Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S Pritchard and A Cooper.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 24 August 2021 were approved as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor J Harper and seconded by Councillor S Goodall)

Councillor J Chesworth reported for transparency reasons that during previous discussions of the Cemeteries Regulations he had held the Portfolio for Environment and Culture however, he did not consider that this was an interest which would preclude him from participating in the agenda item on the memorial / reflection area.

The Chair reported that the Executive Director, Finance had provided a detailed update to Councillor S Pritchard on the treasury / investment policy item raised at the 24^th August meeting. The Chair summarised the response received where the Executive Director, Finance agreed that the investment return was low but that you could not compare general investment returns with treasury management and that the strategy by the Council was a reflection of the Council’s low risk appetite, aiming to keep treasury investments short to meet the Council’s cashflow needs with two key objectives around security and liquidity.

The Chair reported that following this Committee’s consideration of the Disabled Facilities Grant Funding report at its meeting on 24 August 2021, the Chair attended Cabinet at its meeting on 30 September 2021 to report this Committee’s recommendation to raise the issue regarding Disabled Facilities Grant funding with Staffordshire County Council through County Councillors.  The Chair reported that Cabinet approved the recommendation.

The Chair confirmed that the County Councillors had been updated on this recommendation.

The Chair reported that the work plan had been updated to reflect Reset & Recovery workstreams.

Please see the link to the Forward Plan:

http://democracy.tamworth.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=120&RD=0&bcr=1

The Committee considered the Forward Plan and did not raise any further items for this Committee’s consideration at this time.

(Report of the Assistant Director, Assets)

The Chair introduced the Assistant Director, Assets to the meeting to update the Committee on the implementation process for the new housing repairs contracts and to provide some performance statistics for the first year of the contract.

The Assistant Director reported that prior to March 2020, following a full formal tender process it was agreed by Cabinet that a new ten year contract for the delivery of repairs would be let for housing and non-housing stock and it was further agreed that we would bring in house the call centre through Customer Services.  The contract was awarded to Engie, with a commencement date of 1 April 2020, against the backdrop of full COVID lockdown.

The Assistant Director reported that initially due to the lockdown activities were limited to emergency repairs although by June 2020 urgent repairs were being undertaken and by August 2020 a full repairs service with appropriate safety measures was in place.  The call centre team coordinated with tenants regarding pre-COVID checks which supported good access rates for the repairs team. 

The Assistant Director reported that Engie had attended just under 14,000 repairs calls in the first 12 months of operation which was broadly similar to previous years, which had meant that no repairs backlog had built up even given the periods of lockdown experienced in the first 12 months of operation.

It was further reported that the Right First Time rates had been recorded at 94% with monthly satisfaction levels at between 90-97% which met and exceeded the performance targets for the first year in the contract.  In terms of complaints there average around 8 complaints per month. 

The Assistant Director reported that there were issues across the industry in terms of the supply of materials and labour, which would remain closely monitored.

In terms of gas servicing these rates remained high throughout the period. In addition Engie picked up some additional work to support health & safety checks in sheltered housing.  In terms of social value activity, despite COVID there had been some activities undertaken which supported social value, including the creation of apprenticeship roles, and undertaking some employability activities and further work continued to create How To videos for simply DIY activities.

The decision to bring the call centre activities back in house had supported the ability to seek qualitative feedback from tenants on the performance of the repairs activity, and generally the reported qualitative data showed a high level of satisfaction from tenants in respect of repairs completed.

The Committee sought clarification in the following areas:

·       In terms of satisfaction levels and complaints, whether the types of complaints received and their causes were categorised.  The Assistant Director reported that the Call Centre sought detailed qualitative feedback from a sample of repairs undertaken and issues were feedback to the contractor, however, these qualitative responses were not part of the performance statistics.  In terms of the types of complaints received, one of the more common areas was in respect of communication issues, as opposed to complaints  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

(Report of the Assistant Director, Operations and Leisure)

The Chair introduced the Assistant Director, Operations and Leisure and the Operations Manager who were in attendance to present a report which followed a review of parts of the Cemetery Regulations by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee in 2020/21, following which officers were requested to explore the potential of a new memorial area for Tamworth residents to pay their respects to their departed loved ones.

The Assistant Director reported that three potential sites within Borough were identified, together with a fourth option, outside the Borough. The Assistant Director provided an overview of the four potential sites:

1.     Jubilee Gardens, in the Castle Grounds

2.     Area at Corporation Street, in the town centre

3.     Garden area within Wigginton Cemetery

4.     National Memorial Arboretum

It was reported that since the Committee had previously considered this item, there had been two requests from members of the public for a commemorative bench with a plaque and both families had requested a very specific location and there had been no requests for any plaques on our existing benches.

The Committee sought clarifications and commented on:

·       The estimated costs of any consultation exercise with the public, where the Assistant Director responded that the costs would depend upon the extent of the consultation.

·       The limited space in cemeteries for additional memorials, and the fact that requests were very personal and location specific.

·       The possibility for a memorial wall of plaques within a cemetery to be considered.

·       The costs associated within any additional scheme.

Following consideration and debate, the Committee:

RESOLVED:

1.     To note the report

(Moved by Councillor T Jay and seconded by Councillor J Chesworth)

2.     To propose no further action at this time

(Moved by Councillor T Jay and seconded by Councillor J Chesworth)

3.     To add this item to the Committee’s work plan in 2023

(Moved by Councillor R Ford and seconded by Councillor Dr S Peaple)

Following which, Councillors J Chesworth and R Rogers left the meeting

To review the Committee’s work plan.

The Committee considered its work plan and agreed to update it as follows:

Corporate Scrutiny Work Plan