Agenda and draft minutes

To note any substitution of Panel Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rules.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Paul Zukowskyj, from Councillor Rebecca Lass for whom Councillor Mark Short attended as a substitute, from Councillor Salman Khan for whom Councillor Sandreni Bonfante attended as a substitute and from Councillor Lynn Chesterman for whom Councillor Matthew Hobbs attended as a substitute.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 August 2024 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 August 2024 were confirmed as an accurate record.

There were no items of urgent business.

To note declarations of Members’ disclosable pecuniary interests, non-disclosable pecuniary interests and non-pecuniary interests in respect of items on this Agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

Up to thirty minutes will be made available for questions from members of the public on issues relating to the work of the Committee and to receive any petitions.

There were no public questions or petitions.

Report of the Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change)

The Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change) presented the report which provided a summary of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and commentary across the Council’s housing services for Quarter 2 (2024/25). Normal voids is out of target and Major voids performance again is out of target albeit slightly better than it was in Quarter 1. Satisfaction with planned works is still not within target but has improved since Quarter 1. Disrepair cases per 1,000 properties is slightly above the target.

In terms of complaints there has been a big increase of 29%/24% in Stage ones and Stage twos. Most of the complaints are about repairs, which is not unusual. The performance has temporarily decreased because the team have been working hard on resolving some of the older cases. There is additional resource working on complaints for council housing and we are seeing that turnaround is improving. The intention is to incorporate complaints data into reports to this panel going forward.

A Member mentioned 3 points on the report. 1/ In the KPI regarding disrepair which highlights 90% have some aspect of damp and mould, they asked if there could be more information on damp and mould. 2/ With regards No Access, she asked what is being done to access these properties? 3/ Regarding KPI 151 (non-emergency repairs), they asked who and how is this being scrutinized?

The Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change) responded that it’s not unusual that there is such a high percentage of damp and mould cases in disrepair cases. That information is being shared with the cross-party maintenance group and it can be brought to this panel. With regard to No Access, there is a procedure being followed to give the opportunity for tenants to give access for gas and electric checks. Ultimately, it’s usually 3 formal attempts to get access but its probably more letters/communications than that.  If unsuccessful then it may have to go down the legal route and look for warrants to gain entry to the property because it’s important for tenants’ safety. With regard to KPI 151, there is always a bit of a time lag when receiving information from Morgan Sindall,  and the figures are scrutinized to make sure they are accurate. This is what was happening at the time this report was published.

A Member mentioned that there is one housing ombudsman case linked to damp and mould. He understood that one of the conflicts is that if there is damp and mould in a non-council property, Environmental Health get involved but they don’t when it’s a council property and would be interested to see the result of the ombudsman case. He also suggested that perhaps where damp and mould cases get to stage 2 that the Council involve their own environment health team.

The Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change) responded that there are a number of processes and checks and balances in place for damp and mould. Firstly, a mould wash would be arranged straightaway  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

The Assistant Director (Homes & Neighbourhoods gave a presentation on in-depth review of Voids. Regarding jobs completed on time the target is 95% but this is not being met. Last year the average number of voids handed over to the contractor was averaging on 55 and this year is averaging around 30. That could be related to having a high number of voids still void which means that in regard to the turnover it has dropped down. Regarding comparison of the average time the contractor took, last year it was 21 days and this year 22 days from when works started but will have the keys before that to start scoping works so no real move in their performance. Looking at voids by bedroom size, the high demand properties are 2 and 3 bed properties. 4 and 5 bed properties are also high demand, but a smaller proportion of tenants require them. Going forward they are looking to improve the Voids process with operational keeper KPI targets to measure each step of the process.

Regarding high value and policy voids. A high value void, at a point where the property becomes vacant, depending on the location and potential value, it is passed over to a team to assess what to do with the property, i.e. Sell or retain it. This can take up to 30 days to establish. If the decision is to sell or there are properties identified to be part of regeneration, this is what’s called policy voids. There is now a pre-void inspection that needs to be carried out and part of this is ensuring that the tenant gives the required 4 weeks’ notice in order to complete what needs to be done. To help residents when moving out they are given a checklist.

Members Comments:

A Member thanked the officers for this presentation, the work carried out in order to see how things can improve and will improve, and the next steps are good and welcomed this and asked how the panel can now move forward with this.

The Assistant Director (Homes & Neighbourhoods) responded saying there are 2 things. There is the Cross-Party panel who have got a key eye on this, and it was agreed that the presentation would be done and then after time implementing everything, bring another report to this panel so update what has improved. KPI’s are being reviewed on an annual basis and the key ones will be brought showing performance regarding the council and the contractor’s performance.

A member asked why it took 30 days to decide whether to sell a high value property.

The Assistant Director (Homes & Neighbourhoods) responded that there was team that would go out do the conveyancing of the property and then look at the market. They were asked how long they needed, and they said 30 days. She agreed to ask the Assistant Director to set out in regard to what they do in that timeframe and provide that information.

Action:  Janice White

RESOLVED:

The Panel  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

Report of the Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change)

The Assistant Director (Homes & Neighbourhoods) provided an update on the Housing Safety Compliance position. This report follows on from the update given at the last meeting and sets out the Compliance position as at 25^th October 24.

RESOLVED:

The Panel noted the report.

Report of the Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change)

The Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change) presented an update on the progress with the action planned in response to the tenant satisfaction measures survey 2023/24.

A Member asked how many properties there are in Band D and below.

The Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change) didn’t have the figure to hand but would make it available to go on the minutes.

Post meeting note:  As of July 2024, there were 1323 council homes that were EPC rated D and below. Many of these will be included in the decarbonisation and major works programmes.

The Member also made a comment that during Election time Councillors visit properties and there’s stuff that’s left in the staircase including plants or a mat and sometimes it’s hard to almost get up the stairs possibly causing a fire risk and asked if Officers do anything about it when they see it.

The Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change) responded that as part of the estate inspection they should be picking up on any obstructions either in the hallways or staircases. Other contractors are in and out of properties so this should certainly be reported back, and we will take the action to reduce the risk by seeking to get obstructions removed.

A Member commented that it was a thorough report and had worked very hard and asked if they could have a copy of the last chart with tenant satisfaction measures with the arrows and to look monitoring this.

The Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change) responded saying she had not sent it as she had only recently got the results. We will share that as part of the pack.

A Tenant Panel Member-s asked if the TSM action plan report can go to the panel to look at and also the Task & Finish as well.

The Assistant Director (Homes & Neighbourhoods) responded saying yes to both requests. Regarding the Task & Finish, one thing they asked for was the Tenant Panel report which we did do. I will share the slides and the outcomes.

Action: Janice White

A Member asked regarding the cleaning of communal areas and talking about going out getting cleaning contracts, whether the tenants are encouraged to put in a bid to keep their own block and pay them to keep their communal area tidy. He also suggested that if they were paid to do this it would become a contract and there would also need to be insurance.

The Assistant Director (Homes & Neighbourhoods) responded that residents can ask to clean their area and there was a recent case where residents suggested this, and we are exploring that. We will need to go out and do a consultation with the block, agree a frequency and the standard and it would have to be monitored in the same way. One thing being explored with Legal services is around insurance. We wouldn’t be able to pay the tenant because then it becomes something different, but if they wanted to volunteer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.