Agenda item

To receive the report of Martin Greenway, Head of Repairs & Estate Services.

The Chair thanked Officers and Members for attending to present the item on the Review of Enfield Repairs Direct.

Councillor Needs introduced the item highlighting that the report views the progress and performance of Enfield Repairs Direct as it approaches a year and a half from its setup.

Councillor Needs stated that this administration had listened to residents and brought the service in house which has paid off dividends. She added that she was very proud of the team, who were working really hard and, thanks to Officers, there was currently no back log of work.

Martin Greenway, Head of Repairs & Estate Services provided an update on the Review of Enfield Repairs Direct which covered the below points;

·         Response to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic

·         Performance

·         Staffing structure changes

·         ERD Operations

·         Contracts and Quality Team

·         Planned IT improvements

·         Resident Involvement

·         Future plans for the development of the service.

During his update Martin made the following key points:

·         Resident and member feedback on previous repairs contractors responsible for undertaking repairs in recent years has been poor.

·         In June 2019, the Cabinet approved the in-sourcing of the Housing Repairs Service. This service was launched in May 2020.

·         In addition to the setting up of a new inhouse team wider feedback was considered which included residents wanted their call answered quickly by polite, helpful staff and being able to book a convenient appointment slot with minimum customer effort.

·         There also needed to be more reliability in attending appointments and higher rates of ‘first time fix’. Communication needed to be better to satisfactorily resolve repair issues including how escalations and complaint casework are handled.

·         In February 2020 Cabinet reviewed a report detailing the design of the service, a policy for repairs, timescales for delivery, a financial business, branding and a service model with proposed timetable for introduction of defined functions.

Response to the challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic

·         The pandemic had a disruptive impact upon the service as with all other sectors in economic and social life.

·         Repairs services across the country have applied restrictions in repairs to critical emergencies only, furloughed staff and have been fraught with supply chain difficulties.

·         Enfield Repairs Direct (ERD) having launched in may 2020 has remained operational throughout.

Performance

·         Residents expect a responsive repairs service which is fast and effective. ERD has extended a great deal of effort in developing its job management system to enable appointments to be manged effectively.

·         A chart was provided in the report showing progress over the past year in completing appointments on time.

·         The team have not carried a backlog coming out of Covid restrictions as other housing providers have experienced.

·         A level of confidence in the system and method has been achieved where the operating Works In progress (WIP) is below a thousand jobs and targets are expected to be met in the last quarter of the year.

·         Recognising that the route to improving the responsive repairs service, the team needs to act on feedback. For this reason, data is captured on a transactional basis from completed jobs.

·         The feedback team also review data from complaints and Members’ Enquiries.

Staffing Structure Changes

·         The service has changed its delivery model following a review of structures across the Housing Department as well as an extended period of staff consultation earlier this year. A chart included in the report outlines how functions are organised.

ERD Operations

·         The inhouse repairs operation is of critical importance to the future success of the service. The reason for this is to not over-rely on contractors as has been a problem in the past.

·         The vision is to create a dedicated inhouse workforce with trained and knowledgeable tradespeople, with apprenticeship programmes and succession planning.

·         The benefit of an inhouse service is that there is greater control and accountability for the standard of work.

·         The apprenticeship programme includes 5 apprentices in the next intake. There are significant advantages to the ‘grow our own’ strategy including affording local residents an opportunity to develop themselves and at the same time the Council benefits from the knowledge they have.

Resident Involvement

·         The insourcing and development of Enfield Repairs Direct has been monitored by the Repairs stakeholders’ Group. This has been very valuable in understanding the key concerns of residents and where to prioritise focus.

Future Plans for the Development of the service

·         ERD is emerging from the start-up phase of its establishment and is now stabilising. The public service ethos of the team is strong and there is great willingness to succeed in its next phase of development. As performance continues to improve gauged by internal indicators and more importantly by customer and member satisfaction, opportunities will continue to be sought for the growth of the service.

The Panel then asked questions of the Officers. A summary of the questions and answers are set out below.

Q: Councillor Smith stated that he regularly receives complaints from residents in his ward (particularly Poplar estate) regarding outstanding repairs, delayed appointment times and lack of response to enquires from Officers. He acknowledged that repairs are a very emotive subject with some residents expressing dissatisfaction from the outset therefore he appreciated that there would always be an element of challenge. However, in his opinion, the feedback he is receiving from residents is somewhat different from the honed words in the report.

A: Martin replied that the data and statistics for complaints shows a decrease overall and therefore this has formed the basis for the information included in the report. He agreed however that it is important that the service responds to challenges and rectifies them at the earliest opportunity. Joanne Drew, Director of Housing & Regeneration added that monthly performance sessions take place at which data and statistics are discussed. She agreed however to do a deep dive into data, particularly around the Poplar estate as discussed by Cllr Smith.

Action: Joanne Drew, Director of Housing & Regeneration

Q: Although there is now more control over repairs there still appears to be areas for improvements and we are still outsourcing to contractors. Why is this?

A:  Although we procure a whole host of support contractors, we start with the premise that works are carried out inhouse where possible. Some specialist   works (e.g. roofing and draining) cannot currently be done inhouse therefore there is sometimes the need to use support contractors. A procurement exercise is currently taking place which is moving to the second stage shortly.

Q: Are there any plans for a Residents’ Portal Service whereby they can log into their account, look a job references/progress and keep track of their own repairs?

A: A modern Repairs Team’s success is largely tied up in the effectiveness of its IT and how it is used and as such, an upgrade to the Housing System is currently taking place. This is a large project, but the aim is to get to the stage where residents can book their own repairs and appointment slots which will in turn reduce customer effort as much as possible resulting in a better customer experience.

Q:  Have the numbers of permanent staff within the Housing Department now increased and is it the aspiration to have all permanent staff? Can exact figures for agency and permanent staff be provided?

A:  A recruitment process is currently taking place with more staff coming on board permanently. This is a rigorous process involving a skills test and interview with a review to recruiting good quality staff. The market as a whole is very tough at the moment which is why there is also a focus on the apprenticeship programme. Figures for agency and permanent staff will be circulated to members.

Action: Martin Greenway, Head of Repairs & Estate Services