Decision details

Date of Decision:

7^th December 2023

Title:

Housing Property Services Compliance Resources

Decision Maker:

(Including Job Title)

James Clark, Assistant Director of Housing.

Details of Specific Cabinet Delegation

or Delegation contained in the relevant Sub-Scheme of Delegation.

SECTION 4C: OFFICER DELEGATION SCHEME (EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS)

Strategic Directors will be required to maintain a sub-scheme of delegation for their directorate and publish such sub-schemes following the Annual Meeting of the Council.

Sub-scheme of delegation. Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

The Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health is authorised1 to discharge executive functions2 through the commissioning and provision of social services for adults and public health services for the whole population and delivery of housing for the Borough, including:-

Housing

(a) Business and Commercial Development

(b) Contract and Service Development

(c) Housing and Estates

(d) Housing Options

(e) Housing Strategy and Investment

The Strategic Director has chosen to delegate a number of functions to groups of officers. Where the same group of officers receive a number of separate delegations, in order to save space within the sub-delegation scheme, those groups of officers have been given a title. The following table sets out the title of each group of officers and lists the officers within each group.

Human Resources functions delegated:

Subject to the next following bullet points, the following HR functions are delegated to Strategic and Assistant Directors:

· Establishment of posts

· Changes to establishment/restructuring

Decision:

The Assistant Director of Housing approves the establishment of a new housing compliance staffing structure and compliance management software.

Reasons for the Decision:

The Council has a duty to ensure residents can live safely in their homes. All landlords need to make sure they meet legal and regulatory requirements for property standards. The key areas of focus are fire, gas, electrical and water safety, lifts, asbestos, damp and mould hazards and carbon monoxide. Other areas of risk include radon gas, trees, play areas, repairs, structural (e.g. RAAC) and neighbourhood centres.

Non-compliance in any of these areas carries a significant potential risk to our tenants, residents, members and staff. It is therefore imperative that appropriate controls and measures are in place to provide assurance that the risks are managed appropriately.

A compliance staffing structure and software management system are required in order to provide assurance that we are meeting our statutory requirements.

Details of alternative options considered and rejected:

Option 1: Continue to manage with existing resource (not recommended). The Council could continue to manage the service with existing resource. This is not recommended because it does not provide sufficient assurance in relation to compliance as highlighted in section 2.1.

Option 2: This option would provide a dedicated compliance staffing team only to oversee property compliance (not recommended). This is not recommended as the compliance management software is required in addition to staffing as set out in 2.2.5. 

Option 3: This option would provide a compliance management software system only (not recommended). The dedicated staffing team is required to provide sufficient oversight and assurance in relation to compliance.

Option 4: This option would provide a dedicated compliance staffing team and compliance management software (recommended option) This is the preferred option to ensure there are robust systems, processes and oversight to provide assurance on housing property compliance.

Conflicts of interest declared by any Cabinet Member consulted by the decision maker which relates to the decision:

None known.

Dispensations Granted:

(If any)

N/A

Reports or parts of reports considered

N/A