Agenda item

Councillor Andrew Smith (Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his Portfolio.

Report to follow.

5.1       Councillor Andrew Smith (Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services) presented the report and began by stating that it was proposed to bring the housing management function back under the City Council from CityWest Homes (CWH). He advised that the performance for CWH’s Contact Centre had improved overall, despite a slight decline in August. Tenant satisfaction for repairs had plateaued at around 82% and a review of tenant feedback and the current repairs process was underway. A detailed review of repairs using data going back 5 years had been completed to enable performance to be improved and a more proactive approach would be taken.

 5.2      Councillor Smith advised that the Council was in the process of drawing up Traffic Management Orders (TMOs) to provide parking restrictions on Housing Revenue Account (HRA) land. The evaluation of tenders for estate services contracts had been completed by City Council and CWH staff and residents and these were due to be moderated and finalised by the end of September. Councillor Smith advised that a Prevention Team had been set up to bring homelessness and prevention of homelessness services under one team. The aim of the team was to improve and expand the focus on early intervention and to increase links with the community to reduce the number of people who find themselves homeless. The Committee was informed that a decision had also been made to install a fire curtain at Ingestre Court, following a residents’ consultation. Councillor Smith added that a review of the ‘Report It’ and ‘My Account’ digital services was being undertaken and the web was also being reviewed which was due to undergo re-platforming.

5.3       During Members’ discussions, the Chairman, in noting the number of estates involved, asked to what extend the implementation of the TMOs would be staggered and when would information on the timetable be provided. He sought further details on progress with regards to CWH’s work on leak prevention which was a particular problem in tower blocks.

5.4       Members enquired how the TMO would be enforced and would this be carried out by the City Council’s own Enforcement Team since CWH was to be brought back in-house. In noting that implementation of the TMOs would take place during October and November, Members asked if undertaking enforcement would be possible at the same time. Clarification was sought as to the reasons why it was proposed to bring the housing management function back under the City Council and would there be costs involved. A Member, in welcoming the move to in-house, stated that there had been concerns about residents’ representation under CWH and how would this representation be enhanced under the City Council. In respect of TMOs, he commented that all estates were different and so there should be no one size fits all solution.

5.5       In reply to Members’ questions, Councillor Smith advised that implementation of TMOs would be staggered and balanced by the need to provide adequate consultation to residents and timely implementation. He agreed to provide further details in respect of the schedule for the roll out of TMOs. Councillor Smith concurred that it would make sense for the enforcement of the TMOs to be undertaken by the City Council’s own enforcement team as housing management functions were due to become in-house. Councillor Smith advised that he was working with Councillor Tim Mitchell, Cabinet Member for Environment and City Management on the mechanisms to enforce the TMOs.

5.6       Councillor Smith stated that addressing leaks was a key priority and a task force had been created that was tracking why so many leaks were occurring. Pro-active maintenance would also be undertaken, however sometimes access to property was as issue, including where properties were vacant. Councillor Smith stated that the option of bringing the housing management function back under the City Council was proposed as it was felt that this option would enable more pro-active engagement with residents through a number of means, including through both digital and face to face contact. Councillor Smith stated that whilst there would be costs in returning the function under the City Council, the move would bring savings in the longer term. He emphasised that resident engagement was key to improving services and a separate structure needed to be created to engage with residents.

5.7       ACTION:

            Schedule of TMO rollout on HRA properties to be circulated to Members. (Action for: Councillor Andrew Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services and Barbara Brownlee, Executive Director, Growth, Planning and Housing.)