Is it right for you?

Guidelines for Local Management Agreements
Local Management Agreements are mainly designed to help residents take over core housing services, like:

• Caretaking, cleaning and window cleaning
• Communal gardening and grounds maintenance
• Minor repairs.

In most cases, agreements will cover just one or two of these services. The Council is happy to consider setting up agreements for other services, but these may need extra Government or other approvals.

Local Management Agreements can only be used for services that cost less than £150,000 per year to provide to an estate or area.

Local Management Agreements are most suited to:

• Services that are provided to all local residents, or a significant majority of them
• Services that are seen as poor or failing, and that have not responded to past attempts to improve them
• Situations where residents believe they can provide the same or a better standard of service at a lower cost
• Cases where there are particular issues or circumstances that affect the local service, compared to other estates or areas.

A Local Management Agreement may not be the right thing for you. There may not be enough support for the idea, or it may not be economic or practical for you to take charge. You should only take control of services if:

• A majority of people in the area understand and support the change (or at least don't actively oppose it)
• You can deliver the service to at least the same standard as the Council does now, and keep on doing this
• There is a clear benefit to taking responsibility - hopefully to residents, the community and the Council
• The proposed service falls within the recommended scope and cost limits.

We can help you to test these points, and suggest alternatives if a Local Management Agreement is not the best option.

Questions for everyone
Residents, the Council and anyone else involved in a Local Management Agreement must all think about and be sure that it is the best way of delivering local services. The key questions to ask and answer are:

For residents

• Why do we want a Local Management Agreement?
• How will it benefit residents?
• How much support is there for the idea?
• How can we test support, both now and in the future?
• What are the risks?
• What are the alternatives?
• Are we willing to work together and form a new body to run the Agreement?

For the Council

• Can we legally devolve responsibility for the service?
• What savings will the Agreement create?
• How much will it cost to develop and run the Agreement - have we got the resources to support this properly?
• How can we monitor standards under the Agreement?
• What are the knock-on effects for other Council services and other agencies?
• How will the Agreement be affected by any changes in the Council (for example, housing stock transfer)?
• What are the risks?
• What are the alternatives?

For others

• Why should we be involved in the Local Management Agreement?
• What are the benefits?
• What are the risks?
• What are the alternatives?
• Who else do we need to ask or involve?

Alternatives
Depending on local circumstances, a different approach may be better. For example:

• Keep things as they are (for example, the Council continues to provide the service, but with clearer, written standards and monitoring, so that residents know exactly what to expect and what they're paying for)
• Tenant Management Organisation (for example, where there is a well-organised residents' group and widespread demand from local people to take over a fuller range of services. This is a more formal approach to resident control, using the statutory Right to Manage).
• Stock transfer (for example, where residents want to break the link completely with the Council, or be owned and managed by another organisation - perhaps a more specialist provider).
• Consult with residents about what they want, through the local or Council-wide Tenants' Compact.