Delivering the annual canvass - England

You will need to establish contact with those individuals who you think may be suitable to act as the responsible person for a Route 3 property. You should make your initial contact as soon as possible in the planning stage of your canvass; only once you have identified and confirmed a responsible person for a property can you allocate it to Route 3.

As there are no prescribed contact methods under Route 3, you will need to consider the most appropriate way to make initial contact with these individuals. 

The purpose of the contact at this point is:

• to establish whether the identified individual is able to act as the responsible person1  
• to provide an explanation of the role and responsibilities of a responsible person
• to communicate your statutory right to request information from a responsible person about the residents in a property 
• to communicate the responsible person’s requirement to respond to your request
• to establish the communication methods that will be used going forward
• to identify an alternative individual as a responsible person for the property if the person you have contacted is not able to comply with your request

You should ensure that you record the steps you have taken to make contact with these individuals and to confirm that they are able to provide you with the information required by the canvass. 

You will also need to consider the best method of communication for Route 3 properties, based on the property type and the contact information you hold for the responsible person. 

Whilst you will need to identify and make initial contact with the responsible person at Route 3 properties at an early stage in your planning, you may decide to canvass different Route 3 properties at different times. For example, you may decide to ask the responsible person for student accommodation for the information required for the canvass shortly before term-time begins, rather than at an earlier stage of your canvass.