Agenda item

(Committee to consider the Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning which is due to be presented at Cabinet on the  10^th October 2024)

The Chair welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning and the Assistant Director. Neighbourhood for the report to:

1.    provide an update on the latest position regarding compliance with the Regulator Social Housing (RSH) Consumer Standards, published with effect from 2nd April 2024

2.    support any emerging and/or additional recommendations arising from Corporate Scrutiny meeting on 09th October 2024; further informed by discussions at the Homelessness & Housing Advisory Board meeting on 1st October 2024

The Portfolio Holder introduced the report and thanked the Assistant Director for their hard work, acknowledging that whilst the Council are not where they want to be they are well on the way. It was highlighted that the report updated the Committee on the self-referral made in relation to the regulatory social housing consumer standards.

The Assistant Director highlighted that there was a copy of the self-referral letter sent in the pack before going through the recommendations that were being presented to Cabinet. It was highlighted that the referral was made in the interests of transparency not as a result of any incident or complaint.

The Chair thanked Officers for the report and acknowledged that making a self-referral was brave move by the Council.

The Committee made the following comments/observations and asked the following questions:

1.    Clarification as to how the number or breaches around electrical inspections arose?

The Officer highlighted that the inspections are not a requirement of the regulator but are seen as good practice and the report shows that there are other organisations in similar positions. Immediate action to address the situation has been taken, an external contractor has been appointed and they are due to start work on a project plan to bring the inspections up to date by March 2025 aiming for 320 inspections per month, with some mop up expected to be required around properties where there are issues with access. There will then be an opportunity to take a review to see how the Council came to be in this position.

2.    Why are the Council not where they want to be and whether the repairs services commissioned by the Council had impacted on this?

Officers confirmed that as a result of the Social Housing Regulatory Programme a self-assessment was undertaken which enabled to Council to identify gaps which they can now focus on rectifying and then complete a review to inform a decision around how we structure moving forward.

The Assistant Director acknowledged that tenant satisfaction had fallen from 78 – 58% and that repairs contributed to that however there were a number of different factors, and it would be wrong to lay the blame on the contractors, but that shortfalls have been revealed. It was highlighted that were some planned roadshows to involve tenants in driving improvement and satisfaction.

It was suggested by Members that it may be beneficial to complete more regular inspections of repairs in the future.

3.    What impact this would have on the HRA account?

Officers confirmed that a report went to Cabinet in February which pointed to challenges around the budget and that a viability project was being carried out with reports planned to go to Cabinet after Christmas.

4.    What the relationship with the regulator was like?

Officers confirmed that they had welcomed the transparency of the Council, that they had been supportive and there lots of discussions taking place and that the Council welcomed their expertise.

5.    More information about how the ‘continuous learning’ referred on page five would be delivered/measured.

It was explained that a deadline to submit a self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Code had been missed and subsequently rectified (Confirmed in a report to Cabinet in August) which led to a positive response from the regulator and whilst there are detailed actions within the improvement plan around what could be learnt, if the Committee wanted more information they could request that the Officers involved in this attend Committee.

6.    More information about the Tenant Advocate Positions and finding the right person?

It was confirmed that this came about as a result of discussions with the tenant consultative group and the Tenant participatory Advisory Service (TPAS) to strengthen their position to hold Councillors and Officers to account for performance, a similar position to that held by non-executive directors on registered providers boards. The job profile would be developed and worked on with tenants and leaseholders, it would not be politically affiliated, and they would be looking for experience/expertise in working with boards and housing service.