Agenda item

Richard Shwe (Interim Housing Director) will provide a verbal introduction to the Committee.

Before inviting Richard Shwe to speak, the Chair stated the purpose, principal functions, and the role of the Committee.

NOTE: The Chair’s statement is attached as Appendix 1

Richard Shwe (Interim Director of Housing) delivered his introductory remark. He highlighted the top priorities and associated tasks, with a strong focus on fixing repairs as the number one priority.

NOTE: Richard Shwe’s introductory remark is attached as Appendix 2

Councillor Adronie Alford was concerned that the Committee had not received regular updates on repairs and associated improvements as agreed at the beginning of the year and her related questions on the subject were not addressed.  As opposition, she considered it justified for her to hold the Administration to account and to scrutinise related issues, including regular updates on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), a more detailed update on voids, and regular updates on repairs.

The Chair reiterated that the principal functions of the Committee were, inter alia, to make recommendations to the Cabinet, review the impact of decisions, scrutinise policies in the interest of residents and monitor spending rather than reviewing the operational tasks.  The role of the Committee was to monitor the policies and review their implementation. For instance, the Committee would review the void and repair strategies to see how they could be improved. She added that while committing to review the HRA every January, the Committee could always scrutinise the costing behind a housing policy and its impact on the HRA.

Councillor Alford said she intended to find more savings by reviewing the HRA on a regular basis.  She found it disappointing that her requests had not been actioned to by senior officers. Richard Shwe assured members that the Housing team would strive to deliver what he had promised in his introduction. 

Councillor Paul Alexander appreciated that the issue of repairs was given top priority.  He requested awareness be raised to better coordinate between leaseholders and tenants to prevent their conflicting needs from escalating to becoming legal issues. He supported prioritising maintenance, including maintaining the standards for repairs. Councillor Alexander hoped to see that the improvement measures proposed by the senior management would be executed.  He further urged that efforts should be made to resolve the problematic disrepair cases to obviate questioning by the Ombudsman.

Councillor Asif Siddique expressed concern about the circumstances of repairs faced by residents amidst the cost-of-living crisis. He asked whether special strategies/priorities or track system were in place to deal with complaints on the delay of repairs.

Richard Shwe said that the Housing team had looked at the data and were addressing issues directly.  For casework in the pipeline, the best approach was to work with  contractors and fix them before they became a bigger problem. 

Councillor Frances Umeh thanked members for sharing their reflections as well as Richard Shwe for his overview of housing work priorities, specifically the improvements of repairs work. She noted that in addition to improving works, there was a need for making investment in the housing stock which had been left wanting for many years and was aggravated by severe budget cuts over the last 12 years.  She suggested that at the July meeting, the Committee might consider scrutinising the work that had been done with residents to improve housing services.  

Summing up, the Chair said that in face of significant challenges, the Committee would endeavour to scrutinise the housing strategies and policies to make a difference for the residents within the borough.