Agenda item

That the report be received.          

The Head of Housing introduced a report for the Committee to note and consider the 2013/14 Mid Year Service Performance Report produced under the adopted business model of the Council.  Members were also asked to comment on the new approach to performance reporting. 

            She gave a short presentation on the performance within Housing Services, and circulated a benchmarking report comparing housing performance to other landlords and outlining work which had been undertaken to improve performance and areas where improvement was needed, as outlined within the report. 

            In response to a question from the Chairman about Disabled Facilities Grants, the Housing Renewal Manager said that work was being undertaken to speed up the process which could include strengthening the process so that Occupational Therapy assessments were only undertaken where necessary.  The average number of days for DFGs in Flintshire was 177 days compared to the national average across Wales of 271 days. 

            The Head of Housing highlighted page 104 where it was reported that the Housing Renewal Service had now completed the full accreditation process and had been awarded the Customer Service Excellence Standard award.  The comment from the assessors had been included in the report and included the comments that “FlintshireCounty Council Housing Renewal Service is a service that provides high levels of customer service.  There was evidence that the Housing Renewal Service is committed and inspired in delivering the best possible customer experience”.  She said that the service should be proud of the achievement and added that other services were being identified to go through the accreditation process. 

            Councillor Alison Halford congratulated the Head of Housing for the report and in referring to page 95 and the section on Gas Servicing and No Access, queried why tenants had not allowed access to their properties.  In response, the Housing Asset Manager said that since the report had been written the percentage of gas servicing carried out had increased to 98.8%.  This had been as a result of staff working longer hours and offering appointments on Saturday mornings.  The process of the number of times that a property was visited was to be reviewed to get to the end stage quicker.  Work was also ongoing with the Neighbourhood Housing Management and a Housing Association had been visited to establish whether their working practices could improve the situation in Flintshire.  On the issue of why tenants did not permit access, the Head of Housing said that some tenants may be working but others did not want to permit access due to issues with their tenancy.  She reminded Members that the Council had a legal responsibility to undertake the gas servicing.  Councillor Halford suggested that an update be provided to a future meeting of the Committee and that this be included in the Forward Work Programme. 

            In referring to page 98 and the section on Supporting People, Councillor Alison Halford asked if the funding had been reduced and what problems this would present.  The Community Support Services Manager said that there were planned ongoing reductions but there were plans in place to undertake a lean approach without reducing the services provided at the moment. 

            Councillor George Hardcastle raised concern about the outturn of 36.11 days for the average number of days all homeless households spent in Bed and Breakfast (B&B) accommodation.  The Community Support Services Manager explained that alternative options were being considered and that future reports would highlight the number of people who did not have to use B&B. 

            Councillor Halford praised the Housing Renewal Service for the Excellence award and congratulated the team on achieving it.  She referred to the section on Gypsies and Travellers on page 103 and asked whether the officer working group that had been established was to take forward the regional needs assessment work.  She also asked for an update on the proposed improvements at the Riverside site in Queensferry.  The Chairman invited the Housing Strategy Manager to the table.  The Housing Strategy Manager said that the group were considering issues relating to Gypsies and Travellers including unauthorised encampments and the better co-ordination of actions for their future needs.  Any issues or concerns could also be fed through to the Regional Group for further discussion.  On the issue of Riverside, he said that information from Natural Resources Wales had been sought.  A planning application for the expansion of the site was being prepared and this would be submitted as soon as it was available.  Work was also being undertaken with Highways on the existing access on to the A494 and it had been identified that the neighbouring scrap yard was to close so this would reduce the number of vehicles using the access; it was felt that the Riverside site would have a lower level of traffic movement than the scrap yard.  The cabinet Member for Housing said that the issue of the A494 could be addressed in the North East Wales Transport Strategy.  Councillor Ron Davies felt that the access onto the A494 was dangerous and that the alternative access into Pentre should be considered. 

            The Head of Housing introduced Simon Abbot to the Committee and explained that he had prepared the performance report and the Benchmarking Information which had been circulated to Members.  She asked the Committee to acknowledge the work that he had undertaken. 

RESOLVED:

That the report be received.