ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

We are tenant board members and we will be resigning if payment to board members goes ahead. Not just because of the effect it will have on benefits, but on principle.

It will be tenants who suffer because the money that should be going on repairs and refurbishment will be used to pay board members. And it won't be the independents or the councillors who get the grief from tenants if they are told "sorry, we can't do this or that because we haven't enough money", it will be the tenant board members because they live next door to the people concerned.

Board members already cost the company money for out-of-pocket expenses and training costs. At transfer we told tenants that board members would not be paid. If payment goes ahead, I feel I should apologise for encouraging tenants to vote for transfer in the first place, as this is not what I expected to happen. Won't the right to buy and the government changes to funding be enough of a financial strain on registered social landlords, without this?

Getting tenant board members is difficult enough. This will make it even harder – and will they be there for the right reasons, such as looking after tenants' interests, or will they be there for the money?