Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence was received from Cllr Michaela Wicks.

The Chairman advised that Cllr Simon Dear had resigned from the Board and officers were seeking a nomination for a replacement.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting.

The notes of the meeting held on 24 February 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

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

There were no declarations of interest submitted for this meeting.

Presentation by Chris Elliott, Client Manager, TLF, to introduce themselves and the project.

The Chairman welcomed Chris Elliott, Client Manager, TLF (The Leadership Foundation).  The Board were advised that TLF were managing a project for Waverley to track tenant satisfaction on repairs to their homes.

They were advised that pilot would be launched in April with a view to implement the full project in May 2022.

The Board received a short presentation introducing the Company and outlining the approach that would be taken to obtain data and present it.  Data would be collected via telephone interviews and the results would be presented in a format that could be filtered.   Chris Elloitt advised that there would be a trigger element to the reporting process to allow housing officers to highlight and act on dissatisfaction.

Cllr Keen felt this was an exciting project but raised concern about residents who may be unable or reluctant to carry out telephone interviews. Chris Elliott advised that alternative options could be considered e.g face-to-face with housing officers or a postal version.

Cllr Rivers asked how many of the calls would be monitored for quality and was advised that all calls are monitored and the team are specialist interviewers. Chris Elliott was happy to share ISO quality standards with the Board if requested.

The Chairman asked why a numerical scale (0-10) was used rather than the very satisfied to very unsatisfied scale?  Chris Elliott explained that it was found the numerical scale was found to give a better indicator.  He also advised that the team measured importance against satisfaction also. E.g How important did the resident feel a polite operative was, How important did the resident feel leaving the area clean after the repair was etc.

Hugh Wagstaff highlighted that this was an action tool and not just to gather information. Improvements will be implemented from the information received.

Purpose and Summary

To share the final draft version of the Housing Asset Management Strategy (HAMS) document with the Board for comment and any recommendations they wish to make to the Strategic Asset Manager and Portfolio Holder for Housing.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Board:

i         review and make any comments on the draft Housing Asset Management Strategy

ii        request an Executive Summary of the Strategy be developed for publication

iii       recommend that the Executive approves the Housing Asset Management Strategy for adoption by the Council

iv       undertake to monitor the implementation and performance of the strategy

Reason for the recommendation

To provide Board members the opportunity to comment on the strategy, support the adoption of the strategy and to monitor the implementation and outcomes of the strategy.

Hugh Wagstaff to present

Hugh Wagstaff, Head of Housing Operations, gave a short presentation on the Housing Asset Management Strategy. He advised it was a challenging time for asset management and highlighted areas to note in the document.

·      Electric checks would move to being carried out every 5years instead of 10 years.

·      Records illustrate that all properties are fitted with hard wired smoke alarms.

·      Seven properties will be retrofitted with energy efficient and decarbonising technology.

·      Condition Surveys to be carried out on all our homes.

·      Transparency - The ability to understand our homes accurately and in detail

·      Transparency - To be able to share that data in real time

·      Deliverability – Government funding is crucial to being able to deliver.

Going Forward:

·           Servicing, retrofitting, improving and maintaining homes – difficult, risky and requires expertise

·           Housing Asset Management Strategy meets challenges head on through the four key themes:

o    Understanding our service, homes, tenants and stakeholder requirements

o    Providing modern homes across the borough

o    Proactively decarbonising our homes

o    Ensuring our homes are safe and secure

The Board were advised that a shorter executive summary would be drafted and Annalisa Howson would be working on this with Peter David.

Officers were asked if Asbestos Safety Reports were available to tenants and they advised these were supplied to new tenants in their new homes pack. Should existing tenants want a copy this can be supplied. The Board were also advised officers were currently tendering for a new asbestos contract.

Danielle Sleightholme, Waverley Tenants Panel, asked if, in addition to hard wired smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms would be fitted and what about sprinkler systems.  Officers advised that carbon monoxide alarms were a possibility but it was unlikely sprinklers would be fitted in 2 storey homes.

The Board discussed whether the supply of more senior living accommodation was preferable to adaptions to existing homes. Officers advised that the vision was to provide ‘homes for life’ but at the same time there was an emphasis to encourage tenants to ‘downsize’ when their family homes were no longer being fully utilised.  The Board felt the current Senior Living homes could be modernised and expanded and pressure should be put on Surrey CC to action this.

It was noted that within the document there were a number of commitments outlined and these were welcomed.

Recommendation

The Board recommends that:

i         the Board’s comments on the draft Housing Asset Management Strategy be considered

ii        an Executive Summary of the Strategy be developed for publication

iii       the Executive approves the Housing Asset Management Strategy for adoption by the Council

iv       the Board monitor the implementation and performance of the strategy

Purpose and summary

The Corporate Performance Report, set out in Annexe 1, provides an analysis of the Council’s performance for the third quarter of 2021-22.

The Housing Service performance information has been extracted for the Landlord Services Advisory Board.  The full performance report can be found on the council website.

The organisation conducts an annual review of the corporate performance indicators to evaluate their continued appropriateness in the light of any new legislation or changes to organisational needs and priorities.  The proposed Landlord Services Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are set out at Annexe Two.

The report is being presented to each of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees and the Landlord Services Advisory Board for comment and any recommendations they may wish to make to senior management or the Executive.

Recommendation

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

i identifies any areas for comment or further exploration,

ii makes any recommendations to senior management or the Portfolio Holders for Housing as appropriate

iii advises the Portfolio Holders for Housing to request HRA capital budgets are routinely reported in the Quarterly Corporate Performance Report, and

iv advises the Portfolio Holders for Housing to approve the 2022/23 KPIs

Reason for the recommendation

The quarterly review of the Council’s performance and annual review of KPIs, is subject to internal as well as external scrutiny.  This approach allows for a transparent assessment on how each service performs against its set goals and targets.  It also allows Board members to raise any areas of concern to senior management and the Executive, which in turn drives service improvement.

Annalisa Howson to present

The Performance Report for Q3 with relation to Housing was outlined with the following areas of note:

Operations

·         Development of an Orchard at Eashing Cemetery

·         Enforcement notice at one of our Senior Living homes had been removed.

·         First family from Afghanistan was settled.

·         Performance levels were not where we want to be due to Covid but it is improving and are confident  Q4 will be improved.

Delivery & Communities

·         Laurel Close, Ockford Ridge – due to be handed over soon.

·         Thakeham have contract to develop site C of Ockford Ridge and are looking to deliver carbon efficient homes.

·         Tendering for contractor for the five sites in Chiddingfold has commenced.

·         Footpath issues at Aarons Hill have been resolved and tender document for build contractor drafted.

The Board congratulated the teams on all their hard work.

The Board noted the proposed Landlord Services Key Performance Indicators set out in annexe 2.

Recommendation:

The Landlord Services Advisory Board:

·         asks that their comments, on the performance of the housing service areas, are taken into consideration by the Senior Management and/or the Portfolio Holders for Housing as appropriate

·         advises the Portfolio Holders for Housing to request HRA capital budgets are routinely reported in the Quarterly Corporate Performance Report, and

·         advises the Portfolio Holders for Housing to approve the 2022/23 KPIs

Annalisa Howson to present a PowerPoint presentation.

Annalisa Howson, Housing Service Improvement Manager, gave a brief presentation on the tenancy review.  The project objectives were set out as:

·      stop using flexible tenancies

·      update conditions of tenancy

·      review tenancy policy

·      review tenancy strategy

·      grant secure tenancies to current flexible tenants

The Board were advised that consultation starts on the 4 April for a period of eight weeks. Project updates would be presented to the Board each month. The Consultation methodology, information that would go out and the feedback methods were outlined.

A summary of the proposed amendments of the Conditions of Tenancy were set out for the Board.

An issue that was highlighted was the use of doorbells with CCTV capability and the need for tenants to obtain permission before installation.

David Brown / Hugh Wagstaff to give a verbal update.

The Board received a verbal update on the Senior Living Consultation.  A copy of the updated action plan was circulated for information.  Hugh Wagstaff, Head of Housing Operations, advised that the debate at the last meeting had provided some excellent suggestions.  Sessions would be held to refocus the service and officers would come back with the outcomes.

An update will be brought back to the next meeting.

The Boards forward work programme was circulated with the agenda pack.  The items for the April meeting were highlighted.

The Board noted the work programme.

The date of the next meeting was agreed as 28 April 2022 at 10am.