Housing Associations were not set up to deal with the criminal justice system but there's a deep-seated recognition that there are an awful lot of very negative events that can happen on an estate. As Chief Executive you begin to think "What is my job? Am I a Police Officer? A Gang Intervention Officer?"
When social problems start being housing problems, you've got one hell of a problem and not just because how it impacts on the financial bottom line. Because of the ethics of the business we're in, housing associations have a moral and humane responsibility to their residents to provide safe, clean, peaceful, vibrant neighbourhoods.
It's against this background that we set up Gold Service - to motivate and reward good behaviour. For over a decade now, its proven to be a successful management tool to ensure that people are not breaching their tenancy conditions and are paying the rent.
It means my colleagues can stop wasting their time telling people not to do things or chasing them up to punish them. The result is that, instead of spending all our time on negatives, we now employ a whole host of people to do positive things in the neighbourhood - health workers, education workers, youth workers, junior rangers. People who make the place much more entertaining and exciting, people who motivate, inspire and lead.
It's a universal issue and last week, I addressed the annual conference of the National Community Safety Network bringing together people from all over the world with a common interest in promoting safer communities.
What's clear is that meaningful partnerships with all our stakeholders is one sure way of achieving those objectives, which is why Irwell Valley in conjunction with Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, Trafford Housing Trust, Greater Manchester Police, Keep Britain Tidy and other service providers in the Sale West & Ashton Partnership Area (SWAP), launched this week the Cleaner, Greener, Safer Charter that will see an improvement in services for the local community and further measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour.
If you'd like a copy contact my colleague Michael Redford, Deputy Managing Director for Neighbourhoods on 0161 610 4716.
Tom