Issue - meetings

1.       That the progress made in delivering the housing improvement plan be noted.

2.       That regular updates on plan implementation be received at future meetings of this committee.

Councillor Reach and the Strategic Director introduced the report which included the following points:

a)    The report had been presented to other committees, including the TACT Board, where questions were raised regarding the priority of works, the budget, policy updates, the stock condition survey, and asbestos risk.

b)    Assurances were provided that the priority of works was based on independent advice and that information on the budget was included in the report.

c)    The TACT Board had requested regular updates from meetings with the social housing regulator and had suggested using social media to improve communication with tenants.

d)    Compliance training had been provided on 16 July 2025, and meetings with the social housing regulator indicated that the progress made was viewed as very positive.

e)    Further progress had been made since the report was written. For example, all fire risk assessments were completed, with only three high-risk remedial actions outstanding.

Councillor Reach, the Strategic Director and other relevant officers then responded to questions and comments raised by councillors as summarised below:

a)    A request was made for the term ‘minor slippage’ to be annotated with more commentary in future reports.

b)    A question was asked for an explanation on how to interpret the status of actions within the report, specifically concerning an item on fire safety (item 10), to understand if an action was complete or if it was progressing towards a future deadline.

Ian Tait spoke during public participation as summarised briefly below.

He expressed concern that the report was wordy and might not be easily understood by tenants, who were funding the associated administrative costs. He questioned the qualifications and experience of the TACT Board to provide effective oversight and scrutiny of compliance performance.  He suggested that the report could be simplified to make it a more readable.

In response, Councillor Reach advised that the TACT Board were absolutely qualified for this purpose, and he reported that he had challenged it to advise him of any additional performance indicators that they should consider.

The Cabinet Committee agreed the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

1.             That the progress made in delivering the housing improvement plan be noted.

2.             That regular updates on plan implementation be received at future meetings of this committee.

RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that the policy committee comment on the proposals within the attached cabinet report, ref CAB 3511(H) which is to be considered by Cabinet Committee (Housing) at its meeting on the 23 July 2025.

Councillor Neil Cutler, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation attended on behalf of the Cabinet Member for Good Homes and introduced the report, ref CAB 3511(H), which outlined the Social Housing Regulation Consumer Standard Improvement Plan. The introduction included the following points.

1.    In February 2024, the Cabinet Committee (Housing) received a report on new consumer standards, and the housing service was asked to undertake a self-assessment.

2.    Following an internal self-assessment, an external independent assessment was commissioned which identified long-term issues that would jeopardise the council’s ability to meet safety and quality standards.

3.    In February 2025, the Cabinet Committee (Housing) was informed that a self-referral had been made to the Social Housing Regulator.

4.    The regulator made a judgment on 30 April 2025 of C3, indicating serious failings and a need for improvement in safety, quality, transparency, influence, and accountability.

5.    An improvement plan had been developed and was shared with the regulator, with monthly meetings established to demonstrate progress.

6.    It was noted that work with the regulator was expected to take approximately 18 months, after which the service could be subject to an inspection.

The committee was asked to comment on the proposals within the attached cabinet report, ref CAB 3511(H) which was to be considered by the Cabinet Committee (Housing) at its meeting on 23 July 2025. The committee proceeded to ask questions and debate the report. In summary, the following matters were raised.

1.    A question was asked about the feedback received from residents following the communication sent to them.

2.    Clarification was sought on the structure of the report and how priorities were agreed with the regulator, specifically regarding target dates and the process for revising them.

3.    A question was asked about how the priorities were determined and whether the compliance work was prioritised due to safety concerns.

4.    A query was raised regarding the budgetary provisions for contract resources, given the potential staffing challenges and the premium cost associated with agency staff.

5.    A question was asked about the extent of the additional workload for officers, in terms of hours, cost, or staffing, as a result of the referral.

6.    A question was asked about the measures being taken to update processes and procedures to ensure that compliance data was correctly managed for the long term after the initial catch-up work was completed.

7.    A concern was raised about whether Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) would impede the implementation of new systems.

8. A question was asked about the progress of transferring data from external contractors to internal systems.

9.    A specific question was asked about the electrical safety checks, particularly whether a new contractor was in place and if the catch-up work was underway.

10.Clarification was sought on the reasons for the minor slippage in mobilising the stock condition survey and the expected start and finish timelines.

11.A question was asked about the process for establishing an ongoing, regular review of housing stock conditions after the initial  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7