Agenda item

Cabinet considered the tenant and leaseholder services quarterly report. This report was also considered by the Overview and Scrutiny panel as was required by the Council’s Landlord Compliance Policies and allowed the opportunity for early intervention should any performance issues arise. Members were advised that performance for 5 of the 6 Landlord Health and Safety Compliance work-streams remained steady at 100%. These work streams operated as business as usual and the teams worked to complete outstanding actions within set timeframes.

The compliance for domestic electrical safety certificates had remained at around 90% for most of this financial year. The service had ensured that certificates were renewed at the end of their 5 year cycle, but had struggled to completely clear the backlog of certification works. Access to properties had been an issue and a cause of delays in certification, and processes were now in place to ensure that certifications would be completed. Additional resources and stronger contract management had been deployed to address the backlog and the position is starting to improve during Q3 and Q4. Operational performance had seen some success and there were areas that were being actively improved.

Q3 saw the usual trend of a fall in performance for partnering contractors and their customer satisfaction, due to increased demand over the winter months. Both contractors recovered in Q4, Mears finishing the year with 90.3% customer satisfaction. The contract with Gas Call, the partnering contractor for gas appliance repairs and gas compliance programme, came to an end on 31/3/23. A new contractor was successful in the recent procurement exercise and BSW started as the new gas contractor on 1/4/23.

The capital budget spend had been disappointing this year, due to key contractors going into administration. The team was procuring replacement contracts which were set to be in place this financial year. There had been significant success in improving void turnaround performance and in reducing arrears. This was a huge success for the team who had steadily reduced arrears despite a very difficult operating environment; meaning arrears were 2% lower now than when the service transitioned from East Kent Housing in October 2020 which indicated outstanding support for residents and performance from the team considering the significant financial and cost of living challenges that have marked the last year.

Councillor Bayford spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

Councillor Whitehead proposed, Councillor Yates seconded and Cabinet agreed to note the contents of the report.