To receive a presentation on the impact of the Council’s transformation process on refurbishment of the Council’s housing stock, particularly in relation to houses located in Woodrow which was scrutinised by the External Refurbishment of Housing Stock Short, Sharp Review Group in 2010.
(Presentation to follow).
Minutes:
The Committee received an update on external refurbishment works in Woodrow and a presentation regarding the outcomes of the transformation process on repairs and maintenance arrangements at Redditch Borough Council.
Officers explained that as part of the External Wall Insulation Project works had already been undertaken on properties located in Winyates. The works had been offered to both Council house tenants and owner occupiers in Winyates, particularly residents who lived in Dolben Lane, Fownhope Close, Kinnersley Close, Lingen Close and Mordiford Close.
The majority of feedback that had been received regarding the External Wall Insulation Project had been positive. Indeed, whilst initially there had been some resistance amongst a number of residents to the works, by July 2012 every eligible resident had agreed to undertake insulation works on their properties.
The choice of the surface colour for the external insulation works was discussed in detail. Some concerns were expressed that the cream colour, which had been selected for the insulation works in Winyates, might attract graffiti and could require extensive cleaning. However, Members were advised that the colour had been selected because it was considered to be neutral and the material was supposed to be self-cleaning which would minimise the risk of deterioration in appearance of the properties. Furthermore, Members noted that the use of a cream surface colour had helped to improve the level of lighting in some parts of Winyates, particularly in the alleyways located in the estates.
Members were advised that a similar external wall insulation project was due to be delivered in Woodrow. A feasibility study of the works had been completed and suitable sites for the project had been identified. The main focus of this work would be on Ombersley Close and Rushock Close, which had formed a significant part of the focus of the External Refurbishment of Housing Stock Short, Sharp review in 2010. In total 261 properties would be eligible for the insulation works, including 112 Council houses and 149 private homes.
Lessons had been learned from the Winyates project which would be addressed in Woodrow. In particular, Officers had been concerned about the level of consultation that had been undertaken in advance of project delivery in winyates. To minimise the potential for similar problems to occur in Woodrow Officers had sent written correspondence to every property in eligible areas. This correspondence had explained the purpose of the project and had provided information about the additional repairs and maintenance services that would be available. In addition, all residents had been informed that the works could be delivered free of charge. A community bus, which would act as a base where residents could learn more about the project, would also be utilised for consultation purposes in Woodrow.
As part of the project loft insulation works and boiler replacements would be provided alongside external insulation works. In addition, there would be an opportunity to replace gutters and down pipes and to undertake painting works on the roofs of properties. Similar works had been undertaken in Winyates where existing structures were observed to have been in a condition of disrepair.
The insulation works in Winyates had been delivered at a cost of £450,000. This represented a significant reduction in relation to initial request from E.ON for the Council to provide £750,000 and had been achieved as a result of months of negotiations. By contrast, in Woodrow Redditch Borough Council had managed to secure £1.7 million in carbon funding from E.ON, resulting in no carbon funding costs to the Council. E.ON, a utilities company, had been approached to help finance the project on the basis that it would enable the company to meet specific carbon debt targets. There was a risk that if E.ON was unable to address this debt the company would receive a significant fine from the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, (Ofgem). Through funding the insulation project the company would be able to demonstrate that it was helping to meet carbon management targets.
There was the potential that a similar amount of funding would be available to fund a further insulation project in another part of the Borough. Abbeydale had been identified as a suitable location for an insulation project, though further work was required to identify specific properties in the ward that required insulation works.
The presentation from Officers focused in detail on the impact of the Council’s trial transformation process on repairs and maintenance services. Prior to the launch of the trial Officers had listened to verbatim requests that were made directly to Customer Service Advisers over the phone. A number of key issues were consistently raised as areas of concern by customers. This included; a request for the Council to clarify when an operative would be visiting their property; ensuring that Officers understood the customers’ interpretation of their problem and that staff could meet the customer’s needs; and helping to prevent issues that would impact on the condition of a home, such as a damp problem.
Repair and maintenance job tickets could be raised by a variety of teams. Unfortunately, Officers discovered that many job tickets were being raised for inspection purposes rather than for the trade operatives, thereby delaying works. Furthermore, Officers discovered that there was a relatively high rate of failure demand, or actions which had not met the customers’ expectations. Trade operatives were also found to be undertaking a number of jobs which could be considered to be waste. Generally, waste occurred as a result of the trade operative needing to return to stores for particular tools and materials in order to complete a job.
A total of 1,370 repair and maintenance job tickets were considered by Officers. 76 per cent of the jobs had been completed following an issue of a single job ticket. However, 26 per cent of the jobs reviewed had required between 2 – 7 additional tickets. Multiple tickets were issued for a variety of reasons, including due to a need for an external contractor to deliver work, referral to another department and the need to await of additional parts.
To address these problems the Housing Team had launched a new trial repairs and maintenance system as part of the transformation process. A group of four trade operatives had participated in this trial and the work that they had undertaken had been closely monitored. The vans utilised by the trade operatives had been fully stocked with standard equipment to minimise the requirement for trade operatives to leave properties in order to obtain necessary tools.
The outcomes of the trial had been largely positive. Out of 215 demands received by the operatives only three had resulted in failure demands, representing a 99 per cent value demand rate. In addition the end to end time for completing the works required had reduced from a maximum of 75 days to a quicker completion rate of 33.2 hours or a maximum of 6.52 days. The tradesmen had reported an increase in job satisfaction whilst tenants had predominantly complimented the new service arrangements.
Additional work remained to be completed in order to establish the new process as the standard working practice in repairs and maintenance. The system would need to be extended to encompass a total of 43 staff from the four tradesmen who were already participating in the process. In addition, the Council’s ICT team were in the process of developing a system that would enable the Council to more effectively control repair and maintenance work and appointments. Officers were considering introducing a single base for all repairs and maintenance and housing staff, though there was also the possibility that only the housing capital and housing repairs teams would be based at the same sites. The housing team would continue to work with the stores as part of transformation at the site, to ensure that further improvements could be made.
The Committee praised Officers for the improvements that had been made to repair and maintenance arrangements as a result of transformation and thanked Officers for the presentation.
RESOLVED that
the report be noted.