayor’s official consort.
HfI is a self-styled arms’-length management organisation (Almo) and was set up with the support of less than one-fifth of the council tenants and leaseholders. An Almo is convenient for the government and for officialdom generally. An Almo is able to take decisions which are detrimental to tenants without councillors having to pay the price at the council elections.
Now that a virtual coalition of Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green exists at the Town Hall there is even less need to take account of tenants’ interests.
HfI is not likely to stop with FITA. Last year I happened to be present when tenants rebuffed an attempt by HfI to take away some of their powers. HfI will soon find out that it is people, not money, which counts. It will find that out when the tenants’ leaders get together. Perhaps they might like to ask the opinion of Independent Working Class Association.
Bailing out the banks and the property markets does not come cheap. Taxes have not gone up. So far only small savers in the Post Office, the banks or the building societies have had to foot the bill. It will not be long before the government tightens the squeeze on other vulnerable sections of the community, public service workers, claimants and tenants.
Where there is no leadership the people perish.
IVOR KENNA
Acting convenor of Finsbury Forum
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