Agenda item

To follow.

Tony Hirsch (Head of Policy and Performance – Strategy and Regeneration, Housing and Community Care) introduced the report which provided details of performance across a whole range of housing issues.  He advised that it was difficult to make direct comparisons between performances of the Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) because of differences in methodology in the way performance data was collated.  Tony Hirsch confirmed that the quality and quantity of information provided by partners had improved since the first report on this item and overall there had been an encouraging improvement in performance.  Members noted that the Tenant Services Authority would become the regulator for all social housing providers on 1 April 2010. A key element of this change would be the creation of a set of new standards, whilst local standards were also to be agreed in consultation with tenants and the local authority.  Local authorities were also required to provide annual reports to tenants each July.

Members agreed to Councillor Dunwell addressing the Committee.  Councillor Dunwell enquired what tools were used to ensure that best value was being provided and how was this undertaken.  He commented that there had been contrasting opinions between the RSLs, residents and the Safer Neighbourhood Team with regard to the extent of anti-social behaviour in Queensbury ward and he sought further explanation for this.

During discussion, Councillor Castle, in noting that each organisation provided its own performance information, enquired whether there had been attempts to cross reference the information with residents or tenants’ associations and whether the Council liaised directly with them.  He commented that a key priority of Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) was fire safety and he sought observations with regard to the importance of health and safety issues with other RSLs.  Councillor Castle also spoke of the need to co-ordinate the length of leases, particularly for those involving families, as he had been made aware of situations where landlords had confirmed with RSLs that a lease was about to expire and tenants were subsequently given short notice to leave or had been issued eviction notices.

Councillor Thomas sought views on whether the right questions had been asked to obtain the performance information and queried why the issue of overcrowding had not been mentioned in the report.  He noted that Fortunegate Community Housing Group were lagging in a number of areas, whilst there were also no figures available for tenant satisfaction and he sought an explanation for this.  Councillor Thomas emphasised the importance of empowering tenants and suggested that all RSLs hold a conference inviting all tenants, as had been arranged a few years previously.  Comments were also sought with regard to the effectiveness of Locata in finding tenants suitable housing and the extent of falling housing stock as a result of the recession. 

Councillor Clues asked how the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) energy ratings compared with previous figures and what could be done to improve ratings.  He also enquired if some housing associations had greater difficulty in achieving higher SAP ratings.

The Chair enquired if the type of questions used to form the performance framework under the Tenants Service Authority coming into effect from April 2010 would differ significantly from the present ones.  She sought reasons for Fortunegate Community Housing Group’s decline in performance in emergency repairs and what steps were in place to reverse this.  Reasons why some RSLs had no reported incidences of anti-social behaviour was sought and also an explanation as to why Metropolitan Housing Trust had a relatively high number of such incidences in view of their small housing stock.  Concern was expressed about a number of RSLs missing their re-letting of vacant properties targets and reasons were sought for this, including whether it could be partly attributable to Locata processing times taking longer.  The Chair enquired what checks were undertaken on temporary accommodation, commenting that the quality level for such properties was sometimes low.  Views on what the approximate proportion of housing were street properties was also sought.

Joe Chambers (Chief Executive, Fortunegate Community Housing Group) was invited to respond to some of the issues raised.  He stated that although there was no specific explanation as why emergency repairs performance for Fortunegate Community Housing Group had dropped, that the repairs were carried out at a time the residents had requested in order to provide greater customer satisfaction.  This may mean that in some cases the emergency repair had not been carried out within target times, however still at a time most convenient to the tenant.  Members heard that a Fortunegate Community Housing Group priority was to ensure the repair was carried out the first time the property was visited.  Joe Chambers added that under the new Tenant Services Authority regime starting on April 2010, there would be an increased focus on fulfilling the needs and preferences of tenants.  The Committee noted that Fortunegate Community Housing Group had recently reviewed its re-letting policy and that there were only a small number of voids currently in its housing stock, whilst there were no street properties in its current housing stock.  Joe Chambers advised that all RSLs were undertaking capital programme works and for some this would include work around energy consumption.  Older stock would be required to meet modern housing eco standards and this was a more significant issue for RSLs with a greater proportion of older housing.  Joe Chambers confirmed that all Fortunegate Housing Community Group properties had been risk-assessed and that staff carried out daily inspections as part of their work schedule.  Work programmes were set up on the basis of the findings of these inspections. 

Chinyere Ugwu (Chief Executive, Hillside Housing Group) acknowledged that re-letting times could be quite high and this was partly attributable to the fact that re-letting would not be undertaken until the decanting process had been finalised.  She confirmed that there were regular fire assessments and that staff received the appropriate training to undertake this.

Jeffrey Jansen (Policy and Information Manager – Strategy and Regeneration, Housing and Community Care) confirmed that each RSL compiled and verified their own performance figures, however if there appeared to be significant anomalies in these, RSLs would be asked to re-check.  He advised Members that there was no remit for the Council to be able to cross-reference the figures provided and the Council did not presently liaise directly with tenants or residents associations.  It was difficult to comment on why some RSLs had no recorded incidences of anti-social behaviour as they had compiled the figures.

Tony Hirsch advised that the focus on tenants’ priorities under the new framework of the Tenants Service Authority would look at issues such as communication with tenants and residents’ associations which was likely to be encouraged, however consultation was ongoing and the set of questions used to assess performance were yet to be drawn up.  It was hoped that the Council would be able to test the information provided by RSLs.  Members noted that the Council had records of all housing stock managed by the RSLs and in the case of street properties, these tended to be older and more likely to have defects such as excessive moisture.  Tony Hirsch acknowledged that the state of temporary properties was sometimes cause for concern and he advised that any concerns about individual properties could be reported to the Council on Health and Safety grounds.  It was noted that a number of other councils in London were similarly affected by this problem. 

Maggie Rafalowicz (Assistant Director – Housing and Regeneration, Housing and Community Care) advised that the standards with regard to repairs were agreed on a West London basis about two years ago.  Members heard that there was no information to suggest that any of the RSLs in Brent were in financial difficulties, however the present economic climate had reduced the number of new housing developments.  In addition, the uncertainty of funding pending the General Election was a reason for RSLs to be cautious, however there were still some new developments being undertaken in Brent.  Members were informed that a tour by coach of RSL sites in Brent could be arranged for them if they wished.

Members agreed to the Chair’s request that a report providing a summary update of performance be provided during the summer of 2010 and that it include information on street properties.

RESOLVED:-

(i)         that the report on Performance Information on Joint Commissioning Registered Social Landlords be noted; and

(ii)        that a summary update be provided to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at a meeting in the summer of 2010.