Agenda item

RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that the committee review and comment on the proposals within the attached draft report, ref CAB3520(H) which is to be considered by Cabinet Committee (Housing) at its meeting on the 4 November 2025.

Pennington’s Choice have been commissioned as a recognised authority in property and surveying to develop the six compliance policies. Accordingly, consultation is not directly sought on the individual policy context but instead it is to support Member understanding and implementation of the policies.

Gillian Knight, Corporate Head of Housing, introduced the report which was due to be presented to the Cabinet Committee (Housing) in November 2025 for approval. The introduction included the following points.

1.    The purpose of the report was to seek approval and adoption of six core housing repair, maintenance, and compliance policies covering fire safety, gas and heating, electrical safety, asbestos, water hygiene, and lift safety.

2.    There was a business need to navigate a complex framework of statutory obligations to ensure council homes were safe and legally compliant.

3.    Pennington's Choice, specialist property and surveying consultants, were commissioned to develop the policies in partnership with the council’s technical teams.

4.    The presentation was to raise awareness of the policies with committee members, rather than for consultation on the content.

5.    The policies were required to underpin the procurement of the housing repair, maintenance, and compliance contract, which was due for renewal the following summer.

6.    The policies incorporated legal requirements such as Awaab’s Law and the Building Safety Act 2022, and defined roles and responsibilities to foster a culture of respect and accountability.

7.    Tenant engagement was underway, and feedback would be incorporated into the final paper to be presented to the Cabinet Committee (Housing) in November 2025.

The committee was asked to review and comment on the proposals within the attached draft report, ref CAB3520(H) which is to be considered by Cabinet Committee (Housing) at its meeting on the 4 November 2025.

The committee proceeded to ask questions and debate the report. In summary, the following matters were raised.

1.    A question was asked to confirm that Pennington's Choice was selected to advise on the policies due to their professional accreditation in the relevant fields.

2.    Clarification was sought on how the finalised policies would be communicated to tenants in an accessible format, given the length and technical nature of the documents.

3.    A question was asked about the methods for disseminating the policies to relevant technical officers and other staff to ensure they were understood and implemented correctly.

4.    Further information was requested regarding the review process for the policies, including the frequency of reviews and who would be responsible for conducting them.

5.    A query was raised as to whether the policies were fixed or if they could be subject to negotiation by contractors during the procurement process for the new repairs and maintenance contract.

6.    A question was asked whether contractors or technical staff who would implement the work had been consulted to ensure the policies were practical.

7.    Clarification was sought regarding an apparent discrepancy in the lift safety policy, where two different emergency response times were listed for an incident where a person was trapped in a lift.

These points were responded to by Yvonne Anderson, Service Lead - Housing Landlord Services and Gillian Knight, Corporate Head of Housing accordingly.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the committee noted the report.

2.    That the committee thanked the officer for bringing the report forward and noted that it would progress through the appropriate council committees for approval.

3.    That officers clarify the response times regarding lifts as noted in sections 6.4 and 6.5 of the policy.

Note: Following the meeting, officers clarified that paragraph 6.4 of the Lifts Policy refers to a lift outage, which will be attended to within 4 hours. Paragraph 6.5 refers to a situation where a passenger is trapped in a failed lift, which will be responded to within 1 hour.