Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllr Janet Crowe.

To agree the notes of the previous meeting held on 19^th October 2023 and published on the Council’s website.

The Chair noted a few amendments had been made to the minutes upon his request.

The Board agreed that the notes of the meeting held on 19th October 2023 and published to the Council’s website were an accurate and complete record.

To receive any declarations of interests under the Waverley Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no Declarations received.

To receive questions from members of the public.

There were none received.

To receive questions from Members of the Council.

There were no questions received.

The Q2 Corporate Performance Report, Annexe 1, provides an analysis of the Council’s performance for the second quarter of 2023/24.

The Housing Service performance information has been extracted for the LSAB. The full performance report can be found on the Council website.

Recommendation to Landlord Services Advisory Board:

It is recommended that the Board considers the performance of the housing service areas, and

1) identifies any areas for comment or further exploration, and

2) makes any recommendations to senior management or the Portfolio Holders for Housing as appropriate.

The Executive Head of Housing (Operations & Services), Andrew Smith, addressed the Board an introduced section 2.1.1 of the Q2 Corporate Performance Report 2023-24, noting that partnership working has been the focus for the management team and that the team is seeing increasing vulnerability in tenants and the number of tenants who require support.

The Executive Head of Housing (Operations & Services) acknowledge that there were a large number of red KPIs on Page 4 of Annex 1, however, he noted that these were generally moving in the right direction. He informed the Board that the Housing team are working on improving voids turnaround times and noted the improvement in responsive repairs and reassured Members that work with Ian Williams to improve the service is continuing.

Members referenced the Responsive repairs figures (H5a-H6b) on Page 4 of Annex 1 and expressed their disappoint with the figures. Cllr Keen questioned whether these responsive repairs were particularly difficult repairs, hence the increased repair times. The Chair further queried whether the Stock Condition Surveys were giving officers a lead in terms of future works that need to be planned and whether they are bringing up more repairs. Cllr Robini referenced part 2.5.3 of Annex 1 asked for clarity on the increase in complexity of complaints.

The Compliance Manager, Matt Alexander, responded to some of these queries. He explained that he could not provide a full breakdown at this point but noted that there had been an increase in minor works i.e. works with more than one component or operative required. These would take more time, resources and organisation. He noted that another Repairs Inspector and a Damp and Mould Officer had been recruited and will be in post from January 2024 which will drive improvements in repairs. He agreed that the Stock Condition Surveys were producing a lot more repair works which had not formally been reported the Council and this could be contributing to the figures. In terms of the increase in complexity of complaints in part 2.5.3, Annalisa Howson explained that complexity of investigations such as reviewing the structure of the building in cases of damp and mould are a substantial reason for the increase in response time.

The Board made reference to H6a in Annex 1 and queried whether these figures are such because they were not completed right the first time or whether these are cases that cannot be fixed the first time, so a return visit is needed. The Services Improvements Manager explained that the figures in H6a are based on a tenants survey to give a view on how tenants are experiencing the service, rather than the Contactor’s view.

Cllr Robini raised concerns about the lack of affording housing and housing delivery in the Borough shown in the KPIs, specifically in Town Centres/high street areas and whether this had anything to do with Planning Policies or technicalities.

The Executive Head of Housing (Operations & Services) responded and explained that Housing Delivery and Function is certainly a valid issue, however the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Board to review the Customer Experience Group’s findings and recommendations following the Aids and Adaptations Survey - October 2023.

Rod Blackmore, on behalf of the Customer Experience Group (CEG) presented the CEG Recommendations to the Board, following the Aids & Adaptations Survey (October 2023). The Recommendations are set out in the document attached.

As the response rate the Aids & Adaptations Survey was only 12%, the CEG urged that officers consider ways to increase the response rate in future surveys i.e. to offer an opportunity to complete the survey via phone, email or in person. It was noted that the survey found that tenants were generally satisfied with the Aids and Adaptations once complete but raised issues with communications and length of time to complete works.

The Board queried whether the Council was statutorily required to carry out an adaptation that was too expensive or whether the tenant would be required to relocate. Matt Alexander confirmed that within the Policy there is a value/threshold and if the Aids and Adaptations would exceed the value it will be reviewed by a Committee within the WBC realm. The works will be reviewed and other options will be considered before coming to a decision. He also noted that there are other funding streams available such as Surrey County Council which could be available or utilised if the works would exceed the threshold.

The Board recognised the discrepancies in communication found in the survey and queried how the team would deal with this. Annalisa Howson advised that officers would need to look at agreeing an appropriate level of communication through a mutual agreement, i.e. weekly updates or updates only when there is a change to notify the tenant about. Annalisa explained that the core principle is to ensure that tenants remain well informed and are not left in the dark during this process, however the right balance is needed.

The Board noted the recommendations of the Customer Experience Group.

The report aims to introduce the purpose for a decant policy and review the draft updated version following lessons learnt from experience and a complaint and new financial thresholds.  

Recommendation to the Landlord Services Advisory Board

It is recommended that the Board:

·        review the decant policy and make any comments to Joint Executive Head of Housing Services and Co-Portfolio Holder for Housing (Operations and Services),

·        supports the adoption and implementation of the policy, and

·        to consider and advise, the Service Improvement Manager, on the procedural queries raised.

The Services Improvement Manager, Annalisa Howson, addressed the Board and presented the draft updated Decant Policy as set out in Annex 1. The Board has been asked to review and support the adoption and the implementation of the Policy and to consider and advise the Service Improvement Manager on the procedural queries raised in part 6.9 of the report. These include;

1. A goodwill gesture one-off payment to anyone who has had to move homes, on top of the compensation due to the inconvenience.

2. Within hotel accommodation WBC covers reasonable costs for food – the proposal was to set a limit/set amount of money per person per day and pay upfront rather than waiting for receipts.

Rob Stratford, Tenants Panel Member, relayed his experience with the decant process during the initiation of the Ockford Ridge retrofit redevelopment scheme. He noted that an older house was offered first, which was turned down and then he was moved to a show home. He endorsed the decant process including the disturbance payments administered by WBC and noted that the current payment system in place worked well.

Members raised concern about the name ‘Decant’ when referring to tenants and homes. Terry Daubney, Leader of the Tenant’s Panel, recommended that the Policy be renamed to ‘Home-relocation Policy’, which was endorsed by Members of the Board and the Executive Head of Housing (Operations & Services).

The Leader informed the Board that the Executive had similar discussions around the use of the word ‘decant’. He advised that ‘Decant’ is a political term that is jargon and used across the sector and would need to be included, however, it would be possible to change the name of the Policy and keep ‘decant’ in brackets. The Chair agreed with the advice given and advised that the Housing Team takes on the Board’s suggestion for re-naming the Policy.

Members queried how WBC deals with cases where tenants are re-located to a property that they feel is unsuitable. Annalisa Howson confirmed that this would be dealt with sensitively and Officers would build a relationship with the tenant and talk through the home options and payment arrangements as well as conducting a needs assessments.

Following discussions around the procedural queries raised in paragraph 6.9 of the report, Members of the Board were in favour of the proposal mentioned in 6.9.1, ‘Payments in advance for subsistence’. The Board agreed that payments in advance as a set amount would help tenants who may be financially unable to fork money out for food and rely on re-imbursements in the future and emphasised that no one should be out of pocket. It was noted that this would also mitigate the impracticalities of saving receipts for every meal and submitting them. The Board also acknowledged that a payment in advance would allow tenants to allocate the funds more effectively. 

Danielle Sleightholme, Tenants Panel Co-Optee, queried the experiences of the Tenants who influenced the development of the Policy in Annex 1. She further questioned whether the Board could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

The Board to receive an update on the progress of the Re-let Review from Annalisa Howson, Housing Service Improvements Manager

The Services Improvement Manager, Annalisa Howson addressed the Board and presented the progress of the Re-let Review since December 2022. Annalisa noted that progress has been made, however issues and conflicting priorities have caused the delay in the Review.

-        Annalisa reminded the Board that re-lets are a comprehensive and complex process which involve different processes such as Health and safety checks and allocation processes. It was noted that there had been many changes since the Project 20 process in 2014 and officers are aware that the 20 day target has not been met since 2019. Annalisa explained that changes to customers’ needs and expectations have been reviewed in light of this, such as standard of decorations, carpeting, health and safety issues, energy efficiency, heating and the void standards. She further noted that the relet process involves multiple elements and teams such as the Housing engagement Team, the voids Team, Contractors, the Rents Team, etc. Adequate resources are therefore essential to improve the length of re-let periods.

-        Annalisa noted that there is a strong focus on prioritising the landlord-tenant relationship as the beginning of the tenancy is the first interaction with a new tenant and it is essential to ensure a positive start to the relationship.

-        Annalisa noted that the proposal was to run the project in 3 phases; the first phase is complete and it identified the blockages to an efficient relet, the second phase (consultation) is part complete and the third stage to brainstorm improvements has been completed alongside phase 1.

-        Annalisa presented a graph which demonstrated that, as of October 2023, the average was 44 days to turn around a home for re-let and there was a cumulative average of 30 days over the whole year. However, it was noted that 5 properties have been turned around in 25 days this year, which is a step in the right direction.

-        The presentation discussed the cost of voids data analysis and showed an average cost of around £4,000 per property. Annlisa noted that increased funds were spent on new kitchens and bathrooms and a comparative cost analysis was completed. The analysis found that a lot of the costs were spent on removing previous tenants rubbish and gardening. In response, the Team have started providing a skip for tenants to remove their own waste if a tenant has given notice, quality of workmanship has been raised and there is now a dedicated tenant officer who can support them through that process. Officers noted that they would like to do more cost analysis to determine where savings can be made reasonably.

Annalisa noted that the next steps would be to look at cost analyses and more stringent budgets; to ensure economically viable options are in place especially with new kitchens and bathrooms. Officers will also review use of decoration vouchers and re-carpeting. Annalisa reiterated that Tenant Surveys and dialogue with contractors will continue to improve the service.

Cllr Keen expressed the importance of Tenant responsibility for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

The Board to receive an update from Andrew Smith, Executive Head of Housing.

Executive Head of Housing, Andrew Smith, announced that he is leaving the Council in the new year.

The Board thanked Andrew for his efforts put into tenant relations and his hard work on projects such as Ockford Ridge.

Work programme to follow.

Annalisa Howson reminded the Board that the HRA mid-year review will discussed at the HRA Finance session on 15 December 2023 and where we have been spending HRA funds. This will also prepare the Board Members for the budget setting meeting in January, including the projected rent increase and HRA planned works.

HRA Finance Session – 13^th December 2023 at 10am.

Next meeting – 25^th January 2023 at 10am.

It was cofirmed that the date of the next meeting will be Thursday 25 January 2024.