The Chair, Councillor Amina Ali apologised for her lateness and welcomed everybody to the Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee meeting. She stated the meeting would hear presentations from three Housing Associations who operate in Tower Hamlets, plus Tower Hamlets Homes about their Repair Delivery models. She welcomed the presenters and Cllr Sirajul Islam, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Performance.

She requested everyone to introduce themselves and commenced the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Andrew Cregan, Vice Chair of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee, Cllr Helal Uddin and Cllr Andrew Wood. Cllr Julia Dockerill was substituting for Cllr Wood.

Cllr Ali declared she was a board member of Old Ford Housing Association.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee held on 10^th October 2016.

The Chair referred members of the Sub-Committee to the minutes of the previous meeting held on the 10^th October 2016. She asked members to approve these as an accurate record of the meeting.

The Members agreed the minutes to be an accurate record of the meeting.

A series of presentations on a sample of the different models used by Registered Housing Providers in the borough.

·         Poplar HARCA

·         Swan Housing Association

·         Gateway Housing Association

·         Tower Hamlets Homes

Cllr Sirajul Islam, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Performance introduced this item stating the Local Authority was working with local Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) to improve the reporting, quality and efficiency with which repairs are dealt with.

He said the presentations would explain the different models adopted by each Housing Association, the challenges they face as well as the elements of best practice they have adopted. The presentations will also explain how residents have been involved in shaping and monitoring the service.

Poplar HARCA

Andrea Baker, Director of Housing at Poplar HARCA, was the first to make her presentation.

She informed members:

·         Poplar HARCA operates in a small geographical area – 4miles², has 9000 homes and 45,000 tenants.

·         Poplar HARCA works with 4 multi-trade general contractors supplemented by specialist contactors such as gas contractors.

·         The contracts are 10 year contracts, with clauses that allow Poplar HARCA to review contacts every 5 years. Both parties have an 8 week ‘no fault’ determination clause if they decide to terminate the contract.

·         Poplar HARCA uses a ‘Schedule of rates’ system whereby each job is evaluated using a pre-determined cost element.

·         The contactors used by Poplar HARCA are locally based small to medium sized businesses, so employ local people and do not sub-contract. They have grown in size with Poplar HARCA and know their customer base.

·         They work in partnership to deliver customer care, ensuring they get it right the first time, rather than contactors having to go back to a property several times over.

·         An average of 2.5 properties requires repairs, with an average repair cost of £87. The housing stock is older and was transferred from the Council.

·         Poplar HARCA monitors its repairs service through its overarching independent customer satisfaction survey. Quarterly reports are presented to the Services Committee and monthly meetings are held with contractors to look at emerging trends.

·         Residents are in conversation with Poplar HARCA and qualitative data is collated regarding their satisfaction. Pre and post inspections are also carried out to gauge the nature of repair required and tenant satisfaction.

Members raised the following questions:

·         How do you know you are getting value for money by using small, locally based companies as opposed to national companies?

·         What impact does anti-social behaviour have on repair bills in communal areas such as lifts and door entry systems?

·         Why is the satisfaction rate for repairs lower?

·         What incentive do you give residents to report on repairs and their level of satisfaction?

·         How many members of staff specifically deal with repairs, at your call centre?

·         How satisfied are tenants with your ‘out of hours’ call out service?

In response Andrea Baker said:

·         The procurement process is key and the general builders contact went out to tender. If there was a significant difference between national and local contractors we would challenge that. We know we are getting value for money, as we have local contactors providing local employment and offering apprenticeships.

·         Repairs to communal areas are carried  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.1

There was no other business discussed.