At Hammersmith & Fulham, we want council housing residents to work with us to improve services and represent their communities. You should be able to get involved without facing any barriers, so we have co-produced this inclusive Resident Expenses guide with residents. It has been designed to make sure your contribution and time is recognised in a fair way through digital support and repayment of out-of-pocket expenses.
Who can make a resident expenses claim?
To be eligible you must:
Take part in:
- a qualifying meeting
- a focus group
- an activity or event.
or
- be an active member of one of our working groups or a representative forums.
Does this support include TRA committee member roles?
Our support to Tenants and Residents Associations (TRAs) is set out in the TRA Handbook and committee members are expected to reimburse their own members’ expenses. However, in exceptional circumstances we will cover expenses of members of registered TRAs.
Travel and parking costs
If you travel to meetings, we encourage you to cycle, walk or take public transport.
We will reimburse travel costs and parking expenses for the time that you work with us in a meeting, event, or activity.
Taxi travel is only available for residents with limited mobility and will be booked directly by the Resident Involvement Team. Only under exceptional circumstances and if agreed in advance will we reimburse taxi travel arranged directly by the resident. This will be to a maximum of £25 per claim.
It is your responsibility to park in designated parking areas. We will not pay for parking fines.
Please provide receipts/oyster card journey records for all travel and evidence of parking charges for the date and time of the claim. This could include a screenshot of your bank statement.
Childcare and carer costs
There may be times when you need to pay someone to look after those you care for, while you are attending a resident involvement meeting. Residents must arrange their own caring provision and this must be with a registered provider. You may claim up to £15 per hour for the time you work with us during a meeting, activity, or event, up to a maximum of £45 per session.
Where relevant, please include up to 30 minutes each way for travel time as part of your claim. You must provide receipts in order to make a claim.
At certain events we will provide onsite childcare. We will let residents know in advance if this will be available. We will not pay additional childcare expense claims unless there are qualifying circumstances, such as our childcare provision not being suitable for your child.
Digital Inclusion Allowance
The purpose of the Digital Inclusion Allowance is to help residents who carry out the roles of Chairs and Vice Chairs of working groups and representative forums to access the internet and join us at online meetings.
To make a claim, you must be an actively involved Chair or Vice Chair of a group or forum. This means that you attend at least 50% of meetings and activities across a calendar year, contribute by email and send apologies when you are not able to attend.
The Digital Inclusion Allowance may be used in a number of ways to contribute to:
- the cost of home broadband supply
- the cost of a tablet and mobile data contract
- the cost of phone calls to join online meetings or stay in touch with other group members
- the purchase of an electronic device
- the purchase of relevant software or IT subscriptions.
We cannot fund the purchase of printers or ink cartridges. Instead, we will support you to get the most out of online resources and software by providing help, training and peer support.
If any members of the working groups and representative forums need help to get online, we will signpost them to support organisations.
How it works
We will either reimburse Chairs and Vice Chairs to the maximum total value of £25 per month or make a one-off payment of £300. Please provide proof of purchase to set up your initial ongoing monthly claim or to receive a one-off payment.
If you opt for the £25 per month option, this will continue while you remain an active Chair of a working group or forum.
If you opt for the one-off payment to purchase a device, only one such claim can be made every three years. You will also need to wait for at least 12 months from the date of a one-off claim until you can claim an ongoing monthly digital inclusion allowance.
Making an expense claim
We have developed one short form for you to complete to make an expense claim.
We aim to pay all expense claims within 15 working days.
If you have any questions or need help with your claim, please contact the Housing Resident Involvement Team:
- 0208 753 6652
- getinvolved@lbhf.gov.uk
If you have any other support needs that are not covered in this guidance, then please do get in touch with us to talk these through.
Ongoing review
The support offered is intentionally wide ranging because we want residents to get involved without any barriers. Expenses will be paid using funding that comes from council housing residents’ rents and service charges.
Please only claim for money you have spent or resources that you need in order to take part.
We will review this guidance at least every five years, working with residents, to ensure it remains fit for purpose.