Issue - meetings

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendations

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the Housing Services Repairs and Maintenance Policy (Appendix 1).

2.    Approve the increase in decoration allowance from £25 to £50 per room, up to a maximum of £350 per property, as proposed in  ...  view the full agenda text for item 74

Consideration was given to the report which presented the Housing Repairs and Maintenance Policy, attached to the report at Appendix 1. The revised Housing Repairs and Maintenance Policy set out the Council’s approach to delivering a responsive repairs and maintenance service which met the needs of tenants and leaseholders, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendations

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the Housing Services Repairs and Maintenance Policy (Appendix 1).

2.    Approve the increase in decoration allowance from £25 to £50 per room, up to a maximum of £350 per property, as proposed in the Housing Services Repairs and Maintenance Policy (Appendix 1).

3.    Note the ongoing work to scope the future repairs and maintenance delivery model for Rotherham and agrees to receive a further update on this work in 2025.

4.    Approve the Housing Services Gas and Carbon Monoxide Safety Policy (Appendix 2).

5.    Approve the Housing Services Electrical Safety Policy (Appendix 3).

6.    Delegate authority to the Strategic Director for Adult Care, Housing and Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, to make amendments to the following housing policies in line with operational, regulatory and legislative demands:

·       Housing Services Repairs and Maintenance Policy

·       Housing Services Gas and Carbon Monoxide Safety Policy

·       Housing Services Electrical Safety Policy

·       Housing Services Fire Safety Policy

·       Damp, Mould and Condensation Policy as it relates to housing assets.

The Chair invited Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Housing and James Clarke, Assistant Director for Housing to introduce the report and noted that the report had also been considered by the members of the Improving Places Select Commission (IPSC). The Cabinet Member for Housing clarified it had been discussed at IPSC where they had set out their approach to delivering the repairs and maintenance service to make sure it met the needs of tenants and leaseholders, along with ensuring that the Council was able to meet it’s statutory, regulatory and contractual obligations.  The report also updated members on work being undertaken to consider the future of the repairs and maintenance service in light of consumer regulations.

Paragraph 2.18 of the report discussed the decorating allowance which was the subject of much discussion at IPSC. As a result of those discussions the Cabinet Member for Housing sought the Boards views on a proposed amendment to that section for Cabinet’s consideration at its meeting on 18 November 2024, which would propose that that the sums awarded for the decorating allowance be increased in line with the corporate Fees and Charges annually. 

The Chair welcomed the proposed amendment, which would be considered during the discussions.

Councillor A Carter noted the number of repairs carried out over the years but queried what key performance indicators (KPI’s) were being met withing the policy. The Assistant Director for Housing indicated the KPI’s could be shared outside of the meeting with members noting that many of them were corporate KPI’s as part of the Council Plan.  They were reported on quarterly and could be shared.  The service had also taken a decision recently to start sharing, on a quarterly basis, on the website, more detailed information about performance across the landlord services.  This information in the form of a link would be shared with the Governance Manager to be circulated to members of the Board and he was happy to respond to any additional questions outside of the meeting.

Councillor Yasseen queried if our current contracts supported the Council’s goals and was responsive to its needs.  It was clarified that this was being considered as part of the work to determine the future repairs and maintenance model.  The contacts were performing well on their own terms and assurance was provided that both contractors were performing well against their measures.  The questions were, were those the right measures.  More of an emphasis was being placed on triaging the repairs adequately in the first instance to ensure those were being prioritised in the right way. 

The authority was in a strong position on the responsive repair aspect.  When repairs were logged it was good at fixing them and fixing them properly, but the data needed to be considered because if the same things kept breaking again and again, it provided an indication of where investment could be made. The repairs and maintenance service needed to move from not just being good at responding to be more preventative and more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52