Agenda and minutes

Matters arising from the minutes the committee had a discussion regarding how waste is disposed in reference to the BBC news article, a report was requested to look at how Gateshead Council dispose of their waste.

The minutes of the last meeting were approved as an accurate record.

Report of Chief Executive

The Committee received a report communicating the progress made on the Council’s Performance Management and Improvement Framework for the period 1 April – 30 September 2024.

The performance reports outlined the challenges, achievements, actions, and resources for each policy objective. It also contains performance data including strategic and operational measures and is informed by qualitative and quantitative assessment to inform policy and resource decisions.

The report highlighted challenges, and areas of excellence and improvement relevant to the remit of the Committee.

Challenges and actions include:

·         Demand for council housing in Gateshead remains high. However, whilst there is high demand for houses and two-bedroom bungalows, and for one-bedroom flats that are not reserved for older persons; in contrast, there is low demand for flats and bedsits with an age restriction. This is under review as part of the wider void’s improvement plan.

·         Numbers on the housing register remain exceptionally high and there is a backlog in processing applications. A detailed improvement is in place and the backlog has begun to reduce.

·         Significant overspend on the B&B budget. A B&B and temporary accommodation cost recovery plan is in place to address this overspend with a range of actions over a 3 - year period that aims to stop the use of B&B in Gateshead other than in an emergency, and to ensure no subsequent overspends.

·         Out of time repairs. Whilst reducing, actions continue to be put in place to continue service improvement including works internalisation.

·         The need to be compliant with Awaabs Law. Actions include current recruitment to a specialist damp and mould team and adoption of a new damp and mould policy.

·         Highway repairs within 10 days – services report the fall in completion is due to weather and a subsequent backlog which is being worked through.

Areas of excellence and improvement include:

·         The Rent and Income Team have delivered £3.2 million in financial gains for council tenants so far in 2024/25, already ahead of the £3m in the full year 2023/24.

·         Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy in place supported by an action plan, the Homelessness Charter and Gateshead Homeless Forum.

·         Strong partnership arrangements with Oasis Community Housing supporting those at risk of homelessness and rough sleeping with multiple or complex needs resulting in low numbers of rough sleepers.

·         Successful bids for Rough Sleeper Initiative (RSI), Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme (RSAP) and Supported Housing Improvement Programme (SHIP) funding and funding allocated to improve response for victims of domestic abuse.

·         Improvements to two services in Gateshead were implemented by Go North East on Sunday 1 September 2024, funded by the North East Combined Authority’s Bus Service Improvement Plan. These improvements see more frequent services on the Tyne Valley Ten 10/10A/10B and Angel 21 services.                     

Further Actions include:

·         Implementation of actions outlined in Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, which sets out our four key strategic aims with associated actions to tackle homelessness.

·         The Housing Improvement and Self-Assessment Programme established including several workstreams and a focus on compliance with our regulatory  ...  view the full minutes text for item CPL22

Report of Strategic Director, Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities

The Committee received a report communicating the updates on the Housing Complaints made for the period 1 April – 30 September 2024.

In 2023/24 Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey where only 26% of residents surveyed were happy with how the Council handled their complaints. In response to the low levels of satisfaction the Resident Influence Panel commissioned a scrutiny review of the quality of stage one complaint responses. The results have previously been presented to the Committee on 17 June 2024.  Currently, satisfaction within Gateshead is low and as a Council we do not compare well to other similar size local authorities.

In response to the results a new Customer Support team will be set up for an initial 18-month period. The team will focus on building strong relationships with customers to deliver and enhanced experience. The team will record and acknowledge all complaints.

The tenant satisfaction survey will be undertaken by KWEST Research Ltd on behalf of the Council. The survey will be completed in two stages. Stage one commenced on 30 September 2024 with the aim to be completed by end of November 2024.

Stage two will commence in February 2025 with the aim to be completed by end of March 2025.

During the first 6-month period of the year there were 222 stage 1 complaints, and 31 stage 2 complaints registered.

The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) set a 10-response target for stage 1 complaints and 20 days for stage 2 complaints. 2024/25 has seen an improvement with stage 1 complaints response time from 29% in 2023/24 to 41% in 2024/25. Stage 2 complaints had a 71% response time in the 20-day time period. The team are also working very hard on the clearing the backlog of complaints.

The team have further received 35 compliments within this time period.

The Committee received the report and noted the work put into providing the information. Members discussed the report and how as Councillors communication needs to be open and transparent to allow a consistent approach with complaints across the Local Authority. It has been requested for further updates on how the new team performs.

RESOLVED

The Committee:

1. Commented on the 6-month report.

Report of Strategic Director, Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities

The Committee received a report to provide an overview of the current repairs and empty properties performance with Gateshead for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 October 2024.

The Committee was presented a table of data to show the current empty properties. As of end of October there were 550 properties vacant which were made up of; 158 available to let and 357 awaiting works. The Corporate plan target by March 2025 is for 335 or fewer empty properties undergoing work, 150 or fewer properties available to let, 100 or fewer held and a 585 overall total.

Councillors raised concerns on how long voids sit empty. The Committee noted that whilst there are currently 357 voids in the work there is normally a spike before Christmas, but this is expected to be resolved in the New Year to reach target of 335 in March 2025. It was further noted that there are some voids that are ready to let but cannot comment on however, there are eight new members joining in January that should help let the properties.

The current repairs work in progress is 6,944 against a target of 5,500, year to date has seen a reduction in new repairs reported compared to the same period last year. There is also a slight decrease in major works raised year to date compared to the same period last year.

Areas of improvement have been PASMA and TETRA trained staff, more efficient diary allocation, additional site monitoring, ongoing van stocks, RESTEC training, additional staff have been recruited and trained to complete work inhouse and reduce contractor reliance. It has also been proposed that drones are used to inspect roofs to reduce the need for scaffolding, it had been noted all roofing managers will be drone trained with all data internalised for data protection.

After a review of the workforce, a recruitment program has been ongoing at the current moment 32 employees have been recruited and 14 more are expected to join, with skills in specialist damp and mould, clearance, roofing and boundaries. Recruitment of extra staff should help internalise services, reduce the number of contractors and delays. The service currently has one contractor left on voids that receive three properties a week however, once the team has been internalised the contract will end.

The team still face challenges with no access being the major impact on productive time. Year to date customers have failed to give access to 3,952 repair appointments an increase on last year. In September 2024 a new system was implemented to improve customer communication and awareness for appointments. In October 2024, there were a total of 540 no access events and 400 of those had been appointed an appointment at the first point of contact. This means the customer spoke to a member of staff and accepted the appointment.

Going forward a review to the tenancy agreement are to be reviewed as changes are required to support the Repair Policy to inform tenants that the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item CPL24

Report of Strategic Director, Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities

The Committee received a report to update members on the Housing Performance results for quarter 2.

The service currently reports on 49 KPI’s that are reported on a quarterly basis. The Quarter 2 results were documented in the report submitted to committee. It had been identified throughout the results that younger tenants are less satisfied across all KPI’s but also the South of Gateshead show they are less satisfied. Further work is to be done to understand why this is.

There is lots of ongoing work with the website to make it more accessible and more informative.

RESOLVED:

The Committee

i.              commented on the KPI Quarter 2 results.

Joint report of the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director of Corporate Services & Governance.

The Committee reviewed the completion of the 24/25 work programme.

It was noted that the Councillors have requested a report on school meals and a further report on How waste is dealt with.

RESOLVED:

The Committee

i.              Made recommendations for additional reports

ii.             Noted the report.