Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report to the Housing Scrutiny Commission for noting on the Division’s performance on the completion of responsive repairs to council properties. The report also provides an update about the implementation of service changes, and measures taken to prevent customers having no heating and hot water during extreme weather.

The Director of Housing submitted a report on the Division’s performance on the completion of responsive repairs to council properties. The report also provided an update about the implementation of service changes and measures taken to prevent customers having no heating and hot water during extremely cold weather.

Ian Craig, Head of Service, who presented the report, made the following points:

·         Work had been ongoing to install boiler buoys to properties, with those affected by the severe weather in 2018 prioritised. Water tanks in roof spaces are also being decommissioned where possible.

·         Online repairs reporting would be supported with a picture based system to make reporting easier.

·         There was continued improvement of the Responsive and Planned Repairs Improvement Project to deliver on the commitments to tenants and the Scrutiny Commission, as outlined in the report.

·         Next steps included the online booking of repairs appointments under Channel Shift, and the roll out of a replacement mobile working solutions using mobile phones and tablets which would hopefully be introduced at the end of February 2019.

·         A pilot was being undertaken to speed up the delivery of glass from the supplier for repairs.

·         Vehicles would be fitted with more modern internal racking, so that more materials were available to complete as many jobs as possible on first visit, but there was a delay to the procurement of the contract.

·         There was an introduction of descaling programme of maintenance to pipework – some major floods had occurred because of blockages in soil stacks.

·         A review meeting each year before bad weather occurred ensured plans and measures were in place to effectively respond and manage such situations.

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

·         Between 10-12% of jobs had issues with tenants not being in. When an operative attended a property every attempt was made to get in touch with the tenant. The job would be cancelled and the letter of cancellation would be sent to the tenant asking them to report the repair again. Channel Shift would allow more flexibility for tenants to request a certain time for an appointment which the service tried to accommodate where possible.

·         Areas considered to improve the repairs performance included taking out water tanks to prevent water leaks. Other areas included advice given to tenants on how to empty boiler condensation pipes into a bucket inside the property during freezing weather through a device designed by Housing Repairs Service.

·         The mains water going into buildings was constantly being reviewed, for which Severn Trent had responsibility.

·         There was a programme of LED light replacement across the city in communal areas, which would include courtyard lights.

·         Other repairs issues were being raised by the tenant whilst the operative was present. Some repairs could be phoned in by the operative and booked.

·         The Handyman Repair Service was still in place.

·         Complaint levels are very low however complaints were made for varying reasons, for example, a repair was undertaken when the tenant was expecting a renewal, or the customer service they received was not as expected.

·         The new tenants handbook was available on the web and the Tenant conditions of tenancy was being consulted upon on the Council’s website.

·         Officers continued to look at business needs going forward and included looking at apprenticeship schemes in different areas.

·         The Service monitored how many jobs were not undertaken on first visit.

Members thanked all the repairs staff for all their work over the years.

The Assistant City Mayor for Housing, Cllr Connelly endorsed the comments made by Members, and was pleased with the significant improvement in repairs completed on first visit. He added he was pleased that permanent jobs had been found for apprentices, and there had been an increase in women in construction. He thanked the Head of Service and his team for doing a difficult job whatever the weather, 365 days a year.

The Chair echoed what was said by Members and gave thanks to Housing Officers and their colleagues. He noted there were few repairs problems reported to him over the Christmas period.

It was AGREED that:

1.    The contents of the report be noted.