The Director of Housing presented the report which provided the committee a good overview of the repair policy which contained updates on how the principles were set out and how these were being achieved within the first six months since both the new policy and the contract were implemented in December 2014.

The key highlights the Officer referred to were:

·         Repair satisfaction

·         Reduction in repairs expenditure

·         Increased social value outcomes

The Officer referred and explained to members the Ward Satisfaction Financial Year Comparison diagram.

The Officer explained the geographical spread of damp and mould works across the borough and explained the difference between the requests received and the remedial work identified.

Councillor Hamilton asked the Officer what the trade operative qualifications that were on offer. The Officer explained that there were over 50 different operatives and would report back to the Chair with the information.

Councillor MacPherson asked the Officers if the number of member enquiries had gone down in relation to the work currently being undertaken by the Transforming Homes Programme. The Officer confirmed that a significant number of enquiries were still being received; an approximate figure was down by 50 calls.

The Officer stated that support was available to residents on the cleaning up and how best to deal with damp, mould and condensation.

The Officer also confirmed that the age of apprenticeships currently being offered were for 16-19 year olds and provided pathways into employment but not specific jobs in the council.

Councillor Ojetola asked the Officer how feedback was undertaken from resident satisfaction surveys. The Officer confirmed that the same methodology was used for every survey using a 5 point response from Excellent to Terrible. The repairs service survey contains 20 questions with a 10% sample being analysed.

The Chair asked the co-optee member for their opinion on the Transformation Homes Programme. Lynn Mansfield agreed that the repair times and operatives had improved.

Although Lynn Mansfield disagreed that help was available for the cleaning up of damp, mould and condensation. Only those residents were being advised to open windows and use bleach to remove the mould.

Lynn Mansfield was concerned about the lack of help available for vulnerable people and how they were expected to do more for themselves, which in some cases was not feasible.

The Director of Housing confirmed that Housing will be renewing their IT systems to Northgate by the end of the year. Currently they were using Mears repairs system MCN and Saffron.

Councillor Ojetola asked Officers if asbestos was being covered in the Transformation Homes Programme. The Director of Housing confirmed that a very detailed procedure was followed to address asbestos to comply with all the correct procedures. The Officer will supply details on how many times testing for asbestos had been carried out and how many incidents that had to be dealt with.

The Chair stated that on the whole the repair service had started well and would like to congratulate staff on the progress made so far.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the continued progress was made in the delivery of responsive repairs to Council managed homes.

2.         That the ongoing work being done to address the incidence of Damp, Condensation and associated Mould.

3.         That the outline and understanding of statutory landlord’s requirements on how to deal with asbestos will be provided by the Director of Housing.