Agenda item

To agree the notes of the previous meeting.

The minutes for the meeting of the 27 October 2022 were agreed by the Board.

Annalisa Howson Service Improvement Manager addressed the Board and provided a brief update on the follow up item from the last meeting.  She noted the following.

Housing Fraud - Waverly Council were members of the National Fraud Initiative.  The scheme matches electronic data within and between public and private sector bodies to help the council prevent and detect fraud.

Cycle spaces/shelters in Haselmere – There did not appear to be an impact on parking, the scheme was a long-term investment, the spaces are designed to keep cycles safe and dry.

No Mo May – The greenspaces within housing land curtilages will not be part of No Mow May.  Surrey County Council are taking back the agency function for highway verge maintenance as of 1 April 2023.   Therefore, Waverley will no longer be cutting the highway verges, spraying the weeds on highway areas and treating invasive weeds along the highway, this will all be done by Surrey County Council and their contractors.  They will be cutting the grass at four cuts per year on urban verges and two cuts on the rural verges.

Voids and Carpets - The Voids team confirmed that the general policy is for outgoing tenants to clear their home including floor coverings.  However, there is officer discretion to retain floor coverings, in exceptional cases, if they are in very good condition. Floor coverings will be included in the Relet review this winter/spring.

Responsive Repair - Kris Shipway and Annalisa Howson reviewed the case identified by Cllr Robini.  The roof leak was responded to according to process and within timescale.  Operatives made the home safe and sought to prevent further damage while repair completed.  The visits were made and permanent repair request before Cllr Robini’s enquiry.  Following the incident and recognising the challenge for 24-hour roof fixes, the team have invested in some new roof repair kits to manage any leak in the interim until a full fix can be arranged.

Senior Living Spyholes - The Compliance team confirmed that they would not retrofit spyholes to senior living individual flat doors.  As this would compromise the integrity of the door and breach the manufacturer guarantee.  Each scheme has a secure door entry system at the main door and all door replacement programmes include a specification for spy holes these include Rolston and Riverside (fitted), Faulkner (in progress) and Blunden (scheduled).

The Chair queried if the contractors had the correct equipment to pick up the grass and if that issue had been resolved.  Annalisa Howson advised the Board that intension is for the grass not to be picked up, instead it is absorbed into the soil.  Annie Righton confirmed that the contract stipulated that the grass is to be left but would look into the matter when the contract is reviewed.  The Chair felt that about void carpets the council should move away from exceptional cases.  Annalisa Howson noted that the council were committed to conducting a void review across the winter months and would consult good guidance on flooring/carpeted released from the Housing Ombudsman Service.