Agenda item

The Deputy Chief Executive presented the Housing / HRA Overview and Recovery Plan and in so doing circulated a presentation for Members’ consideration (Appendix 1).  During the delivery of the presentation the following matters were highlighted for Members’ consideration:

 

·         Audit reports in 2016/17 had highlighted areas of concern in relation to Housing, particularly Housing Capital.

·         A Senior Contracts Manager had been appointed who had identified issues in terms of compliance with contract management and procurement processes.

·         Eight members of staff had been suspended and had subsequently left the organisation.

·         No evidence had been found of criminality.

·         Since August 2017 there had been a wholesale review of Housing Services.

·         A number of actions had been taken to address the problems that had been identified but more action was needed, as detailed in the report.

·         Whilst the report focussed on Housing Services the findings had implications for the whole of the Council as well as elected Members.

·         All of the financial and contractual issues that had been identified would be detailed in a report that was due to be considered by the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee in October 2018.   The purpose of this report would be to provide Members with assurance.

·         Nationally there were challenges within the housing market, particularly in terms of the availability of social and affordable housing. 

·         Changes to the welfare system, including the introduction of Universal Credit, were impacting on the extent to which people could afford accommodation.

·         Redditch Borough Council managed its own housing stock, comprising 5,800 properties.

·         The Government had introduced a policy that required rents for Council properties to decrease by one per cent per annum.  This policy had been applied over a four-year period.

·         The reduction in rents had had a negative impact on the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA).

·         For the first time the Council had only been able to balance the budget for the HRA for one year rather than three consecutive years.

·         There had been a number of reasons that had meant that the Council could only balance the HRA budget for one year including the reduction and the costs of recruiting interim management during the course of the review.

·         The Council had agreed a business plan for Housing Services in 2012.  However, at the time the financial pressures facing the Council had not been appreciated.

·         Estimates had been provided regarding the financial position of the HRS moving forward depending on the rent position for both Council properties and garages.  These were only indicative models.

·         Culture issues within the workforce had been identified.  This had been one of the most contentious issues identified in the report but Members were advised that this had been highlighted to ensure that the report was open and honest.

·         The culture challenges involved complex issues, including patterns in behaviour.

·         There had been a number of findings in the report including:

-       Management weaknesses.

-       The need for greater performance management of staff.

-       The lack of a shared purpose for Housing Services.

-       A reluctance amongst staff to report issues of concern to senior managers.

-       Some staff blaming others for the problems and not regarding the need for change as a collective responsibility.

-       There was a need to bring the various parts of the department together so that they worked holistically in the interests of the tenants rather than as separate entities.

-       There was an issue with challenge and scrutiny of the service.

-       Health, safety and welfare issues needed to be prioritised and taken far more seriously than in the past.

·         The Executive Committee would be asked to consider proposed new management arrangements for Housing Services.  Officers were proposing that the Head of Community Services should manage the Tenancy, Locality and Community Services and the Head of Environmental Services should manage services involved in property and compliance.

·         Phased service reviews would then need to be undertaken, though the first priority would be to undertake a review of the management structure within the services.

·         A number of compliance areas had previously been reported to be compliant, including for gas safety, electrical maintenance and asbestos checks. Officers had subsequently found that this was not the case and a lot of work had had to be undertaken to ensure that the Council became compliant and constant scrutiny would be required to ensure that this continued to be the case.

·         Housing management needed to be refocused on all tenants not just those who were vulnerable.

·         Action needed to be taken to tackle the numbers of void properties.  These numbers had been masked and the turnover times were impacting on income as well as the availability of accommodation for those who needed it.

·         An urgent review of Repairs and Maintenance was required, which would need to consider both productivity and performance.

·         The council needed to deliver on a Tenant Engagement Strategy rather than to just have a policy.

·         A business case had been included in the report which called for Members to agree to replace the Council’s housing system.  Officers were currently using the oldest system in the country and this was not considered to be fit for purpose.

·         Officers had developed an action plan designed to shape improvements to services.  There would be regular reporting to the Executive Committee on the progress that was being made with this.  The first of these update reports would be presented for the consideration of the Executive Committee in January 2019.

·         The capital staffing costs had been removed as they had been viewed as being inflated but they would need to be built back in to financial estimates.

Following the presentation of the report Members discussed a number of points in detail:

 

·         The action that needed to be taken to ensure that the problems that had been identified did not happen again and the approach that had been adopted by officers to handling this.  Officers advised that no one action could address the problems as wholesale system change was required.

·         The requirement for action to be taken to provide assurance to both tenants and Councillors.

·         The need for Members to set a strategic lead for the Housing Services which informed how those services performed.

·         The fact that tenants needed to feel safe and the different ways in which various services could help residents to both feel and be safe.

·         The need for Officers to be held to account if the measures identified n the action plan did not lead to the systemic change required.

·         The training that existing staff within Housing Services had received and whether the Council had provided adequate development opportunities to staff to enable them to deliver the services that were needed.

·         The need for staff to receive a range of training, both professional and technical to enable them to develop the expertise required to deliver services effectively.

·         The extent to which the skills of staff were understood within the organisation.  Members were advised that there had been limited awareness of the skills gap amongst staff and the skills of employees needed to be reviewed in order to identify what training needed to be delivered.

·         The need for specialist technical support to be provided to housing services.

·         The extent to which staff had been informed about the proposals.  Officers explained that staff had all been briefed.  Managers had been briefed at an earlier stage to enable them to support their staff.

·         The extent to which officers would be supported to enable them to change services.  Members were advised that support would be provided, including from external sources where needed, though senior officers would be uncompromising in their view that there needed to be change in order to meet the needs of tenants.

·         The extent to which experienced Members had appreciated the gravity of the situation and the need for Members to learn lessons so that they could ensure that effective services were in place across the authority.

·         The £350,000 in capital staffing costs that had been proposed in the recommendations within the report and the extent to which these would be sufficient to meet the needs of the service.  Members were advised that at least this amount of funding would be required, though more might be necessary in the long-term, for example to pay for external technical expertise.

·         The role of the locality teams in meeting the needs of tenants.  Members suggested that they were keen for more staff to get involved with the work of these teams so that the focus would be more on the needs of tenants.

·         The need for ward Members to visit and get involved with the work of the locality teams and the tenants they served.

·         The value of appraisals for staff and the potentially positive impact that this could have on both staff morale and employees’ development.

·         The current approach adopted by the council to appraisals.  Officers explained that a corporate approach to Personal Development Reviews (PDRs) had been introduced and was being cascaded down the organisation.

·         The need for further development of managers.  Officers advised that the Council was in the process of developing management role indicators.

·         The need for there to be a two-way process, in terms of communication and contributions, in order for an appraisal to have a positive impact.

·         The reaction of staff to the findings.  Members were advised that the report and briefing had caused some staff to feel upset.  There were staff who were passionate about the services that they provided and it could be difficult for them to hear about the criticisms that were being made about the department as a whole.

·         The feedback that had been received from staff since they had been briefed on the findings detailed in the report.  Officers explained that some staff had reported that they were relieved the issues had been identified.  A number had recognised that there were issues with Housing Capital but, for whatever reason, had not reported they concerns on to senior officers.

·         The need for staff to feel comfortable and confident enough to report concerns about services to senior managers.  It was noted that this should include staff feeling comfortable reporting their concerns to elected Members.

·         The need for Members to work together to support the change that would be necessary over the next few months.

·         The potential for mentors to be provided to support staff within the Housing Department.

During consideration of this item Members considered a proposal from the Chair that appraisals should be undertaken by an external person who could provide an independent assessment of an employee’s performance.  However, concerns were raised that the use of an external organisation for this purpose could be financially expensive for the Council.  Members also noted that activities such as the Corporate Peer Challenge could assess the performance of the Council and ensure that staff were supported appropriately.  The Committee therefore agreed not to pursue this idea further.

 

RECOMMENDED that Executive Committee

 

1)    consider the content of the report and endorse the strategic action plan detailed at Appendix A to the report;

 

2)    support the financial actions undertaken in respect of the Housing Revenue Account and note the proposed actions subject to formal budget and rent setting processes as detailed in the strategic action plan;

 

3)    support the Director / Heads of Service remits and authorise the Chief Executive / Corporate Management Team Officers to proceed to recruit to the proposed senior managers for the service (subject to service review) with support for phased service reviews for the whole of the services detailed, over the following 12 – 18 months;

 

4)    endorse that the governance and reporting of progress on the strategic action plan be through Executive Committee; and

 

5)    recommends that a sum of £350,000 (capital staffing costs) be built into the capital budget (HRA) for 2018/19 to resource the immediate review of Housing Capital / property and compliance team(s).

[During consideration of this item Members discussed matters that necessitated the disclosure of exempt information. It was therefore agreed to exclude the press and public during the course of the debate on the grounds that information would be revealed which relates to the financial and business affairs of the local authority].

 

(This item was considered after agenda item no. 10)