Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) and Tower Hamlets Council's Community Safety Service staff will be out and about on local estates over the summer, working with residents at a series of special Estate Action Days, designed to make estates cleaner, greener and safer.
The action day, which were launched in July, will see caretaking and repairs squads out and about on the estates to carry out a blitz on cleaning and repairs. The weekend sessions include everything from sorting out minor repairs to cleaning-up communal areas and scrubbing out graffiti.
The campaign will also see bulky rubbish and abandoned vehicles removed, smoke alarms handed out and residents asked about their priorities for tackling local crime and antisocial behaviour, including drug problems.
Residents caught feeding pigeons outside designated times in two neighbouring towns now face being fined £75. Kirklees Council introduced new feeding laws in an attempt to control the number of birds in parts of Huddersfield and Dewsbury.
Under new plans approved by the Council's Cabinet, people can feed the birds between 7am and 8am on the New Street precinct and Lower Brook Street in Huddersfield, and in Market Place in Dewsbury. The areas will be cleaned immediately after the feeding period.
Anyone found feeding the animals in those areas outside the allotted times face being fined £75 - the same level of fine they could receive for dropping litter.
The proposal has been branded by some critics as 'unworkable' and impossible to enforce.
The work of Sheffield Homes gained international recognition when it was selected to feature in a Japanese teaching programme.
Professor Hattori of Japan's University of Air paid a visit to Sheffield to meet with its Director of Investment Jon Lovibond and Decent Homes Programme Manager Iain Allott, to gain an insight into Sheffield Homes' Decent Homes programme.
The University of Air is very similar to the Open University in the UK, with the aim of promoting higher education in Japan. Like the Open University it provides distance learning by means of televised material and lectures.
Currently Professor Hattori is producing a series of programmes for a course entitled 'Safe and Efficient Housing'.
Sheffield Homes was selected as the only UK housing organisation to appear in the programme. Its £669 million Decent Homes programme is the largest in the country, with thousands of council tenants showing high levels of satisfaction with their home improvements.
It will feature in a televised programme that will be broadcast over four years on cable and satellite channels in Japan. The University will also distribute copies of the programme to fifty of the University's learning centres throughout Japan for students to access.