Residents observe parliament's scrutineers

Published by SOHA for Soha Housing Ltd in Housing

Soha Housing's residents' Scrutiny Group visited the House of Commons recently to see decision-making at the highest level.

The group, pictured with Lisa Morris, Resident Involvement and Marketing Manager (second left), sat in on a number of Select Committees, including Health and Justice.

A working lunch followed with  Anne Langley, assistant to Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture and, as MP for Wantage, the parliamentary representative for many of the visiting residents.

"The group picked up various procedural tips from the politicians and the expert witnesses they interviewed", said Lisa. " They can put them into action straight away." 

Catherine Little, Policy and Initiatives Manager, who jointly led the trip, explained the background to the visit: "Soha has been operating a full co-regulation model since April 2010. The Tenants' Forum appoints a Scrutiny Group which has had extensive training in research methods to challenge Soha decisions.  We say that whereas our Tenant Inspectors investigate whether Soha is 'doing what it says on the tin', the Scrutiny Group's function is to question whether Soha even had the right 'tin' in the first place. Our day in the Commons gave both residents and us Officers valuable insight into how scrutiny takes  place in Westminster."

Soha Housing is based in Didcot and manages around 5,300 homes across South Oxon, in Oxford City, Swindon, Vale of White Horse, West Oxfordshire, High Wycombe and Cotswold District.  For more information about Soha, please call Liz Roberts, Resident Involvement and Marketing Department, on 01235 515 900 (07745 80 20 30 out of hours).