Agenda item

6.1

The Committee received a report of the Head of Neighbourhood Services, which provided an update on the Housing+ service provided to Council Housing tenants across the City.

6.2

Present for this item were Councillor Tony Downing (Cabinet Adviser for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety), Bev Mullooly (Head of Neighbourhood Services) and Peter Brown (Project Manager – Future of Council Housing).

6.3

The report was introduced by Bev Mullooly who made particular reference to the account taken of Committee Members’ comments from the previous update given at the Committee’s April 2017 meeting, the development of Housing+ and performance management.  She also commented on work being undertaken on anti-social behaviour, rents, the impact of Universal Credit and referrals. 

6.4

Members made various comments and asked a number of questions to which responses were provided as follows:-

·                In relation to the offer to tenants of an annual visit, it was recognised that some tenants needed support, whilst with others there may be a need to be more assertive, where entry to a property was necessary, e.g. in cases of damage to the property.    

·                A total of 18,000 visits had been offered, with 12,000 tenants taking up the option of a visit from their Neighbourhood Officer.

·                Neighbourhood Officers had been issued with phablets on which they could make appointments and send emails, but some staff preferred to use smartphones.

·                The Customer Relationship Management system, which was used in Customer Service, including the Call Centre and the Housing and Neighbourhoods Service, would be upgraded and  improve the service delivered to tenants.

·                In relation to complaints of anti-social behaviour, staff would try to resolve issues before getting involved in the legal process, as this could often involve a lengthy procedure.  There was also a training issue, in that staff needed to be given the confidence to set out what could be done and manage expectations. 

·                Feedback had been obtained on the staff training which had been undertaken and best practice was shared.  The approach to training may differ in different areas and it was thought that the performance management system would help in identifying officers where training and support was required.

·                The Neighbourhood Teams worked closely with the Income Management and Financial Inclusion Unit on the planning for  the introduction of Universal Credit.  In addition, the service would attempt to mitigate any resulting rent arrears, which may include the provision of budgetary and debt advice to tenants.

·                The level of rent arrears stood at about £11 million and this was on target.  The approach was to provide support to tenants, in the shape of advice on benefits, money and debt and the maximisation of income and benefits.  However, if a tenant wouldn’t pay, then the Council would take recovery action, including pursuing the legal process.

·                Councillor Jayne Dunn (Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety) had set up a Member Task and Finish Group to look at the Allocation Policy.  This would include age redesignation, but if there were complaints in relation to this, then they would be managed.

·                The Housing and Neighbourhoods Service Service was working closely with the Police to provide appropriate support in relation to anti-social behaviour complaints, which would hopefully lead to better outcomes.

·                Support should be provided to tenants who were experiencing  anti-social behaviour, and Bev Mullooly asked Committee Members to let her know of any cases where this was not happening.

·                The information contained in the report would be updated to include both figures and percentages.

·                In relation to the legal process, it was felt that the Council did sometimes take a risk averse approach, but it should be recognised that, to pursue legal action, evidence would be needed to prove that there had been a breach of the tenancy conditions.  However, this evidence gathering was improving due to joint working with the Police.

·                Progress on referrals to agencies would be checked and, if the referral had been unsuccessful, then the matter would be escalated.  In making referrals, officers needed to be mindful of demand on the services they were referring to, e.g. Mental Health. 

·                There were always opportunities for staff to apply for other posts in the service to assist their professional and career development, and there was the possibility of redeployment if staff were felt to be unsuitable for any particular post.

·                At the request of Members, officers would look at some form of recognition for model tenants and also encourage the sharing of skills, e.g. to improve gardens, and this may also help in reducing social isolation.

·                In relation to the Under-Occupancy (Bedroom Tax) Provisions,  the service worked with tenants on rehousing, particularly if there were rent arrears involved.

·                Officers would work with the Communications Team to consider how to publicise good news stories on Council Estates.

·                Tenants wanted the Neighbourhood Officers to be approachable and officers needed to build up a rapport with them and be given the tools to enable them to do this.  It should be noted that some good relationships had been established with vulnerable tenants.

·                There was always a natural turnover of staff at Neighbourhood Officer level and this was positive, as there were development opportunities for staff with the skills.  Since the introduction of Housing+, there had been no increase in staff turnover at this level.

6.5

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       thanks Councillor Tony Downing (Cabinet Adviser for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety), Bev Mullooly (Head of Neighbourhood Services) and Peter Brown (Project Manager – Future of Council Housing) for their contribution to the meeting;

(b)       notes the contents of the report and responses to questions;

(c)        welcomes plans for staff training to help them deal with anti-social behaviour and improve the quality of evidence and hopes that this develops and looks forward to receiving details of progress at a future Committee meeting;

(d)       reminds Committee Members of the opportunity for them to shadow Housing+ officers to further their understanding of the service; and

(e)       requests that:-

(i)          officers give consideration as to how good news stories can be communicated;

(ii)         information on exclusions, closures and evictions, including the costs of these, be sent to the Policy and Improvement Officer for circulation to Committee Members;

(iii)       details of the position on arrears, particularly in relation to the approach to the ‘Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay’ split, be sent to the Policy and Improvement Officer for circulation to Committee Members;

(iv)       the initial findings of the University of Sheffield’s study on the ‘Tenant Perspective on the Impact of Housing+’ be sent to the Policy and Improvement Officer for circulation to Committee Members; and

(v)         officers give consideration to the wording of the letter of offer of an annual visit to tenants by a Neighbourhood Officer, particularly in relation to giving the tenant the option to refuse such a visit.