Repairs and maintenance of our council owned homes
A position statement about the continued impact to our tenants as a result of the demobilisation of former contractor (Kier Group) and mobilisation of new contractor (Ian Williams Ltd).
Background
The purpose of the repairs and maintenance service is to provide a responsive repairs and maintenance service to our Council tenants that ensures the safety and quality of their homes. The outcomes we aim to achieve is an effective customer service, flexible appointment system and remedial works completed in a timely manner avoiding future unplanned failures.
The final year of the former repairs contract, 2023/24, brought significant challenges to operational service delivery that directed impacted tenants. The Council wrote to all tenants informing them of the challenges experienced and the plans to address those challenges. The council redistributed works orders to a range of alternative contractors to minimise that impact. This approach did result in some further delays. This resulted in a number of legacy works, a list of work not completed by the time the contract ended, on 31 March 2024. These legacy works are considered to be planned and not emergency works.
The transition to a new responsive repairs contract. contractor and mobilisation, has taken time to establish effective operational. Both the Council and our contractors acknowledge that we are not yet fully providing the services we would like to, but are committed to working together to improve that service to all our tenants.
Tenants were kept informed throughout the 2023/24 challenges and alternative arrangements, involved in the procurement process, and since been informed of new contract expectations.
Implications and considerations
Housing standards
The maintenance of the housing stock is a key requirement to meet the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. An emergency repairs service has been maintained throughout.
Wellbeing
Fully acknowledging quality and maintained homes support a whole households wellbeing, and how individual needs can differ. Tenants, and their households circumstances, needs and vulnerabilities are taken into account to minimise disturbance.
New contract
One of the initial challenges faced was the practical transition from the previous contractor, which required handover and continuity of services. This was managed by Ian Williams Limited through a comprehensive mobilisation and Handover Plan: Ensuring all ongoing repair requests and maintenance schedules were transferred without disruption. The provision on emergency and routine repairs has continued through this transition, but acknowledge some routine repairs have been impacted by resource issues detailed below.
Legacy works
Initially there were nearly 2000 outstanding jobs, these have been reduced to 86, they have been issued to contractors and are programmed to be completed, all tenants should have received confirmation from the appointed contractor.
Current work in progress
As the outgoing contractor had scaled back their delivery of repairs towards the end of the contract. This resulted in an increased volume of repairs reported to the new contractor in the 6 months of the new contract. The level of resources transferred to the new contractor was below the level required to maintain this increased volume of repairs, therefore needing additional resources to be recruited. We summarise the current position below.
Current repairs position
| Position of repairs | Number of repairs |
|---|---|
| Repairs completed up to 13 February 2025 | 8563 |
| Repairs overdue less than 3 months | 181 |
| Repairs overdue 3 to 6 months | 166 |
| Repairs overdue 6 to 12 months | 51 |
| Repairs overdue more than 12 months | 86 |
| Repairs ongoing in target | 992 |
Assurance
Legacy works
All urgent repairs have been made safe, or subject to a temporary repair with an agreed follow on repair outstanding to fully remedy the fault. Both the Council and our contractors have tried to keep tenants informed, and prioritised in accordance with any known vulnerabilities. However, we recognise more could have been done to ensure individual tenants have been proactively contacted. The remaining 86 items of work have been issued, and programmed to complete by 30 April 2025.
Current work in progress
We have an agreed contract governance arrangement in place with our contactor. Through this we ensure any repairs that are out of target completion dates are discussed to ensure there is a plan in place. Our contractor Ian Williams Ltd have already increased their direct labour from 11 to 17, and are committed to any further additional resources that may be identified to address current work in progress and the ongoing newly reported repairs. This is through a combination of direct and sub-contract resources.
Emergency repairs
The performance on emergency repairs has been a key focus of the contract with the aim that all properties are visited within the required 24 hours, performance is summarised below:
| KPI | Target | Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of emergencies attended within 24 hour target | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Percent of emergencies completed within 24 hours | N/A | 98% | 99% | 98.3% |
| Percent of emergency repairs | 15% | 19.7% | 25.3% | 26.7% |
| Percent of routine repairs | 85% | 80.2% | 74.7% | 65.7% |
| Percent of overall job completions within target | 97% | 93% | 88% | 89% |
Next steps
Monthly review
The number of outstanding repairs and completed works will be reviewed at the monthly contract governance meeting to ensure remedial plans are effective in reducing the outstanding work.
Communication
Tenants who are impacted by the outstanding repairs will be contacted direct either by letter, telephone or email to be kept informed on anticipated timescales In January our contractor met with the council’s Tenant Liaison Panel to review progress to date, and plans going forward.
Alternative delivery
Through the Governance Meetings where works are needed in specific timescales and they cannot be accommodated through the repairs contract then a temporary agreement is in place for alternative contractors to be appointed to reduce the impact on our tenants.
Further information
To find out more about the Regulator for Social housing, visit the GOV.UK website.
To learn more about Consumer Standards Safety and Quality, visit the GOV.UK website. This standard sets out the requirements in relation to ensure homes are safe and good quality.
Document information
- Prepared by: Property Services Manager
- Version number: 1
- Publication locations: Corporate website
- Date prepared: 28 February 2025
- Review date: September 2025
- Publication date: March 2025