Verbal Update
Minutes:
The Committee undertook a verbal question and answer session with Cllr Carlin, Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters and Planning. The following arose as part of the discussion:
a. The Committee questioned what the Council was doing to prosecute rogue landlords. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the introduction of the additional licensing scheme would mean that the Council would be actively going into tenanted properties and carrying out inspections, rather than relying on tenants to make complaints. The Cabinet Member advised that in terms of process, once an enforcement notice was issued, the landlord would have a specific amount of time to comply with that notice or the Council would then prosecute. The Cabinet Member highlighted the importance of proposed legislative changes to ban no-fault evictions.
b. The Committee highlighted that it had previously requested that ward councillors be given access to fire safety risk assessments. It was noted that some of the smaller blocks did not have a risk assessment and the Committee sought clarification as to whether these blocks should have a risk assessment carried out. In response, officers agreed that they would undertake a manual exercise to check this and then come back to the Committee with a response. (Action: Judith Page).
c. The Committee raised concerns about a lack of responses to residents when repairs were reported and suggested that, either housing manger posts were vacant following HfH coming in-house, or that residents did not know how to contact their housing managers. In response, the Cabinet Member acknowdged that each block should have a named housing manager and that she was happy to follow up with officers on the concerns raised. Yvonne agreed to email Cllr Bevan with the specifics (Action: Yvonne Denny). Cllr Carlin agreed to chase up the names of housing managers for each block. (Action: Cllr Carlin).
d. The Committee sought clarification about what support the Council offered to those who had been evicted, specifically in terms of the earlier point made around ending no-fault evictions. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that if tenants were evicted against their wishes, then there was specific legal process involved which would require a court order to be obtained. In most cases, residents could contact the Council’s housing needs team, The Cabinet Member advised that if it was a family, the Council could help to pay some of its rent arrears and that in the past the Council had been able to help families secure a tenancy elsewhere in the private sector. If someone was unlawfully evicted, then this would be an enforcement issue and the Council would look to put people in contact with organisations who could support them to take legal action. In relation to single adults, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that the help on offer was limited due to a shortage of temporary accommodation places and the fact that the private rents were very expensive.
e. The Committee sought an update about where the Council had got to with the programme to improve the standards of properties on estates from several years ago. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the Decent Homes programme was originally based around providing new doors and windows. Since then the Council had agreed to widen the scope of these repairs to include communal spaces. The Cabinet Member advised that she was pushing for this to be called stock renewal to reflect these changes. The Council was currently going out with a big ten-year contract to undertake these works in order to take advantage of the economies of scale. Officers advised that the Council had delivered £35m of improvements last year, £45m improvements this year and that the target was to bring 100% of Council housing stock up to decent homes standards by 2025.
f. The Chair requested an update on the revamping of the repairs scheme. In response, officers advised that this had been partially delayed due to TUPE of staff over from HfH. Officers advised that they were also bringing in resources within certain priority areas on a temporary basis, such as disrepair, until the permeant changes were made.
g. In response to a question about the capacity of the repairs service, given the amount of new housing that was being built, officers advised that they were bringing in new operatives due to issues with the supply chain and that they were looking at direct delivery where feasible. Officers acknowledged had been some delays with resources as HfH was moved back in-house, however the service was currently recruiting at pace to fill key positions. In terms of resources, officers set out that the financial resources were there to ensure capacity within the repairs service. However, it was highlighted that there was a sector wide issue with this due to contractor supply chains. Work was underway to bring apprentices through.
h. In response to a question about the holistic approach to stock renewal, officers advised that that 50% of stock surveys had been completed, which was the first time this exercise had been undertaken since 2015. Officers set out that a lot of work was being done on the holistic approach such as undertaking energy works, whilst undertaking repairs. Officers advised that they were confident that adopting a holistic approach was the best way to ensure value for money. Officers advised the Committee that they had modelled the impact of a rent cap on the HRA and that they were confident this would not unduly impact stock renewal.
i. The Committee requested an update in relation to recruiting apprentices as part of the house building programme. In response, officers advised that three apprentices had just started, with a further plastering apprentice due to start in January when the relevant CONEL course began. All of these were local people. There were an additional four apprentices already in the existing programme and the Council had offered upskilling opportunities to existing staff, of which two individuals were taken on. The Cabinet Member also identified that all major works contracts in the future would insist on the use of apprentices when the spend was above a particular financial threshold
j. The Committee raised particular concerns about how effectively the Council communicated with its residents around repairs. In response, officers acknowdged these concerns and highlighted that there was a repairs improvement project in place to look at how this could be improved. Officers advised that the schedulers who book repairs had been brought back into the office as a way to drive improvements. It was also noted that the service was looking at whether the existing systems being used were being used in the most effective way. The Committee requested a further update around communication of repairs to a future meeting. (Clerk).
k. In response to a request for clarification about what was involved with holistic approach to improving housing stock, officers advised that this involved undertaking insulation works along with energy improvements that were required to achieve an EPC rating of ‘B’ for all stock. This was combined with also ensuring that when major works were carried out on a block, then smaller jobs would be done at the same time, such as painting the railings. The idea was that disruption to residents would be minimised. Officers also highlighted that they were looking to undertake a pilot for the retrofitting of air source heat pumps as part of this holistic approach.
RESOLVED
Noted