Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor John Duncan.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Community Select Committee held on Tuesday 27 June 2023.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Community Select Committee held on 27 June 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive an officer presentation on the Housing Repairs service providing a perspective from the internal contractor team and from the Housing client side.

The Assistant Director, Stevenage Direct Services and Dean Stevens, Maintenance and Repairs manager gave a presentation to the Committee including overview of the internal contractor arrangements for the delivery of day to day council property repairs.

The Committee was advised that:

·       the team delivered day to day repairs, alongside void repairs and caretaking services;

·       approximately 8,500 tenanted properties were looked after;

·       day to day repairs were delivered by the Council’s in-house team supported by a range of specialist contractors eg glazing and fencing;

·       during 2022/23 over 2,000 urgent repairs and 14,000 routine repairs are carried out;

·       95% of repairs were fixed first time.

In response to a question, officers advised that for an out of hours emergency repair, tenants were advised that they should call the regular repairs number which would be automatically transferred to a member of the Out of Hours Team who would process the repair.

A Member also asked how a repair was categorised and gave the example of a front door not working, reducing the exit of the property to just the rear door.  Officers advised that if a tenant was able to safely exit from a property, this would not be deemed as an emergency but would be categorised as an urgent or routine repair.

Officers then gave an overview of the resources within the team and advised that work was allocated and overseen by three trade supervisors and three schedulers, supported by two Maintenance Surveyors.

Members were advised that the budget for day to day repairs and out of hours emergency calls was approximately £2.5million per annum. 

In relation to the performance standards for repairs the following categories were noted:

·       Emergency (immediate risk or danger to the tenant or property) – 24 hours;

·       Urgent (if not remedied may cause substantial discomfort or damage) – 5 days;

·       Routine (minor inconvenience and little impact on the property) – 20 days.

Members were pleased to note that customer satisfaction had risen from 77% to 88% over the past 6 weeks against a target of 90%.  The target for first time fix was 95% and Officers were pleased to report that 98% was currently being achieved.

Members were advised of a number of previous challenges to the Service including recruitment problems resulting in an over reliance on agency workers, limited capability of digital systems, ‘lost’ jobs not being fully completed on the day and insufficient capacity within the service.

Officers reported on recent improvements and current actions:

·       The appointment of an Assistant Director for Building Safety and Housing Property Services;

·       Supervisors had been freed up to focus solely on repairs optimisation with a focus on completing all jobs scheduled each day;

·       New digital ways of working leading to tenants being able to book their own repairs;

·       Less reliance on agency workers with the team almost entirely staffed by contracted workers;

·       Improved stock availability since the start of the new materials contract with Gibbs and Dandy which had contributed to the first-time fix ethos.

Members were advised that in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To receive a draft scoping document for a scrutiny review of the Council’s Housing Repairs service.

The Scrutiny Officer presented a draft scoping document for the review of the Repairs Service.

Members were keen to include a visit with the Team and site visits if this could be arranged.  The Repairs manager advised that he would be happy to arrange this and would liaise with the Scrutiny officer for dates and a schedule for the visits.

To consider any Part I business accepted by the Chair as urgent

None.

To consider the following motions:

1. That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the ground that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in paragraphs 1 – 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended by Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

2. That Members consider the reasons for the following reports being in Part II and determine whether or not maintaining the exemption from disclosure of the information contained therein outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Not required.

To consider any Part II business accepted by the Chair as urgent

None.