Agenda item

The Chairman of the Housing Improvement Board will attend the meeting and give a powerpoint presentation to the committee giving details of the work achieved during the past year. 

Discussion:

The Head of Housing Management introduced members of the Housing Improvement Board to the Committee, advising that the Board’s role was the scrutiny of the housing management service in Medway.

Two Board members, Mary Butcher and Jackie Edwards, gave a powerpoint presentation which included:

The panel was formed to:

• recommend ideas to improve services
• champion tenants and leaseholders, and to bring to the Council’s attention their ideas and points of view
• gather information from the other tenant and leaseholder forums
• ensure services gave best value to tenants and leaseholders.

The work of the panel included to:

• check, read and scrutinise policies and procedures; and make recommendations for improvements of service
• shape services and work with officers to prioritise services and recommend improvements to the service.
• monitor the services provided and makes sure policies and procedures were followed; and the work of contractors, for example, when reviewing voids procedures.

What had been achieved

• the Panel had been formed, with the help of an independent mentor;
• review of policies including: Pets, Succession, Crossover, Anti-social Behaviour, Horticultural, Voids and Resident Involvement Funding;
• consulted on the Tenant Incentive Scheme;
• attended a ‘Better for Less’ presentation at the council offices;
• undertaken TPAS training on scrutiny;
• carried out the first review on the Voids Standards.

Future work

• develop a programme of scrutiny work for 2012;
• undertake a training programme identified by need;
• carry out two or three reviews of areas of the Housing Service according to priority
• ensure requirements of the Localism Act is met by:

checking that Housing Services is held accountable to tenants and leaseholders

ensure that Tenant Associations and Focus Groups are adequately supported

• working with staff to create a Complaints Panel which will consist of Tenants, Leaseholders and Councillors.

The committee thanked the Housing Improvement Board for the presentation and the time and effort the members of the Board gave to achieve its success.

Members asked various questions, including:

• was there anything the council could do to make the Board’s work easier?

The Board Members advised that receiving more information would assist its work, as it was trying to give a good service.

• Had there been any recommendations form the Board that the Council had turned down?

Members were advised that one recommendation had been turned down by the Council with regard to the Pets Policy, as officers did not think the suggestion put forward was feasible.

• Had the Board talked to similar committees of other housing providers to share information?

Members of the Board had been to Kent and Sussex Residents Involvement Alliance (KASRIA) and mhs homes. They had also visited Brighton and Hove Council and were hoping to visit Dartford, Thanet and Luton as these were authorities with a similar size housing stock and issues.

• Did the Board have enough resources to do its job properly?

The committee was advised that the Board would like to have the finance available to reach tenants not wholly involved. It was suggested that by having a caravan to tour Medway promoting their work and to see and talk to people, would be a good way in which to seek people’s views.

Also, the Board had a Council officer helping them with their work but an assistant for that officer, as an alternative person to contact, would be useful.

• How did the Board consult with tenants and leaseholders and was there a difference in requirements between the two groups?

Tenants were consulted by Board members visiting other forums, through estate inspections, a status survey and the first tenant conference was held in October 2011.

Leaseholders had the same issues as Council tenants with many areas that overlapped, for example caretaking duties.

• How did the relationship between the Board and the Council work and was the communication adequate?

The Board advised that tenant’s relationship with the Council had improved considerably over the past few years. Officers listened to the comments and requests made by tenants and responded with well-informed answers.

• What had been the Boards most significant achievement to date?

The Board’s most significant achievement so far was the formation of the Board itself. Additionally, the Board was very pleased with the work it had carried out on the Voids Policy.

• Had tenants seen a noticeable improvement in their maintenance requirements?

The committee was advised that most properties were okay and met the ‘decent home’ standard.

• How did the Board decide which policies to review?

Members were advised that the policies were chosen by the Board, as it progressed its work. When a problem was encountered, information would be requested from officers and if found to remain problematic, the Board would decide whether or not to try and help the Council improve the situation. The Board would research work carried out at other Local Authorities and then make recommendations to officers, who then feedback whether they would, or would not, work for Medway.

• How had the Board progressed with a policy on vehicle-crossovers (where vehicles cross the highway and park on grass verges)?

The Board confirmed that a policy was in place but could only be acted upon when the vehicle was parked on housing revenue account (HRA) land. A lot of the land remained in joint ownership of highway services and HRA and it required the decision of the Council to set one owner in order to be able to act on this problem.

Decision:

The Committee thanked the Housing Improvement Board for its presentation and the work it had carried out and achieved to date.