Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ashley.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests, and any Party Whip.

There were no declarations of interest nor of party whip.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee from 19^th February 2024 will be considered at this meeting.

The minutes of the meetings held on 19^th February 2024 were submitted for Members’ consideration.

RESOLVED that

the Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 19^th February 2024 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chair.

To invite members of the public who have registered in advance of the meeting to address the Committee. Please note that the deadline to register to speak at this meeting is noon on Tuesday 12^th March 2024.

There were no public speakers registered on this occasion.

The Capital Programmes and Contract Manager provided a comprehensive update on social housing repairs including progress across Repairs and the wider Housing Revenue Account Capital Investment Programme.

The following aspects were covered during the presentation:

·       The process for the tenant to report an issue to Repairs and Maintenance Team:

There were various ways the tenant could report a repair including by telephone, email, online, or in person. The Repairs and Maintenance Team was also looking to launch a portal for individual tenants which would enable tenants to report issues as well as view details about their properties etc.

·       The waiting times for response to repair queries and undertaking repairs:

It was reported that the Council had established three categories of response times. For Emergency repairs the target was a response within 2 hours. Examples of emergency repairs were loss of power, leaks, and other types of issue which presented danger to the health and safety of the occupants. For Urgent repairs the target response was within 5 working days. Repairs classified as urgent included partial loss of power or water supply or leaking roof. For Routine repairs the target response time was within 20 working days.

·       Actions that were being taken within Housing Property Services to improve repair turnaround times:

The Capital Programmes and Contract Manager reported that the Council had improved its telephone response times to repair enquiries by almost 100 per cent. Moreover, recruitment was currently being undertaken which would see a range of roles being recruited into on a permanent basis. This covers trade operatives (e.g. plasterers), supervisors, management and administrative support for the teams. It was noted that around 20 posts had been advertised in the last few weeks, with significant interest expressed in some positions such as for the plasterer post.

It was also reported that a package of training was being developed across Housing Services so that the individual’s skills are improved reducing the need for follow up trades or more than one operative to be booked for a job.

In terms of timetabling systems for repairs, The Council currently operated a diary system for the trade operatives which was labour intensive and had limited flexibility. The Council was working with its partner Total Mobile Solutions to configure their Mobilise and Connect ICT systems. These systems would provide each of the operatives with the ability to work in a more mobile way, receiving their jobs via a mobile device, rather than the current paper-based systems. This functionality would enable real time updates for each job to understand when it was completed, if there is a need for follow up works or there was no access.

It was reported that over the next 12-18 months 1200 Council properties (circa 20 per cent of the Council’s stock) would be surveyed to assist with creating planned programmes of capital investment.

Details of the Tenant Satisfaction Survey were given and it was noted that the survey had gone out on the 14^th March 2024 (today) to all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94.

The Executive Committee Work Programme was submitted for Members’ consideration.

RESOLVED that

the contents of the Executive Committee’s Work Programme be noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme was submitted for Members’ consideration.

A question was raised with regard to the proposed scrutiny task group review of Health Inequalities in BAME communities. It was agreed that the Committee Officer would investigate whether this was removed from the work programme, and if this was not previously agreed, reinstate the item to the work programme.

RESOLVED that

Subject to the pre-amble above, the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be noted.

a)          Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Kane

b)          Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Holz

c)           Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group – Chair, Councillor Khan

Updates on Task Groups and Working Groups were provided as follows:

a)    Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Kane

Councillor Kane reported that the last meeting of Budget Scrutiny Working Group took place on 11^th March 2024. At the meeting Members scrutinised the Quarter 3 Finance and Performance Monitoring Report. It was reported that topics discussed included the capital programme and budget, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), and the forecast revenue overspend for 2023/24, which was in the region of £950,000, before the application of £557,000 from the Utilities Reserve as approved at Quarter 1 2023/24. It was explained that this currently left a forecast overspend at Quarter 3 of approximately £383,000.

Councillor Kane reported that a recommendation was made at the 11^th March 2024 meeting in respect of the increased cost of temporary housing accommodation being added to the Council’s Risk Register. Councillor Kane explained that it was subsequently identified that this risk already appeared on the Departmental Risk Register as risk HOU7 - ‘Fail to manage impact of increasing homelessness cases and recruitment challenges’ – which was linked to Corporate Risk 19. It was marked as an amber risk at the moment. The recommendation was, therefore, no longer deemed necessary.

b)    Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Holz

Councillor Holz reported that two meetings of the Working Group had taken place since the last meeting of Overview and Scrutiny, on 5^th and 12^th March respectively.

At the first meeting, on 5^th March, which was chaired by Councillor Marshall as apologies were provided by Councillor Holz, Temporary Accommodation and update on social housing voids and allocations was provided to Members of the Working Group.

The meeting on 12^th March was devoted to discussion concerning tree maintenance and the Council’s Place Teams.

c)     Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group – Chair, Councillor Khan

It was reported by Councillor Khan that the next meeting of the Task Group was due to take place on 19^th March 2024.

RESOLVED that

the Task Groups, Short Sharp Reviews and Working Groups Update Reports be noted.

a)          West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council representative, Councillor Marshall;

b)          West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny – Council representative, Councillor Marshall; and

c)           Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) – Council representative, Councillor Marshall.

The Council’s Representative on external scrutiny bodies, Councillor Marshall, reported that there were no updates since the last meeting of the Committee. The next meeting of Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) would be taking place on Friday 15^th March.

RESOLVED that

the External Scrutiny Bodies updates be noted.