Agenda item

To provide assurance to Cabinet on the performance of the responsive repairs and planned maintenance (report of the Assistant Director – Housing enclosed).

. 

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Housing which provided assurance to Cabinet on the performance of the responsive repairs and planned maintenance.

The Portfolio Holder – Strategic and Operational Housing presented the report.

The report provided an overview of the performance of responsive repairs, void repairs, and planned maintenance.

As of 31 January 2025, 9,553 repairs have been undertaken, with 100% of emergency repairs and 91% of routine repairs completed within target times. Voids had also consistently been delivered within their target of 28 days. The report also detailed the programmed works completed during 2024/25, including kitchen and bathroom upgrades, heating system improvements, and roof replacements. Additional information would be provided to Performance Monitoring Panel about the Capital Programme to allow for further scrutiny.

69.9% of tenants surveyed said they were satisfied with the overall repairs service, and 85.7% feeling their homes were safe. Benchmarking against other council landlords with less than 10,000 units, had been undertaken. The maintenance cost per unit was reported at £1,137 compared to a peer median of £1,153.

Over the last 12 months, several improvements had been made, including a programme of contract management training and changes to the contract awarding process. The responsibility for overseeing damp and mould reports was transferred to the Housing Repairs Team, and a new voids standard for sheltered housing was set. As part of the Housing Transformation Programme, further improvements were planned for 2025/26, including the rollout of an online repairs reporting system, along with reviews of the disabled aids and adaptations offer and the responsive repairs service and capital programme delivery.

Consideration was given to the report and the following issues were raised:

• How many repairs were still outstanding and how many of these had gone beyond their expected completion date?
  • The Portfolio Holder responded that as part of the compliance clinic, this was a metric that was now measured. At the last compliance clinic, there were around 630 outstanding repairs outstanding. To put this into context, approximately 750 repairs were undertaken each month. The Portfolio Holder could not advise of the number outstanding and referred to the Housing Repairs and Property Services Manager.
  • The Housing Repairs and Property Services Manager did not have the information available but advised that this would be included within the information coming to the Performance Monitoring Panel.

• If there was a schedule of maintenance for heating systems, boilers etc, was there a reason why repairs rose in the winter months if maintenance had already been undertaken?
  • The Housing Repairs and Property Services Manager advised that servicing of systems did take place however in the autumn, tenants would start to put their heating systems on which often led to an increase in heating related repairs. Communications were published on social media asking residents to check and test their boilers as early as possible however a spike did naturally occur and was fairly consistent throughout the winter.
  • The Portfolio Holder added that the spike in work always occurred, whatever systems were put in place. Other than increasing communications, there was little more that could be done.

• There was generally a trend for under-delivery with the capital programme – was there a reason for this?
  • The Portfolio Holder replied that it was likely that there would be an underspend again this year. The capital programme was a focus for the transformation team, ensuring that services were looking at the right things. There were plans for a capital programme clinic to be put in place to monitor that spending was being undertaken at the correct pace and on the correct things.
  • The Assistant Director – Housing added that the Asset Management Strategy and Business Plan work were important strategic items and it was recognised that the successful delivery of these relied upon and efficient and effective investment programme to ensure that all that had to be delivered was delivered. There were a number of inter-linked dependencies to get this right. Capital delivery was an area for improvement and the underspend was not necessarily representative of good performance and improvement in this area was actively being sought

DECISION:

1)    That the report be noted;

2)    That Cabinet’s observations and comments on the information presented to them regarding the Housing Landlord Service’s performance of responsive repairs and planned maintenance be noted in the minutes;

3)    That Cabinet’s observations and comments, and the report be considered by the Performance Monitoring Panel as part of the scrutiny process

(Other options considered:

·       Do nothing – To not consider information presented regarding the performance of responsive repairs and planned maintenance..  Cabinet is responsible for ensuring that the Council, in its role as a registered provider, is meeting the regulatory standards set.  This option is not recommended;

·       To not receive any information prior to Performance Monitoring Panel.  This is not recommended as it is beneficial for Cabinet to have considered this information prior to Performance Monitoring Panel scrutinising the performance;

Reasons for decision:

·       The purpose of this report is to provide Cabinet, council tenants and leaseholders with the assurance and confidence that the Housing Landlord Service’s arrangements for responsive repairs and planned maintenance are robust and are subject to ongoing review and improvement).