Issue - meetings

This report presents the recent Responsive Repairs Review carried out within Housing Services and Neighbourhood Services and the recommendations arising from it affecting the levels of service to be offered to customers.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to consider the report and approve Option 2 in paragraph 21 “accept the new repairs priorities for customers arising from the review process” with an implementation date of 1 April 2009.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To improve the levels of service offered to customers.

Members received a report presenting the recent Responsive Repairs Review carried out within Housing Services and Neighbourhood Services and the recommendations arising from it affecting the levels of service to be offered to customers.

The Head of Housing presented the main points of this report, which had been based on a pilot in the Acomb area.  It was stated that 30,000 repairs were carried out annually costing in excess of £4 million.  The Acomb area was chosen for the pilot as it represented about 40% of these housing repairs.

Members raised comments and concerns with regard to the review to which officers responded:

• It was confirmed that heating problems fell under the category of same day repairs.
• Tenants would be made fully aware of which areas fell into which area of repair priority – 04, Same Day or General.
• In terms of the percentage of repairs undertaken for new tenants, at least 99% or repair work was now done before a tenant moved in and that a house would only be taken “as seen” where there had been a mutual exchange.
• That there was an “out of hours” 24/7 emergency service. Should a repair need to be dealt with within the 04 timescale, then a standby would go out, and if a repair needed to be done which was the same  day this would be done the next working day.
• In terms of heating repairs and elderly tenants, the Customer Service Assistants had discretion to override a decision with regard to the timeframe for such a repair if felt needed, but that this was monitored.

The co-opted members confirmed that with regard to the Acomb area, the service repair work had been done very well and very efficiently.

The Executive Member noted that it had been very useful to have the voice of co-opted members, who were tenants, to guide the Panel and that satisfaction had been expressed from the Acomb side.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to consider the report and approve Option 2 in paragraph 21 “accept the new repairs priorities for customers arising from the review process” with an implementation date of 1 April 2009.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To improve the levels of service offered to customers.