Issue - meetings

To provide a progress update on the Ad Hoc Scrutiny Panel Residential Stock Health and Safety Compliance report and recommendations.   

Contact: Naz Parkar, Service Director, Homes and Neighbourhoods and Martin Cooke, Interim Head of Assets and Building Safety

Cllr Moses Crook, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Highways, introduced the item, advising that the report provides an update on progress to date against the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Scrutiny Panel’s health and safety compliance report and recommendations to Cabinet from December 2022.  The report has been brought to both the Homes and Neighbourhoods Improvement Board and to Cabinet in September and October 2023, with both agreeing to the officer recommendations going forward.  Of the 17 recommendations made by the ad hoc panel:

-          two are completed

-          six are identified as continuous ongoing issues and are now included as part of best practice

-          nine are assessed to be at 50% progress to completion or better

Cllr Crook informed the Panel that the improved recommendation is that, less frequent but regular reporting to the Building Safety Assurance Board is now needed in order to provide ongoing assurance since the change and good practice is now embedded.  It is positive to have the alignment between the cross party Homes and Neighbourhoods Improvement Board, officers and Cabinet especially in light of the regulators recent finding.  The response needed requires working together constructively across the whole Council to drive improvement and to demonstrate and ensure safety of tenants is and remains collectively the highest priority.

Naz Parkar, Service Director for Homes and Neighbourhoods informed the Panel of some of the key achievements since the Ad Hoc Scrutiny Panel, took its recommendations to Cabinet in December 2022.  For the last 12 months there has been focus ensuring that there is a system of safety, and a fire safety system matrix has been put in place, the recommendation from the ad hoc panel has now been completed.  As part of that work, focus has been on the management plans for fire safety, asbestos, and lifts, with a review of where things were with gas safety  and electricity checks as that is a well-managed risk within the Council.

In March 2024, Cabinet approved the Fire Safety Management Plan, and work is being undertaken to ensure that the process the policy relates to, is robust, particularly in the current context as part of the regulators notice to improve the way fire safety is managed.

There has been good progress ensuring that the processes and the data that falls out of those processes is currently being finalised before being embedded in the teams, ensuring there is training, communication and a good operation of that new management plan.  The Asbestos Plan is ready, as is the lift plan which will need to go to Cabinet for approval.

With regard to the asset system implementation, work is currently being undertaken on implementing the housing management system which has been slightly delayed, and Cabinet approved the revised strategy for the delivery of that.  That will be the master system for all the homes and neighbourhoods activity and holds unique reference points for all asset data.  This needs to be implemented first before scoping out the requirements for the asset  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7