Agenda item

The Panel received a report and a verbal presentation that provided an update on the progress of the Housing Improvement Plan, which was approved at Cabinet on 18^th April 2023. The report and the Housing Improvement Plan, attached at Appendix A of the report, was included in the agenda pack at pages 11-88. The presentation was introduced by Jahedur Rahman, Operational Director of Housing Services & Building Safety as set out in the tabled papers pack. David Joyce, Director of Placemaking and Housing was present for this item. Cllr Williams, the Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters and Planning was also present for this item. The following arose in discussion of this agenda item:

a.    The Panel queried why there weren’t performance milestones in place regarding repairs from the outset of the improvement plan. In response, officers advised that in order to drive the levels of improvement required that there would need to be a period of time for the changes to be embedded in the service. Officers set out that they were in the process of introducing a new category of repairs for a five to seven day turnaround, but that they needed to ensure that the staff and technology were in place do this. Officers emphasised that they wanted to make sure that they were able to deliver what was promised.

b.    The Panel members raised concerns about delays to repair work and multiple visits being carried out by different operatives before repair work was undertaken. In this context, the Panel queried how productivity would be measured by repair staff. In response, officers advised that the number of jobs carried out per day would vary according to the type of work that person undertook. It was suggested that five to six jobs a day was a reasonable, for non-wet work. Officers confirmed they monitored where jobs took longer than they should and were trying to recruit operatives that were multi-skilled and could undertake a variety of trades.

c.    In response to a question about the process for repair jobs being logged, officers advised that they was logged through the call centre and emphasised the importance of being able to accurately diagnose the problem/repair to ensure that repairs were not unnecessarily delayed.

d.    The Panel sought clarification about whether the council was monitoring claims of legal disrepair. In response, officers acknowledged that there was a concern around rising legal costs in relation to disrepair and that the service was discussing with legal colleagues about how to reduce this. It was suggested that, ultimately, a better repairs service would bring the number of cases down.

e.    As a follow-up, it was suggested that this should be monitored as a performance indictor as it was indicative of where things were going wrong and cases of severe resident dissatisfaction. Officers responded by reiterating the need to put the right structures in place to reduce legal disrepair claims. Officers advised that legal disrepair claims were a symptom of a wider problem and that they were putting in place the building blocks to improve the repairs service step by step, but that the service had to initially prioritise serious safety disrepair issues and then damp and mould repairs. The Panel requested that some consideration be given to developing a performance metric around the cost of legal fees being paid out legal disrepair claims. (Action: Jahedur Rahman).

f.     The Panel emphasised the importance of having a framework agreement in place and noted concern with delays in implementing this. In response, the Panel was advised that this was something that was being worked on and the Cabinet Member offered to bring an update on this to a future meeting. (Action: Clerk).

g.    The Panel requested more information about recruiting to apprenticeship roles  and the impact of the national pay award. In response, officers advised that apprenticeships were not specifically mentioned in the HIP but that there was a wider recognition of there being an aging work force and the need to bring in apprentices. Officers acknowledged that repairs operatives were on the Red Book scheme and that this was determined through a national pay award.

h.    The Panel raised an issue about the working culture of staff and suggested that too many staff were still working from home. In response, officers acknowledged the need for housing to be a place-based service and that management had brought staff back into the office where this was required or where it was felt that output had dipped. It was suggested that the number of housing staff working in Haringey had increased significantly and that management were continuing to engage with unions on this.

i.      The Panel sought clarification around Resident Voice and how residents were chosen to sit on this. In response, officers advised that around 80 applications had been received and that these had been whittled down to a short list of 50. It was envisaged that this groups would monitor and scrutinise progress against the 180 actions set out within the HIP, along with scrutinising performance data and complaints data.

j.      In response to the report setting out plans to automate notice to quit letters, the members sought clarification about checks and safeguards for vulnerable tenants. In response, officers set out that the first letters informing the tenant of rent arrears would be automatically generated. If a payment plan was put in place this would resolve the issue. If no response was received then door knocking and an in-person visit to the property would be undertaken. Officers acknowledged that there were safeguards in place to ascertain if that person was eligible for unclaimed benefits and that Legal would undertake a checklist of actions undertaken before a notice to quit was issued.

k.    In response to the point made about neighbouring boroughs paying more to repairs staff, officers set out that the market was very challenging, certainly for agency staff, as all landlords were all competing for qualified staff following the heightened national profile of damp and mould issues, in light of the recent case in Rotherham.  

l.      In response to a question, officers advised that the deep cleaning team was employed on an initial one year programme and that this would be reassessed after a year.

m.  In response to a question around comparative boroughs and those who specifically monitored housing management cases for leaseholders. Officers set out that there were 14 London Boroughs who used the NEC Northgate system and also used the leaseholder module. Officers also highlighted Thurrock as a comparative borough.

n.    The Panel sought assurances around the impact of upcoming strike action by Unite housing operatives, officers advised that the first strike day would see the service scaled back to providing only emergency works, but that it was envisaged that the other three proposed strike days would have a full service available to residents.

o.    The Panel asked whether there was a plan in place to increase maintenance, given that the Council was going to be building 3000 council homes. In response, officers advised that it was envisaged that the Council’s Housing Delivery Programme would increase the overall management and staffing capacity going forwards. In response to a follow-up question, officers suggested that a housing manager would look after 600-800 properties and that staffing levels would be increased accordingly.  The Director emphasised the successful recruitment of all of the top management posts within the service and the fact that a full top-level management team had probably not been in place for a long time. The Cabinet Member also emphasised the fact that snagging issues were reported and picked up.

p.    Concerns were raised by Members around a failure to implement a holistic approach to repairs on estates and that focusing on Decent Homes improvements would result in long overdue repairs and maintenance being side-lined. In response, officers acknowledged that adopting a holistic approach would ultimately save the council money. Officers set out that they had to do targeted work this year on Decent Homes as this had been mandated by the Housing Regulator. The holistic approach would be focused on non-Decent Homes stock estates.

q.    Officers confirmed that the target was to bring 1000 homes up to Decent Homes Standards year on year.

r.     In response to a question, officers advised that the report did not reflect the actions arising from the Ombudsman report as the they were working to different timescales for the HIP and the Ombudsman report.

RESOLVED

That the report and presentation were noted.