Presentation to the Members.
Minutes:
At the request of the Committee, the Director of Property Services, Homes & Housing gave a presentation on the Housing Capital Programme & Contractor Performance.
Members were informed that since the release of the performance table, two of the contractors had not been offered new decent homes contracts.
The presentation detailed the following as the programme context of the housing capital programme.
That the Capital Programme 2014 – 15 was in a second and final year of the programme to deliver decent homes from the decent homes grant.
The Committee were informed that at the completion of the 2014/15 programme, the decent homes grant would result in a level of 97% decency council homes.
The programme had so far achieved:
· Spent £38,719,000 in the last 3 years on decent homes works;
· 4,567 homes now comply with standard; and
· £33,058,868 had been spent on “other” projects.
The Director of Property Services, Homes & Housing informed the Committee that the 2014 programme was £44.86m in value with the following allocations
– £34.6m Decent Homes (inc £23m grant);
– £4.26m of upkeep works; and
– £6.0m of improvements/remodelling and development works
While the 2013/14 programme had been £33.5m in value with the following allocations
– £26.9m Decent Homes (inc £15m grant);
– £4.71m of upkeep works; and
– £1.89m of improvements/remodelling and development works
The Committee were informed that the programme content to be delivered included:
• Decent Homes - kitchens, bathrooms, windows, roofs etc.;
• Large scale projects – Non Traditional Houses/ Napier & New Plymouth;
• Flats Above Shops – first steps towards addressing issues with these blocks;
• New Build programme – match funding, “change of use” projects; and
• Investment & Upkeep – major voids, aids and adaptations, structural repairs etc.
The Director of Property Services, Homes & Housing informed the committee that the arrangement to select contractors for the programme was governed by the delivery strategy and approved by Cabinet in February 2013 following the return of council homes from the Almo.
Members were informed that the services made an emphasis for local companies and local supply chain to be involved in the delivery of the decent homes programme.
The presentation detailed the following issues and performances of the four contractors on the programme.
• Had problems during 2013/14 with particular contractors;
• Dissatisfaction expressed by Leaseholders relating to section 20 process;
• Detailed assessment undertaken to understand reasons so remedies could be implemented;
• The service focused on ensuring a positive outcome for residents with concerns;
• Many of the issues related to the Kitchen and Bathroom replacement contracts;
• These contracts represented 25% of the programme by value and 40% by the number of units involved;
• Five contractors were involved with various allocations awarded;
• Involved a range of dissatisfaction issues;
• Failure to adhere to agreed time scales for works;
• Poor quality of finishing;
• Lack of respect to residents;
• Inability to communicate with residents; and
• Failure to keep promises to rectify problems in a timely manner.
The Committee were informed that the following actions was taken to bring matters to conclusion for residents by the service and bring contractual pressure on the contractors, these were:
• Issued Contract Default Notices to Lakehouse and Wates;
• Ceased using Morrison Partnership for these works (as contract was coming to an end)
• Conducted face to face meetings with senior officials of Wates and Lakehouse and expressed service dissatisfaction in the strongest terms;
• Instructed the provision of corrective action plans from Lakehouse and Wates;
• Increased the levels of supervision associated with the Kitchen and Bathroom contracts by employing an additional Clerk of Works to focus on work in progress inspections;
• Directed all Resident Liaison Officer (RLO) resources onto the issues with Lakehouse and Wates and daily site tours were conducted to locations where correction works are taking place;
• Reiterated to residents with issues with any contractor to contact the Capital Works Team if the contractors RLO’s failed to keep their undertakings;
• Formally instructed the LHC to suspend Lakehouse and Wates from working on any frameworks for LB Havering;
• Established a “service desk” for aspects associated with progress or other issues with the programme;
• Used our case tracking system which does not conclude a case until a resident confirms matters have been addressed;
• Revisited s20 notifications to leaseholders and clarified position. Standard letters had since been re-worded;
• Reviewed all aspects of contracting process, including
• Contract documentation – specifications and requirements were clear and unambiguous;
• Supervision – regular progress meetings held and dedicated on site supervision present;
• Contractor selection criteria – governed by Contract Procedure Rules.
Members were informed that since the release of the performance table, two of the contractors had not been offered new decent homes contracts.
The Director of Property Services explained that the outstanding 3% of homes was proposed to be brought to decent homes standard under the 2015/16 HRA Capital Works budget.
The Committee was also informed that in order to maintain these homes as decent homes, the service was adopting the decent homes standard guidance in order to gauge the lifespan of installed kitchens and windows.
The Director of Property Services was requested to provide the committee with a breakdown Contractor Performances & activities and an analysis of dissatisfaction relating to each contractor.
The Committee noted the presentation.