Minutes:
Marie Cooper, Head of Housing Property Services, gave a presentation to Members on the Council’s social housing stock repairs. The presentation covered the following areas:
· The Housing Repairs Team was responsible for maintenance of the council’s combined housing stock. The service had faced many challenges over recent years including historic underinvestment in social housing stock, the variety of stock in the district, providing a service during Covid 19 and managing new regulatory directives.
· Internal and structural work was being prioritised, including combatting damp and mould. Other areas such as fencing, gates, sheds and garages, would be kept in safe condition. The system of prioritisation had been communicated to tenants on the Council’s website and at the beginning of the answer-phone system.
· Savings and efficiencies in service delivery were needed while ensuring that residents of the district continued to receive a fair and proportional service.
· A report to Government in July 2024 setting out the solutions for stability and investment for HRA’s received the support of Leaders from Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough Councils who also wrote to the relevant Minister supporting the initial report and calling for the safeguarding of council housing.
· In terms of combined revenue and capital expenditure, The Council was working to a budget of approximately £16million in the current financial year.
· Expenditure against budgets was in line with budget-setting as a result of systems put in place that included new controls on spending for high value repairs and weekly monitoring meetings with the Council’s Finance team.
· An independent review of the structure and functions of the service was carried out, resulting in restructure proposals which would take effect in October 2024. The proposals brought together all property-led functions across the organisation including each Surveyor covering a range of programme types within a dedicated geographical area. The new structure centralised administration functions into a single place, benefiting customers.
· Regulatory Compliance would continue to be the key priority in all areas with a health and safety management focused team for homes a paramount factor
· in the Service Improvement Plan. The Customer Experience and Homes First teams were working hard to reduce complaints and improve the level of service.
· Achieving zero-carbon in the Service was an ongoing process and £2 million was secured earlier in 2024 to decarbonise 267 council homes in Lewes town. after successfully bidding for the SHDF Wave 2.2 government funding, as part of a consortium bid with Eastbourne Borough Council. There would be further opportunities to apply for grant funding.
· The current Repairs & Maintenance Contract would end in March 2026 and the contract size necessitated an immediate start to the re-procurement process. A series of workshops would be held with all stakeholders involved including Members of the Committee. Value for money was an important consideration and all opportunities to provide this would be explored as the procurement process progressed.
During discussion, the following points were highlighted:
· The Housing Repairs Service received a high level of complaints and was working towards addressing the levels. The service had performance indicators for areas of its work and again, it was working on improving these levels. Reducing the number of complaints and improving performance levels would need to be considered as part of any future contract, including possible penalties for suppliers who were unable to meet targets. Workshops were being held to get tenant input and help shape elements of the service such as prioritising repairs. Essential repairs would be still be maintained.
· Surveyors would be appointed to geographic areas in order to provide continuity for tenants and a recognisable point of contact. The change would also be beneficial on the contract side of the work. It was expected that a future contract would place tenants and their needs as a core priority.
· It was expected that Member representation would be included in the workshops and further discussion was being held to determine what form the representation would take.
· The aim of any grant funding would be to bring properties to the Energy Performance Certificate C rating and the work required to achieve this varied across the Council’s housing stock. Under certain criteria, elements of a grant funding bid could be used specifically for air-source heat pumps and solar voltaic panels.
Resolved to note the presentation.