Agenda item

Report of the Director of Property Management

This report provides information on the repairs service and the delivery of capital works to Council homes.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management

Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management, took the meeting through the report and he along with Susanne Afra, Head of Capital Works, Tony Castle, Head of Repairs, and Scot Reid Head of Property, Customer Services and Engagement, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Council was working with the Skills Centre in Euston, to seek to ensure more people took up apprentices in the housing trades the borough needed, to ensure that the were high quality operatives to undertake those roles in the future.

·       In relation to the works on the Weedington Estate, officers engaged with residents regarding the works to be undertaken in their property, had show flats available to be viewed by tenants, provided documentation informing them of what was happening, had resident engagement sessions to advise tenants on the progress of the works, had an experienced project manger overseeing the project, the contractor had a resident liaison officer based on site throughout the project, worked closely with the neighbour housing staff and when vulnerable tenants were made to them worked to ensure that they were provided with the required assistance. Even with all this support and information a number of tenants had not though allowed the contractors access to their homes. The position on lack of access had now changed with these tenants now reaching out to the contractor, and as result of this the Council was now developing a mopping up programme to finish the required works. During this period those tenants who had not allowed the contractor access had been offered electric heaters until the works had been completed.

·       When necessary the Council did offer vulnerable tenants a packing service that would help pack and unpack their belongings during works. Officers would contact anyone that the councillors identified who may need of this service.

·       Officers would provide tenants and residents with an update regarding West End Siding’s Estate heating project.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (SA)

·       Officers would provide an update regarding the specific grant funding that had been secured for sustainability work over the last few years.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (GH)

·       Officers had processes in place that provided information regarding lift performance so that appropriate action could be taken to deal with issues when they broke down, along with having information on the lifts overall reliability over time. As part of this officers had now started a process of sending text messages to tenants and residents, where they where sent information when a lift had broken down, then regular updates until the lift was working and when available, why the lift had broken down in the first place. Officers would also seek to contact vulnerable tenants and residents to see how they could be supported whilst the lift was out of order. This approach would now be taken forward in relation to heating system breakdowns.

·       Officers would produce a paper for the next DMC cycle regarding the application process for CCTV on estates, along with the installation criteria and the need for tenants and residents to support paying the on-going service charge attached to the installation costs.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management

·       The Council had experienced clerks of works who assessed the quality of contractor’s works to ensure that the work was delivered to the Council standards, and in-line with the scope they had been set. The work they did was especially important when this related to specialist work around fire doors installation and electrical works. Programme Managers in the Capital Works Teams were highly experienced and were able to assess the work of the clerk of works and contractors. The whole assessment process allowed for checks and balances in the system to enable the project to be delivered to a decent standard for tenants and residents. As a result of this work, the number of complaints regarding capital works project delivery remained low but officers would look into any specific issues that councillors may wish to share with them separately.

·       An on-site resident liaison officer was present on projects to ensure tenants and residents understood what works would be undertaken, and when necessary work with them to enable entry to their homes.

·       The WhatsApp repairs reporting process sought to ask a series of questions and determined on the basis of those answers, whether they needed to speak to an operator and or whether the matter should be deemed an emergency. The Council offered a telephone service for emergencies and enhanced residents and for those who had no ability to report repairs other than by the telephone. Work was always on going at adapting processes to ensure that the tenants and residents journey when reporting repairs was a smooth as possible.

·       Digital reporting methods were a very popular way for tenants and residents to report issues, along with allowing for a quicker call waiting response to telephone calls. Having officers answering calls was a resource intensive process but it was important that they were there for the people who needed them. The approach already taken forward by the repairs service was soon to be taken forward by Contact Camden.

·       The Camden Account was also being improved so that it became another way for tenants and residents to report repairs issues, and would have a supportive live-chat function to help tenants and residents report a repair when necessary.

·       Data on the very good response times for the repairs service was available on the Council’s website. Though 85% of all repairs jobs were raised on-line, over 50% of the service’s activities were still done via the telephone. This service was still available for those who could not use the technology, for emergencies, for enhanced tenants or for those who could not do anything else online. All telephone calls were recorded and officers were able to go back and listen to calls to check on what the whole experience was. Officers would go back and listen to any calls that councillors could identify where the person having made a call had a bad experience.

·       Works performance data was regularly assessed by officers and this included information on repeat issues. Future reports would provided comparative data regarding performance, and this would include information on the number and types of repeat repairs call outs.

·       Officers would update the Maitland Park TRA regarding progress on the proposed works.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (SA) 

·       A report was scheduled be submitted the Cabinet and Housing Scrutiny in December regarding the Council’s future asset management strategy, that would identify the proposed programme.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted