Agenda and minutes

Cllr Cutkelvin was introduced to the meeting and welcomed as Assistant Mayor with responsibility for Housing.

The Chair informed the meeting that the order of the agenda had changed, and that he would take Agenda Item 9, Housing System Replacement and Housing Channel Shift after Agenda Item 5, Questions, Representations or Statements of Case.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gee and Pickering, Cllr O’Donnell.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Aqbany declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting that he had family members who were council tenants.

Councillor Westley declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting that he had family members who were council tenants.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, these interests were not considered so significant that they were likely to prejudice the Councillors’ judgement of the public interest. The Councillors were not therefore required to withdraw from the meeting during consideration and discussion of the agenda items.

The minutes of the meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Commission held on 5 August 2019 have been circulated, and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

Minute 10. Manifesto Housing Commitments

Councillor Willmott asked why the Housing Manifesto Commitments report was not included on the agenda. The DSO reported the agenda item had been missed in error and the briefing note and table of proposed commitments would be circulated to all Members and be on the agenda for the next meeting.

AGREED:

that the minutes of the Housing Scrutiny Commission meeting held on 5^th August 2019 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any petitions received in accordance with Council procedures.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any questions, representations or statements of case received in accordance with Council procedures.

Three questions have been submitted:

Ms Z Zelter submits the following questions:

1)            “In light of the climate emergency and fuel poverty, does the council intend to require all its new developments to be to Passivhaus/Zero Carbon standard with renewable generation? If not, why? And if yes, what is the time line?”

2)            “Would Leicester City Council consider actively checking and enforcing all private rental accommodation to ensure it is reaching minimum carbon efficiency standards, and licencing them to cover the cost of checks and enforcement?”

3)            “Given that there is to be a consultation in the next few months on a carbon action plan for the city, please would this commission press for an additional person to be added to the City Executive (beyond the deputy city mayor for environment) whose sole role would be to push for all council policy and actions to be in line with tackling the climate emergency to be part of that carbon action plan.”

The Director of Housing was present to respond to three questions submitted and supplementary questions that arose.

The Chair said the questions submitted cut across multiple areas of the council and multiple scrutiny committees, and answers to the questions had been collated to be presented at the Housing Scrutiny Commission.

Mrs Zina Zelter was invited to the table to ask her questions.

1)            “In light of the climate emergency and fuel poverty, does the council intend to require all its new developments to be to Passivhaus/Zero Carbon standard with renewable generation? If not, why? And if yes, what is the time line?”

Reply

The Director of Housing said from a planning perspective, current policy sought to address this through the adopted Core Strategy.

Core Strategy policy stated all development must mitigate and adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The policy required development to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 and where feasible, encouraged development to incorporate best practice energy efficiency and sustainable construction methods, and encouraged development to include connection to an existing Combined Heat and Power or Community Heating System, wherever feasible.

The city council was currently in the process of producing a new local plan, which would seek to enhance the strength of policies addressing climate change. Whilst there had been a climate emergency declared on the local level, national government had limited the scope of planning policy available to allow local planning authorities to set energy performance standards higher than the Building Regulations.

National planning policy guidance currently did not allow local planning authorities to set energy performance standards for new housing above the equivalent of Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

The energy efficiency standards of new development was being considered as part of the new local plan process. There would be future consultation on a draft local plan, but the scope would largely be defined by how far national policy allowed local authorities to go in policy development and adoption.

From a Leicester City Council housing building perspective, not only was the council committed to building high quality, good value affordable homes for those people on the housing register, it also wanted them to be environmentally friendly and cheap to run.

The first phase of new homes (29 units) were being built to the current Building Control standards and were due to be completed in the Summer of 2020.

The council aimed to build subsequent phases to higher standards and the way it would be achieved would be decided on a site by site basis. It could not be confirmed at the meeting if it would specifically include the use of specific renewable technologies or that all developments would be built to Passive House Standards.

The council had not ruled out any form of construction or methods for achieving good quality homes that were kind to the environment and cheap to run

Supplementary Question

Should not housing be required to be built to level 4 standards?

Response  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

The Director of Housing submits a report to the Housing Scrutiny Commission for noting which provides an overview and update of the Housing System Replacement programme and Housing Channel Shift.

The Director of Housing submitted a report to the Commission for noting which provided an overview and update of the Housing System Replacement programme and Housing Channel Shift.

Charlotte McGraw, Head of Service, presented the report and drew Members’ attention to the following:

·         Channel shift was about broadening channels for those that could access online services; it was acknowledged that this was not a one size fits all approach and that vulnerable tenants needed to still be able to access services by traditional means too;

·         Progress had been made in delivering Rents Channel shift and the first stage of repairs;

·         The team was actively promoting uptake of Housing Online;

·         The mobile working solution had been updated and alongside Repairs Channel Shift it had made it easier for people to book, cancel and access services.

The Chair asked what performance indicators were being used to assess whether the strategy was successful, i.e. in terms of the percentage of enquiries made online, the cost of introducing rent and repairs channel shift and the projections for the future. Members were informed that statistics on call volumes were considered on a monthly basis alongside data on face-to-face transactions. Currently the council was developing datasets, for example, on rents and how many tenants were signing up to access the services, and the same would be done for the repairs service over the next year. The Chair asked that a detailed report be brought to a future meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Commission.

The Chair noted the lack of connectivity between the Granby Street system and Northgate. He asked what criteria would be used to ensure connectivity between the new housing system and the CRM system used at Granby Street Customer Services. Members were informed a response to the question would be looked into and be provided to them in writing following a discussion with IT.

Members stated that it was a problem for some tenants accessing services online and asked for the approximate number of tenants who did not use electronic means to connect. Members were informed the figure was not known for housing, but at a recent Anti-Poverty summit it was estimated that 10% of people were not able to use digital means, and as many council tenants were in poverty it could be assumed that a number of tenants were in that 10%.

An example given of successful engagement online was the Choice Based Lettings system. There had been initial concerns that people would not engage, but it had become clear that people had with 99% of all bids made online, although it was not known how many were receiving support, for example, in libraries. For those that could not engage online, they were not excluded and Members were given reassurance that there were no plans to remove the telephone system and people still had direct contact. It was noted the situation would be closely monitored and it was believed the gentle encouragement approach the council was taking was correct.

Councillor Cutkelvin, Assistant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The Director of Housing submits a presentation to the Scrutiny Commission for noting to update on progress on the delivery of new housing.

The Director of Housing submitted a presentation to the Commission for noting which updated on progress on the delivery of new housing.

Simon Nicholls, Head of Service, presented the report and provided the following additional information:

·         Branding for Housing Leicester had been updated.

·         Housing was mainly being built on sites of previous use, usually garage sites.

·         Each house cost approximately £130k to build.

·         There was a demand for 6,000 houses (highest for two bedrooms), and also an identified need for wheelchair accommodation.

·         Planning permission had been granted for all six first phase sites, and a second phase of sites and work ongoing to deliver over 100 units. The council was currently looking to identify other sites to deliver the manifesto commitment.

·         The contractor Robert Woodhead would deliver the new homes, and for added social value would be providing work experience for the Council’s apprenticeships and operatives, and also work with Leicester colleges.

·         The acquisition programme of buying back former council housing had a total value to date of £16million.

In response to Members’ questions the following information was provided:

·         The council was in the unique position to increase the percentages of homes with wheelchair access and would be built to Level 4 standard. Housing were working with the Environment Team, looking at long-term development moving away from fossil fuels and gas towards air source heating.

·         Bungalows were land hungry, though there were benefits, as being wheelchair accessible relied on less technology for the tenant. The existing phase of development is delivering bungalows and future phases would look at increasing the number of wheelchair accessible bungalows.

Members asked that future presentations be put in overall context in what the Council wanted to achieve for the future. They added that it was disappointing that not all houses would be built to the same standard and asked officers and the Assistant Mayor if standards could be increased, as once built a property could be retrofitted, but was counter-productive. The Director of Housing said a paper would be brought setting out additional costs associated with different levels of standard of build.

The Assistant Mayor agreed that the Council should be looking at environmental standards, but it was noted that when Passivehaus was done in the past, tenants did not always comply with the principles.

Members asked if the Phases of build were down to identifying sites. It was noted that sites and capacity to build were down to the design process and resources available.

The Chair commented that housing associations were not accountable to local authorities, with many housing associations in the city having offices in other cities, providing tenants with poor standards of housing and service. He added he would like to see government bring housing association back under local authority control.

The Chair thanked the officer for the report.

AGREED:

1.    That the presentation and information be noted.

2.    The Director of Housing said a paper would be brought setting out additional costs associated with different levels of standard of build.

The Director of Housing submits a report to the Housing Scrutiny Commission for noting to provide an update to Members on void performance for the first quarter of 2019/20.

The Director of Housing submitted a report for noting which provided an update on void performance for the first quarter of 2019/20.

Simon Nicholls, Head of Service, presented the reports and provided the following information:

·         The number of voids held was now less than 200.

·         The average time taken to re-let a property was reducing and improving and once ready took an average of 5.4 days to let. The longer a property was empty, the more rent was lost.

·         The council operated a 50-week year to give a two-week break over the Christmas period to tenants, defined as rent-free.

·         The council reported void figures based on the actual void period. Some other authorities based the void period on when contractors were working on a property, so it was hard to compare like for like with other authorities.

·         When void properties were checked they were clean, had an energy performance certificate, were asbestos safe, and meters changed.

·         A full range of repairs was undertaken in house on voids but work for example on full re-wiring and boilers was currently outsourced.

Members had previously stated that there needed to be a closer look at how tenants maintained their homes. It was noted that craft operatives saw the condition of a property on visits and fed back to neighbourhood housing officers to investigate further. Members were further informed there was a programme of welfare to visit vulnerable people, and visits are done on potential risk flags, for example, rent arrears, previous evictions, to prioritise checks on property conditions and support with a tenancy, and identify other issues. It was added it was not currently possible to visit all 21,000 homes every year to make sure people were maintaining properties due to resources.

Members were asked to note that the condition of housing stock coming back was a concern and appeared to be getting worse thus impacting on voids, and there needed to be a more stringent regime to protect properties. Also, the council was still liable for council tax on voids so it was essential that void times were reduced.

The Chair noted that in the past, if the standard of home improvements by the tenant was of a good standard and met health and safety requirements, the council would not require the tenant to put the property back to its original state. The Head of Service reported that if work was of a good standard and safe that remained the case.

Members were informed that there were many things that contributed to void times, including the age of a property, or a property had not had capital programme work at the request of former tenants by, for example, tenant refusal for upgrade and these need to be done when the property becomes void.

The Chair noted there were a lot of elderly people as council tenants who struggled to maintain gardens, and that the probation scheme used to be in place and could Housing look at supporting them through a finance scheme.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Director of Housing submits a report to the Housing Scrutiny Commission for noting, which provides an update on the Division’s performance on the completion of responsive repairs to council properties, and an update about the implementation of service charges.

The Director of Housing submitted a report to the Housing Scrutiny Commission for noting, which provided an update on the Division’s performance on the completion of responsive repairs to council properties, and an update about the implementation of service charges.

Ian Craig, Head of Service, drew Members’ attention to the following:

·         During 2018/19, over 90,000 repairs were undertaken.

·         89.4% of repairs were completed on first visit, and 88.4% within target time.

·         There were 190 complaints (0.21% of actual work carried out).

·         Tenants’ primary access to the service was by phone, but the service was working towards Channel Shift and its benefits of longer service access.

·         Tenants could also use an online service called ‘My Account’ to report issues. In addition to that, front line staff could take information on repairs.

·         Morning and afternoon appointments were available and a 24/7 out of hours service was operated for emergency repairs. In 2018/19 there were 123,371 calls to the call centre.

·         The number of repairs outstanding and out of category did not include gas and central heating.

·         The number of repairs completed on first visit was 85.5% due to the hard work of operatives and exceeded the 85% target.

·         The next phase for repairs was to go online, with advantages previously outlined. Tenants would be able to report repairs and upload pictures through mobile phones.

·         Customer Satisfaction monitoring would be embedded into normal business. Tenants would be asked to leave comments on the service provided, and any complaints would be responded to quickly.

·         19 craft apprentices were currently being recruited.

Members asked to see in the report the number of missed repair appointments because the tenant was not home. The Head of Service reported Channel Shift would give tenants the opportunity to make their own appointments and would reduce events when tenants were not in. It was noted there was also a cost to missed appointments, especially if it was a big job with materials and tools delivered.

Members also reported the Out of Hours service had been very good.

Members asked if the new service being pushed forward had ownership amongst the workforce, and had lone working, risk assessments and health and safety aspects been considered. They also asked about rates of sickness in the workforce. Members were informed all safeguarding aspects were considered. With regards to isolation, workforce surveys were undertaken, and the workforce themselves were close-knit teams with regular team meetings and events outside of work.

The Chair referred to Appendix 2 Window and Doors repairs being out of category and queried if it had any connect to problems with getting proper fire doors. The Head of Service said the problem with fire doors did have an impact but it could not be said if it was the ultimate reason for the figure given.

The Chair thanked the officer for the report.

AGREED:

that:

1.    The report be noted.

2.    The number of missed repair appointments due to a tenant not being at home be included in future reports.

The Scrutiny Policy Officer submits for noting the Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Forum Action Log from 1 August 2019.

No comments were received from Members in relation to the Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Forum Action and Decision Log.

The next meeting of the Forum would take place on 8^th October, City Hall.

Members were informed the Forum had arranged to have a telephone installed in Braunstone Frith Centre for older residents to use to call through to the Council.

It was AGREED that:

1.    The Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Forum Action and Decision Log be noted.

Members of the Commission will be asked to consider the work programme and make suggestions for additional items as it considers necessary.

The Housing Scrutiny Commission work programme was noted.

It was AGREED:

1.    That the DSO would circulate to Members the report on Housing Manifesto Commitments, and to contact the Director of Housing for further information if required.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 7.28pm.