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Inspectors exclude us
• AS the elected secretary of Mersey estate Tenants’ and Residents’ Association as well as an elected director of the Federation of Islington Tenants’ Associations (FITA), I was invited to a meeting last Monday ostensibly to discuss and gauge whether or not Homes for Islington’s performance in dealing with residents’ needs, tenant participation and customer services had noticeably improved since the last visit by the government’s Audit Commission.
Although it was an informative meeting on the whole, in many ways it was also somewhat disappointing in its overall approach towards the investigation into the tenants’ degree of participation and input into the running of the borough as a whole.
Primarily, the reason for my disillusionment with the approach taken by the commission is that I was not allowed to speak on behalf of the very people I represent in my capacity as a FITA director but solely as a tenant representative.
This I find somewhat disconcerting to say the least, since FITA is the only elected organisation in Islington available to represent all the borough’s residents on an independent basis.
The directors of FITA were, and still are, anxious to have a meeting with the Audit Commission inspectors, in order to identify problems which the tenants have highlighted on their estates recently. However, when we approached them regarding such a meeting, they declined our request.
The chairman of FITA has approached the audit inspectors on at least two occasions to request a joint meeting but so far to no avail.
If they really want to assess HfI’s performance throughout the period between inspections, why do they exclude the group best positioned to inform them of the successes and failures of this organisation – FITA?
IRENE SPENCE
Secretary, Mersey Estate TRA
FITA director
• I SHOULD like to emphasise that the demonstration at Highbury House last week was held strictly on behalf of the proposed Islington Leaseholders Association (ILA) and not, as stated in your article, the Federation of Islington Tenants Associations (Placard-waving protesters attack homes body as inspector calls, November 23).
DR BRIAN POTTER
Chairman, Federation of Islington Tenants Associations
Drayton Park, N5
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