Decision details

Date of Decision:

25^th February 2025

Title:

Housing Estate Caretaking Service – Enhancements to Service Delivery.

Decision Maker:

(Including Job Title)

Ian Spicer, Strategic Director, Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

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 authorised to discharge executive functions 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

Decision:

The Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health approves the additional Housing Revenue Account budget investment required to deliver the proposed enhancements to the estate caretaker service.

Reasons for the Decision:

Recent customer feedback, from the 2024/25 Tenant Satisfaction Measures Survey and a separate sample survey of customers engaged in the Council’s ‘Tenant Connects Pool’, has indicated a decline in customer satisfaction with the quality of communal areas and the estate environment.

The Council’s Repairs and Maintenance contract partners, who deliver estate caretaking services, have indicated that service resources are under pressure to deliver to Council and customer expectations. This is due to new and significant work activity which has been introduced to the scope of work since the commencement of the service contract in 2020.

Reflective of service delivery pressures and the need to increase the quality of communal areas, the wider estate environment, and in turn customer satisfaction, proposals have been developed by the Council and contract partners to enhance the current service offer. 

The proposals will require additional financial investment from the Housing Revenue Account into the estate caretaking service. This investment will support the appointment of seven additional estate caretakers. This will enable contract partners to deliver a higher specification of cyclical programmed work and a separate dedicated team to respond to day to day estate issues which require immediate action, to maintain a safe estate environment.

Details of alternative options considered and rejected:

Maintaining the current level of service scope and delivery capacity will not generate the required enhancements to the overall quality of the estate environment, or in turn, improved customer satisfaction. 

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

None known.

Dispensations Granted:

(If any)

None.

Reports or parts of reports considered

Briefing - Housing Estate Caretaking Service – Enhancements to Service Delivery.