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DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 1
Ealing HomesDraft findings – Repairs and Maintenance
Debby Ounsted
Lee Banfield
HQN
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 2
Ground rules
What we see is what you get
Staff have been honest
There has been no varnish
We are here to help you to identify areas for improvement
We must be rigorous Offer praise where it is due
Criticise where it is necessary
Motivate you to improve
Help you prioritise
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 3
How has inspection changed?
Tougher on both judgements – some KLOEs revised
Value for money – increasingly important Evidence of impact required for two stars Progress against previous inspections Piloting approach to unannounced inspections Need to keep up with current changes, eg,
digital TV, smoking ban Approach and methodology remains the same Look out for changes:
New personnel New initiatives – unannounced inspections
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 4
8
Poor Fair Good Excellent
Excellent
Promising
Uncertain
Poor
Prospects for improvement?
A good service?
Putting things into perspective – ALMO ratings under the star system as of October 2007
34
11
7
6
3
51
1
5
1
1
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 5
Overview
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 6
Our judgement
Three stars will be hard to achieve A lot will depend on repairs Strong on resident involvement but things need to bed
down and show evidence of influence and impact ASB – a great service There has been progress but perception of not keeping
up the pace Progress against previous AC recommendations –
disappointing There are quick wins – particularly in income
management The challenges:
Value for money Sheltered housing Relationship and effective working with the Council Estate services Performance management, information and monitoring External perception – customers and stakeholders
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 7
Focus groups
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 8
Organisation and observations
Four groups, mixed attendance (could be better), afternoon/evening poor attendance – morning seem more popular
Well organised, vouchers and expenses paid at time Good mix of BME, ages Perception that customers are a little detached – not
accessing many services other than repairs (source of the recruitment?):
Not really aware of housing officers and what they do Don’t recognise job title but even when other titles used they are
not aware of the role and who does what Feeling that service has slipped backwards – hopeful of more
Some groups were dominated by very negative people
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 9
Key points made
Minor repairs quick but anything that costs money takes a lot longer
Surveyors never turn up – always excuses why they were late, no shows, never apologise
Poor condition of homes – old and need modernisation thought ALMO would help but not delivering
Where new kitchens and bathrooms fitted – all done well and satisfactory
Repairs appointments 8-1/1-6pm and they do turn up, workmen ok
Main issues of inconsistency, having to chase on everything
Newsletters and magazines – not clear if these are Ealing Homes or Council, information not clear on who to go to for what and where
None had made formal complaints and did not know how/who to/what process was
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 10
Maintenance
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 11
National drivers – Repairs and maintenance
Statutory and regulatory requirements
Decent Homes standard
Construction task force: procurement and partnering
Gas safety
Communities plan
Gershon review
Comprehensive spending review (efficiency savings)
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 12
Access, customer care and user focus – What the inspectors will be looking for
Equality of access to service
Flexible operating hours
Staff with user focus
Easy to report repairs
Uses IT effectively
Extensive range of information
Good arrangements for inspections
Canvasses tenants views and uses them to ratchet up performance
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 13
Service delivery – What the inspectors will be looking for
Financially resourced plans for regular regimes of planned and preventative maintenance that support service delivery objectives
An effective and flexible responsive repairs and void service
Clear service standards Procedures which ensure tenants receive a
consistent service
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 14
Resident involvement – What the inspectors are looking for
Involvement of residents in: Shaping the service Agreeing priorities Setting standards Contractor/consultant/supplier selection Monitoring budgets and performance Project/service reviews
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 15
Customer satisfaction – What the inspectors are looking for
Valid methods of seeking, capturing and reviewing satisfaction information across all maintenance activities
Evidence of how feedback is being used to improve the service
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 16
Continuous improvement and performance management – What the inspectors are looking for
Regular reviews of service delivery targets Procurement arrangements that encourage the
‘ratcheting up’ of contractor performance Use of benchmarking to identify potential areas for
improvement Robust and systematic approach to collecting and
measuring outcomes against statutory and local targets
Performance targets that cover the short, medium and long term
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 17
Around 18,126 properties in management September 2007
4,946 leaseholder units 68 properties void for major improvement
works 15 units delayed letting due to asbestos 10 units held for decanting purposes DHS failure 40% plus Eight key estates with no future plan in place
Context
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 18
Access, customer care and user focus – Strengths
The repairs handbook has repair diagrams There are a variety of ways tenants can report repairs
including freephone number, writing, via the internet and on site with officers
Phone calls are effectively monitored at the call centre
Appointments are arranged at point of contact for repairs and pre inspections
Estate surgeries undertaken by repair contractors Flag used for a variety of issues such as gas
servicing, warranties, adapted properties and investment programmes
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 19
Access, customer care and user focus – Strengths …(cont’d)
There is an operative code of conduct
Handy person service for communal areas
Handy hints section in repairs handbook
There is flexibility in the prioritisation of repairs for elderly and vulnerable
‘Repairs locator’ in use
Performance is fed back through the newsletter and tenants’ groups
Complaints on repairs 259 (1%) in first half of year
Problematic contact centre calls go through an escalation process
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 20
Chasing calls with call centre are around 30% for repairs and our feedback from customers also indicated this was an issue for them
Repair priorities are not challenging at 24 hours for emergencies, three and seven working days for urgent and 28 working days for routine
The out of hours service is not seamless to the day time number
The customer satisfaction procedure was due to be reviewed in 2006 but has not been undertaken
There is little evidence that satisfaction survey responses are robustly used to shape and improve services
Access, customer care and user focus – Weaknesses
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 21
Take steps to reduce the level of calls chasing repairs
Review the repair priorities to ensure they are challenging
Take steps to make the out of hours service seamless to the day time service
Ensure the satisfaction procedure is reviewed as a matter of some urgency
Ensure satisfaction surveys are uniform and used effectively across all service areas to improve delivery
Access, customer care and user focus – Recommendations
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 22
Aids and adaptations – Strengths
Generally aids and adaptations responsibility of LBE
EH now has two OTs
Aids and adaptations work linked to DHS
Service promoted in newsletters, leaflet and on DHDS site inspections
Post inspections 100%
RLOs involved in process
Choice offered in line with DHS
Adapted properties and aids recycled
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 23
Budget for adaptations provision out of DHS/planned
No service specific satisfaction survey
Back log of 160 OT visits
Recommendations
Establish a budget for adaptations within the DHS works and monitor spend to homes in this area
Undertake a service specific satisfaction survey
Take steps to reduce the back log of homes and customers requiring an OT assessment
Aids and adaptations – Weaknesses
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 24
Responsive repairs – Strengths
Repairs can be reported in a number of way including via the web site with ‘interfinder’
There is a freephone number for day time reporting
‘Repairs locator’ is used
Flexible appointments made for repairs and inspections
Appointments made and kept are 98.1% with a target of 97%
Pre inspections repairs are measured from the date reported by the tenant
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 25
Responsive repairs – Strengths …(cont’d)
Written satisfaction survey undertaken with a 11.4% response sent with repair receipt
91% satisfaction 2006/07 (see weaknesses)
There is a contractor code of conduct in place
Repairs completed first visit are around 98.1% with 97% target
Composite rates are used in the SOR process
Estate walkabouts used to identify repairs
Parking permits for staff and operatives
Right to repairs are achieving 97% on time
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 26
The out of hours service is not seamless to the general repairs number
Repair priorities not challenging and measured in working days
There are high levels of emergency are high at around 28.57% with emergency and urgent combined at 49.40%
The levels of pre and post inspections are not effectively monitored (16.73% post inspection but arrived late)
54.44% of repairs resulted in a variation order (VO) 2006/07
Satisfaction is not monitored against ethnicity and vulnerability though the data is gathered
Responsive repairs – Weaknesses
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 27
Repairs performance 2006/07
Priority Timescale Target Performance (general
needs)
Emergency 24 hours 95% 94.78%
Urgent Five/seven
working days 95% 96.85%
Routine28 working
days 95% 95.85%
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 28
Review the out of hours service telephone provision to make seamless to the day time number
Review repair priorities to make more challenging
Take steps to reduce the level of emergency and urgent repairs to 10% for emergency and 30% for emergency and urgent combined
Effectively monitor the service in terms of pre and post inspections and satisfaction against ethnicity and vulnerability
Responsive repairs – Recommendations
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 29
Maintenance of empty properties – Strengths
Void properties are inspected in around 24 hours and made secure
Void security is assessed against risk
Inspections made by contractors and monitored by EH
Target for repairs are set against value (see weaknesses)
Average repair time 11.5 days (relet target 26.5)
Average void cost £773
The lettable standard has been set with customers and provided at offer stage
Progress and performance meetings are held with the contractor (see weaknesses)
All locks are changed to void properties
Gas is capped on all void properties
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 30
Maintenance of empty properties – Strengths …(cont’d)
Multi skilling is used on void works Incentives are used to hand properties back in good
condition Post let satisfaction surveys are undertaken Welcome packs and air fresheners are provided but the air
fresheners left sealed in pack Local information is shown on advertisements (not in
welcome pack) Decoration of homes are undertaken for elderly or
vulnerable Decoration vouchers with local supplier (how easy is
access?) Post inspection 100% but both contractor and EH are
undertaking London void meetings attended
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 31
Empty property reality checks
Three properties ready to let were visited
The properties inspected did not meet the lettable standard
All properties had been fully decorated using wall paper
Mail left in properties
Floors not dirty
Sinks not cleaned
Cigarette but left on floor in one home
Washer waste not sealed
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 32
Empty property reality checks …(cont’d)
Spare parts to kitchen fittings and mail left in kitchen drawers
One welcome pack left in rear bedroom behind net curtain
Rubbish from an external repairs contract left in a rear garden
External gully with old debris in it
One property had the kitchen and bathroom extended under DHS works to provide circulation space
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 33
Maintenance of empty properties – Weaknesses
Targets for repairing voids are set against value only in procedures with no guidance on adjusting for high cost low work jobs
Housing management do not meet with repairs team to discuss priorities and progress
Major voids (DHS) average turn round 89.6 days
Suited of keys were used by one contractor but neither use now
None of the homes visited were well prepared and cleaned
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 34
Maintenance of empty properties – Recommendations
Review the targets for completion of void works based on value and level of works needed
Ensure housing management are effectively involved in meetings considering performance and priorities
Take steps to reduce the time taken to undertake major void works
Consider the use of suited locks or key safes to void properties
Robustly prepare and present homes for letting
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 35
Gas servicing – Strengths
Gas servicing is a three-star contract
Access begins 35 days before the CP12 expiry
First appointment visit 21 days before expiry
Translations are used on the final warning letter
Photographs taken of tape warning on door
Progress is monitored through electronic data transfer
Housing management become involved in the access procedure to take court action
Vulnerability is checked before court action commences
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 36
Gas servicing – Strengths …(cont’d)
An audit of gas servicing is undertaken non technical (4%)
A satisfaction survey is undertaken with 4% audit
Monthly monitoring meetings are held with contractors
Boiler information returned by contractor
Incentives for allowing access first appointment
Early evening and Saturday morning appointments
Outstanding gas servicing flagged
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 37
Gas servicing – Strengths …(cont’d)
There is an approach to deal with persistent offenders
Areas will be ‘blitzed’ with team evenings and weekends
Data from contractors downloaded twice weekly (IT problem)
Gas servicing is reported to board Three year checks undertaken on blocks with
no gas supply
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 38
Gas servicing – Reality checks
12,685 properties to service annually
CP12 stored electronically in two formats
The oldest last serviced on 10 November 2004
Currently 871 (14.87%) properties with no valid CP12
One property without gas servicing records from 2003, void from 2005, let 1 October 2007, CP12 (new system 17 July 2007) had to be faxed from contractor and no post let check certificate provided
Appointments made for initial visit and date recorded to EH
Evidence that not all visit dates are provided to EH in data transfer
Problems with IT not allowing data transfer
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 39
Gas servicing – Weaknesses
The timescales that are in the procedure are not robustly followed
Court action is not robustly taken to ensure access
Smoke alarms are not checked
Importance of gas servicing not set out in repairs handbook
There is an IT problem with the data transfer link
No ten year electrical testing in place
CP12s do not have full postal address
The level of gas responsive performance not be easily provided
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 40
Gas servicing – Recommendations
Effectively follow the timescales set within the access procedure
Take effective court action to enable access to properties for gas servicing
Take steps to check the effectiveness of smoke alarms
Promote the importance of gas servicing in the repairs handbook
Resolve the problems with the data transfer Introduce a ten-year programme of electrical testing Ensure all CP12s are accurately and fully completed Effectively monitor performance of the responsive
heating contract
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 41
Asbestos – Strengths
Asbestos procedures in place
An asbestos register
Asbestos awareness training provided to staff and operatives (see weaknesses)
Pre work inspections for asbestos are undertaken on planned, cyclical, void works and adaptations
Location of asbestos in variant properties is provided to operatives (see weaknesses)
Advice on asbestos is on the website but there is no leaflet
Asbestos effectively flagged where known
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 42
Asbestos – Weaknesses
Not all staff have had asbestos awareness training Data is not held against all common areas but being
gathered No asbestos leaflet for customers
Recommendations Ensure all relevant staff have undertaken asbestos
awareness training who may come into contact or provide advice on the matter
Ensure as a matter of some urgency that data is held against all common areas
Introduce an information leaflet for customer concerning asbestos
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 43
How is VfM managed? Weaknesses
Procurement strategy and asset management strategy are both at the end of their three year horizon (2005-2007):
New one in draft (include this in the documentation next time)
Have all actions been achieved?
Capital programme has 15% overspend last year after a 1.5% overspend in the previous year – what are the underlying causes and are they being resolved?
Mid-year (2007/08) £1m budget cut for response repairs (to balance HRA) – how has this outcome been managed for tenants?
Rechargeable repairs are raised however £25k in 2006/07 and £7k to date (Aug07) suggest a lack of diligence and tenacity in the process
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 44
How is VfM managed? Response repairs budget
Budget code 154415 above has almost doubled in actual expenditure – who were the winners and losers in this result?
Was this spending procured cost effectively? Ie, ordered within the most appropriate open book contract (least profit % for example)
Year Budget Actual Difference
2005/06 £2,263,000 £2,482,357 £219,357
2006/07 £2,207,525 £4,138,144 £1,930,619
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 45
How do costs compare?Housemark HM pay costs per property (exc. overheads)
Sample:2007=85
Rent arrears
Tenancy and estate
Empty properties
Responsive repairs
Major repairs
LettingsRent collection
Total Core
Upper Quartile £45 £74 £20 £68 £37 £12 £2 £314
Median £58 £93 £28 £90 £50 £18 £6 £341
Lower Quartile £68 £110 £37 £112 £74 £25 £12 £414
EH 2006/07 £35 £46 £21 £65 £78 £38 £0 £284
EH2005/06 £53 £43 £18 £62 £71 £25 £2 £274
All London landlords in the sample – top quartile core costs (ranked 11 out of 85)
Lower middle quartile
Upper middle quartileTop quartile
Lower quartile
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 46
Value for money – Strengths
Benchmarking has been undertaken across the London and three-star ALMOs
Limited repairs batching in place Planned/responsive spend around 62%/38%
respectively Spend monitored against a monthly profile Supply chain partnership developed for kitchens,
boilers and door entry systems Funding from power suppliers has been recycled
into insulation works Post contract evaluations undertaken The handy person service is batching communal
repairs
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 47
Value for money – Strengths …(cont’d)
A rebate of £79 received on each new boiler fitted recycled into further heating improvements
Contractor/partners are recycling waste products
We were informed discounts gained off the SOR for voids
Liability warranties flagged on database
Zero defects target with escalation process
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 48
Value for money – Weaknesses
Repairs are not robustly batched and reduced costs achieved
Partnering not well developed across the service
There are high levels of emergency are high at around 28.57% with emergency and urgent combined at 49.40%
54.44% of repairs resulted in a VO 2006/07 Variations allowed up to £250 without
authorisation
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 49
Value for money – Recommendations
Take steps to robustly batch repairs and reduce costs
Develop partnering across the service with incentives to ratchet up performance
Take steps to address the high levels of emergency and urgent repairs
Ensure the level of VOs and the value allowed without authorisation is reduced
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 50
Resident involvement – Strengths
There is an annual tenants conference Choices have been set with customer
involvement Customers have been involved in setting the
lettable standard and in the selection of some contractors
Limited use of tenants (2) in monitoring services, generally staff did not know about them and outcomes from their work not provided
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 51
Resident involvement – Weaknesses
Customers are not robustly involved in the planning, delivery and monitoring in this service area
Recommendations Take steps to more robustly involve customers
in the planning, delivery and monitoring of services
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 52
Equality and diversity – Strengths
Repair priorities are flexible for elderly and vulnerable
Satisfaction survey forms ask diversity Handy person service assisting elderly and
vulnerable with maintenance Language line is used Diversity profile of customers shown on work
orders Welcome pack statement in eight languages
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 53
Equality and diversity – Weaknesses Language flash cards are not used The language skill of staff is not generally known Satisfaction surveys are not robustly monitored against
ethnicity
Recommendations Ensure all staff and contractors use language flash cards
on site Ensure all staff are aware of the available language skills
across the organisation Effectively monitor satisfaction surveys against ethnicity
and the broad customer profile
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 54
Service improvement plan (SIP) in place (see weaknesses)
JPS appraisals in place One to one meetings undertaken Performance is reported to board and gas servicing is
included Quarterly asset meetings for full team and monthly local
team Performance is addressed with contractors at the monthly
core meetings Strategic core group meetings quarterly Annual away day with partners in responsive repairs Zero defects target with escalation process
Continuous improvement and performance management – Strengths
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 55
A suite of KPIs set in partnerships but not incentivised Benchmarking has been undertaken across the London
and three-star ALMOs Involvement in London R&M forum Contractors using local labour and apprentices Pro master is to be implemented to provide greater
reporting in asset management Repairs scrutinised by LBE Toolbox talks are used with operatives by contractors (EH
not robustly involved) Health impact assessment commissioned with positive
findings
Continuous improvement and performance management – Strengths …(cont’d)
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 56
During interviews staff generally did not provide feedback that the organisation is performance driven
Targets are not all challenging (repairs satisfaction target 90% with 91.2% achieved)
Service plans are not SMART, too many actions (RM1) and progress is not clear
Lack of incentives in partnership working The lack of robust resident involvement in planning, delivering
and monitoring service delivery will impact greatly on the ability to continuously improve
Handheld technology not adopted by both responsive repairs partners
Handheld technology not adopted by EH for data collection
Continuous improvement and performance management – Weaknesses
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 57
Effectively embed a performance management ethos within the organisation
Review the targets across the service area and ensure they are challenging to ratchet up performance
Review the service plans to ensure they are SMART and progress clearly monitored and updated
Introduce incentives within partnership working framework to ratchet up performance
Involve customers more robustly in the planning, delivery and monitoring of services
Ensure hand held technology is introduced across partners and staff
Continuous improvement and performance management – Recommendations
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 58
Priorities before September 2008
Develop the wider use of open book accounting and try to introduce some incentives
Introduce handheld technology for data collection by staff and ensure both contractor are using them to increase efficiency
Review the satisfaction survey procedure Review the priorities for responsive repairs Make the out of hours service seamless to the day time Develop a strategy for batched repairs and the reduction of
emergency and urgent repairs Review the post inspection process of voids Take steps to improve the standard of void properties
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 59
Priorities before September 2008 …(cont’d)
Reduce the level of variation orders on responsive repairs and reduce the £250 allowance
Effectively monitor satisfaction against ethnicity and vulnerability Involve tenants in the delivery and monitoring of services Resolve the long standing problems of outstanding CP12 Ensure all CP12s are fully and clearly addressed Introduce a ten-year electrical testing programme Provide residents with a leaflet concerning asbestos Ensure all service plans are SMART and effectively monitored
noting progress Provide staff and contractors with language flash cards and
ensure they know in house language skills Ensure all relevant staff have undertaken asbestos awareness
training
DRAFT REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL 60
Priorities longer term
Increase the involvement of customers at a formative stage in the planning, delivery and monitoring of services
Effectively evidence the reduction of home failing the DHS Resolve the issue of uncertainty on the eight key estates
and undertake works following option appraisals Develop void completion times based on value of works
and the volume of work required Develop an affordable warmth strategy Introduce an overarching procurement strategy Establish supply chain partnering with the involvement of
tenants Take steps to reduce the level of chasing calls from
customers
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