Annual Report to Tenants 2020-21

How we are doing and where we need to improve

In 2020-21, we have seen a decrease in the average number of days it takes to complete a repair in your homes, from 13.9 days last year to 8.78 days this year, which is well within our target of 11 days.  We have kept 90.97 per cent of the appointments we made and resident surveys show that satisfaction with their most recent repair is just above our target of 80 per cent.

Resident Satisfaction Survey

Performance measure	2019-20	2020-21	Target 2020-21
Tenants - How satisfied are you with the way the Council’s Housing Management service deals with repairs and maintenance?	50.0%	No survey	-
Tenants - How satisfied are you with the over- all quality of your home?	59.0%	No survey	-

Performance measure	2019-20	2020-21	Target 2020-21
Average days to complete a responsive repair	13.9	8.78	<=11
Percentage of repair appointments kept	90.0%	90.97%	>=95%
Percentage of residents satisfied with last repair	79.3%	80.07%	>=80%
Percentage of homes with a valid Landlords Gas Safety Certificate	99.97%	99.80%	100%

Quality of homes

• In our Capital Works Programme, 17 projects have already been completed, including 
  • communal smoke and heat alarm installation in over 200 blocks, 
  • communal ventilation cleaning in all properties on Manchester Drive, 
  • installation of heating and hot water controls at Trellick Tower, 
  • individual heat and smoke alarm upgrades in over 500 properties including Campden Houses, Walnut Tree House and Elm Park Gardens.
• We have arranged the current team into different specialities, to work with specific service areas and facilitate greater stakeholder engagement across Housing Management. This will allow us to have dedicated specialists in each area to ensure successful procurement and delivery.
• Work is ongoing at several sites including Adair and Hazlewood (external works), Jean Darling House and Runcorn Place (new lifts), and 10 different blocks/street properties (roof works, window repairs or replacements, and wall refurbishments). We’ve also installed new fire doors in over 2000 flats, to improve fire safety, and are refurbishing a number of empty properties to make them fit for new families. 
• At Adair and Hazlewood Towers, as well as external building work, we have installed new lifts and built a new concierge office with additional, more modern CCTV cameras.  Residents have also helped in the design phase for upcoming works such as external insulation, replacement windows and new balcony doors.  New flat entrance doors have also been installed that are of the latest fire safety standards. The doors offer 30 minutes of fire and smoke protection and have a police-approved ‘Secure by Design’ locking mechanism.
• We are projecting to be on site with numerous new projects in the 2021-22 financial year, including at World’s End Estate where we are installing new door entry systems to improve security, and at Lowerwood Court and Elm Park Gardens where we are replacing some of the lifts. Major external and internal works are also due to commence at Hesketh Place, Runcorn Place, Eardley Crescent, Philbeach Gardens, Notting Barn Estate and Treverton Estate. 
• The Council has published two new fire safety guides, one for residents who live in blocks with a ‘simultaneous evacuation procedure’ and the other for residents living in blocks with a ‘localised evacuation procedure’.  Fire evacuation procedures on the Lancaster West Estate are slightly different and residents there have been issued with their own guides. As well as evacuation procedures, the guides contain a wealth of information on helping residents stay fire-safe in the home.
• The Aids and Adaptations team experienced issues with carrying out their work during the pandemic due to the fact they couldn’t visit properties occupied by tenants with vulnerabilities. They also experienced issues with their supply chains and the availability of specialised contractors.  They are currently working with residents, contractors and suppliers to clear the backlog of cases, and get back on track for the year ahead.
• We worked with the Lancaster West Residents’ Association and estate residents to secure £204,637 in funding, to reinvest into the Lancaster West Estate and surrounding neighbourhood. 

Repairs and maintenance

• The lockdown had a large impact on how we delivered our repairs service. We have been prioritising emergency repairs only since April 2020 to limit the spread of the virus. Due to the reduction in services during the national lockdowns, repair volumes were at their lowest between April and June 2020, with levels picking up and levelling off as restrictions eased last summer.   
• We have tackled the outstanding repairs we were previously unable to do, to improve your homes and reduce any backlog.  We have embraced new ways of working, such as holding virtual meetings online, providing services remotely, like repairs diagnosis, and have made wider use of the technology available to us. Thankfully, we are now able to carry out routine repairs again. 
• Safety checks continue to be carried out ahead of repair visits, with Customer Service Centre staff asking for clarification on whether household members are displaying symptoms, have been diagnosed with Coronavirus or are shielding.  Our operatives will continue to use personal protective equipment on site, in line with government guidelines, to keep residents and themselves safe.
• Compared to 2019-20 there was a noticeable improvement in the percentage of repairs completed at the first visit.  However, a key reason for resident dissatisfaction with our repairs service was where multiple visits were needed to complete outstanding works. This remained a problematic area for residents who reported dissatisfaction with repairs.  Other key themes for dissatisfaction were missed appointments and poor communication.
• In an effort to improve on this in the upcoming year, we have formally procured a new set of contractors, which should provide greater accountability.  They will be using our IT system to manage their jobs too, which will provide better visibility of the service they are providing and will also allow for a higher percentage of works to be post-inspected, to ensure better quality.  
• We have started a staff development programme to further enhance our workforce’s existing skills and provide additional ones.  We now have an in-house communal repairs team to improve the speed of repairs and satisfaction.  We are also undertaking a review of the repairs process and the IT systems we use to log and manage repairs, in order to identify where we can do better.
• During the pandemic we initially experienced issues in accessing properties to carry out gas safety checks due to tenant concerns.  Our team worked with residents to ensure their safety and by the end of April, only 12 homes did not have a valid certificate.  Of the 12 homes, by mid-May five had been completed and over half of the remaining homes had appointments booked in. 
• Last year our Fire Safety team attained certification to be a competent fire risk assessment provider, becoming the first, and so far, only, local authority to achieve this.  We received our first surveillance audit in 2021. The auditors confirmed they were happy with the measures we had put in place.  The team have also taken on a Fire Safety Apprentice from the local community and have two new dedicated Building Safety Managers (BSMs) who work with residents to improve fire and building safety as part of our proactive efforts to meet the forthcoming requirements of the Building Safety Bill.
• We have completed our fire risk assessment programme and are now regularly reviewing fire safety across our homes.  To expand fire safety knowledge across Housing Management, we have prepared and delivered bespoke fire safety training for all staff, tailored to their roles and duties, and have also expanded our fire safety information for residents. 
• The forthcoming year will see some important fire safety upgrades in a number of our blocks.  We are continuing both our general routine fire safety works as well as our capital programme of fire safety improvement.  We will be providing new Premises Information Boxes in all buildings over 11 metres currently without one, as well as providing new ‘wayfinding signage’ to assist fire-fighters.