Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director (Place) on the Performance Report for Housing, Quarter Four.

Report of the Executive Director (Place) on the strategic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Quarter 4 of 2022/23.

The following points were raised and discussed:

·       Members noted there were areas of improvement but there was still a lot of red areas where targets were not met.

·       Members asked about the total number of households living in temporary accommodation. In the report is stated ‘this situation remains the same as previous quarters’.  The supply of properties for people to move into continues to be a challenge and the report highlighted the new development at Shredded Wheat should lead to several families moving in. 

·       Members asked for clarity on the Shredded Wheat development as there are 162 people in temporary accommodation and how are they going to be helped? Officers stated in relation to the Shredded Wheat development, there are a significant number of affordable properties within that development. Whilst they will be advertised in the normal way through the housing system, the council was hopeful that some of the families that are in temporary accommodation would be successful for shortlisting for some of those properties, that would provide some move on from temporary accommodation. Over the last three to six months the council has seen new properties emerging.  The number of people in temporary accommodation is high, so the council have a number of initiatives that they are reviewing. The council owns its own properties and have recently completed a couple of developments that will allow families to move in, so the council are continuing to invest in in those in those properties. To make sure the supply of properties is maximised, the council work with developers through the planning process.

·       Members asked what are the reasons that properties are hard to let, why are they not suitable for people to move into and what can the council do to improve them? Officers stated there might be a number of reasons for this.   Officers were currently doing a review of the reasons for refusal.  This could be people perhaps not accepting the offers of the flats that the council are providing. It could be the location not meeting expectations or size. Officers will have more information once the review has taken place. Officers stated that an update can be provided at the next meeting on the reasons and it will also be reflected in the performance report.

·       Members asked how many voids there were at any one time? Officers stated they did not have the information at hand but will provide information after the meeting.  Officers stated they have regular meetings looking at voids, the process, what is still outstanding and what needs to be progressed between various teams.

POST MEETING NOTE: There are approximately 60 voids on average at any one time.

·       Members asked how many people were in temporary accommodation and what were the different locations? Officers stated that there were 162 households that were currently in temporary accommodation. These were a number of council owned sites. It includes Howlands House, Burfield Close and Inspira House.  There are unfortunately some residents in hotel accommodation which the council limit.  Officers were happy to arrange for a report to be circulated giving a breakdown of all the locations, capacity, how many were in each location before the next meeting.

·       Members asked how the KPI around repairs was measured in particular the first time fix, was this when the resident is satisfied or when the contractor decides that the first time fix is complete. Members also asked how many tenants are surveyed and what happened when the surveys were not returned and how the completed targets were measured. Officers stated the first time fix was based on the evidence provided from the contractors and a review of the jobs on each patch, which is done by the patch surveyors. In regards to customer satisfaction, every repair that gets done, a text message is sent out from Morgan Sindall to a contractor to get the satisfaction. The council are looking at other ways of getting information from residents in terms of paper and online. The council also contact residents if they have negative feedback to find out why there is negative feedback.

·       Members questioned the text messages and asked if residents do not reply to the text messages, are they included in the survey or do the council only survey the residents that reply? Officers stated that the council do track the numbers that do not reply. The council do try to continually contact residents but are looking at other ways to interact with residents.

·       Members asked about the first time repairs and asked if the council are expecting to get back on track with those repairs?  Officers stated they are expecting to get back on track with the repairs.  It was noted at the end of last year, the council had some significant issues within the sector, not just supply issues, but issues within in the media, etc which caused repairs to go up a significant amount which did have an impact on stock not just for the council but for manufacturers and stockholders as well. The council are expecting this year will be a big improvement.

·       Members asked about BPI 69 and stated it seemed like a low response rate. Members asked if the council could look at the number of anti-social cases that the they dealt with? Officers stated they can provide more information about it and what the questions asked in the survey were. It may be that the questions are more about the service provided as to apposed whether it has been resolved or is still ongoing. The council has a really good anti-social behaviour team and they do take proactive action.

·       Members asked about BPI 63 and asked if the council could bring other people from different teams to support during the period November to December to stop the dip from happening this year?  Officers stated in terms of housing support plans and the work of that team, there will be some additional KPIs and this will give members a more detailed overview of how things are going. The council will look into how the dip can be avoided in quarter 3. It was noted the assistant director for the area is already working with the team manager to have a look at how they can improve performance across the team in general. The teams are working incredibly hard. There have been  a number of challenges throughout the year and they've responded to those so it was not felt there was any additional resource we could bring in for that period from inside the council, It is a specialised area of work with legal implications in terms of looking at whether the Council owe people a duty and how this is discharged that housing duty.   It was noted a report will be added to the work programme that will detail the work within the team and changes that can be made to try and increase performance and prevent the dip in quarter 3.

·       Members stated the council need a new KPI to prioritise the insultation of the council’s worst insulated homes and a commitment to the climate. The rules have changed to get a warm home discount, to get the discount the insulation of the property needs to be above D. Some tenants in poorly insulated homes are now missing out on the discount. Officers stated they will have a look into this and see how best to provide regular updates such as by report. The council do have a big investment programme in the housing stock. Officers also stated they have got the stock condition surveys which will identify any issues.  The council also have the de-carbonisation grant which look at the worst affected homes to make sure they are comfortable.

·       Members asked about BPI 37, hard to let properties. The council has a significant number of properties that are hard to let. There was a greater need to understand why that was.

·       Members asked about BPI 37 and gas safety and if officers could elaborate on the legal process that is being followed, is it legal on the council’s part or the tenants part? Most private tenants have gas and electrical safety, will there be one for electrical at some point that will come under a KPI?  Officers stated that the gas is covered in the compliance update report and is a legal process. When the council have access issues which the council had a significant amount of in the last few months, the council have to get an injunction to gain access to the property, unfortunately the courts have been backlogged over the last few months which has slowed down that process, fortunately, over the last few weeks the council have started to see the end of the backlog.  There is now a KPI for electrical testing.

·       Members asked is there a way of measuring or understanding how some of the problematic housing issues end up in the newspaper, apart from KPIs? Officers stated they will look into this. As directors and team managers, the KPIs are an important part of monitoring how the service is doing, how the teams are performing and but it is only a part of that picture. Even if there is a green KPI, it is not something they will then pay no attention to, looking at how many cases have been escalated to the council. How many cases are coming through Member from Member enquiries.

·       Members stated that a review of the KPIs might be useful and to keep an eye on their performance.  Officers stated they were happy to take away any key areas of focus and schedule them in the work programme.

RESOLVED (Unanimous)

Members noted the contents of the report.