Board of Management Meeting
6.30pm, Tuesday 24 November 2020
By Video Conference Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020 Agenda
Item Subject Report For Status Page Time 1 Welcome and apologies - 6.30 2 Declarations of interest - 6.31 3 Meeting minutes – 30 September 2020 Decision Public 1 6.32 Board away day notes – 7 November 2020 4 Actions log Discussion Public 9 6.35 5 Chair’s report (Oral Item) Discussion Public - 6.37 6 Managing Director’s report Decision Public 12 6.40 7 Asset management strategy Decision Public 15 6.50 8 FoodBox incorporation proposal Decision Public 42 7.00 9 Regulatory compliance progress report Discussion Public 49 7.10 10 Capital programme report Discussion Public 52 7.20 11 Health and safety report Decision Public 65 7.35 12 Performance report Discussion Public 100 7.50 13 Finance report Discussion Public 117 8.00 14 Transformation programme report Discussion Public 130 8.10 15 Board forward plan Discussion Public 136 8.15 16 Draft Audit committee minutes Discussion Public 137 8.20 17 Any other business - 8.30 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 30 September 2020
Meeting: Board Meeting Date: 30 September 2020 Venue: By Video Conference Present: Aman Dalvi (AD) – Chair, Adzowa Kwabla-Oklikah (AKO), Cllr John Bevan (JB), Cllr Alessandra Rossetti (AR), Cllr Dana Carlin (DC), Ola Akinfe (OA), Andrew Crompton (AC), Paul Rickard (PRi), Edward Robinson (ER), Chris Harris (CH), Jessica McDaid (JM), Tom McGregor (TM), Margaret Morris (MM) Officers in Sean McLaughlin (SM), Puneet Rajput (PR), David Lewis (DL), Tracey Attendance: Downie (TD), Jonathan Gregory (JG), Mark Baigent (MB) Shareholder: David Joyce (DJ) Apologies: None
Item Minutes Action
69/20 Welcome and Apologies
AD welcomed members and resident observers to the meeting. He also welcomed Mark Baigent as Interim Executive Director of Property Services, thanked David Lewis for his valuable work and wished him well in his new role.
There were no apologies for absence.
70/20 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
71/20 Meeting Minutes
In relation to 66/20, providing copies of finance reports to the resident scrutiny panel, AKO clarified that she had intended this to be for the resident cooptee to the Audit and Risk Committee but was happy for all panel members to have the reports. The minutes of the Board meeting held on 28 July 2020 were, otherwise, agreed as a true record of the meeting.
72/20 Actions Log
Questions had been received from the Board and these would be addressed in the meeting where possible and also responded to in writing.
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73/20 Chair’s Report
AD presented a question from a resident at Broadwater Farm – “Does the Board agree that they should reject any charging for estate parking permits given that residents rejected this option in the recent consultation?”
SM explained that this was a decision for the Council and not Homes for Haringey who had provided options, data analysis and stakeholder feedback to the Council for consideration.
A number of leasehold residents from Noel Park had presented a statement setting out concerns about the cost of works to the pods at Noel Park. The statement had been circulated to Board members. AD commented that this matter was not on the agenda for the Board meeting and asked SM to address the concerns raised outside of the SM/AD Board meeting. AD offered to meet with the residents separately to discuss their concerns.
74/20 Managing Director’s Report
SM informed the Board that he had attended an inquest hearing into the death of the child that fell from Stellar House. He would be attending the full hearing scheduled for 30 October. The Board expressed its condolences to the family.
The away day on 7 November would not go ahead as a physical meeting due to increasing risks related to covid-19. The away day would be online for a reduced length of time. Further details would be PR circulated in due course.
75/20 Asset Management Approach
DL presented options for different approaches to asset management. A number of questions had been received from the Board and these were responded to. The Board supported the recommendation for adopting a holistic approach to achieving the Decent Homes Standard by 2025.
The Board was keen to ensure proper oversight and scrutiny of the asset management programme. It requested sight of the programme and for the remit of the property compliance task and finish group to be extended to included oversight of delivery of the asset MB management programme including Decent Homes, major works and capital programme. The Board also requested regular reports on progress to the Board.
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AD thanked DL for his work in taking this forward.
76/20 Property Compliance Report
CH updated the Board on the work of the property compliance task and finish group. Two meetings had taken place so far and the group had gained a better understanding of the issues. The accuracy of data and information had improved as well as levels of compliance and the group felt better assured that actions to address non compliance were being managed effectively. New issues were still being found and there was still more work to be done but the direction of travel was in the right direction. Consideration was being given to a third party audit. AD commented that the Board would need third party assurance at the right time. He thanked the group for their continuing work.
77/20 Estate Parking Report
TD outlined the work underway on behalf of the Council to review the management of estate parking. The Board offered feedback which included: Consideration of parity in parking charges on estates with street properties Consideration of a 24/7 service Ensuring signage is clear and presentable Consideration of exceptions e.g. old aged pensioners and people in poverty Ensuring income receivable from charges is sufficient to properly manage car parking and anti social behaviour Consideration of the impact on carers The manner in which cars are deemed suitable may impact poorer residents General support for Traffic Management Orders but consideration of phasing in the costs
The Board’s feedback would be captured in the final report to Cabinet.
78/20 Performance Report
There were a number of questions from the Board, the responses to which are summarised below.
Confirmation that the new gas capping procedure was being followed and that this was being externally audited. In relation to the contact centre, relationships at managerial level with HfH were better and a new training programme was
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due to commence in October. Covid-19 had impacted performance due to an increase in call volumes. At this stage not all KPIs and targets were not being revised, the focus was on the accompanying narrative. Income collection had, however, been revised. Confirmation that the backlog of fire risk assessments (due to the impact of covid-19) would be cleared by the end of November Confirmation that additional floating support resources were being directed to support people in hostels and hotels.
79/20 Finance Report
PR summarised performance against the company and managed budgets. Questions had been received from the Board and these would be responded to.
80/20 Transformation Programme Report
The transformation programme had commenced and the main highlights were presented to the Board. JB commented that in his discussions with staff they appeared positive about the programme. A draft operating model would be presented to the Board for TD consideration at the next Board meeting.
81/20 Strategic Risks Report
Risk 5 “A failure in continuity and ability to deliver services to an acceptable standard” would be expanded to state “including as a result of covid-19”.
82/20 Board Forward Plan
The plan for 2021 was noted.
83/20 Facilities Management Report
In response to a question from DC, it was confirmed that extra finance would be needed if additional work was required and other issues found. PRi confirmed that he was in regular discussion with Malcolm Peek, Director of Strategic Projects, responsible for the FM service and that these were useful from an oversight perspective.
84/20 Any Other Business
There was no other business.
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The meeting closed at 20:02
Signed: Date:
5 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Strategy Away Day 7 November 2020
Meeting: Board Strategy Away Day Date: 7 November 2020 Venue: By Video Conference Present: Aman Dalvi (AD) – Chair, Adzowa Kwabla-Oklikah (AKO), Tom McGregor (TM), Paul Rickard (PRi), Andrew Crompton (AC), Cllr John Bevan (JB), Cllr Dana Carlin (DC), Cllr Alessandra Rossetti (AR), Edward Robinson (ER) Officers in Sean McLaughlin (SM), Puneet Rajput (PR), Tracey Downie (TD), David Attendance: Sherrington (DS), Denise Gandy (DG), Abigail Reilly (ARe) Apologies: Ola Akinfe (OA), Chris Harris (CH)
Item Notes Action
01 Welcome
AD welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Eamon McGoldrick (EM), Managing Director of the NFA and Chair of the Barnet Group, who would be facilitating the away day.
02 Overview of the External Environment
EM gave an overview of the external operating environment and key policy issues for ALMOs.
The Social Housing White Paper (still expected from government) will place a greater emphasis on resident empowerment and outcomes related metrics. HfH’s response to the policy issues flagged in EM’s presentation SM would be considered by the executive and presented back to the Board in January for further discussion.
03 Improving Strategic Leadership
EM advised of increasing regulation on the horizon in relation to building safety regulation, compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s complaints code and compliance with homelessness requirements from the Local Government and Care Ombudsman. Regulatory engagement would include engagement with the Board and with individual Board members. Strategic leadership from the Board and personal effectiveness of individual Board members was, therefore, important.
AD commented that the role of independent Board members was under considerable scrutiny post Grenfell. A common theme from his appraisal conversations with individual Board members was a need to widen the scope of the Board agenda and the focus of the Board.
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JB suggested that Board members and the executive needed to periodically visit estates. He also suggested having one off training sessions on topical issues. AKO supported the need for access to e- PR learning available in HfH.
PR updated the Board on plans for introducing a new Board portal, access to online training modules and scheduling a series of new Board briefings for 2021.
SM suggested mapping out the key strategic issues and to assess how and where these were being discussed. This would help determine where the ELT Board needed to direct attention and how it could be more strategic.
04 Recasting our Purpose and Values
Vision statement
The existing statement was dated and no longer reflected language used by the Council. The Board was supportive of a revised statement and a discussion took place on what this should comprise. Key points were: Staying aligned with the Council’s objectives for housing and to distinguish within that what HfH exists to do Avoiding excessively lengthy statements Using plain English Ensuring it is pertinent to Haringey Incorporating some perception of the future Capturing the primacy of safe accommodation
Vision
HfH’s vision statement was reviewed and there was consensus for the introduction of a fifth strand to the vision relating to meeting wider community needs. Key points in the discussion were: Developing key success factors for each strand of the vision would help to assess the extent to which the vision was being realised Clarity around elements which overlapped with the ‘care’ strand A need to review the visuals for each strand to ensure the image is appropriate
Values
Proposals to revise HfH’s values were discussed with the Board and there was support for a more outward facing set of values that would better guide the desired actions and behaviours needed from staff. There was support for the suggestions that had been presented. These were considered to be more helpful from a new employee’s perspective.
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ARe confirmed that staff would be involved in refining the values further and conversations were scheduled to take place with groups of staff to determine what the values meant for them from their perspective. This information would be used to develop literature to embed the values at all levels within the organisation.
Business Plan
There was agreement with the Board that the strategic priorities within the current Business Plan overlapped with the five strands of HfH’s vision and that this would create confusion with messaging. The Board, therefore agreed to replace the strategic priorities with the vision strands.
The Board also agreed to adopt a rolling annual plan with annual objectives and to stand down the existing Business Plan.
Further consultation and development of HfH’s vision and values would take place and final proposals would be brought to the Board for ARe approval.
05 Summing up and Close
The half day away day had worked well and AD suggested a follow up session with the Board to discuss the final draft vision and values. SM
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Summary of Decisions 30 September 2020 Agenda Item No Decision Asset management 75/20 Property Compliance Task & Finish Group to maintain oversight of delivery of the asset management programme Strategic risks 81/20 Risk 5 “A failure in continuity and ability to deliver services to an acceptable standard” would be expanded to state “including as a result of covid-19”.
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Action log Date of Agenda Action Action Target Status and comments meeting item owner completion date 30/07/19 Ongoing Council to consider write off of M51 SM TBA An update will be provided at the meeting loan 28/07/20 64/20 30 year investment programme to be DL Nov-20 This will be included in the revised Asset produced Management Strategy and drawn from the Council’s business plan. 30/09/20 73/20 Chair to meet with Noel Park AD TBA An update will be given at the meeting leaseholders 30/09/20 74/20 Details for November away day to be PR Oct-20 Complete circulated 30/09/20 75/20 Property task and finish group to MB Nov-20 This will be incorporated in meetings going maintain oversight of delivery of the forward asset management programme. 30/09/20 80/20 A target operating model to be TD Jan-21 A draft version is currently under review presented to the Board for and will be updated for consultation with consultation the Board at its meeting in January 2021
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Outstanding Board Requests for Action
Date of Agenda Board Request / Action Lead Progress Update Target Meeting Item Date 26/11/19 103/19 A follow up visit to Broadwater Farm by the Chair to DS A visit was to be scheduled in March TBA be scheduled to check on improvement actions. but is postponed for the time as part of Corona virus risk mitigation. 28/01/20 07/20 A schedule of estate walkabouts to be shared with TD A new process was introduced and 30 Nov the Board and a follow up report to be circulated trialled during August, (7 inspections 2020 & setting out how issues identified will be addressed. carried out). This seems to have ongoing worked well and is now being rolled out. The subsequent report is being provided for residents and Councillors (within 2 weeks). We anticipate providing an update within 6 – 8 weeks and a final review with 12 weeks of each walkabout 28/01/20 09/20 IT solution for Board members to access reading PR An IT system called “Convene” has Sep 20 material been selected and is being reviewed Jan 21 by the Council from a security and technical perspective. 28/01/20 13/20 Issues related to hostels lettings to be explored by DG The situation has changed as a TBA the Executive result of Covid-19 and this is being reassessed.
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Report for Board of Management Title Managing Director’s Report Agenda item 6 Report for Decision Classification Public Report author Sean McLaughlin, Managing Director Contact email [email protected] Contact telephone 07973 126791
1. Preventing Homelessness 1.1 The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) recently published the annual performance data for the core functions of Housing Needs service. In the first year of the Homelessness Reduction Act Homes for Haringey’s performance was the second best in London, but we have now moved to first place in year two. This is a testament to great leadership from Denise Gandy and her senior team, and the hard work of every member of the service.
2. Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) Accreditation 2.1 Homes for Haringey has achieved DAHA Accreditation – this is a huge achievement as few organisations pass on their first attempt. The assessor was virtually on-site for a week and provided positive feedback on the people she met and the organisation as a whole. In many areas we went beyond meeting the minimum standard required to pass and the assessor has taken away many examples of best practice that she will share with other organisations. We will receive a full report in a few weeks.
3. The Charter for Social Housing Residents 3.1 The Prime Minister launched the White Paper on Social Housing on 17 November 2020, entitled The Charter for Social Housing. The paper is largely as expected, and as prefigured by Eamon McGoldrick’s discussion of the national policy background at our away day on 9 November. We are proposing to hold a board briefing on the strategic context for HfH in the new year and cover this topic in more detail.
3.2 The White Paper’s challenges can be summarised as follows:
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Chapter One: To be safe in your home Identify and train up nominated person responsible for complying with health and safety for residents: we are recruiting to this position now Consider a programme of fitting smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for all homes Ensure up to date survey data on electrics across all our homes and act on it: this programme was put in place during the summer Develop a programme of consulting residents on health and safety: we need to ensure we listen to residents more carefully Meet the requirements of emerging legislation on building safety and fire safety
Chapter Two: To know how your landlord is performing Identify and prime a senior person to be in charge of meeting the consumer standards: the responsibility is divided among the executive team but we should review this Monitor how the Regulator for Social Housing plans to gather satisfaction Improve services in the light of what residents are saying Benchmark our management costs: this is part of our transformation programme Work out how we will give residents a “clear breakdown” of what we spend money on - via an app?
Chapter Three: To have your complaints dealt with promptly and fairly Comply with the Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code (self- assessment due 31 December 2020): this is on track Improve the speed and effectiveness of complaints handling to be more responsive to residents Track and implement good practice on complaints
Chapter Four: To be treated with respect, backed by a strong consumer regulator for tenants Self-inspect our services against the consumer standards: again, part of our approach to transformation Set up a protocol for advising the regulator of breaches of the consumer standard
Chapter Five: To have your voice heard by your landlord Improve how we listen to residents and give them useful and timely information
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Be able to demonstrate how residents influence our decisions, e.g. via surveys, focus groups, scrutiny panels, and board membership Improve staff training to get ready for new qualifications
Chapter Six: To have a good quality home and neighbourhood to live in Plan to finance and deliver the de-carbonisation of your homes: we are appointing an energy manager now, and the Council is funding a major ten-year programme Train staff so they are equipped to work with people with mental health needs: in hand Clarify which agency does what on ASB to improve effectiveness of responses: we are asking Housing Quality Network to help review our arrangements with the Council Get ready for a regulatory standard on tackling domestic abuse: our DAHA work will help with this
Chapter Seven: To be supported to take your first step to ownership Assist the Council to assess viability of new shared ownership model (10% stake and 10-year repair- free period) Improve transparency of billing and VfM to leaseholders: this is also in hand.
4. Transfer of Private Sector Leased Properties to Homes for Haringey 4.1 The Housing Demand team manage the Council’s Temporary Accommodation (TA) portfolio and this includes managing a portfolio of around 800 properties leased from the private sector. There are financial benefits for the General Fund if these properties are leased directly by Homes for Haringey as opposed to Haringey Council. In doing so HfH can charge higher rents at the Local Housing Allowance rent level.
4.2 The Council has agreed for this portfolio to be transferred to HfH and for new leases to be put in place directly between HfH and the private landlords. Executing each lease would normally require the signature of two Board members or one Board member and the Company Secretary. This presents practical difficulties when looking at the numbers involved. The Board is, therefore, recommended to delegate authorisation of the lease agreements to two executive directors.
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Report for Board of Management Title Asset Management Strategy Agenda item 7 Report for Decision Classification Public Report author Lee Whitby, Interim Director of Asset Management Contact email [email protected]
1. Introduction 1.1 Following the Lowenberg review recommendation a full review was carried out of the 2018 Asset Management strategy.
1.2 Home for Haringey’s asset management team have held monthly work groups to update the strategy to incorporate recommendations from the Lowenberg report.
2. Recommendation 2.1 The Board is recommended to review and approve the draft revised strategy accompanying this report for recommendation to the Council for final approval.
3. Background 3.1 The first Asset Management Strategy was produced in July 2006 and most recently updated in 2018. This document sets out progress since then, and follows a review of the Strategy against current best practice in Asset Management; specifically, in response to the recommendations from an in- depth review of the Asset Management service carried out by an external consultant in 2019.
3.2 The strategy has been developed in partnership with Haringey Council to ensure it is aligned to and supports delivery of current Council objectives and priorities. As such, it forms part of a wider suite of strategies linked to the Council’s Borough Plan 2020 – 2025.
4. Revised Asset Management Strategy 4.1 The Asset Management Strategy 2020-2025 sets out a strategic framework within which Homes for Haringey will manage, maintain and invest in the Council’s housing assets. The overall aim is to deliver capital investment, planned/cyclical maintenance, repairs to empty properties and responsive
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repairs programmes in a structured and sustainable way. The strategy contains a series of tasks, outputs and outcomes all linked to improvements in performance, delivering value for money and improving customer satisfaction.
4.2 The new strategy will enable us to deliver ‘holistic’ investment programmes which are resident focussed and keep homes safe, warm and to a good quality standard.
4.3 Residents have been consulted about the strategy and agreed the key objectives we are seeking to achieve over the next five years.
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Asset Management Strategy 2020 – 2025
DRAFT
V.5 (author - Jacinta Walters) 16 November 2020
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Foreword
This document sets out Homes for Haringey’s Asset Management Strategy with detailed targets and outcomes for the period 2020 to 2025.
The first Asset Management Strategy was produced in July 2006 and most recently updated in 2018. This document sets out progress since then, and follows a review of the Strategy against current best practice in Asset Management; specifically, in response to the recommendations from an in-depth review of the Asset Management service carried out by an external consultant in 2019.
It also reflects the changed context in which we will be delivering the strategy. This includes significant changes in the building safety regulatory framework and the additional duties for councils set out in the Building Safety Bill 2020. There are also new challenging national and local targets relating to energy efficiency and carbon reduction. In view of the above, it is now timely to refresh the 2018 Asset Management Strategy.
The strategy has been developed in partnership with Haringey Council to ensure it is aligned to and supports delivery of current Council objectives and priorities. As such, it forms part of a wider suite of strategies linked to the Council’s Borough Plan 2019 – 2023.
The Asset Management Strategy is for the use of staff, residents, the Homes for Haringey Board, Council l officers and Members, and any other individual or organisation interested in the Asset Management service we provide.
Residents have been consulted about the strategy and agreed the key objectives we are seeking to achieve over the next five years.
The new strategy will enable us to deliver ‘holistic’ investment programmes which are resident focussed and keep homes safe, warm and to a good quality standard.
It will embed the principles of active Asset Management, whereby we will review the longer term financial viability and demand for stock before making any investment decisions.
Delivering the agreed outcomes of the strategy will form a key business priority for Homes for Haringey as part of the management agreement with the Council. These will be challenged, revised and updated as part business planning cycle and in response to any new additional regulatory requirements.
If you wish to discuss anything in this document, or would like further information, please contact …..
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Contents
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..4 1.1 Aims……………………………………………………………………………..4 1.2 Principles……………………………………………………………………...... 4 1.3 Objectives ……………………………………………………………………. 5 1.4 Review of existing Strategy……………………………………………………. 5 1.5 Strategic context and links to corporate plans and strategies……………….. 6
2. Our Housing Asses ...... 7 2.1 Property Portfolio………………………………………………………………. 7 2.2 Supply and demand……………………………………………….……………8 2.3 Review of Asset Portfolio …………………………………………………….8 2.4 Stock Condition…………………………………………………………………9
3. Funding the Strategy…………………………………………………………...10
4. Delivering our Objectives……………………………………………………..11 4.1 Sustainable Investment……………………………………………………….. 11 4.2 Investment Standard………………………………………………………….. 12 4.3 Delivery…………………………………………………………………………13 4.4 Procurement …………………………………………………………………..14 4.5 Compliance …………………………………………………………………15 4.6 Building Safety ………………………………………………………………..15 4.7 Adaptations……………..……………………………………………..……... 16 4.8 Energy and Warm homes …………………………………………………… 17 4.9 Broadwater Farm Estate……………………………………………………… 18 4.10 Repairs and Voids……………………………………………………………. 19
5. Implementation………………………………………………………………..20 5.1 Staff resources……………………………………………………………...... 20 5.2 The Capital Board …………………………………………………………… 20 5.3 Resident Consultation and Participation……………………………...... 20 5.4 Asset Management Systems…………………………………………………. 21 5.5 Performance Management…………………………………………………... 21 5.6 Risk Management…………………………………………………………….. 22
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Document Register (to be added)
Appendix 2 Investment Standard
Appendix 3 Action Plan
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1. Introduction
1.1 Aims of the Asset Management Strategy
The Asset Management Strategy 2020-2025 sets out a strategic framework within which Homes for Haringey will manage, maintain and invest in the Council’s housing assets. The overall aim is to deliver capital investment, planned/cyclical maintenance, repairs to empty properties and responsive repairs programmes in a structured and sustainable way. The strategy contains a series of tasks, outputs and outcomes all linked to improvements in performance, delivering value for money and improving customer satisfaction.
1.2 Principles of the Asset Management Strategy
The key drivers for delivery of the strategy are:
An ‘active’ approach to Asset Management – taking a long term and strategic view in all decision making Keeping homes safe, warm and to a good quality standard Making homes more energy efficient, reducing carbon emissions as well as addressing overheating risks Delivering sustainable investment which contributes positively to the local community Improving the quality of life for residents on our estates Involving residents in determining priorities Adding value to the portfolio, for example through infill and ‘hidden homes’ initiatives.
The strategy will be delivered by:
Actively managing and maintaining the quality and currency of our stock condition data Actively engaging and consulting residents to ensure our asset management activities address their current and emerging needs Procuring works and services for delivery that provide good value for money and high standards of quality Supporting a professional team to deliver the strategy with ongoing review of management arrangements to ensure they remain fit for purpose Use of a viability model to assess the performance of existing assets, followed by an options appraisal process for further review Assessing the condition, performance and opportunities associated with other related assets e.g. garages Assessing the social as well as the financial value of our assets Considering opportunities for ‘joined up’ wider area improvements and for the development of new homes
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1.3 Key Objectives of the Asset Management Strategy
HfH have agreed the following key objectives with the Council and in consultation with tenants and leaseholders:
Establish a coherent capital investment programme from April 2021 which delivers value for money Bring all of the Council’s housing stock up to the Decent Homes standard by March 2025 Be legally compliant in relation to health, safety and access for people with disabilities Ensure homes can be heated efficiently and cost-effectively, whilst reducing the environmental impact as well as overheating risks Put in place a new organisational structure by April 2021 Deliver an efficient and effective responsive repairs and void property service which provides value for money To undertake as much work as possible in a pre-planned way To deliver works and services efficiently with minimum disruption to residents Help to improve Haringey’s neighbourhoods and provide well managed and attractive environments that feel secure and welcoming Develop effective systems and software to support the Asset Management Strategy Meet the needs and aspirations of current and future residents Consult, listen to, and engage residents fully in the development and implementation of the Asset Management Strategy
1.4 Review of existing Strategy
As part of the development of future objectives for the updated Asset Management Strategy, HfH and the Council undertook a self-assessment ‘gap’ analysis. This included reference to and considered actions arising in response to the recommendations of an external review of the Asset Management service carried out in 2019. This review considered and made detailed recommendations on the strategy, governance, programme management, procurement and risk management. As a result, a wide range of improvements are being implemented over the next twelve months alongside the strategy refresh. (see action plan at appendix 3).
1.5 Strategic Context and Links to Corporate Plans and Strategies
The strategy has been updated to reflect current Council priorities as set out in the Borough Plan 2019-23. It is also aligned to the Medium Term Financial Strategy (2020/2021 – 2024/25) and a new 10 Year HRA Business Plan approved by Cabinet on 11 February 2020. (see section 3).
Specifically, the strategy supports outcome 3 of the Borough Plan: ‘We will work together to drive up the quality of housing for everyone’. This will include contributing to delivering the following objectives: -
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Improve the quality of Haringey’s council housing, including by ensuring all homes meet the Decent Homes Standard. Originally, the target was for 95% of the stock to meet the standard by March 2022 and 100% by March 2023. However, due to delays in delivery, the programme has been reprofiled with a revised target of March 2025 for achieving 100% decency. In addition, there is target for all stock that has been non-decent since 2015 to be brought up to the standard by March 2022.
Improve residents’ satisfaction with the service they receive from Homes for Haringey to be in the top quartile for London (78%) by 2022.
Ensure safety in housing of all tenures across the borough, responding to any new regulations as they emerge.
The updated strategy also sets out how we plan to improve the energy performance of Haringey’s housing stock in support of the Council’s Zero Carbon Strategy (2019) and Affordable Energy Strategy (2020) (see 4.8)
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2. Our Housing Assets and Stock Condition
2.1 Property Portfolio
Homes for Haringey manage a total of 20,259 dwellings, comprising 15,325 tenanted and 4,934 leasehold homes. Of the 15,325 tenanted properties: 13,999 are general needs and 1,326 are supported housing (sheltered and community good neighbour). There are 1,612 blocks including 55 of six storeys plus. Within the general needs stock there are 154 hostel accommodation units which are also managed by Homes for Haringey.
Table 1: Tenanted stock by archetype as at 1 April 2020
Bungalows 208 Houses 4,777 Low Rise flats (up to 3 storey) 7,333 Medium rise flat (4 and 5 storey) 4,351 High rise flats (6 storey +) 3,435 Hostels 154 TOTAL 15,325
Table 2: Tenanted stock by bedroom size as at 1 April 2020
1 bedroom/bedsit 5,649 2 bedrooms 5,204 3 bedrooms 3,744 4 bedrooms 604 5+ bedrooms 124 TOTAL 15,325
Table 3: Tenanted stock by age as at 1 April 2020
Pre – 1919 3,075 1919 - 1944 2,051 1945 - 1964 2,582 Post 1964 7,617 TOTAL 15,325
2.2 Supply and Demand
Approximately 23.4% of Haringey households live in social housing accommodation, 28.2% in private rented and 48.4% are owner occupiers. In common with other London authorities, Haringey is faced with a severe imbalance in the demand and
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supply of affordable housing. There are over 3,200 households in temporary accommodation and as at March 2020, 11,489 applicants on the Housing Register.
This is coupled with an increasingly unaffordable private sector in both the rented and owner occupier markets. In 2018, the average house price in Haringey was £565,343. With an average borough household income of £35,300, the owner occupied sector is unavailable to the majority of residents.
As a consequence of very high demand and limited supply, all stock can be let. We do, however, have a mismatch between demand and supply with well over a third of the stock comprised of one bed units when the highest demand, (as reflected in the Council’s Housing Register), is for 2 bed (52%) and 3 bed (36%) units.
Addressing an identified need in appropriate locations is therefore a key consideration in the appraisal of existing stock and determination of new supply initiatives.
2.3 Reviews of Asset Portfolio
Homes for Haringey hold the key data that enables us to work with the Council to make effective decisions about the stock. HfH is responsible for the data quality, updating it and ensuring that it can be analysed in order to make good decisions about the housing stock. This will include decisions about investment, disposal or remodelling and alternative use of assets.
2.4 Stock Condition
One of the key drivers for delivering an effective Asset Management Strategy is having access to robust stock condition data. HfH currently use Northgate SAM Codeman for holding stock condition survey data. The last stock condition survey (SCS) was carried in 2015. Since then, the stock condition database has been maintained by updating the data with the details of all component renewals carried out across work programmes.
Given that it is now five years since the last SCS was undertaken, and the increased data requirements in respect of building safety and energy efficiency, HfH is commissioning a new SCS covering 100% of the housing stock which will commence later in 2020 and be completed within a maximum time period of 36 months.
The objective of the new stock condition survey is to provide comprehensive and accurate stock condition data that will enable HfH to effectively manage the Council’s housing stock.
This will include:
Projection of future investment requirements and production of a 30-year Investment Plan
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Planning and prioritising capital investment programmes Active Asset Management - assessing stock viability Assessing whether homes meet the government’s Decent Homes standard Calculating the energy performance of dwellings (SAP/CO2) Ensuring buildings and building components are compliant with all relevant legislation and best practice Satisfying the requirements of the new Building Safety Manager’s duties
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3. Funding the Strategy
The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan defines the resources available to HFH for the management and maintenance of the Council’s housing stock.
On 11 February 2020 Cabinet approved the Medium Term Financial Strategy (2020/21-2025) and a new 10 Year HRA Business Plan. In recognition of new and emerging requirements relating to building safety, energy efficiency and Broadwater Farm, additional 10 year budgets were agreed for these work strands over and above the major works programme as follow:
Major Works £363m Fire safety £57m Energy efficiency and carbon reduction £101m Broadwater Farm strengthening and refurbishment works £68m
The Council is therefore committed to investing £589m in its stock over the next 10 years. The table below sets out the approved capital budget for stock investment over the next five years.
Table 1: HRA 5 Years Capital Programme Details (2020/21 – 2024/25)
Works/Project 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Total £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Internal Works (Haringey Standard) 8,695 8,695 8,695 11,970 11,970 50,025 Internal Works (Other Items) 457 457 457 630 630 2,631 External/Communal Works (Haringey Standard) 15,130 15,972 15,972 5,160 5,160 57,394 External/Communal Works (Other Items) 10,086 10,648 10,648 3,440 3,440 38,262 Noel Park Pods 4,500 0 0 0 0 4,500 Estates Works 1,627 1,627 1,627 1,510 1,510 7,901 Contingent Major Repairs 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 6,250 Extensive Voids 315 315 315 315 315 1,575 Mechanical & Electrical Services 3,465 3,465 3,465 2,750 2,750 15,895 Structural Works 2,056 2,056 2,056 455 455 7,078 Adaptations 1,400 1,400 1,400 1,400 1,400 7,000 Professional Fees 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 10,000 Major Works - Haringey Standard 50,981 47,885 47,885 30,880 30,880 208,511 Carbon Reduction (Affordable Energy) 1,000 5,142 5,142 6,285 17,597 35,166 Fire Safety 17,513 18,713 7,863 5,745 3,370 53,204 Broadwater Farm 17,900 11,200 11,200 11,200 11,202 62,702 Total Existing Stock Investment 87,394 82,940 72,090 54,110 63,049 359,583 New Homes Build Programme 42,132 58,766 102,298 80,686 100,640 384,522 New Homes Acquisitions 74,578 52,828 10,000 10,000 10,000 157,406 Temporary Accommodation Acquisitions 32,227 19,612 20,004 20,404 20,812 113,059 Total Capital Programme 236,331 214,146 204,392 165,200 194,501 1,014,570
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4. Delivering our Objectives
4.1 Sustainable Investment
Investment will be prioritised with a bias towards those homes that are deemed to be of low risk and high demand; ‘core’ stock. This will mean there will no high risk re- investment without due consideration, options appraisal and piloting.
4.1.1 Viability Modelling and Options Appraisal
Homes for Haringey will assess viability and re-investment priorities using the Stock Viability Model which takes into account a range of factors including demand/desirability and projected costs. The appraisal process results in individual properties being allocated a red, amber, or green re-investment status. (RAG)
The portfolio is divided into one of three categories:
1. Red – those properties deemed to be of high risk (i.e. requiring higher than average levels of re-investment or cost, in order to maintain them in a good lettable condition), and/or that are in low demand. 2. Amber – those properties that offer peripheral performance and that require further investigation to be reclassified as either red or green 3. Green – those properties that are in high demand and that require average or below average levels of re-investment, or ‘core stock’.
Re-investment is influenced by these categories as follows:
1. Red No major expenditure. To be maintained on an ‘essential only’ limited responsive basis, plus essential statutory works – e.g. gas servicing. Options appraisal to be undertaken. 2. Amber Further investigation required before major investment. Consider options appraisal to assess the impact of any re-investment or future works requirements and the likely impact on demand 3. Green – Expenditure permitted.
Property in Red or Amber status is to be the subject of further investigation, or review through an options appraisal, until they are either re-classified or until such time as an alternative strategy is agreed e.g. disposal or development.
The assessment of cost is made with direct reference to the Asset Management database and associated reports. Demand has been assessed with reference to housing management perceptions informed by void turnover rates and other factors such as security and levels of anti- social behaviour.
4.2 Haringey Investment standard
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The major works investment standard has been designed to ensure the Council maintains its statutory and legal duties and keeps properties safe, warm and dry. It includes the following:
External and common parts Internal works Structural repairs Fire safety Energy efficiency Estate environmental Improvements Services such as soil, vent and water supply pipe works All items affecting decency
Further detail of the works included in the scope are set out at Appendix 2.
It is important to note, therefore, that the scope of works is expanded from just the defined ‘Decent Homes’ standard items, and instead undertaking a broader programme of cyclical works to ensure we comply with our duties as a landlord.
The external element of the programme will pick up the renewal of all components outside the property, so drawing together Decent Homes items as well as door entry systems, landlord’s electrics, and common part decorations and planned maintenance.
The scope of the internal works programme picks up Decent Homes items and includes kitchens, bathrooms, smoke detectors and electrical testing. A separate budget has been earmarked specifically for boilers and central heating systems to fund repairs and replacement. This will largely be on a reactive basis but will retain an element of planned renewals. A similar approach is taken to electrical testing and rewiring.
Energy efficiency measures will be incorporated into the major works programme as far as is practical. (see section 4.9).
4.3 Delivery
The overall programme has been devised using the following criteria for prioritisation:
Safety and compliance Meeting the Decent Homes standard Investment need Dwellings or estates with higher than average repair costs Spend to save initiatives e.g. Positive Input Vents to reduce mould, damp and disrepair.
The programme has been established to work across the borough on a geographical basis, with homes in the worst condition being prioritised. Works will generally be
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carried out at the time the property is included in the major works programme, as far as is practicable, so we deliver a more ‘holistic’ approach.
While the vast majority of works will be channelled into the mainstream works programme, there is sufficient flexibility within our approach to deliver out of sequence works related to Health and Safety and compliance which cannot wait for the mainstream cycle.
HfH will also be running an annual planned preventative maintenance programme. This will include external decorations, leaf clearance, drainage clearance and other pay to save initiatives.
The programme has been devised to ensure that all homes meet the Decent Homes Standard by March 2025. There is also a commitment to bring the 978 homes that have been non - decent since 2015, up to the standard by March 2022; 600 of which are already included in current work programmes. Overall, 7,780 homes need to be made decent to achieve the 2025 target, which includes homes falling into non- decency during the five-year period.
4.4. Procurement and Social Value strategy
Homes for Haringey, in conjunction with the Council’s procurement team, has undertaken a review of the current procurement strategy, whereby individual major works projects are procured through a Joint Contract Tribunal (JCT) form of contract. The overall conclusion is that the timescales involved in procuring and seeking individual project approval has hindered the ability of HfH to deliver work programmes to time and budget. It is proposed therefore to move to a partnering delivery model, which, subject to Cabinet approval, would be enacted from April 2021.
Partnering arrangements have previously worked successfully for Haringey in delivery of the Decent Homes programme. As well as reducing the time taken to award contracts, this approach allows for more flexible programming of work packages, reduces the leasehold Section 20 process and incentivises contractors to invest in social value projects, given their presence over a longer term.
In addition, HfH have access to the Council’s London Construction Programme (LCP) framework, which enables direct award when condition, safety or decency dictates the need for a project to be carried out as a stand-alone item.
Overall, our procurement activities will support the principles described elsewhere in this strategy. Critically, they will be focused on ongoing contract management, improvement of performance, value for money and delivering social value.
4.5 Compliance
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Homes for Haringey has developed contracts to ensure that all of the Council’s landlord obligations are fulfilled; helping to ensure the health and safety of residents, staff and visitors. All properties that have been subjected to a stock condition survey have also been assessed for compliance with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
Stock condition survey data is also informed by the results of specialist testing and inspection contracts that cover a range of compliance obligations and include:
Asbestos-containing materials Electrical safety Water safety (Legionella and scaling risks) Gas (annual testing and servicing of boilers) Lifts Fire safety
In addition to a cyclical testing regime, the safety of these items will be assessed when a property is void.
A set of compliance specific performance indicators have been developed to enable HfH to report on its performance in this area.
A combined Fire Risk and Property Compliance Board is now in place chaired by the Homes for Haringey Managing Director and attended by representatives from the council. This enables greater strategic oversight and focus on all aspects of compliance, in one monthly meeting.
Homes for Haringey’s Property Services have also created a new fire safety delivery team and other compliance related posts as part of the drive to strengthen the organisation’s capacity, expertise and ability to achieve full compliance. A new director level post has been created to oversee fire safety and compliance.
4.6 Building Safety
In April 2020, the government published its response to the ‘Building a Safer Future’ consultation from July 2019. This document sets out how the government intends to deliver the objectives and recommendations from the Dame Judith Hackitt Review, following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, as well as the management of fire and structural safety risk in new and existing buildings of more than 18 meters high (6+storeys). The government will legislate for these reforms in new primary legislation through the Building Safety Bill 2020 (published on 20 July 2020), Fire Safety Bill and further secondary legislation, where necessary.
In recognition of current and likely increasing building safety requirements, the new HRA Business Plan (2020/21-2025), approved by Cabinet on 11 February 2020, includes provision for an additional £57m over the next 10 years, specifically to fund a number of fire safety measures. These include the following:
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Front entrance door replacements Window infill panel replacements Automatic Fire Detection installations to street properties Automatic Fire Detection and compartmentation works to timber clad buildings Intrusive Fire Risk Assessments (FRA)s and follow up works.
Homes for Haringey has already put in place, or started to prepare for some of the measures included as recommendations from the Hackitt review. These include initiating a programme of Intrusive Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) for high-rise blocks. This is in addition to the non - intrusive Type 1 FRAs HfH currently undertaken with frequency dependent on the assigned risk rating. Tower blocks, sheltered, temporary accommodation and hostels typically have annual FRAs with low rise and street conversions every three years.
Work is currently progressing on developing the proposed approach to meeting the likely regulatory requirements, which includes defining the respective roles and responsibilities of the Council and HfH in respect of the Accountable Person and Building Safety Manager roles, the approach to safety cases review and compliance with the ‘golden thread’ building information requirements.
In addition, HfH commissioned Ridge and Partners to carry out compartmentation surveys of the 28 blocks within the Council stock, identified as being of timber framed construction. Ridge reported back in April 2020 with specified works packages for each block to make the properties safe in the immediate and long term. HfH has already implemented some immediate fire safety measures to all blocks. The full programme of works to these blocks will commence by summer 2021.
A new fire safety team has been created in order to strengthen the organisations capacity, expertise and ability to achieve full fire safety compliance. A new director level post has been created to oversee fire safety and compliance.
4.7 Adaptations
One of the Council’s goals for older people is to enable them to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. In support of this, and in order to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, the Council makes annual budgetary provision for adaptations. As part of major works planning, Homes for Haringey use the services of a dedicated occupational therapist. This is in addition to the wider service provided by the Council to all residents, which are publicised through the web site and other HfH publications.
4.8 Energy and Warm Homes
The Zero Carbon Strategy 2019 and Affordable Energy Strategy 2020 reflect the Council’s current ambitions to improve the energy performance of the existing stock,
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tackle fuel poverty and overheating risks. Homes for Haringey and the Council will therefore need to plan for supporting delivering of these objectives, with risk assessments (looking at the worst performing buildings and the most vulnerable residents), taking expert advice and planning investment to provide not just energy efficiency to reduce emissions but also ensuring cooler buildings.
The government’s Fuel Poverty Strategy (2015), and Fuel Poverty Regulations (2014), set a target to ensure that as many fuel poor homes ‘as is reasonably practicable’, achieve a minimum energy efficiency rating of Band C by 2030. The Council’s ambition is to achieve an average SAP rating of Band B by 2035.
HfH carried out an Energy Survey in 2017 which showed an average SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) rating of 65.5 and EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of Band D.
Much of the possible low cost, high impact measures such as cavity and loft insulation has already been carried out. This now leaves the harder to treat stock (for example solid wall street properties, in conservation areas) which require more expensive and difficult to deliver measures such as internal/external wall insulation.
HfH estimate that, over and above existing energy efficiency measures that are already included in the major works programme, an additional £101m would be needed over the next 10 years to bring the stock up to an average SAP rating of 80 (which is at the top of Band C) and Band B, with some additional external funding.
4.8.1 Meeting the target
Homes for Haringey are working with the Council in undertaking a detailed analysis of stock energy performance data using an energy model CROHP (Carbon Reduction Options for Housing Portfolio), designed by Parity Projects. This will enable us to determine the worst performing stock and consider how we can best incorporate energy measures into planned work programmes. We will take a ‘fabric first’ approach and, where possible, carry out whole house retrofits.
A fabric first approach prioritises improvement of the thermal properties of the building fabric through the use of high levels of thermal insulation and airtightness. A range of measures are then employed to increase the efficiency of various systems (e.g. heating and hot water, lighting and electrical appliances). Finally, renewables are installed to meet the remainder of the CO2 and energy reduction requirements.
Whole house retrofits will reduce the risk of introducing unintended consequences for example, increased insulation and air tightness levels can increase condensation (leading to damp and mould) and overheating, all of which can have an adverse impact on the occupant’s health and wellbeing. For heating homes, the aim is to make heating low carbon and affordable without compromising comfort and increasing tenant fuel bills. Heat pump technologies will only be installed to properties that have been adequately insulated and ventilated.
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The proposed works to achieve the target could include the following:
Cavity and loft insulation Solid wall insulation (internal and external) Renewables e.g. installation of solar panels, heat pumps where appropriate.
In order to achieve the target, we will:
Integrate appropriate energy efficiency measures into all major improvement and refurbishment specifications, to meet the target Band C by 2030 and B by 2035
Prioritise energy efficiency measures for the worst performing stock, irrespective of whether other improvement work would be prioritised
Evaluate and seek funding opportunities for energy efficiency measures. For example, Energy Company Obligation (ECO), and the new Social Decarbonisation Fund announced in July 2020
Investigate alternative approaches to funding and delivering large scale retrofit e.g. Energiesprong. (see below)
4.8.2 Energiesprong
Homes for Haringey are currently working with the Council on the development of a pilot Energiesprong project supported by the Mayor of London’s Retrofit Accelerator programme for existing homes. This programme aims to speed up the delivery of energy retrofit measures in London’s ageing and energy-inefficient housing and meet zero carbon targets. Building on Haringey’s historic successful projects on housing retrofits, the GLA has offered Haringey the opportunity to become one of the first six boroughs in London to take advantage of this programme which encourages using the Energiesprong approach for deep retrofitting in social housing. The programme offers councils the opportunity of improving the look and feel of council housing stock, reducing fuel poverty and carbon emissions.
4.8.3 Affordable Energy
In addition, as part of Homes for Haringey’s financial inclusion work, we will continue to advise and support residents in ways to improve their energy use. As such we have been in partnership with LEAP (Local Energy Advice Programme) since 2017. This project is funded by the warm home discount industry initiatives; the partnership was set up by Agility Eco and includes Groundwork and IncomeMax. Groundwork recruit and train qualified Green Doctors. During the home visit the Green Doctor gives energy efficiency advice, installs a range of free energy saving measures, help residents find the cheapest energy tariff. In addition, Green Doctors can also make a referral to a range of other local voluntary and statutory health/social services, as well as IncomeMax; a specialist benefit and debt advice organisation.
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HfH has recruited an Energy and Sustainability Manager who will oversee implementation of the investment works delivery plan for achieving council and national targets, as well as support resident initiatives relating to energy savings.
4.9 Broadwater Farm
In 2017, major structural flaws were discovered on the Broadwater Farm estate. These unforeseen circumstances required a rapid response and development of solutions to, not only address the structural issues, but also incorporate opportunities for overall improvement to the estate, and the provision of additional homes. Further investigation and feasibility studies showed that the most cost effective option in the case of two of the blocks; Tangmere and Northolt, would be to demolish and rebuild with new Council housing. Since 2018, tenants have been rehoused from these blocks to enable the demolition. Homes for Haringey has been working with leaseholders on finding alternative housing. In 2020, £67.8m was included in the HRA Financial Plan to cover the cost of the immediate remedial works; the full cost of demolishing the two tower blocks; a new Decentralised Energy System, as well as for strengthening and refurbishment of the 10 retained blocks. In addition, early design works have begun around providing new housing on the estate.
4.10 Responsive Repairs and Voids
Responsive repairs and works to void properties are typically undertaken by Haringey Repairs Service (HRS), Homes for Haringey’s repairs team. Responsive repairs performance directly affects overall resident satisfaction and is a significant proportion of the property services budget.
Detailed transformation plans are in place that will lead to change in repair priorities, new governance arrangements, fewer but longer subcontracts and a commercial approach to cost management and repair quality control.
Repairs will be carried out within the timescale set for the priority of the job, returning the property component element back to a condition commensurate with its remaining life, wherever possible to complete the repair in one visit and provide a positive customer interaction leading to a satisfied customer.
Our investment priorities include works that impact on high responsive repair costs.
Void works include statutory testing of gas and electrical systems, as well as carrying out the works required to the property to make it fit for incoming residents. The extent
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of works undertaken is defined within the Lettable (Void) Standard. Homes for Haringey aim to minimise the amount of time that any dwelling is unoccupied.
Work is due to commence with PWC using a system called PerformPlus that should transform void management and lead to significant reductions in void loss and improve turnaround times.
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5. Implementation
5.1 Staff Resources
In response to the recommendations from the 2019 review of the Asset Management service, Homes for Haringey is reviewing its organisational structure to enable effective management of the capital programme and closer working between the various disciplines within its Property Services directorate. This includes clear lines of accountability between HfH and its consultancy partner.
5.2 Capital Board
This group, comprised of Homes for Haringey and council officers, chaired by Homes for Haringey’s Managing Director, monitors and reviews performance and takes ownership of ensuring delivery of the agreed investment standard, reassessing it from time to time in the context of the HRA Business Plan. It also assesses works programmes, considers options appraisal in the context of viability model findings and any wider stock investment or new supply initiatives.
5.3 Resident Consultation, Participation and Feedback
Homes for Haringey’s refreshed Engagement Strategy 2019, embraces the flexibility offered by digital communications (email, social media, text messaging and smart phone applications) and relies less on traditional meeting-based approaches. The Homes for Haringey ‘My Haringey Home’ App allows residents to access their account, report a repair, receive key messages from the organisation and access engagement opportunities.
Resident engagement and consultation around the Asset Management Strategy and delivery of the new programme is being undertaken at two levels. Homes for Haringey has established a resident focus group to work with at a strategic level in developing the updated Asset Management Strategy and associated resident engagement plan. This is in addition to the more local engagement that will take place during the project scoping and delivery stage.
The residents’ engagement programme includes:
Meetings with Resident Forums, to engage residents in understanding the impact of new legislation and any changes to the investment programme of work A search functionality is available on the website where residents can view works planned to their homes After the Asset Management Strategy is approved, a newsletter will be sent to residents, outlining a timetable for publication of the programme and details of local consultation plans.
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In recognition that resident feedback is critical to the successful delivery of the Asset Management Strategy and overall investment plan, HfH is developing a new approach for measuring resident satisfaction with capital works which will gauge opinion, not only at works completion, as currently, but also at the start as well as during the course of delivery.
5.4 Asset Management Systems
The Asset Management database forms the cornerstone of the Asset Management Strategy and produces data and information for individual programmes as well as the 30-year Business Plan. Homes for Haringey currently uses an integrated asset management software system – SAM Codeman. This allows us to store stock condition data, calculate levels of decency, project future costs and carry out scenario planning.
A review of the Asset Management IT systems is underway. This has already identified the need for greater integration of data and that the current systems will not be fit for purpose in meeting our future requirements. This is particularly in light of the additional building safety data requirements of the ‘golden thread’. The functionality of the new system will need to incorporate all asset management and compliance responsibilities in one place.
5.5 Performance Management
Homes for Haringey and the council will carry out an annual review and update of the Asset Management Strategy to make sure that it remains properly aligned to the HRA Business Plan and related strategies.
Residents will be engaged in any review and monitoring of the strategy, through the ‘task and finish’ focus group which worked with us in developing the new strategy.
The updating process will enable us to assess how well we have delivered against the priorities and targets set and identify areas for improvement. It will also enable us to use feedback received from residents and latest best practice developments to ensure our Asset Management Strategy and associated action plan remain current.
Regular reports will be provided to the Capital Board, the Executive Leadership Team, Homes for Haringey Board and the Council on progress with developing the Asset Management Strategy objectives.
The key monitoring of the Asset Management Strategy will be undertaken by the aforementioned Capital Board.
Asset management performance will be monitored using the following measures:
Compliance with the HCA’s ‘Homes Standard’ Building Safety and compliance
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Proportion of the stock meeting the Decent Homes standard Energy efficiency – SAP/EPC ratings Customer satisfaction with their home, neighbourhood, works and services provided Yield (Net Present Value) per property/block Value for money and the affordability of the programme of works in the context of the HRA Business Plan Social value added
In relation to the role of the Homes for Haringey Board, this is one of oversight to ensure the strategy is delivered on time and on budget and to proactively manage issues that may hinder delivery of the strategy. The Board will therefore need to receive periodic progress reports from the Director of Asset Management to do this.
5.6. Risk Management
In drawing up the Asset Management Strategy, Homes for Haringey have undertaken a detailed risk analysis and considered corrective measures to minimise risk as far as is practical. This feeds into the overall Homes for Haringey Risk Management Strategy.
Our approach to risk management for major works is a two-tier process. This consists of a Strategic Risk Register and a Programme Delivery Risk Register which identifies and monitors risk at a contract area level. The risk registers cover a number of areas including communications, finance, time, resources, and performance.
The key risk to the strategy being achieved relates to the availability of confirmed funding. In addition, statutory obligations or building regulations and similar external issues are subject to change and could have a significant impact on the strategy and costs.
The major risks that are included within the overall register include:
Not achieving full compliance Lack of funds leading to the inability to deliver the full standard of investment Procurement and administration of contracts that do not deliver good value for money Inappropriate design and specification of materials Insufficient staff resources and skills to manage programme delivery Re-investment costs in excess of the budgetary allowance Expenditure on items not included in the HRA Business Plan Components not meeting the anticipated life cycles Ineffective management of resident engagement in the new delivery arrangement.
Appendix 1 add document register
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Appendix 2 Investment Standard Summary
INTERNAL ITEMS Kitchen Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis. Where space and/or layout is considered inadequate, improvements to be made where possible. Bathroom Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Electrical Wiring/CCU Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Boiler/Heating Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis. New systems installed where not currently in place. Smoke and CO Detectors Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis. If not currently present in property they will be installed.
EXTERNAL & COMMUNAL ITEMS Front Door Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Roof Renewal or Repair of Roof covering and/or structure as required. Windows Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Rainwater Goods Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Fascias/Soffits/Barge-Boards Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Structural Repair Essential repairs will be undertaken. Wall Finish/ Brickwork repairs Essential repairs will be undertaken. Other External Dwellings Doors Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Communal Entrance Door Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Door Entry System Existing systems renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Communal Electrics/Lighting Renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Insulation Loft insulation to be installed or topped up to min 270mm where possible. Cavity wall insulation to be installed where possible. Lifts Lifts will be renewed on a ‘just in time’ basis Other communal and external Where these items exist they will be renewed on a ‘just in time’ items (e.g. fencing, communal basis flooring etc.)
ESTATE WORKS Estate improvements, An allowance is made for these works. An assessment of what Unadopted roads/paths/ is required will be made when an estate is included in the drains/sewers/lighting, play programme. areas)
ASBESTOS Asbestos Survey and Removal An allowance is made for any asbestos related works that arise when a property/estate is included in the programme
EXCEPTIONAL EXTENSIVE WORKS
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Extensive voids An allowance is made for dealing with voids requiring extensive works. The decision to proceed with any extensive void works will be determined by the disposals policy. High Rise and Non-Traditional An allowance is made for dealing with essential structural Structural Works, Other repairs to the high rise and non-traditional dwelling stock structural repairs based on the surveys carried out by Ridge in 2015 Works arising from Fire Risk An allowance is made for carrying out works identified by the Assessments Fire Risk Assessments Lead Water Main Renewal, An allowance is made in the business plan for these works. An Water Supply/ Soil & Vent assessment of what is required will be made when an estate is Pipework, Central Ventilation included in the programme. Systems in High Rise, Other common parts M&E systems
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APPENDIX 3: Asset Management: Summary Action Plan 2020/2021
Actions Target for Owner Complet Comment completion ed Y/N Capital Board – in place July 2020 SMcL Y New KPIs - in place September 2020 DL Y New gateway process adopted October 2020 LW Y New communications strategy in place January 2021
New stock condition survey- rolling programme January 2021
Refresh Asset Management Strategy approved by Cabinet January 2021
New Procurement strategy in place February 2021
New Property Services structure in place April 2021
Implement new IT system December 2021 new supply/hidden homes initiatives Ongoing
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Report for Board of Management Title Haringey Community FoodBox Agenda item 8 Report for Decision Classification Public Report author Reda Khelladi Contact email [email protected] Contact telephone 0208 489 4461
1. Introduction 1.1 This report provides the Board with the outcomes and outputs achieved from the FoodBox Pilot and recommends a proposed way forward to ensure the sustainability of this initiative.
1.2 The report highlights how the Foodbox service was able to support the Council’s humanitarian’s response to the pandemic through managing one of the Food Hubs.
1.3 The report also highlights the benefits, risks and costs of this service and sets out a proposal to create a separate legal entity and governance structure to continue this service.
2. Recommendation 2.1 The Board is recommended to: a) Review the outputs and benefit of the Foodbox service, and b) Approve setting up Haringey Community FoodBox as an Incorporated Charitable Organisations (ICO)
3. Background 3.1 In October 2019, the executive considered a proposal to set up a foodbank service for Council tenants and leaseholders (Haringey FoodBox) and agreed to: 3.1.1 Soft launch a pilot project in the first instance before considering setting up a registered charity. 3.1.2 Monitor the outcomes and outputs of the pilot project between December 2019 and March 2020 to evaluate the benefits. 3.1.3 Allocate £20,000 of funding to support the start-up of the project. 3.1.4 Seek Board approval before soft launch
3.2 FoodBox was launched on 11th December 2019 from Commerce Road Community Centre, Wood Green and immediately received referrals from partners and referral
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agents leading to over 300 families and individuals receiving essential support, between December 2019 and March 2020.
4. Outcomes and evaluation of the pilot project 4.1 Appendix A sets out a breakdown of families supported by Foodbox during the period December 2019 – March 2020.
4.2 The top six reasons for referrals to the FoodBox are: Financial hardship Universal Credit (UC) delays Self-isolation – Covid-19 Pandemic Domestic Violence (DV) Holiday Hunger Poor Health following hospitalisation
4.3 60% of referrals were received as a result of financial hardship or Universal Credit delays, whilst 25% were due to residents suffering from domestic abuse. All other referral reasons combined represent 15%
4.3 All families and individuals referred to Foodbox received additional help and support to help ensure independence and prevent a reliance on the service. As a result very few required further referrals.
4.4 Only the following referrals required additional support from other agencies: Residents who were awaiting receipt of universal credit Residents who were self-isolating.
4.5 Additional support received was delivered through other HfH services, mainly the Financial Inclusion team, Project 2020 and Hearthstone. In addition, we have seen support provided by other agencies such as Social Services and schools. The FoodBox project ensured that those referred were supported with other aspects of their lives which create a holistic approach with sustainable benefits and outcomes.
4.6 Feedback received from those referred has been very positive with 90% stating that they were very satisfied with the help and support provided to them and 88% very satisfied with the content and quality of the food parcels. Since its launch, FoodBox has attracted over £17,000 of food donations from a variety of sources including: Ealing Foodbank (£11,000) Hounslow Community FoodBox (£4,000) Others like the Felix Project (£1,500) Individual Donations (£500)
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4.7 Table 1 sets out the investment, expenditure, and social return on investment for the project between December 2019 and March 2020.
Table 1
HFH Investment Amount used Amount used from Total Food SROI from HfH HfH investment Donations Investment on on food products equipment
£20,000 £4,000 £3,000 £17,000 £72,000
5 Response to Covid-19 5.1 FoodBox was well placed to provide vital support throughout the pandemic: 5.1.1 Managing referrals of HfH residents in collaboration with Connected Communities 5.1.2 Topping up the food parcels from connected communities as they do not cater for all requirements; and 5.1.3 Providing emergency supplies whilst connected communities process the referrals (CC require a minimum of 3 days)
5.2 Between the period of March and May 2020, Foodbox supported 90 families who were impacted by the pandemic.
5.3 Between May and July 2020, HfH, through two senior officers, managed the Tottenham Food Hub to deliver on the council’s response to the pandemic. Through this support, we helped deliver 20,560 food parcels in the borough. In addition, a number of HfH staff volunteered to support the operation and our communities.
6 Need for the service 6.1 The pandemic has highlighted the need for this service as a disproportionate number of council tenants have been disadvantaged by the impact Covid 19, financially and socially.
6.2 There have been 700 new applications to Foodbox since Covid-19, demonstrating the ongoing need for this service.
6.3 Haringey, pre-pandemic was the 4th most deprived city in London with 4,000 people living in food poverty. The pandemic has further deepened the deprivation and at
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the time of writing 23,000 of the borough’s jobs are in sectors that have been shut down/seriously affected.
6.4 Workers in shut down sectors are amongst the lowest paid in the workforce and are more likely to be younger, women and in zero-hour contracts. This is against the backdrop of Job vacancies in Haringey being down by 50% since early March 2020.
6.5 This highlights the need for more support services, and particularly underpins the Haringey Community FoodBox approach of offering a holistic service to assist people beyond the need for food to include other support services as highlighted in this report.
6.6 FoodBox is now firmly part of the Haringey Food Network as a core partner. The development of the project into an independent organisation would widen the partnership as well as add value and bring potential income through fundraising and charitable donations to address food poverty in the borough. This would also support the development of the network as a whole. Currently, FoodBox is working with the network to set up a food hub in Commerce Road Community Centre.
7 Next Steps
7.1 Whilst FoodBox has achieved positive outcomes, it has proved that as a service it has added value to what HfH do by providing seven days of food supplies as well as support to:
7.1.1 Residents waiting for Universal Credit 7.1.2 Residents affected by Domestic Violence 7.1.3 Residents in Temporary Accommodation 7.1.4 Supported housing residents 7.1.5 Those effected by Covid-19 7.1.6 Those in rent arrears due to loss of earnings whist they are accessing support and assistance 7.1.7 Families effected by ‘holiday hunger’ 7.1.8 Those affected by homelessness
7.2 To sustain the FoodBox service and develop it further, we need to consider registering the project as a charity to: Access funding from charitable trusts, as statutory services, such as HfH, are not able to access this type of funding and support. Receive food surplus supplies from supermarkets and other food distributors and suppliers. These organisations only donate to registered charities.
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Widen the support service by working with voluntary sector and other agencies in the borough including the development of the borough’s food network to address food poverty. The charity, would work in partnership with HfH to support the development of a social investment programme through the organisation’s ability to attract external funding. This will support the development of a ‘housing plus’ agenda and the aims of HfH’s transformation programme.
8 Charity Registration Requirements 8.1 In order to exist, organisations must adopt a legal structure. “Charity” is not a legal structure in and of itself – there are several different legal structures that can be charitable and these are: Unincorporated Associations Charitable Trusts Incorporated Charitable Organisation (ICO) Charitable Company Community Benefit Society
8.2 Based on legal advice, we are recommending incorporating Foodbox as an ICO in order to allow it to receive donations, enter into contracts and have debts and obligations in its own right. The registration and set up process will take approximately 12 weeks.
8.3 Incorporating Foodbox as a separate legal entity also helps to mitigate any risks and liabilities to HfH, as the responsibilities will fall on the trustees of the organisation and not HfH.
8.4 HfH will provide services to Foodbox under a service level agreement in the same way that it does with Haringey Community Benefit Society.
8.5 In relation to the trustees of Foodbox, the legal advice is that they should be independent i.e. not connected to Haringey Council or HfH and should be a small number of around five.
8.6 The mechanism for ensuring Foodbox closely follows its purpose will be through a ‘tightly’ drafted constitution and service legal agreement with HfH.
9 Conclusions 9.1 The FoodBox pilot project has been a success, assisting over 300 families in Haringey. The pilot generated over £17,000 of donation and circa £72,000 of social return on investment.
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9.2 FoodBox has played a vital part in supporting residents and the Council during the recent Corona Virus Pandemic.
9.3 The project developed new partnerships and links with organisations in the community to widen the benefits. It is now integral to the borough’s Food Network and its future development.
9.4 Setting up as a charity will help to ensure no further funding is required from HfH beyond the seed fund already allocated at the beginning of the project. The registered charity, will be able to access funding as soon as it starts the registration process and potentially could contribute financially to the use of the space at Commerce Road Community Centre.
10 Recommendations 10.1 To sustain the project going forward Board is asked to consider registering Haringey Foodbox as an Incorporated Charitable Organisation.
47 Appendix A
Foodbox Outputs Dec 2019 – March 2020
Total Dec Jan-20 Feb Mar (Dec - Mar) Number of families 29 30 41 60 160 helped
Number of individuals 8 21 33 98 160 total TOTALS 37 51 74 158 320
Number of referral 6 8 9 8 31 partners internal Number of referral 6 3 8 7 24 partners external TOTALS 12 11 17 15 55
Number of repeat 3 11 13 25 52 referrals Diversity of referrals BME: 31 BME: 33 BME: 41 BME: 77 BME: 182 (individuals declared NON: 12 NON: 20 NON: 38 NON: 64 NON: only) 134
Number of Supported Housing referrals and 0 5 5 70 80 schemes
Number of Referrals 28 32 51 97 208 from other HfH Teams Number of Non HFH 2 6 12 12 32 Referrals TOTALS 30 43 68 179 320
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Report for Board of Management Title Regulatory Compliance Progress Report Agenda item 9 Report for Discussion Classification Public Report author Tracey Downie, Executive Director of Housing Management and Mark Baigent, Interim Executive Director of Property Services Contact email [email protected] [email protected] Contact telephone 07989 224051 / 07534 902527
1. Introduction 1.1 This report presents the Board with progress on addressing areas of partial and non-compliance with the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) consumer standards.
2. Background 2.1 An annual assessment of compliance with consumer standards for 2019-20 identified the following exceptions: a) Home Standard – two areas of partial compliance and one area of non- compliance b) Neighbourhood and Community Standard – three areas of partial compliance
2.2 The Board requested a progress report on addressing these areas for the November Board meeting.
3. Home Standard 3.1 Non-compliance was in relation to statutory compliance for the health and safety of occupants in their homes. The Board approved a property compliance plan with oversight from a Board task and finish group. Good progress is continuing to be made to improve compliance in all areas, in particular Fire Safety, Water/Legionella, Gas, Electrical, Asbestos and Lift safety checks. The latest position will be reported at the Board meeting.
3.2 The two areas of partial compliance both relate to not all the Council’s homes meeting the government’s Decent Homes standard. The Board will recall that an independent review of capital programme delivery made a wide range of
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improvement recommendations including a refreshed Asset Management Strategy, a new stock condition survey, a new procurement strategy, new governance arrangements and a redesigned property services team.
3.3 Procurement of the new stock condition survey was approved at Cabinet in November. The draft revised Asset Management Strategy appears elsewhere on this agenda and is due to be approved at Cabinet in January.
3.4 A joint Council-HfH officer working group is meeting weekly to progress the procurement of a new set of partnering contractors to deliver the programme in future. The Board will receive update reports on progress and the appointment of contractors will be approved at Cabinet in mid-2021.
3.5 Finally, the Council has agreed to amend the target date for full compliance with the Decent Homes Standard to 2025, based on the holistic approach recommended in the new Asset Management Strategy and reflected in revised capital investment requirements forecast in the updated HRA Business Plan.
4. Neighbourhood and Community Standard 4.1 There were three areas assessed as having partial compliance in the neighbourhood and community standard. Two of these have now become fully compliant and one remains partially compliant. Work is underway to ensure that this becomes fully compliant by February 2021.The two areas that have now become fully compliant were the standards requiring registered providers to keep communal areas clean and safe, and the standard requiring registered providers to ensure tenants and residents can easily report Anti Social Behaviour (ASB).
4.2 Last year the Board approved funding to carry out intensive cleaning in communal areas. In addition, the clear communal areas policy was approved and actions continue to ensure our communal areas are kept clear of residents’ equipment and belongings. These two actions have led to full compliance with the regulatory standard requiring communal areas to be kept clean and safe.
4.3 In Summer we reported partial compliance with how residents were able to report ASB. This followed concerns that the number of cases recorded did not match the number of cases officers were managing. Throughout Autumn officers from HfH and the Council have held a number of workshops to resolve the conflicting information and improve simple recording and monitoring of cases. This has resulted in more accurate recording of cases including acknowledging cases received so that residents are clear who is responding to their concerns.
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This will be improved further as we are starting to test satisfaction with case handling as cases are closed.
4.4 There remains one area where the neighbourhood and community standard is partially compliant. This is the requirement to consult tenants in developing a published policy for maintaining and improving the neighbourhoods associated with their homes. Whilst there is a neighbourhood management improvement policy, residents have not yet been consulted on the aims, objectives and the processes outlined in the policy. Consultation is expected to start during December and complete by the end of January when the policy will be further reviewed and updated taking into consideration residents comments.
51 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020
Report for Board of Management Title Capital programme report Agenda item 10 Report for Discussion Classification Public Report author Lee Whitby, Interim Director of Asset Management Contact email [email protected]
APPENDICES Appendix A Southwick Putting residents first document. Appendix B Gateway process map.
1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to: 1.1. Provide details of the Capital budget for 2020/21 and expected outcome of spend. 1.2. Provide a summary update in relation to implementing the recommendations of the Lowenberg review of capital programme management. 1.3. Make a recommendation of specification update on all fire doors
2. Background
2.1. Over the past two years HfH has delivered the capital works using a JCT form of tendering each individual project via Haringey Council’s LCP framework. We also rely on the services of Ridge Partners to support the delivery of the works for Surveying, cost estimating, validation of works required, Project Management, Tendering, Quantity Surveying and financial reporting on projects.
2.2. Due to the extended time required to individually tender projects, the capital works has failed to achieve a continuous delivery of its capital programme.
2.3. The Capital programme also suffered from a pause of delivery due to COVID-19, all works across HfH were stopped during the national lockdown. Following remobilisation there was a national shortage of building materials along with a shortage of available labour to deliver each project. This is still having an influence on the programmes today.
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2.4. This year we are forecasting an under spend of circa £42 million across capital works.
3. The Capital spend 20/21
3.1. Budget Outturn Summary.
Revised Budget Forecast Spend Variance Description/Cost Element Estate Improvement £900,000.00 £900,000.00 £0.00 Planned Preventative Maintenance £350,000.00 £300,000.00 £50,000.00
Structural Works £919,000.00 £919,000.00 £0.00 Extensive Works Voids £315,000.00 £150,000.00 £165,000.00 Boiler Replacement £2,500,000.00 £1,987,000.00 £513,000.00 Capitalised Voids £916,000.00 £1,800,000.00 -£884,000.00 Lift Improvements £357,000.00 £294,000.00 £63,000.00 Urgent/Unplanned Capital Works £1,000,000.00 £800,000.00 £200,000.00
Decent Homes Standard £698,000.00 £946,000.00 -£248,000.00 Asbestos Removal £250,000.00 £413,000.00 -£163,000.00 Mechanical & Electrical Works £1,780,000.00 £2,223,000.00 -£443,000.00
Professional Fees £2,456,000.00 £2,526,000.00 -£70,000.00 Preparatory Works £453,000.00 £453,000.00 £0.00 Noel Park Pods £4,100,000.00 £981,000.00 £3,119,000.00 Internal Works Programme £9,152,000.00 £3,261,000.00 £5,891,000.00
External/Communal Works £46,356,000.00 £12,691,000.00 £33,665,000.00
Voids Boiler Replacement £300,000.00 £222,000.00 £78,000.00 Total Major Works - Haringey £72,802,000.00 £30,866,000.00 £41,936,000.00 Standard
3.2. Key areas of underspend
Project Forecast Actual Underspend Noel Park Pods £4,100,000.00 £981,000.00 £3,119,000.00 Internal Works Programme £9,152,000.00 £3,261,000.00 £5,891,000.00 External/Communal Works £46,356,000.00 £12,691,000.00 £33,665,000.00
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Project Forecast Actual Underspend Noel Park Pods £4,100,000.00 £981,000.00 £3,119,000.00
This project involves the replacement of the rear timber Pod extension that are in a poor condition and are now well beyond economical repair. The Pods are also lined with asbestos material, which is currently being monitored by our Health and Safety team and maintained by the Repairs Service to ensure safety of our residents. The project also includes the replacement of roofs, windows and doors and external repairs to the original street properties. Tenanted dwellings will also benefit from kitchen replacement, rewiring, boiler and central heating works. There are 242 dwellings benefiting from this project, located along Gladstone Avenue, Farrant Avenue, Morley Avenue and Moselle Avenue on the Noel Park estate. During the resident’s engagement, it was clear that leaseholders had concerns over the level of investment required to deliver these essential works. Original estimates of an October cabinet were put on hold while we review payment options available to leaseholders in other local authorities. Following a review of the payment options available to leaseholders and the decision to hold the request for payments until the completion of this project, the section 20 notice was issued. The Noel Park pods replacement is due to be reviewed by Cabinet on 08 December 2020. The mobilisation and enabling works will begin this financial year, however with the additional time to review this project the forecast spend has reduced significantly.
Project Forecast Actual Underspend Internal Works Programme £9,152,000.00 £3,261,000.00 £5,891,000.00
Variance due to delays in the design, procurement and projects being put on hold for 4 months because of the CVID-19 pandemic. HRS have reduced their projection from £2.4m to £1.5m but there is still at risk of underdelivering due to the lack of a delivery programme. Two new internal works packages have been added to the programme with forecast spend of £2m. In addition, we are looking to procure a delivery model for the internal programme with a value of £12m ensuring over 1300 homes will be made internally decent. This programme is forecast for delivery over a 64 week period. This programme is currently in Gateway 1, we estimate a cabinet date of April 2021.
Project Forecast Actual Underspend External/Communal Works £46,356,000.00 £12,691,000.00 £33,665,000.00
This budget is carrying an accrual of £21m from 2019/20, in addition all works on the external packages was paused for 4 months due to COVID-19. Following the remobilisation, both contractors suffered loss of labour and issues around the procurement of materials
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resulting in additional delays to the programme which is now forecasting completion in May 2021. We are in the process of procuring a smaller externals programme under the existing procurement model with an estimated value of £16m working on over 1000 dwellings. This project is currently in Gateway 1 due to the leaseholder investments a second survey will need to take place to ensure all works is included within the surveys. We will also be issuing the FRA’s for all properties within the 5 schemes to deliver a holistic programme. This package is forecast for Cabinet in July.
4. Recommendations of the Lowenberg review.
4.1. Council to approve Asset Management Strategy, Five Year Plan
The Asset Management Strategy has been developed in partnership with Haringey Council to ensure it is aligned to and supports delivery of current Council objectives and priorities. As such, it forms part of a wider suite of strategies linked to the Council’s Borough Plan. The strategy identifies plans to bring all the Council’s housing stock up to the Decent Homes standard by March 2025. This is scheduled to be reviewed in January’s Cabinet.
4.2. Greater oversight of the programme by HfH ELT and Board
A Capital Review Board has been implemented to meet monthly, with membership from both HFH and the Council. The Board will have an overview of the Capital Programme, monitoring both delivery and spend.
4.3. Review IT systems
Discussions have taken place and a working group established which includes the Council IT department, to consider options for developing and procuring an Asset Management System which will enable wider access to information on properties across the organisations, report easier and clearer on progress and compliance as well as presenting a full picture of property details including spend, repairs, risks and planned works.
4.4. New Stock Condition Survey
The objective of the stock condition survey is to provide comprehensive and accurate stock condition data that will enable Homes for Haringey to effectively
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manage the Council’s housing stock. This will include projection of future investment requirements and production of a 30-year business plan. This proposal has been approved at November Cabinet and is working through the final stages of Gateway 3.
4.5. Review Procurement Strategy
We are looking to procure a long term partnering contract. This approach will introduce sufficient flexibility to enable the delivery of the programme, allowing smaller value more reactive works to be progressed at pace as well as identifying a compliant and reliable route to market for major planned projects. The works under this programme are more forward facing in nature and focus on higher value planned works on a cycle of one year design and procurement, one year delivery. Following several meetings with Haringey Council strategic procurement a long- term partnering contract was suggested.
4.6. Review Property Services Structure/ Total integration of the programme
With the movement towards a partnering contract, we will begin to review how we develop and design our future projects. Currently we rely heavily on external consultants, this method of design is common throughout the industry but comes at a cost. We are looking to reduce the reliance on consultants by expanding our internal team, this will allow us to focus more on our residents and have greater control of future programmes. As we will be working alongside a partnering contractor, we will be looking to deliver joint up services between the design and the resident engagement. By joining the design and resident engagement together we can tailor or programmes to meet the needs of the communities in each ward, moving away from assumed programmes that only focus on the building’s needs. The savings made by reducing the use of consultants and expanding the HfH asset management, we can maintain an overhead delivery of approx. 5% measured across 5 years.
A review of Southwark Council’s paper ‘Putting residents first’ has been carried out, with the aim of incorporating good practises and reviewing lessons learnt from neighbouring boroughs we can improve the way we conduct our resident engagement.
Please see appendix A Southwick Putting residents first document.
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4.7. Adopt new Gateway process
A new Gateway process has been developed and will be implemented in the coming months which will provide the Capital Board with greater visibility on project and programme progress and performance against expectations.
Please see appendix B for full Gateway process map.
5. Recommendation of specification update on all fire doors
Following the Grenfell fire and consequent enquiries & investigations, MHCLG initiated a testing programme for Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) composite doors. The test identified a range of different failures to the doors. MHCLG have stated that due to the number of doors that failed tests, there is a systemic problem with all GRP composite fire doors. At the time of MHCLGs announcement, HfH had 9 packages for work with contractors Engie and Wates either on site or about to start on site which included, amongst other scope, to replace fire doors to high risk properties with GRP fire doors.
The previous Director of Property instructed Asset Management to suspend installation of fire doors via this programme, other fire related safety works were concluded as planned. We have commissioned 5 principle burn tests on the Gresham GRP door sets to validate FD30s rating.
Due to the continuing uncertainty around the compliance of GRP doors, Asset Management request an updated specification which outlines that any future Front Entrance Door (FED) installations would be carried out only by using the timber fire doors. These doors have more historical evidence proving their consistency and performance when the fire occurs.
6. Resident communication
A wider piece of work is being done in relation to resident engagement and whilst the Capital Board will ensure greater visibility, the development of a long term programme of works can be shared with residents via various forms such as the website and also with Ward Councillors on an annual basis.
We will be redesigning the way we carry out our resident engagement, ensuring the residents are involved in the design process of projects. This will allow us to tailor our programmes to both resident and the building needs.
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7. Final thoughts
This year has seen huge trials thrown our way but has presented us with the opportunity to review the way we deliver the capital works across the borough. We have taken huge steps towards re-establishing a service that can maintain momentum and improve the homes of our residents, over the next year we will procure the long term partnering contract creating a secure delivery model for the next five years. We still have a journey in front of us before we recover a full delivery model for the capital works, the restructure of the team and the redesign of the capital programme delivery will take time to reflect in the budget, but when measured across five years the evidence of all our hard work will be visible.
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Putting Residents First How we will consult you on major works to your home
About the standards
We are committed to improving the quality of housing in our borough. Last year alone, we carried out more than 8,500 major works on properties in Southwark.
However, we know these works can be a cause of concern for you. This document explains how we will consult you if you are affected by major works.
We have agreed 25 standards, written with the help of Southwark residents who have first-hand experience of major works.
They apply to everyone involved in major works on your home, whether they work for the council or one of our contractors.
The standards are not intended to be “one-size fits all”. They set out the minimum level of service you can expect from us, but we recognise that each estate is different and try to adapt our consultation to match your specific needs.
We try our best to meet these standards on every project but if you feel we have failed to live up to them then please speak to the contractor’s Resident Liaison Officer (hereafter RLO) first. If the RLO doesn’t give you a satisfactory answer then please contact the Council’s Contract Manager.
Some of our estates have very active Tenants and Residents Associations (TRAs), which represent their estate in discussions with the Council. If you feel your estate could use some extra help to get organised then please contact the Community Engagement Team, who would be very happy to support you through this process.
These standards were last updated in April 2015. We will review them again in one year.
59 The Standards – Before the works start
1. By the end of January each year, we will write to you if your home is included in the upcoming years programme (please note we use the financial year, which runs from March – April). This letter will include:
The latest date by which works will begin;
Broad details of the works to be carried out, for example windows, bathrooms or electrics (unfortunately, we cannot be more specific until we’ve carried out a survey on your home), and
A leaflet which includes the details of the team who will be overseeing the work.
2. We will begin carrying out surveys of homes to see exactly what works are needed.
3. We will hold a drop in session and invite residents and the local ward councillors. You will have the opportunity to meet the team responsible for the works face-to- face.
4. We will set up a group of interested residents called a “residents’ project team”. This team will represent your interests during the works. We will meet with them regularly and try to agree a meeting time that is convenient for all residents. This means meeting times may change from month-to-month.
5. We will work with the residents’ project team to look at all of the available options and agree what works should be carried out (this is called a draft specification).
6. We will hold a second drop in session for you to see the works we are planning and all of the different options.
7. We will agree the final specification with the residents’ project team. We will try to minimise the impact of the works on the whole estate, including on communal areas.
8. If you are a leaseholder, we will formally consult you using the procedures set out in law and send you a section 20 notice. We will also hold a drop in session just for leaseholders.
9. The residents’ project team will examine the agreed final costs.
10. We will consider the responses from the formal leaseholder consultation.
11. We will hold a third drop in session for residents just before the works start. We
12. will use this meeting to explain the works, the timetable and introduce the contractor. We will also present a “You said, we did” document, explaining how we have used your suggestions.
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13. There is a standard set of rules, which all contractors working for the Council must follow. The residents’ project team will be able to suggest specific rules for their estate. These suggestions are likely to be agreed as long as they are reasonable and don’t have a negative impact on how long the works will take or how much they will cost.
14. The contractor will issue an introductory booklet for you, containing the following information:
Why we are carrying out the works;
What is included in the works;
When we will do it;
How much we expect it to cost;
The “You said, we did” document;
The contractors’ hours of work;
The rules we expect contractors to follow while on site;
Any impact on communal areas and services; and
Who to contact if you have any problems and how quickly they will reply to you.
The standards – During the works
15. The contractor will send out monthly newsletters and hold coffee sessions.
16. We will hold monthly site meetings with the residents’ project team. At these meetings, we will provide:
An updated timetable for the works; and
An updated summary of costs.
17. If we need access to your home, we will endeavour to give you a minimum of 2 weeks notice. If for whatever reason we cannot give you this much notice, then we will explain clearly why we need to access your property at short notice.
18. The contractor will carry out residents’ satisfaction surveys after each block (or part of a large block or group of street properties) is completed.
19. About half-way through the project, we will review how things are going and look at the feedback from the satisfaction surveys.
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20. We will send a letter to you two weeks before handover so you can help us identify any outstanding works. If you want to personally sign-off any defects then you will be given a form to confirm the defects have been fixed to a satisfactory standard.
21. We will walk around with resident representatives and ward councillors a week before the handover.
The standards – After the works
22. We will carry out a final survey to find out how satisfied you were with the work.
23. We will send out a handover booklet that explains how all the new installations in your home work.
24. We will review how the works went and see what we can learn for the future. For the first 12 months after the works are finished, we can ask the contractors to come back to complete any outstanding work or put right things that were part of the works. This is called a Defects Liability Period (DLP).
25. We will write to you and any absentee leaseholders 8 weeks before the end of the DLP to make sure that all remaining work has been completed.
26. We will carry out a walk-about with resident representatives and the ward councillors 2 weeks before end of the DLP to pick up any final issues.
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Report for Board of Management Title Capital programme report Appendix B Agenda item 10 Report for Discussion Classification Public Report author Lee Whitby, Interim Director of Asset Management Contact email [email protected]
Appendix A New Gateway process.
A new Gateway process has been developed and will be implemented in the coming months which will provide the Capital Board greater visibility on project and programme progress and performance against expectations.
Gateway 1 – Design Stage / Resident Engagement Commissioning document prepared and issued for approval – Commercial Manager PM allocated for Design stage brief - Head of Capital Works Surveys carried out as per Project Brief Ridge/PM Feasibility Report to include: Survey, Cost estimate document, Scope document, Design specification, draft timeframe & programme Capital Projects Board Approval Request – Project presented to CPB for approval Introduction letter and project proposal sent to Residents – PM / RLO Drop-in sessions / meeting undertaken – PM, RLO, Partnering PM Design brief, scope, cost estimate and specification updated Final version review by Brief Review Team Approval requested to proceed to Gateway 2
Gateway 2 – Formal Consultation & Tender Notice of intention & S20 Process – PM /LHS Tender documents prepared – QS / TDM Project entered onto Forward Plan – Commercial Manager Procurement engaged – PM Tender of Project Tender Process completed and Tender Report issued – PM Completion of S20 Consultation Approval for proceeding to Gateway 3
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Gateway 3 – Cabinet approval / Delegated Director approval Cabinet Report produced – PM Legal, Procurement, Finance & Equality comments received Report Draft issued to Council Housing for internal HC review and proceeding to CAB. Cabinet approval for award of Contract Project programme confirmed and updated with lead in period. Resident & Cllr Engagement update – Letters advising Residents of works and programme – PM/RLO Contract awarded / Letter of intent – Legal/Commercial Manager
Gateway 4 – Delivery Statutory notifications as required (F10, Party walls, etc.) Resident profiling by contractor HFH QS reviews project Appointment letters to Residents Contractors begins on site Periodic site inspections by Clerk of Works Resident Survey & update letters enacted Site meetings & weekly update review Works completed Clerk of work inspection & Sign off QS report developed Project Completion report issued by PM updated on completion
Gateway 5 – Financial Close Resident end survey carried out QS report finalised Joint Project review (by Brief review team) Sign off Retentions payments closed
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Report for Board of Management Title Health & Safety Report Agenda item 11 Report for Decision Classification Public Report author Marek Sicak, Head of Health, Safety and Compliance Contact email [email protected] Contact telephone 07967 336 112
1. Introduction
1.1 This report presents the Board with the latest national update relating to fire safety, building safety and compliance, and with a strategic overview of health and safety management across Homes for Haringey (HfH). It also seeks the Board’s approval of the Health and Safety Policy
2. National Update
2.1 Draft Building Safety Bill
2.1.1 Following the Grenfell incident in June 2017 and the consequent reviews and inquiries identifying serious failings across the whole system of building and managing high-risk homes, the Government is bringing forward fundamental changes in the draft Building Safety Bill. The aim of the Bill is to improve the building and fire safety, so that people will, and will feel, safer in their homes.
2.1.2 The summary report of the Draft Building Safety Bill can be found in Appendix 1.
2.2 Consultation on changes to Fire Safety Order?
2.2.1 On 20th July 2020, the Government published the consultation paper on Fire Safety, particularly changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. (Fire Safety Order)
2.2.2 The consultation follows the publication of the Fire Safety Bill in March 2020, which will amend the Fire Safety Order to clarify duty-holder responsibility for the structure
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and external walls – including cladding, balconies and windows, and flat entrance doors in multi-occupied residential buildings. The consultation proposes to:
2.2.3 Strengthen the Fire Safety Order and Improve compliance Placing a legal requirement on the Responsible Person (RP) to record who they are and the extent of their responsibility for the building. Introduction of the competence requirements for fire risk assessors and a legal requirement for RPs to record the name and contact information of any person engaged in the fire risk assessment. Provision of the specific fire safety information to residents, including, upon request, fire risk assessments Revised guidance, clarity, and support for enforcing authorities to take action against non-compliance with the FSO. Provision requiring the maintenance of facilities, equipment and devices. Consultation on whether the Fire and Rescue Service would charge for enforcement activity under the FSO. Consultation seeking views on the current criteria for charging for false alarms for FSO regulated premises.
2.2.4 Implementation of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report recommendations Definition of height for high-rise buildings – to align with the Building Safety Bill, it is proposed that the height is 18 metres and/or more than six storeys, whichever comes first. Requirement for RPs to provide local Fire and Rescue Service with information about the design of the building’s external walls and details of material they are constructed from. Requirement for RPs to provide their local Fire and Rescue Service with up to date floor plans identifying the location of key firefighting systems, both electronically and in paper form. Requirement for RPs to have a Premises Information Boxes installed in all high- rise multi-occupied residential premises with specified documents within. Requirement for real-time exception reporting of failures of relevant [fire- fighter] lifts. Requirement for RPs to draw up and keep under regular review evacuation plans; shared electronically with local Fire and Rescue Services. Requirement for RPs to provide details of any residents, who self-identify to them as requiring assistance to evacuate. Requirement for RPs to provide fire safety information to residents in an accessible manner. Requirement for RPs to undertake checks of the self-closing devices in multi- occupied residential buildings over 11 metres or above.
66 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020
Requirement for wayfinding signage to be present in all high-rise residential buildings.
2.2.5 Building Control Bodies consultation with Fire and Rescue Authorities The FSO and Building Regulations contain requirements for buildings control bodies/local authorities to consult the enforcing authorities under the FSO on planned for building work. The Building Regulations also impose requirements for fire safety information to be handed over to the RP for premises subject to the FSO on the completion of building work.
2.2.6 This consultation concluded on 12th October 2020 and responses are currently being reviewed by the Government.
2.3 Setting the Bar – final report
2.3.1 Building on the findings from Dame Judith Hackitt’s report, ‘Building a Safer Future’, that was written in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, ‘Setting the Bar’ report, developed by the Competence Steering Group, looks specifically at fire and structural safety in high rise residential buildings.
2.3.2 The report features the contribution of 13 working groups and the engagement of over 300 organisations and individuals. The objective was to formulate a national competency framework for those working on higher-risk buildings whilst driving a step-change in culture and approach across the industry.
2.3.3 The document outlines robust recommendations for the assessment and maintenance of competence in the building sector and the promotion of training and quality assurance. Overall competency frameworks will provide the skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours needed to carry out specific roles, and deliver a more rigorous approach to the essential training and assessment that is required.
2.3.4 The report refers to all occupations that work on high-risk buildings and whose work is likely to affect the safety outcomes, or those working unsupervised on these buildings, including Engineers, Architects, Installers, Fire Risk Assessors, Building Safety Managers, Project Managers, Supervisors or Procurement specialists. The Competence Steering Group recommends that all of the above should meet the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviour requirements set out tine the competence frameworks developed by the industry.
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2.3.5 We are reviewing the document, and we will be making references to it when assessing the competencies and behavioural standards during the recruitment process, as well as for the purposes of upskilling our existing staff members.
2.3.6 The full report and accompanying annexes are available at the following website http://cic.org.uk/setting-the-bar-annexes.php
2.4 Composite Fire door issues
2.4.1 It was previously reported that we were seeking confirmation from manufacturers of fire doors that Glass Reinforced Polyester (GRP) doors supplied and installed in HfH property portfolio meet the required standards and have the necessary, and satisfactory, primary test evidence. Unfortunately, our requests for this information failed to be followed by acceptable responses.
2.4.2 We therefore commenced the programme of testing these GRP doors ourselves. During September and November 2020, we have been carrying out a series of ‘burn tests’ to a range and types of fire doors that were installed in HFH properties.
2.4.3 Sadly, the burn tests uncovered that the tested doors have not passed the 30min mark, and therefore failed the test, rendering them sub-standards and non- compliant to the current legislation.
2.4.4 We have a large number of these flat entrance doors installed in our property portfolio. This is a significant risk to HfH. We will be seeking legal counsel and potentially engage in the legal proceedings with the principal contractor and/or the manufacturer of the doors.
2.5 Health and Wellbeing update
2.5.1 Following the first national lockdown, which meant that a lot of staff moved to working from home, and those working out and about visiting HfH properties had to change working systems to stay safe and maintain social distancing, we held a staff survey in April 2020 to find out how staff were coping with the ‘new normal’.
2.5.2 We have now re-run this survey with a few added questions around wellbeing – to see how staff are coping and so we can focus on tackling areas of concern. The results of the survey are currently being reviewed.
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2.5.3 We have successfully re-started the Health and Wellbeing (H&W) Board. It is chaired by the Executive Director of Housing Management and brings together colleagues from across the organisation.
2.5.4 The aim of the Board is to create and deliver the wellbeing programme, champion staff H&W, feed back on the events and promotions of health and wellbeing activities, create and deliver H&W strategy, recommend and review H&W training, etc.
2.5.5 Alongside with the October’s European Health and Safety week, we have run the ‘Haringey Health and Safety Fair’. This was carried out in conjunction with colleagues from Council’s health and safety team and has proven to be very successful with many staff attending sessions on mental wellbeing, stress management and resilience.
3. Health and Safety compliance challenges
3.1 Following the deep-dive exercise to elements of property compliance, the Board set up the Property Compliance Task and Finish Group. The Group last met on 29th September 2020 and has its next meeting scheduled for 23 November. An update from this meeting will be provided to the Board on the day.
4. Health and Safety performance
4.1 We are currently reviewing and consulting on the following health, safety and compliance policies:
Health and Safety Policy Health and Safety Strategy Managing Potentially Violent Clients Policy Health, Safety and Compliance Legal Register Asbestos policy Corporate H&S Board Constitution H&S Committee Constitution Risk assessment procedure Health and Safety Training Policy
4.1.1 The Board is invited to approve the current version of the Health and Safety Policy, specifically by ratifying the Health and Safety Policy Statement (Appendix 2).
4.2 People facing H&S KPIs:
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19/20 20/21 20/21 YTD Ref People Facing H&S KPIs YTD Outturn Target Tolerance RAG Health, Safety and Compliance 81% 5.1 policies 5.2 RIDDOR reportable incidents 5 <6 <6 6 5.3 Accidents (injury) 51 - - 9 5.4 Accidents (non-injury) 81 - - 9 5.5 Violent and aggressive incidents 76 - - 22 5.6 Near Miss 19 >50 - 4 5.7 Accident Frequency Rate 0.455 0.5 0.9 0.94
5. List of Appendices
5.1 Appendix 1 – Draft Building Safety Bill – Summary report 5.2 Appendix 2 – Health and Safety Policy_v.7
70 Report Title Draft Building Safety Bill - Summary report
Reporting Officer Marek Sicak, Head of Health, Safety and Compliance
Executive Director Sean McLaughlin, MD
Meeting Fire Risk and Property Compliance Group
Date 23rd September 2020
1. Introduction
1.1. The purpose of this report is to outline and summarise the main points of the Draft Building Safety Bill (Bill) published by the Government on 20th July 2020.
2. Background information
2.1. In response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of building regulations and fire safety and Government’s consultation on proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system in June 2019, the Government published a draft of the Building Safety Bill in July 2020.
2.2. The Government has said that this bill will introduce the most significant and fundamental changes to building safety legislation in decades. They want to put the safety of residents at the heart of the new regime.
2.3. The aim of the Bill is to introduce ‘a new era of accountability, making it clear where the responsibility for managing safety risks lies throughout the design, construction and occupation of buildings in scope.
2.4. Although this draft bill is already long, detailed and very complex, much of the detail is still to come via secondary legislation and guidance.
3. Summary of Draft Building Safety Bill
3.1. Part 1: An overview of the Bill
3.1.1. This part introduced the Bill and gives an overview of the more stringent regulatory regime which involves the introduction of dutyholders that will have accountability and statutory responsibilities for managing risks across the design, construction and occupation of buildings on an ongoing basis. The gateway points (stop/go decision points) will provide rigorous inspection of regulatory requirements to help ensure building safety risks are considered during planning, design, and construction;
71 Requiring a ‘golden threat’ of building information to be created, stored and updated through the Gateway process and throughout the building’s lifecycle And requiring mandatory reporting to the new Building Safety Regulator of fire and structural safety occurrences which could cause a significant risk to life safety Building registration and a certificate that confirms a building is fit for occupation and provides transparency on the assessment and findings at the time of certification. The Building Assurance Certificate is periodically reviewed Creating an ongoing duty on the Accountable person (dutyholder in occupation of the building) – the duty will be to assess building safety risks, taking all reasonable steps to prevent the occurrence of a major incident in the building as a result of these risks. A statutory requirement for the Accountable Person to provide a ‘Safety Case Report’ which will demonstrate how building safety risks are being identified, mitigated and managed on an ongoing basis Requiring the Accountable Person to appoint a competent Building Safety Manager to support them in managing fire and structural safety risks in the building day to day Requirements to engage and develop a strong partnership with residents to keep the building safe through greater transparency and effective complaints handling
3.2. Part 2 – Sets up the new Regulator
3.2.1. This part confirms the creation of a new Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive. It defines the scope of the regime with respect to the definition of risks and creates a power to set out in secondary legislation the buildings that are included in that scope. The draft bill added a lot of meat to the bones of exactly what the responsibilities of the new regulator are.
3.2.2. The Bill establishes the Health and Safety Executive as the Building Safety Regulator, with three broad functions:
Implementing the new regime for higher risk buildings, acting as the building control authority for higher risk buildings and overseeing and enforcing the new regime in occupation for higher risk buildings.
Overseeing the safety and performance of all buildings. This involves overseeing the performance of other building control bodies (local authorities and registered building control approvers (currently known as Approved Inspectors), and advising on existing and emerging building standards and safety risks
Assisting and encouraging competence among the built environment industry, and registered building inspectors. This involves establishing and setting strategic direction of the proposed industry-led competence committee and establishing a unified building control profession with competence requirements for registration as a building control professional.
72 3.2.3. This part also provides two key statutory definitions, for ‘building safety risk’ and ‘higher risk building’. And creates the power for the Secretary of the State to amend both these definitions in light of evidence, of advice from the Building Safety Regulator.
2.3 Part 3 – Amendments to Building Act 1984
2.3.1 The Bill Amends the Building Act 1984 (for England), to sets out the new regulatory regime during the design and construction phase for buildings in scope. Puts in place requirements for registration of building inspectors and building control approvers to improve competence levels in the building control sector.
2.3.2 This part includes amendments to the Building Act 1984, to:
allow the Building Safety Regulator to act as the building control authority for higher risk buildings;
provide powers for building regulations to set out the detailed regime for higher risk buildings. Building Regulations will be used to establish the gateways process for the design, construction and refurbishment of buildings in scope, and establish the regime for dutyholders;
put in place requirements for the registration of building inspectors and building control approvers (formerly known as Approved Inspectors); and
Put in place powers for the Secretary of State, advised by the Building Safety Regulator, to act where a Local Authority is exercising its building control functions below the standard expected.
2.4 Part 4 – Higher Risk Buildings
2.4.1 This is the key part of the Bill and sets out requirements for higher risk buildings when they are occupied, including duties on the Accountable Person (the duty holder in occupation) and building safety managers in relation to building safety risks in their building.
2.4.2 This part includes provisions relating to the management of buildings in occupation, including:
Defining the Accountable Person and Building Safety Manager
Putting in place requirements for registering a building, and applying for a Building Assurance Certificate
Putting in place requirements for the ongoing management of safety, and information to be held as part of the ‘golden thread’ of safety information
73 Putting in place requirements for the ongoing engagement with residents, via residents’ engagement strategy, and for the obligations on residents in relation to the safe management of buildings; and
Measures around the recovery of costs, special measures (where an AP is not able to fulfil their duties) and enforcement of the regime.
Establishing and operating the mandatory occurrence reporting system by AP and BSM
Provision of prescribed information in accordance with prescribed standards for the Regulator, residents and other persons; and provide these documents to a new AP if that changes
Duties imposed on residents, including access to dwellings within higher-risk buildings
Establishment of the complaint’s procedure
2.4.3 Roles and Responsibilities
Role AP BSM Register the building with the Regulator √ Apply for a Building Assurance Certificate and display it √ in the building Appoint a suitable Building Safety Manager √ Take steps to prevent a major incident √ Develop a Safety Case Report and keep it up to date √ Produce a Resident Engagement Strategy √ Have adequate insurance against loss under building √ safety management Appoint an individual as the nominated individual for the √ building Manage the building according to the safety case report √ Establish and operate a mandatory occurrence reporting √ system Provide information to the AP and the Regulator as √ required Set up a complaints procedure for the investigation of √ relevant complaints
2.4.4 Although AP is the owner of the most of the duties in the Bill, it is recognised that all or any of these tasks could be delegated to the BSM to actually carry out as long as AP has oversight and understands they are ultimately accountable for fulfilling those duties.
74 2.4.5 The BSM principal role is to support the AP in the day-to-day management of the fire and structural safety in the building. Responsibilities include:
Complying with their own statutory duties as set out in the Bill Managing the building in accordance with the Safety Case Report for the building and ensuring that the requirements of the Building Assurance Certificate are complied with Keeping informed and co-operating with the managing agents (if any) of the building (if different) about safety measures and works Complying with all directions given and statutory notices issued by the Building Safety Regulator Co-operating with other occupiers or owners of the building, including any other person acting as the Responsible Person under the Fire Safety Order, to secure an integrated approach to managing building safety risks.
2.4.6 Further to the Consultation on Building Safety Bill last year, Government clearly sets out residents’ duties and that AP and BSM have more powers to ensure their compliance. The AP can issue a notice to comply and set out the steps they will take if that notice is not complied with. The county court can then make an order, if necessary, requiring the resident to do or not to do a specified thing.
2.5 Part 5 - Supplementary and general notes
2.5.1 This part covers: Provisions requiring developers to belong to a New Homes Ombudsman scheme. Powers to regulate construction products (through statutory instruments). Increased powers for the Architect Registration Board to monitor the competence of architects. Removal of the ‘democratic filter’ which requires social housing residents to refer unresolved complaints to a ‘designated person’ or wait eight weeks before they can access redress via the Housing Ombudsman.
Link to the full Draft Building Safety Bill is available at the following website https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/f ile/906737/Draft_Building_Safety_Bill_Web_Accessible.pdf
75 Policy Document
Health and Safety Policy
HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
Author: Marek Sicak Authorised by: Sean McLaughlin Owned by: Marek Sicak Issue No: v.7 Effective Next Review from: 24/11/2020 date: 23/11/2021 HFH Board CH&S Board Consultation List who was ELT Required? YES consulted TUs EIA EIA Required? No Completed No Section: Health and Safety Policies and Procedures Ref. No: HS_HSP01 Applies to: HFH
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Part 1: Health and Safety Policy Statement
Homes for Haringey’s Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team recognise and accept its responsibilities to provide a safe and healthy environment for all its employees and stakeholders including residents, contractors, and members of the public.
Homes for Haringey will comply with its duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and all subordinate regulations. As a minimum standard we will follow approved codes of practice and industry guidance.
We will have a responsible and thorough approach to health and safety, have control and safeguards in place for prevention of accidents and ill-health, striving to provide a safe environment where people enjoy living and working and we all have the opportunity to develop and play a part in the continued improvement of our community.
To ensure that safety and health is integrated into our work, Head of Health, Safety and Compliance reports directly to the Managing Director and the Board of Directors. We will ensure that our decisions reflect our intention that good health and safety management is integrated into the services we provide by having a customer centred approach that puts our residents at the heart of everything we do.
We recognise that our staff are our greatest asset and we are confident that together through involvement, support, communication and co-operation, provision of adequate information, instruction, training and supervision to staff and recognising the importance of staff wellbeing, we can deliver services we are proud of and the development of a positive safety culture within our organisation.
We believe that real progress can only be achieved by having a continual commitment to improving health, safety and wellbeing standards in the day-to-day conduct of the business for the benefit of our employees, residents, contractors and members of the public.
We encourage you to safeguard your own and others health and safety by evaluating the risks that you encounter and adopt sensible precautions to minimise risks to both yourself and others.
As the Chair and Managing Director, we are committed to provide adequate resources to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employees and stakeholders in our organisation. We understand the legal and financial obligations but the greatest of these is our moral obligation, as we truly believe that we should all be able to work or live in an environment that is as safe as is reasonably practicable.
Sean McLaughlin Aman Dalvi OBE Managing Director HfH Chair of the HfH Board
Date: 24 November 2020 Next Review Date: 23 November 2021
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Part 2: Organisational Framework & Responsibilities
2.0 Health & Safety Organisational Chart
Homes for Haringey Board
Sean McLaughlin
Managing Director Puneet Rajput Director of Corporate Affairs
Denise Gandy Executive Director of Housing Demand
Tracie Downie Executive Director of Housing Management
Mark Baigent David Sherrington Interim Executive Director of Property Director of Broadwater Farm
Health & Safety
Heads of Service
Managers, Team Leaders, Coordinators & Supervisors
Staff
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2.1 Organisational Responsibilities for Management & Staff
2.1.1 Board Directors The Board of Directors have overall responsibility for ensuring that Homes for Haringey fulfils its legal obligations, the effective planning and implementation of the Health and Safety Policy and ensuring that adequate resources are made available to enable Homes for Haringey to meet its health and safety obligations. The Board will ensure that the Health and Safety Policy is appropriate in order to secure continuing compliance with current legislation and any changes in the law. The Board will ensure that arrangements for the health, safety and welfare within the Homes for Haringey are made known, maintained and reviewed whenever there is a significant change of operation.
2.1.2 Managing Director The Managing Director is responsible for the day to day running of Homes for Haringey and will ensure that the Health and Safety Policy is implemented, and that health and safety matters are brought to the attention of the board members as necessary. The Managing Director is also responsible for:
Understanding the main requirements of the Health and at Work etc Act 1974. Prioritising health and safety in organisational planning and decision making to ensure that it is given visibility at both strategic and organisation levels. Ensuring that the organisational structure is appropriate to manage health and safety. Allocating the necessary resources for health and safety. Supporting Directors in policy setting. Assuming ultimate responsibility. Ensuring that the same management standards are applied to health and safety as to other management functions. Ensuring that health and safety is integrated into the management structure. Leading by example, creating a positive and inclusive working safety environment and culture. Establishing a framework that provides assurance to the board that the business performs within recognised standards (health and safety) and where necessary corrective action implemented to address low or poor performance.
2.1.3 Directors Executive Directors shall assist the Managing Director in the following; Ensuring continuous improvement through reviewing the safety performance and the safety management system within their directorate. Ensuring health, safety and welfare issues are given a high priority and are adequately resourced.
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Ensuring statutory provisions are complied with and best practices is adopted in all work activities where possible. Reporting safety performance to the Managing Director and Executive Management Team.
2.1.4 Heads of Service, Managers, Team Leaders, Coordinators & Supervisors Managers and supervisory staff must ensure that health and safety policies and guidance are implemented. In particular, they must ensure that staff under their control are familiar with risk assessments and fire drills etc.
Managers and supervisors have a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of persons under their control and to ensure that safety requirements are adhered to by themselves and their staff.
Managers should undertake risk assessments in consultation with their employees. Managers should ensure their staff understand the hazards which have been identified and the control measures which are designed to eliminate or reduce the risks. The risk assessments must be recorded in writing and communicated to all staff, including agency or temporary staff. Risk assessments should be periodically reviewed to ensure they remain valid and that any training needs identified through the risk assessment process are added to the training plan.
Managers must ensure that:
Safety systems and procedures are in place and practiced e.g. fire drills. Equipment is regularly checked and tested for defects. Staff are competent to carry out their roles. Workplace inspections are carried out regularly. All employees using display screen equipment complete a workstation self- assessment and that these assessments are reviewed. Suitable controls are implemented to remove, reduce and manage risks. Staff are supervised and adhere to safety instructions and undertake necessary training. Where work activities fall under the Construction, (Design & Management) Regulations that they fully comply with their duties as laid out in the HFH CDM policy and Contractors Code of Conduct Policy. All places of work and work activities are subject to health and safety monitoring, checks and inspections, using HFH audit forms. A sufficient amount of staff are trained as first aiders and fire marshals and their names are displayed on the local health & safety notice board. They Lead by example by promoting high standards of health and safety amongst employees and contractors. They develop and maintain the productive and positive workplace safety culture where all staff actively and effectively participate to achieve positive safety culture.
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All plant and equipment is assessed prior to purchase and that it is suitable and fit for purpose. A maintenance programme is in place for service and inspection of plant and that records maintained. They produce COSHH assessments that identify the safe use, storage, transport and disposal of waste and hazardous substances used at work. Appropriate personal protective equipment is issued to staff and training is given in its use, maintenance and storage and it is renewed as necessary. Emergency arrangements are in place and staff are trained to respond quickly and appropriately to emergency situations. Undertake fire drills to test and improve procedures.
Managers must investigate incidents and complete accident report forms. As part of this task, managers should review risk assessments and controls to reduce the likelihood of incidents being repeated: Ensuring that health, safety and welfare is taken into account within any specification, design or instruction issued. Liaising with relevant Managers and Co-ordinators on health, safety and welfare when preparing estimates and job specifications. Seeking advice from the Health & Safety Team as necessary. Assisting the relevant manager in the planning processes, and ensuring the Construction, (Design & Management) Regulations are adhered to.
2.1.5 All Staff All staff, whatever role or grade within Homes for Haringey, have a legal duty to: Take reasonable care of the health and safety of themselves and others who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work. Co-operate with Homes for Haringey, as far as maybe necessary, to enable them to carry out their legal duties in health and safety matters. Not intentionally or recklessly interfere with anything provided in the interests of health, safety and welfare
This means that employees have a responsibility to themselves and others, such as colleagues and members of the public. Employees must not knowingly put themselves or others at risk because of what they do or fail to do at work. Employees must not cut corners or ignore policy, procedures and safety rules. Employees must not ignore hazards that arise, nor must they ignore others who they see or know are working in an unsafe manner. For example; Staff are required to observe the fire safety procedures. Staff must wear personal protective equipment that is provided for them. Staff must use any plant, equipment, or hazardous substances in accordance with any instruction & training they receive. Staff must follow the control measures as identified in Risk Assessments
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Staff must also inform their employer of any situation which could present a serious and immediate danger to health and safety, or any shortfall in the health and safety arrangements.
Generally, we are all required to manage safety and protect health “so far as is reasonably practicable”. Homes for Haringey will not take responsibility for any prosecutions of employees under Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
2.1.6 Health & Safety Team The Health & Safety Team incorporate Fire Safety, Asbestos Management and Health & Safety and will help HfH discharge its responsibility by: Developing health and safety policies, procedures and guidance. Providing health and safety advice. Providing advice, support and guidance to facilitate the development of health and safety and to promote a risk aware culture. Conduct audits of premises and risk areas. Provide technical input and support to health and safety committees. Provide advice to clients, designers and constructors for construction projects. Carry out health and safety assessments in procurement of contracts at Pre- Qualification Question (PQQ) and ITT stages. Carry out construction site visits where projects are covered by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations. Provide asbestos management services including central asbestos register, asbestos surveying, policies, procedures, guidance and training. Provide fire risk assessment services including a register of blocks and assessments, inspection and fire risk assessment report services, policies, procedures, guidance and training. Assess construction phase health & safety plans. Receive and record accident and incident reports. Assist line managers in investigating accidents and incidents. Provide health & safety update reports to senior management. Develop and deliver training. Liaise with partners and external agencies including other ALMO’s, Council’s, Health and Safety Executive, Fire Brigade, Police etc. To keep abreast of legislative or regulatory changes that may impact the business amending or updating Policies keeping relevant internal stakeholders informed.
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2.1.7 Homes for Haringey Consultation Safety Structure
Homes for Haringey believe that an effective committee structure is vital to ensure that employees are consulted in good time on health and safety matters. The consultation structure is supported by effective arrangements for dissemination of information through safety committee meetings, team meetings, email, intranet, briefing sessions and training etc.
Table 1 - Health & Safety Governance Structure
Strategic Oversight HFH Board
Strategic Corporate Health & Direction/Challenge Safety Board
Health & Fire Risk and Property Operational Wellbeing Compliance Board Oversight/Challenge Board
Housing Property Housing Demand Hamagement Operational Safety Committee Safety Committee Safety Committee
Homes for Haringey Board will provide strategic oversight for health and safety, and property compliance based on the Business priorities/risks identified via the Corporate Health and Safety Board
Corporate Health and Safety Board – Terms of reference Chaired by the Managing Director the CHSB will focus on: o Setting strategic priorities o Operational oversight/challenge o Performance Membership o Chair - Managing Director o Executive Leadership Team o Health and Safety o Human Resources o HFH Board H&S Champion o External Safety Professional (British Safety Council)
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o LBH Housing Strategy and Commissioning Manager o LBH Deputy Head for Heath and Safety Health & Wellbeing Board - Terms of Reference Chaired by an Executive Director the H&W Board will focus on three key themes: o Operational risks including performance o Staff wellbeing and; o Strategic priorities (staff safety) for the business Membership o Chair - Executive Director o Heads of Service o Human Resources o Health and Safety Fire Risk and Property Compliance Board – Terms of reference Chaired by the Managing Director the FR&PC Board will focus on three key themes: o Fire Safety and Property Compliance risks by discipline including operational oversight. o Strategic investment priorities (budget setting) and; o The transition to a fully integrated ICT solution to provide transparency Membership o Chair – Managing Director o Executive Leadership Team o Head of Health, Safety and Compliance o LBH Deputy Head for Health and Safety o LBH Housing Strategy and Commissioning Manager o Head of Communications o Heads of Service – as and when required Directorate Health and Safety Committees There are Safety Committees in each of the main service areas, Property/Housing Repairs Service, Housing Demand and Housing Management with relevant management and employee/Trade Union representatives. Issues from other services are communicated via the Health and Wellbeing Group or Corporate H&S Board. Health and Safety Committees have clear and separate terms of reference.
Team meetings: Team Meetings with health & safety as an agenda item are chaired by Service Managers with supervisors and staff representatives.
Key drivers/outcomes:
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A risk register will form the golden thread connecting the operational issues to the desired strategic outcomes through the hierarchy of forums. Key Performance Indicators – operational KPIs to be established, monitored and challenged through the different governance tiers to provide visibility on safety performance (staff and property) Audit action plans will be included in the corresponding risk register to provide oversight CHSB will receive quarterly update reports from H&W Board and Fire Risk and Property Compliance Board on key risks. H&W Board and Property Compliance Board will provide operational challenge and priorities that will inform the CHSB of key risks moving forward Improved accountability – reducing meetings increasing accountability by Directorate Having challenging conversations at the right level These arrangements ensure that the requirements of the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 and Health & Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 are effectively met.
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Part 3: Health & Safety Policy Arrangements
3.0 Arrangements The following arrangements have been established to ensure the organisation’s objectives are met as set out within parts one and two of this document. References to other documents, guidance and procedures are made throughout the arrangements section and are available on the intranet.
3.1 Arranging / Organising Safety Performance
3.1.1 Competence Each year HFH reviews the health & safety competency of its staff by carrying out a training needs analysis of its entire staff. A training matrix is produced and reviewed annually to identify and prioritise training requirements.
Training can be in the form of:
Shadowing another member of staff Secondment Safety talks Seminars In house training External training
All employees are trained to at least the minimum standard as specified under statutory provision and no employee is required to carry out any work without the appropriate level of training. Additional training is given where managers identify the need.
For further details, refer to the Health and Safety training matrix guidance card on Harinet.
a) Employee Appraisal Employees have biannual personal appraisals carried out by their line manager. As part of the appraisal health and safety issues are discussed and both appraisee and appraiser can highlight any safety concerns or training that may be required.
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A generic risk assessment for all tasks should be discussed with staff and hazard & control measures are agreed and signed off.
Personal health and safety goals and objectives should be set and monitored during the appraisal process. The range of objectives are bespoke to an employee and depend on the duties and responsibilities associated with their post.
Any training identified will be forwarded to the learning and development team to collate. A list of all training requirements will then be presented to the executive management team to prioritise the training requests.
b) Induction of New Employees New employees will go through a full induction process as set out in the induction pack, and safety training requirements will be assessed with a member of the people management team. All new employees complete both HR and H&S induction process.
c) Agency Staff Prior to commencing work all agency staff are given a safety Induction relating to the type of work they do and the environment they will be working in. Line managers will provide health and safety training relating to their local work and provide relevant risk assessments and method statement information.
d) Contractor Health & Safety Scheme (CHAS) As a minimum requirement for any contractor undertaking work directly for HFH will be a member of CHAS or hold a similar Safety Scheme in Procurement accreditation. Successful contractors will be continuously monitored throughout the length of the contract. As part of our checks to ensure the competency of our contractors their policies and procedures are assessed at the tender stage.
e) Safety First Talks Each month Safety First Talks’ are received by Repairs Operatives and Estate Service Officers on issues that relate directly to their work. Talks may include ladder & equipment safety or local safety arrangements. All talks are recorded and attendance records kept.
For further details, refer to the Health and Safety team.
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f) Risk Assessment HFH safety teams along with the assistance of local managers and staff have written a generic risk assessment for each trade group. Every employee in HRS & Estate Services will have received a risk assessment folder relating to the work they carry out. The assessments are also used as topics for monthly Safety First Talks. Managers carry out risk assessments for the work their staff undertake and place them in their safety folder on the shared drive.
For further details, refer to the Risk Assessment Register and Assessments on Harinet.
h) Hazardous Substances Prior to purchasing chemicals or substances, an assessment is carried using the cloud-based database to determine the least hazardous product that can be used for a given task. A folder of relevant assessments is given to each line manager, assessments are discussed with staff, and are held locally by services.
For further details, refer to COSHH Policy and Procedure on Harinet.
3.1.2 Control
a) Building Managers (BM) Each building occupied by HFH staff has an HFH BM responsible for ensuring the building has effective health & safety arrangements in place. Where a building has multiple occupancy tenants the BM will liaise with other users to ensure the safety of all persons using the building including cleaners, contractors & visitors.
The BM will have close liaison with those engaged in emergency controls on issues such as;
Property management. Safety inspections. Security. Emergency drills etc.
For further details refer to HFH_HSGC26 Building Managers Duties
b) Fire Wardens (FW) HFH fully recognise its duty to ensure a building/ depot can be evacuated safely and quickly in the event of a warning alarm being raised. To achieve this HFH
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identify and train a sufficient number of staff to become FWs for each building occupied by HFH staff. FWs main function is to ensure the alarm is raised, alert the building manager, actively ensure that all staff and visitors evacuate the building promptly and direct the emergency services on arrival.
For further details, refer to: Emergency procedures_48 Station road Emergency procedures_108 Gloucester road Emergency procedures_BWF CC Emergency procedures_Lordship Lane Depot
c) First Aid Staff HFH has carried out a risk assessment (RA) to determine how many first aid staff are required for various buildings and depots occupied by HFH staff which will be reviewed periodically or when there is significant changes. The RA determines the type of training in relation to the tasks carried out and the persons carrying out the tasks. As a minimum all first aid staff hold the ‘Basic First Aid at Work Certificate’. As well as administering treatment, First Aiders are responsible for;
Keeping records of treatment administered. Checking the contents of the first aid supplies and Replenish items as necessary.
First Aiders names are displayed in local work areas and Harinet (intranet).
For further details refer to First Aid Policy on Harinet.
d) Health & Safety Representatives Health & Safety Representatives play an active role in ensuring the health, safety and welfare of staff in their local work area. Key areas of concern are the environment in which they work and the work tasks within. The representatives must communicate, consult and co-operate with employees & HFH on all issues relating to health & safety. Managers shall familiarise themselves with the representatives role and facilitate them in carrying out their duties. Health & safety representatives are appointed by trade unions in line with the ‘Safety Representatives & Safety Committee Regulations’. For further details refer to Health and Safety Committee Constitution on Harinet.
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3.1.3 Co-operation & Communication
a) Managers Briefing Every month the in-house communication team produce a monthly ‘team brief newsletter’ to enable senior management to cascade information down through the organisation. The health and safety team provide articles relating to health, safety and welfare with the aim of promoting awareness and co-operation amongst all employees. Line managers will initiate team briefings for their staff. The briefings are a two-way process and employees are openly encouraged to raise issues and comment on the points raised. Attendee sheets are signed and logged for each team brief.
For further details, refer to previous team briefs on Harinet
b) Notice Boards Each work area has a notice board designated to health and safety matters. Each board displays the HSE Law Poster and other material including emergency procedures, names of ‘First Aid Staff’ and HFH policy statement etc. Notice boards are regularly reviewed and updated to maintain local interest.
For further details, refer to Notice Board Guidance Card on Harinet.
c) Intranet HFH has its own intranet site called Harinet which is regularly updated to include the latest information. Regular emails are sent out on topics raised by the Managing Director and others where replies can be sent to the MD’s personal blog.
d) Employee Appraisal Along with personal appraisals that occur bi –yearly, monthly ‘one to one’ appraisals are carried out. This presents the opportunity for open communication between the manager & their staff to discuss and record issues relating to their health and safety.
e) Team Meetings Monthly team meetings are carried out throughout the organisation where health and safety is a standing agenda item.
f) Safety Representative
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Safety representatives are afforded an agreed amount of time each month to carry out their safety duties. Their main task is to seek the views of other employees they represent and bring this to the attention of their local manager and on some occasions the safety committee.
g) Safety Committee Safety committees have been established in each of the 3 large service areas to bring together senior management, managers & safety representatives to discuss health & safety matters. These committees feed into the Corporate Health and Safety Board (CHSB) chaired by Managing Director. Each of the committees and the CHSB have clear terms of reference including membership and the frequency of meetings.
3.2 Planning & Implementing Safety Performance
a) Risk Assessment (RA) Managers risk assess all activities their staff undertake to identify hazards and implement effective control measures to eliminate or reduce the risk to a safe level. Managers receive appropriate RA training and write assessments with the assistance of the employees tasked to undertake the work. The manager reviews assessments when there is a change in work processes, an accident or incident has occurred or when the RA identifies the need.
All repairs operatives & estate service officers are given a folder containing risk assessments relevant to their work.
For further information, refer to item 3.1.1 above.
b) Vaccinations HFH recognise that vaccinations are an effective way to help employees stay well and prevent infections from certain types of diseases. As part of the induction process estate service officers and HRS operatives are offered vaccination to ensure they are in good health to undertake their work. It has been identified that estate service officers may encounter blood during their duties therefore the following inoculation is offered to staff; Hepatitis B It has been identified that some staff in HRS may encounter raw sewage as part of their work. Staff at greater risk includes plumbers, multi skillers, labourer/drivers & drainage staff, therefore those staff are offered the following inoculations; Hepatitis A
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Polio Tetanus
Managers can arrange for any member of their staff to have a consultation with an occupational health nurse and any member of staff can make a request to their line manager.
For further details, refer to the Human Resource and Occupational Health pages on Harinet.
c) Business Continuity Plan (BCP) A Business Continuity Plan has been created as a way of maintaining HFHs critical functions and services in a crisis, it helps the organisation prepare for, respond to and recover from disruptions. The plan has listed telephone numbers of staff and a ‘communication tree’ is in place to ensure all staff are contactable. In the event of a crisis the people management team will assemble and activate the plan as necessary.
d) Emergency Planning The Emergency Planning Team is responsible for ensuring that the Council is prepared for any major emergency that affects the Borough of Haringey. The council has faced many emergencies in the past, from terrorist attacks and floods to major fires and power cuts. The council has the statutory duty to be prepared for emergencies, and every part of the council has a role to play. HFH are represented at these forums and have an emergency planning officer on call at all times.
For further details, refer to the Emergency Planning page on the Haringey Council external website.
e) Warning Codes HFH recognises that a small percentage of customers may be of a violent or aggressive nature or pose a risk to themselves and others through their living conditions or activities. The purpose of warning codes is to make employees and contractors aware of customers, their visitors or any other occupants of a property managed by HFH who pose a risk to themselves and or others. There are also vulnerability codes that enable HFH to identify our vulnerable and disabled residents allowing us to provide a better service to suit their needs.
HFH maintain a register of residents that have been known in the past to be verbally abusive or physically aggressive. One of the safety control measures when visiting a tenant at home is to check the address on the database for any warning codes.
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For further details, refer to Managing Potentially Violent Clients Policy on Harinet.
f) Wood Working Equipment HFH only provide woodworking machinery that it is suitable for the tasks it carries out, and is only used in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications and instructions. Prior to purchase, the equipment is assessed to determine its suitability in relation to its use, location, and maintenance requirements.
Each item of equipment has an emergency stop control fitted and a list of authorised users clearly signposted. Maintenance logs are kept for each item and staff receive regular information, instruction and training.
For further details refer to HSGC_Joinery Equipment.
g) Local Exhaust Ventilation LEV LEV is a ventilation system that takes dusts, mists, gases, vapour or fumes out of the air so that they can’t be inhaled. LEV systems need a thorough examination at least every 14 months along with daily inspections and regular maintenance to ensure they work as intended and continue to protect employee’s health. The examination tests the LEV against the performance recorded in the commissioning report. If the system or workshop layout has changed then the LEV will be re-commissioned to maintain compliance.
Operative training includes;
The harmful nature of the substances used. How exposure may occur. How the LEV system works. Methods of working that get the best out of the LEV. How to check the LEV is working. The consequences of the LEV failing and What to do if something goes wrong.
For further details refer to HSGC LEV & Air Compressor
h) Permit to Work (PTW) A permit to work system is a formal written system used to control certain types of potentially hazardous work. The PTW specifies the work to be done, when it can be carry out and the precautions required to prevent accidents & incidents.
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All activities are adequately controlled by appropriate control measures identified through the risk assessment process. However, should an assessment identify a high and potentially dangerous activity to be carried out by our staff or our partnering contractors then a permit to work system would become necessary and tighter controls would be introduced.
i) Confined Spaces A confined space is in general an enclosed or semi-enclosed space, which is large enough for a significant proportion of the body to enter, and within which a dangerous accumulation of gases and vapours could occur, or there could be a deficiency or enrichment of oxygen which could seriously threaten the health and safety of staff. Confined spaces include;
Ducts, Sewers Manholes Lofts and cellars Trenches in contaminated ground etc.
The nature of the work activity and or the nature of the space can make a space dangerous. Work activities which include using solvent based products or fuel operated equipment such as, welding and burning, all release or involve fumes, vapour and gases that can poison or asphyxiate people. Before entering a confined space a full and detailed assessment is undertaken and safe working practices agreed to, and a permit to work system will operate in accordance with the confined spaces regulations.
j) Hypodermic Needles Problems associated with drug misuse include discarded or hidden drug taking equipment left in communal areas and Void properties in our general housing stock. The high risk nature of removing used needles requires information and training to be given to employees on the associated risks. The risk assessment identifies control measures along with appropriate first aid measures.
For further details refer to HSGC COSHH on Harinet.
3.3 Measuring Safety Performance: Audit & Review
3.3.1 Auditing
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Auditing is fundamental to the success & improvement of HFH health and safety policies and procedures and ensures that the organisation meets its statutory requirements. Audits will be regularly undertaken both at a local level and also for the whole health and safety management system framework.
3.3.2 External Auditing HFH welcomes external audits as it enables an independent & unbiased assessment of our Health & Safety Management System. An external audit provider should be a member of a nationally recognised Occupational Health & Safety Organisation and concentrate on the following five sections;
1. Safety Organisation 2. Management Control Systems 3. Fire Control systems 4. Measurement and Control systems 5. Workplace Implementation
3.3.3.1 Active Monitoring
a) Safety Inspections
Construction Sites, Partnering Contractors - Safety arrangements are identified through the ‘Construction Phase Plan’. A scored safety inspection is carried out monthly using (Contractors) Site Inspection Form. The safety advisor will notify all parties immediately should any urgent matters arise. All findings are discussed at monthly progress meetings between HFH managers and contractors. Findings are also discussed at HFH safety committee meetings.
For further details refer to HFH CDM Policy on Harinet.
HFH Occupied Buildings – Workplace inspections for offices are carried out and recorded using (Offices) Workplace inspection form. Quarterly meetings are held with Building Managers & Property Services to discuss issues arising.
Repairs Site Inspections - Managers are responsible for conducting operative and site workplace inspections of Void and occupied properties using (Lordship Lane) Workplace inspection form & (HRS Operative) Site Inspection Form
Estate Services – Managers carry out on-site inspections each month using these forms and filed on the shared drive (ESM) Site Inspection Form.
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Concierge Suites & Work Lodges have safety inspections each month for all concierge suites using (Concierge & lodges) W/place Inspection form
b) Vehicle Inspections HFH has a fleet of leased vehicles used by ‘Repairs Staff’ to carry out day-to-day maintenance work & void repairs. Employees submit weekly vehicle inspections sheets and their co-ordinators carry out additional inspections to ensure the vehicle is in good repair and in good order. Every vehicle contains an HFH vehicle handbook that includes information on reporting repairs and procedures following an accident. Vehicle accidents are reported to the fleet manager using the appropriate form and copies are sent to the Insurance section and safety department. Drivers are required to inform their manager if they are involved in an accident whilst at work.
As part of the leasing agreement, the fleet manager obtains yearly independent verification that all drivers hold a current valid driving licence; this includes staff that are entitled to receive ‘Essential Mileage’ payments for using their own vehicles at work. All drivers of fleet vehicles and those receiving Essential Car User Allowance have a duty to report any penalty points or disqualification they may receive whist at work or in their own time.
c) Scaffold Inspections HFH employ professional contractors to erect scaffolds on our behalf. Once erected a competent person inspects all scaffolding;
Before being taken into use for the first time After any substantial addition, dismantling or other alteration After any event likely to have affected its strength or stability At regular intervals not exceeding 7 days since the last inspection.
Records of inspection reports & scaffolding currently in situ are kept for a minimum of 3 months after the scaffold has been ‘Struck’.
d) Health Surveillance Where an individual has informed their manager of a medical or psychological problem, HFH will arrange health surveillance through Haringey Council’s Occupational Health Team and will make appropriate arrangements to ensure staff’s safety at work. Where all the hazards from a task cannot be fully controlled health surveillance may be introduced. Health surveillance checks medical conditions at regular
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intervals to identify any deterioration early. Current checks include audiometric testing to staff within the supported workshops and call centre and asbestos surveyors undertake yearly lung function test.
3.3.3.2 Reactive Monitoring
a) Accident, Incident & Near Miss Following an accident, incident or near miss arising from any work activity the manager decides if an investigation is warranted. If so, the manager will conduct the investigation and seek assistance from the safety department if required. The line manager is responsible for completing an Accident / Incident Report Form and forwards a copy to the safety department. Information from the form is entered onto a database and findings are scrutinised by safety advisors, union representatives & senior management to identify additional controls.
For further details refer to Accident reporting form on Harinet.
b) Fire Incidents HFH Fire Team carry out fire risk assessments for the communal areas of our General Needs Housing Stock and ‘Supported Housing’ accommodation. The assessment identifies potential fire hazards and makes recommendations to eliminate or reduce the risk of fire spreading to other areas. Should a fire occur, safety measures identified should compartmentalise the fire sufficiently to allow enough time for the emergency services to arrive and take control of the situation.
In the event of a fire, whether it is in an external bin, a corridor intake cupboard or a dwelling a fire incident form is completed and sent to the Insurance Section & Fire Team for investigation. The local fire brigade informs the fire team of any fires they have attended on our estates and a fire incident form is then completed. Studying the fire reports can lead to patterns emerging, such as, an unusual amount of refuge bin fires, or a lot of fires in one particular area etc.
For further details, refer to the Fire Safety Policy on Harinet.
c) Performance Indicators To maintain & improve safety standards performance indicators (PI) are produced monthly using a spreadsheet and charts. These identify whether a range of safety checks are being carried out including workplace and site inspections and safety talks etc. These can be department or individual based to compare performance and standards. The Safety Team provide PI graphs and figures for analysis at the quarterly Safety Committee Meeting.
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3.4 Reviewing Safety Performance
3.4.1 Policy & Planning Arrangements Senior management is responsible for ensuring that effective plans are in place to improve standards of health and safety. Senior management in consultation with the Head of health & safety produce yearly plans, which set out clear objectives to further develop & improve safety standards within HFH.
The objectives within the plan are clearly defined and prioritised and a named responsible person for carrying out the improvements. Responsible persons seek assistance and consult with local managers and safety representatives to prepare further plans in order to meet these objectives.
Plans include the following; Actions required. Priority rating system. Responsible persons. Time scales. Monitoring & auditing.
For further details, refer to the Health & Safety section on Harinet.
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6. Policy Control
6.1 This policy is reviewed periodically on annual basis, or when the significant changes occur.
Was a consultation Revision Date Description of changes Reviewed by carried out? Who 1.0 Initial release CH&SB JD Updated details of personnel and CH&SB 2.0 01/10/2017 MS shortcuts to policies/forms. Periodic review and governance HFH Board, CH&SB 4.0 01/10/2018 DJ structure review HFH Board, 5.0 11/10/2019 Periodic review CH&SB, H&SCs, MS TUs, HFH Board, CHSB, 7.0 Oct.2020 Periodic review MS HSCs, TUs
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Report for: Board of Management Title: HfH Performance Report Agenda item: 12 Report for: Discussion Classification: Public James Missenden, Interim Head of Business Improvement & Report authors: Denis Lai-Kit, Performance Analyst [email protected] Contact email: [email protected]
1.0 Introduction
1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Board with an overview of Homes for Haringey’s (HfH) current performance as at the end of October 2020.
1.2 We are asking the Board to review the contents of the report and consider the main findings and implications for HfH.
2.0 Background
2.1 Appendix 1 provides the year to date figures for the closed Ombudsman cases 2020/21.
2.2 Appendix 2 provides the details and learnings from the Housing Ombudsman Adverse Decisions.
2.3 Appendix 3 provides the current list of performance indicators reported to the Board grouped under our six key strategic priorities, within the current Business Plan, as well as two of the Council Performance measures.
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3.0 Performance Highlights: YTD October 2020
Of the 27 HFH KPIs in the PMF against which we reported this month, 22 are either on target or within tolerance, or have improved performance in comparison to the previous month.
The year to date performance for responsive repairs completed at the first visit is above target at 92.4%, which is significantly higher than the same time last year where we recorded 86.8%.
Estates grading recommenced in the month of June 2020, as the service stopped conducting these during the Covid-19 lockdown. Since then, performance has been maintained above its 90% target. The year to date performance is currently at 92.8%.
All three Feedback Complaints measures are meeting their targets: Freedom of Information requests (FOIs), Stage Ones and Members Enquiries.
The Housing Needs Service was able to ensure acceptance and prevention rates were above achieving targets, both in month and year to date.
Rents collected for Temporary Accommodation has kept within tolerance levels in-month and year to date. It is currently at 97.18%, which is just short of its 98% end of year target.
The shortfall of Garage rents collected during the month of October, was at its lowest for the year. This brings the year to date collection to 91.34% against a yearend target of 92%.
During the month of October, the overall satisfaction with the last repair recorded 92.7% bringing the year to date performance within tolerance levels, and just short of target at 91.9%. against a target of 92%,
4.0 Report
4.1 Property Services
Voids:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 Average relet times (calendar days) 28.1 23 days 28.0 28.9 (General Needs VAVs only)
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In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 Average relet times (calendar days) 62.1 30 days 44.7 51.9 PSLs Average relet times (calendar days) 45.1 30 days 68.0 62.1 Hostels
4.2 General Needs: Quarter 2 voids performance achieved its target at 21 days but the in-month performance in month for October slipped back to 28 days. As previously reported, year to date performance has been disproportionately impacted by a single long- term void let in June. The letting performance on this particular void was affected in part by the requirements of an applicant to shield, although other failures in process were also contributory factors.
4.3 We have analysed the reasons for the failure to achieve target in October and identified that there are a number of process issues, which we are addressing.
4.4 Private Sector Leases: There were only three voids let in October. Although In-month performance slipped back to 44.7 days, it is still well below the July figure of 61 days.
4.5 The YTD performance of 51.9 is primarily driven by Lockdown in the first quarter where we experienced delays with landlord works, HRS works and clients refusing to move. We are now holding landlords accountable for the period of their contractual works by stopping the rent if they go over the prescribed period allocated for the works to be completed.
4.6 We are also looking to pilot a communal door key safe in the office for all new and void units with communal entry doors. This process would help in keeping tab of keys when the units become void. We also intend to inform tenants before they move out of their property to ensure that the communal door keys are handed over to the Customer Service team at the point of tenancy termination.
4.7 Hostels: Performance in Quarter 2 was greatly improved, but we slipped in October to 68 days. This has been attributed to a process failure resulting in a back dated termination of tenancy. YTD performance was negatively impacted by Covid-19 and the lockdown in the first 3 months of this financial year. The issues are attributed to tenants moving on but not confirming their move out dates as our front facing offices were closed. These were the ones that fell through the process we had in place to capture terminations during lockdown.
5.0 Health & Safety Compliance:
Gas Safety:
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In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 % of properties with valid gas certificate - Council properties (GN, 99.99% 100% 98.9% 98.9% SH & HOS only) % of properties with valid gas 99.80% 100% 98.5% 98.5% certificate - PSLs (K&T Heating)
5.1 The position on gas at the end of October was 98.9% compliance with 190 non- compliant properties (General Needs, Sheltered Housing & Hostels). These are Covid-19 related and access is reliant on resident cooperation. Across the Housing sector, HouseMark shows an average of 99.2% for September so HFH is broadly in alignment with current sector performance trends.
5.2 There are 18 properties that have been capped (down from 21 in September) and these are being appropriately managed by the Housing Management Team.
5.3 PSL performance also dipped towards the end of the contract with PH Jones and award of the new contract to K&T Heating who commenced working with us on 1 October 2020.
6.0 Fire Safety:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 Annual Fire Risk Assessment for purpose built blocks of flats over 6 100% 100% 36.9% 36.9% stories in height (Sheltered & Hostels) 3 yearly Fire Risk Assessment for purpose built blocks under 6 stories in 100% 100% 59.3% 59.3% height
6.1 The underperformance is linked to the backlog that accumulated when we paused the FRA programme (due to the pandemic) for two months in spring 2020. We are visiting and renewing the oldest FRAs as a priority.
6.2 However, in doing so, the new backlog is generated as more and more properties are reaching their review anniversary. The backlog of FRAs is currently 193 FRAs out of date.
6.3 A new Fire Risk Assessor was recruited and started with HfH in early October, so we can accelerate progress with the outstanding FRAs. We are also in the process of
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procuring the 3rd party consultants to assist us with a relatively small number of properties to carry out the fire risk assessments.
7.0 Asbestos:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 Number of blocks with a valid Asbestos Survey (communal areas 100% 100% 99.87% 99.87% only)
7.1 At October 1,541 out of 1,543 communal areas had a valid Asbestos survey. The two outstanding are due to difficulties in gaining access and we are taking appropriate enforcement actions to ensure that these are completed.
8.0 Domestic Electrics:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 Domestic Electrical Inspection # 33% 27.4% 27.4% Programme (5 yearly testing)
8.1 On domestic electrics, the target is to achieve 100% over three years by June 2023. A third, 33%, are expected to be achieved by March 2021. Performance in October was up to 27.4% and is on track to achieve this year’s 33% target.
9.0 Water Management:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 Class A - Water Hygiene Large scheme (whole building Risk 100% 100% TBC TBC Assessment)
9.1 We are unable to report on the water management indicator until every block is checked as part of the deep dive. This will give us a figure for the total number of water tanks against which we can report performance.
9.2 This exercise will be completed by the end of December. To date surveys have shown that 74 blocks have been identified that contain 181 water tanks not in the current water contracts. Urgent remediation work is being undertaken to address the issues found. Please note that that these are in addition to the 227 blocks which were already in the water contracts prior to this discovery survey exercise.
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10.0 Housing Repairs Service:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 % of Emergency (& OOH made safe) 98.7% 98.0% 98.0% 97.1% repairs completed within timescale % of urgent repairs completed within Government time limits (Right To 99.6% 99.8% 99.8% 99.5% Repair)
10.1 We achieved target tolerance for the percentage of emergency repairs completed in the month of October of 98%, up from 97.2% in September. Year to date performance remains below target at 97.1%. The new gas contracts (K&T Heating) is now in place and is expected to result in further improvements in performance.
10.2 Although we achieved targets in October for completion of urgent repairs , the year to date performance remains below target at 99.5% versus a target of 99.8%. This represents 29 repairs out of a total of 6019.
11.0 Housing Management
Income Collection:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 % of rent collected (including arrears and excluding water rates) (GN & SH 98.50% Not Set 93.68% 95.98% only)
11.1 Rent collection currently stands at 95.98%. We are still aiming to reach a cumulative collection rate of at least 96% by end of March 2021 and have strategies in place to achieve this. This is in line with other social landlords that we are currently benchmarking against. The risk is that our tenants’ ability to pay their rent in the remainder of the year will be further compromised by the economic impacts arising from Covid.
12.0 Leasehold Collection:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 % of day to day Leasehold service 98.50% Not Set 88.7% 96% charges collected
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12.1 After three months of above-target collection, the lack of arrears actions and court escalation powers has made it more difficult to collect from more persistent/non- engaging debtors. From 1st October 2020, we have resumed targeted communications, which should generate more engagement and payment from debtors and to enable us to identify those of our leaseholders who may be in financial difficulty due to the pandemic.
13.0 Community Support and Resilience:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 Project 2020: Number of residents provided with support, employment, 298 260 38 123 training and advice
13.1 We have achieved significantly better performance this month, reaching more clients on the Universal Credit list. The improved performance also reflects the results of the work we put in during the last seven months in providing intense employment support with some of the most complex cases.
13.2 The team continue to provide over the phone registrations and Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG), whilst 1-2-1 appointments are booked for the more complex cases for those clients who are unable to do things independently. The team are seeing more ESOL needs coming through for help and support, and those requiring IT support, including setting up email accounts, registering for services online and generally enabling tenants to be more IT savvy.
13.3 The manager has also taken on a small caseload of clients from the Universal Credit list and the team have a traffic system in place to fast track those who work more independently whilst also taking on aspects of job brokering.
14.0 Sickness Absence
Homes for Haringey Sickness:
YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October Outturn Target 2020 Average number of working days lost due to 14.8 days 4.5 days 5.7 days sickness per employee (HouseMark definition)
14.1 Sickness levels have improved at 5.7 days versus the 7.4 days average we recorded during the same time last year. However, this is still above the 4.5 day target.
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There are several members of staff on long-term sick leave across the business. There are currently concerns regarding the number of people that have or are off work due to work-related stress and this has in some cases reduced team capacity significantly. All service areas have been scheduled to take resilience training and health & wellbeing continue to be main features in all supervision and team dialogues.
15.0 Council Indicators
Temporary Accommodation:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 Number of homeless households in 2,954 2,784 3,005 3,005 temporary accommodation
15.1 Although there has been a significant increase in the numbers of people entering TA this year as a result of the ‘Everybody In’ guidance, the last two months have seen a return to last year’s inflow levels. The introduction of the Discretion Policy in July resulted in the number of new placements reducing dramatically.
15.2 However, following the introduction of the second national lockdown we have revised our approach to ensure that all verified rough sleepers will be offered the opportunity to leave the streets and so we are beginning to see an increase in numbers in November.
New placements into emergency accommodation 2019 2020 April 31 199 May 28 168 June 22 138 July 25 90 August 31 48 September 31 32 October 39 37 TOTAL 207 712
15.3 Whilst we currently have around 190 people in commercial hotels, over 600 have moved on. The remaining cohort all have an identified move-on plan and we will continue working with partners to support these moves. With the opening of Osbourne Grove in November, 32 TA residents will be moving on to this supported housing and a further scheme is planned in Early 2021, providing a further 29 units of accommodation.
107 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020
15.4 The number of placements for families has been lower due to the moratorium on evictions, which is ordinarily our biggest cause of homelessness. However, we have seen a large increase of families accessing temporary accommodation after being asked to leave by family or friends.
15.5 Move-on planning and access to move on options, including Capital Letters and CBS lets, has resulted in an overall reduction of 241 households in TA since June this year, with a drop of 51 households in TA at the end of October compared with the previous month.
16.0 Customer Services Contact Centre:
In-month YTD 19/20 20/21 Performance Indicator: October October Outturn Target 2020 2020 % of call centre abandonments excluding positive abandonments (all 16.5% 5% 11% 8% queues) YTD - to month end
16.1 The Council’s Customer Contact Centre is continuing to fail to achieve its in month target and year to date targets. There has been a significant increase in abandoned calls from August up to the end of October 2020. The performance has been amended so that customers’ calls resulting in call backs by the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system are now counted as ‘positive abandonments’ and therefore excluded from the calls classed as abandoned. When these ‘positive abandonments’ are excluded ,the October and year to date performance is still well below target.
HFH has met with senior managers from the council’s customer services and the Council’s Assistant Director of Housing and have expressed concerns about the impact of the Call Centre performance on HFH performance and satisfaction. We have been provided with assurances that the current performance has been caused largely by short term staffing issues which have been addressed , and that this should mean that performance returns to target levels in the remaining part of the year. We will continue to closely monitor this.
108 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020
Appendix 1
Closed Ombudsman Cases 2020/21
Fourteen Ombudsman cases have been closed since April 2019.
A breakdown of the determinations is below:
Housing Housing Property Closure Reason Total Demand Management Services Closed after initial enquiries: Closed after initial enquiries: 3 3 Out of jurisdiction Closed after initial enquires - no 1 1 further action Not upheld:
No further action Not upheld: 1 1 No Maladministration Upheld: 3 4 2 9 Maladministration, & Injustice Upheld:
Maladministration, No Injustice Total 6 5 3 14
109 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020
Appendix 2
Ombudsman Adverse Decisions:
Below are four Ombudsman cases for investigating by the Director of the service. An Adverse Decision has been made on one case with findings and learnings for the other three featuring in the next quarterly report.
Housing Demand: LBH/7805918, Ms YR
Miss YR complains that the Council:
a) Has failed to move her to suitable temporary accommodation despite the Council considering her two-bedroom accommodation to be unsuitable for her and her children to occupy. b) Offered further unsuitable temporary accommodation and ended its main housing duty as she did not accept the accommodation. Miss YR says the time and trouble she was put to in challenging the Council’s decision meant she had to defer her education. c) Failed to carry out repairs to her temporary accommodation and wrongly told her it was her responsibility to remove a carpet d) Failed to increase her priority to band A despite her property being overcrowded and unaffordable. As a result, Miss YR considers she and her children lived in unsuitable accommodation for too long.
The Council is at fault as it delayed in providing suitable temporary accommodation for her following its decision that her existing temporary accommodation was unsuitable. The Council also failed to ensure repairs to Miss YR’s property were carried out. As a result, Miss YR lived in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by apologising to Miss YR and making a payment of £3,000.
We have recently restructured and have brought the housing management and supply functions under the same umbrella (Head of Service). We anticipate this will minimise delays and handovers and provide closer working between colleagues on these matters. A description of the process and how officers look to ensure disrepair is identified, assigned appropriately and followed up to ensure these are completed.
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In our Private Sector Leasing scheme, the responsibility for repairs is split between the landlords and the Council. The Council is mainly responsible for the day-to-day responsive repairs and any structural repairs, including window frames, rising damp, guttering and roofs are the responsibility of the landlords.
As part of the lettings pack given to the tenants at the point of sign up, tenants are specifically informed on how to report repairs and it is in their interest to report every repairs as soon as they become aware of it. Tenants are encouraged to call the dedicated contact centre number to report all repairs and the same will be raised by the contact centre staff to the Haringey Repairs Service. Haringey Repairs Service will notify the tenant of receipt of the repairs required and when they are likely to go round to fix it.
At the end of the repairs, the tenants are asked to sign a repairs satisfaction form or a call will be made to the tenant by the Business Support team to ask of the tenant experience and whether or not they were satisfied with the repairs. This feedback is recorded and it forms part of the monthly performance scorecard for the Service. However, if the repairs required are deemed to be landlords, the landlord repairs officer in the Contracts team will notify the landlord immediately of the nature of the repairs and follow that call with an email or a letter detailing the work required and the expected completion date (ECD).
The landlord repairs officer in the Contracts team will inform the tenants of when the work is likely to be completed and request that the tenant should provide the required access to the landlord operatives to carry out the work. The landlord is also provided with the tenants contact details when they are advised of the repairs.
The landlord’s repair officer will make contact with the landlord during and after the works are completed to confirm closure. The officer will also call the tenant to confirm that the works has been completed to their satisfaction and a final closure will be recorded for the job.
However, if the landlord did not carry out the works as prescribed, the Council will carry out the work in default, depending on the cost of works and the length of the reminder of the lease. If the repairs are such that the Council cannot carry out in default, for example, the renewal of the entire roof or rising damp treatment, the Council would elect to move the incumbent to alternative accommodation and handback the accommodation to the landlord.
The Council also place clients in short let facilities- popularly known as nightly paid accommodation. In these accommodations, all the repairs are the responsibility of the Housing Agents. Tenants are advised at the point of sign up, to contact the Housing Agents for all repairs requests.
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However, if the repairs are not carried out within the agreed timescales, the tenant could contact the Council to intervene. In this arrangements, the Council would insist that the required repairs are carried out immediately and assisting in arranging access with the tenant. If for some reason the Housing Agent failed to carry out the repairs, the Council will cancel the placement immediately and find alternative accommodation for the client.
Irrespective of the type of accommodation that our tenants are placed, the repairs experience should be the same and it must be seamless on both types of accommodation scheme.
Going forward, the Council would ensure that there is closure to every repair requests and where there are issues with access, the Council would intervene and negotiate a resolution with both parties.
Housing Demand: LBH/9255219, Mr IR
The Council has failed to correctly assess the medical circumstances of the complainant's daughter when assessing their housing priority. The Council decided the effect of Mr IR’s current housing on his daughter’s health was moderate and did not meet the criteria of having a serious or critical medical need. This has caused the family stress and frustration as Mr IR's says his daughter does not have adequate personal space and is unable to play outside.
The Ombudsman finds there was some fault by the Council in this matter. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr IR and to implement system improvements to ensure its decision letters fully explain what considerations have been made.
Housing Management: LBH/8632919, Ms FE
Lack of action over ASB from neighbours
In accordance with paragraph 42 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, I confirm: There was maladministration by the landlord in respect of the complaint about its response to the resident’s reports of noise nuisance by her neighbour and there was service failure by the landlord in its complaints handling.
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Housing Management: LBH/8803219, Ms JW
This complaint is about the landlord’s response to Miss JW's reports of anti-social behaviour at the property.
There was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of the complaint about its handling of the resident’s reports of ASB from her neighbours from 2018 onwards, but there was service failure by the landlord in respect the complaint about its complaints handling.
113 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 30 September 2020
Appendix 3 Board of Management Scorecard Key Performance Indicators
Direction of travel in relation to previous month indicated by Arrow position (= Better than previous month) Arrow RAG colour denotes whether achieving YTD target
Latest 19/20 20/21 20/21 Direction Number Ref Theme/Performance Indicator Performance Outturn Target Tolerance of Travel Metrics & RAG status
1. Tackling Homelessness
Acceptances: 117 HY 4c Homeless acceptances per 1,000 people in the Borough 1.11 1.80 2.00 0.43 Borough Total: 269 Preventions: 712 HY 4d Homeless Preventions per 1,000 people in the Borough 5.43 3.00 2.80 2.65 Borough Total: 269 2. Focussing on our Customers
% of Emergency (& OOH) repairs completed within In Timescale: 11,472 GNPI 18 98.7% 98.0% 97.5% 97.1% timescale No. of Repairs: 11,811 % of all repairs first time fixed First Time Fix: 17,939 HMPI 100 87.2% 88.0% 87.0% 92.4% (not including programmed works) No. of Repairs: 19,408 Satisfied: 794 TX 06 What is your overall satisfaction with your last repair? 91.2% 92.0% 91.0% 91.9% Surveyed: 864 Capital Programme: % of residents satisfied with Nil Return Satisfied: 0 AS 08 98.0% 95.0% 93.0% outcome of works (Q2) Surveyed: 0 % of estates graded at Excellent or Passed by Estate Excellent/Passed: 37,738 ES 01 87.5% 90.0% 88.0% 92.8% Services Team Leaders - Overall Grade Total Inspected: 40,650 3. Improving our Services
BV 212 Average relet times (calendar days) No. of Voids: 40 28.1 23 days 25 days 28.9 GN (General Needs VAVs only) Void Days: 1,155 BV 212 Average relet times (calendar days) No. of Voids: 44 38.5 30 days 35 days 30.5 SH (Sheltered Housing VAVs only) Void Days: 1,344
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Latest 19/20 20/21 20/21 Direction Number Ref Theme/Performance Indicator Performance Outturn Target Tolerance of Travel Metrics & RAG status
3. Improving our Services
% of Stage 1 Complaints responded to within 10 working Within 10 days: 512 CA 22 86% 95% 93% 99% days Total Complaints: 518 Within 10 days: 554 CA 14 % Members' Enquiries answered within 10 days 89% 95% 93% 98% Total MEs: 568 Respond to Freedom of Information Requests within On Time: 68 CA 30 87% 90% Not Set 96% Statutory Deadlines Total FOIs: 71 Number of Ombudsman/LGO investigations opened Lower is Lower is CA 17 21 15 Opened: 15 YTD (cumulative) Better Better % of properties with valid gas certificate - Valid Gas: 14,258 GS 01 99.99% 100% 100% 98.93% Council properties (GN, SH & HOS only) Total Stock: 14,412 % of properties with valid gas certificate - Valid Gas: 528 GS 01c 99.80% 100% 100% 98.51% PSLs (PH Jones) Total PSLs: 536 HMPI Cost per property total responsive repairs including £598 £598 £603 Not Set # Annual Indicator F4Pi04 overheads (2019/20) (2019/20) HMPI Cost per property cyclical maintenance Service provision £264 £264 £209 Not Set # Annual Indicator E5Pi04 - includes overheads (2019/20) (2019/20) % of rent collected (including arrears and excluding Collected: £48,491,823 BV 66a 98.50% Not Set Not Set 95.98% water rates) (GN & SH only) Charged: £50,521,885 The proportion of rent collected for all temporary Collected: £21,294,037 Op 57 95.66% 98.00% 96.00% 97.18% accommodation Charged: £21,911,408 Op 58 Shortfall of rent collected for Garages 93.15% 92.00% 90.00% £3,368 Collection Rate: 91.34%
4. Developing our Organisation
Collected: £4,187,230 HO 01 % of day to day Leasehold service charges collected 99.4% 100.5% 99.0% 96.0% Charged: £4,359,448 Average number of working days lost due to sickness Days Lost: 4,306 HR 05 14.8 4.5 days 4.5 days 5.7 per employee (HouseMark definition) Avg Employee: 753 Lower is Agency: 23 HR 02c Percentage of Agency Workers 10.8% No target 2.9% Better Headcount: 786
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Latest 19/20 20/21 20/21 Direction Number Ref Theme/Performance Indicator Performance Outturn Target Tolerance of Travel Metrics & RAG status
4. Developing our Organisation HMPI 2.2% Leavers: 17 Percentage of staff turnover 10.3% No target No target B1Pi03 (Q2) Headcount: 778 No. Policies out of date: 15 PL 00 % of policies currently passed their review date 8.3% 0% 0% 17.9% Total Policies: 84 5. Investing in our Homes
Lower is No. Non Decent: 0 NI 158 % of homes non decent 17.0% 10% Due Sept 2020 N/A Better Total Stock: 0 Nil Return Number of projects: 0 AS 07 % of capital projects completed in time 40% 90.0% 85.0% (Q2) Completed on time: 0 6. Resident Safety
Annual Fire Risk Assessment for purpose built blocks of FRAs Completed: 45 1.6 100% 100% 100% 36.9% flats over 6 stories in height (Sheltered & Hostels) FRAs Required: 122 3 yearly Fire Risk Assessment for purpose built blocks FRAs Completed: 469 1.7 100% 100% 100% 59.3% under 6 stories in height FRAs Required: 791 Number of blocks with a valid Asbestos Survey Surveys Completed: 1,541 2.6 100% 100% 100% 99.9% (communal areas only) Surveys Required: 1,543 Class A - Water Hygiene Not being recorded until deep 2.9 100% 100% 100% TBC TBC Large scheme (whole building Risk Assessment) dive exercise is completed 7. Council Performance Indicators
Number of homeless households in temporary HY 156 2,954 2,784 Not Set 3,005 In TA: 3,005 accommodation % of call centre abandonments excluding positive CCC 01 16.5% 5% Not Set 8% # abandonments (all queues)
116 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020
Report for Board of Management Title Finance Report Agenda item 13 Report for Discussion Classification Public Report author Uzma Jackaria, Financial Controller Contact email [email protected] Contact telephone 07976 948 368
1. Introduction 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Board with an update on the 2020- 21 financial position for the company and managed budgets as at period 7 (October 2020).
2. HfH Company and Managed Budgets - Overview 2.1 The overall forecast year end position as at period 7 for the company and managed budgets is summarised below:
Prior Movement Budget Forecast Variance Month Budgets on prior £'000 £'000 £'000 Variance month £'000 £'000 HfH Company Budget - 420 420 8 412 HRA Managed Accounts – Revenue (94,200) (90,293) 3,907 3,977 (70) HRA Managed Accounts – Capital Programme 109,215 44,177 (65,038) (66,101) 1,063 GF Temporary Accommodation Budget 9,159 13,566 4,407 4,340 68
3. HfH Company Budget 3.1 The detailed company budget position is set out in Appendix 1 to this report and a summary of the forecast outturn and movement in forecast from previous period is shown below:
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Prior Movement Budget Forecast Variance Month Service Area on prior £'000 £'000 £'000 Variance month £'000 £'000
Property Services 19,099 19,444 345 48 297
Corporate & Central (34,096) (33,734) 362 140 222
Housing Demand 3,868 3,896 28 7 21
Housing Management 11,129 10,814 (315) (187) (128)
(Surplus) / Deficit 0 420 420 8 412
3.2 The forecast year end position is a deficit of £420k. This represents an unfavourable movement of £412k on the previous period where the forecast was a deficit of £8k.
3.3 The Property Services adverse variance of £345k comprises:
£735k overspend in Haringey Repairs Service (HRS), driven primarily by a net adverse variance of £871k on the Internal Programme – a combination of under achievement of £1,619k on the capital income budget and underspend of (£749k) against the expenditure budget. The adverse variance is due to several reasons, including delays in design and procurement as well as the project being put on hold because of the Covid-19 lockdown.
In addition, there is a forecast overspend of around £1m which is offset by an equivalent underspend across various areas within HRS. Areas with projected overspends include responsive repairs due to increased contractor costs to clear a backlog of works and central teams due to higher pay costs as a result of agency staff and unbudgeted posts. Areas with projected underspends include planned repairs and commercial as a result of additional income generated from the fire risk assessment, windows programme and other commercial works.
£139k overspend in Executive Directorate due to higher than budgeted salary costs arising from agency costs for interim positions and two unbudgeted posts.
(£294k) underspend in Asset Management due to over recovery on salary budgets from recharges and capitalisation.
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(£235k) underspend in Client Services and Annual Maintenance due to a combination of unbudgeted capital income for the deep dive water compliance exercise and lower than budgeted gas maintenance cost as a result of a more cost effective gas contract.
3.4 The Housing Management favourable variance of (£315k) is driven by an underspend on the salary budget of (£650k) as a result of vacancies, offset by overspend of £335k due to unbudgeted pressures on the intensive cleaning and tenancy management teams.
3.5 The Corporate Affairs adverse variance of £362k is mainly driven by unbudgeted transformation programme costs of £349k, and exceptional Covid-19 related costs of £100k. This is offset by savings of £87k primarily due to lower than budgeted office costs as a result of Covid-19.
3.6 Housing Demand has a minor adverse variance of £28k.
3.7 In terms of movement in the forecast from previous period of £412k, the main areas of impact are Property Services £297k, Corporate Affairs £222k and Housing Management (£128k).
3.8 The adverse movement of £297k in Property Services is driven by the adverse movement of £318k in HRS which is due to increased contractor costs within the responsive repairs team in order to clear a backlog of works.
3.9 The adverse movement of £222k in Corporate Affairs is driven by the inclusion of the unbudgeted transformation programme costs.
3.10 Housing Management favourable movement of (£128k) is due to further reductions in non-salary costs, including legal and running costs in Tenancy Management and Estates and Neighbourhood teams.
Pressures on HfH management fee
3.11 The management fee assumed a 2% increase in pay award however actual pay award has been agreed at 2.75%, resulting in a pressure of £236k on the management fee.
3.12 Exceptional costs arising due to Covid-19 on items such as office reorganisation, personal protective equipment, fencing, signage, etc., are projected to be around £200k.
119 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020
3.13 There are also unbudgeted costs associated with the transformation programme estimated at £349k. These comprise IT related costs of £140k (investment in new systems for Facilities Management, HR and electronic document signing) and organisational costs of £209k (additional personnel, investment in a new customer care training programme and additional provision for work on vision and values).
3.14 Depending on the actual performance at year end, there may be a need to draw down from the HfH earmarked reserves (current balance is £709k) in order to achieve a breakeven position.
4. HRA Managed Accounts - Revenue 4.1 The HRA Managed Account budget position as at period 7 is set out in Appendix 2 of this report.
4.2 The end of year forecast is £3,907k overspend compared to an overspend forecast in the previous period of £3,977k which represents a favourable movement of £70k.
4.3 The overspend of £3,907k comprises: £3,609k overspend on the expenditure budget mainly due to increased bad debt provision on dwellings of £3,817k as a result of a reduced rent collection rate offset by savings of (£208k) mainly due to the change in the funding model of the supported housing service. £298k underachievement on the income budget due to a combination of lower hostel service charge income and higher void losses.
5. HRA Managed Accounts – Capital Programme 5.1 The Capital Programme budget position as at period 7 is set out in Appendix 3 of this report and the key variances are summarised below:
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Prior Movement Budget Forecast Variance Month Capital Programme on prior £'000 £'000 £'000 Variance month £'000 £'000
Noel Park Pods 4,100 981 (3,119) (2,766) (353)
Internal Works Programme 9,152 3,261 (5,891) (6,471) 580
External Communal Works 46,356 12,691 (33,665) (33,515) (150)
Other projects 13,194 13,933 739 (6) 745
Total Major Works 72,802 30,866 (41,936) (42,758) 822
Carbon Reduction 1,000 250 (750) (750) -
Fire Safety Works 17,513 3,991 (13,522) (13,646) 124
Broadwater Farm 17,900 9,070 (8,830) (8,947) 117
Total Other investment 36,413 13,311 (23,102) (23,343) 241
Total Investment 109,215 44,177 (65,038) (66,101) 1,063
5.2 The budget for this year has been revised to include the brought forward underspend amount of £23,221k from the previous year as approved by the Council. The projected underspend against the revised budget is (£65,038k).
5.3 The underspend is due to several reasons, including delays in design and procurement as well as all projects being put on hold because of the Covid-19 lockdown. All sites were closed and surveying for projects in design phase were stopped. This has led to significant delays on all projects within the programme.
5.4 A revised 5 year capital investment plan has been submitted for approval as part of the HRA business plan process.
6. GF Managed Accounts - Temporary Accommodation 6.1 The Temporary Accommodation (TA) budget position as at period 7 is set out in Appendix 4.
6.2 The end of year forecast is an overspend of £4,407k compared to £4,340k in the previous period. The overspend comprises: £1,696k on unachieved MTFS savings £1,257k on increased temporary accommodation costs
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£503k due to higher bad debt provision £471k due to impact of Covid-19 on the lodges budget resulting in loss of income and additional cleaning costs £480k due to increased costs on assured shorthold tenancy incentives
6.3 The overspend is assumed to be covered by applying the Flexible Homelessness Support Grant (FHSG) funding although any further overspend would be a challenge as the remainder of FHSG is now all committed.
6.4 Pressure remains on the TA budget as it is not sufficient to meet current demand and therefore reliance on nightly paid accommodation continues. In addition, the budget has been cut to try to achieve MTFS savings.
6.5 Initiatives have been put in place to both reduce costs and prevent demand in the long term. The main ones include the Haringey Community Benefit Society (HCBS) and Capital Letters which will provide cheaper alternative accommodation and flexible funding pots to support households staying in existing accommodation, along with longer term prevention initiatives.
122 Appendix 1: 2020/21 HfH Company Budgets
EOY Prior Month on YTD YTD EOY Budget YTD Actual Forecast Month Month 2020-21 HfH Company Account - Period 7 Budget Variance Forecast £'000 £'000 Variance Variance Movement £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Managing Director's Office 285 166 218 52 266 (19) (19) 0 New Business 105 61 50 (11) 97 (8) (8) - Health & Safety 815 475 445 (30) 872 56 64 (7) CBS - Community Benefit Society (72) (42) 64 106 (25) 47 46 0 Managing Director's - Directorate 1,133 661 778 117 1,209 76 83 (7) Director of Corporate Affairs 135 79 79 (0) 138 2 3 (1) Finance 253 148 130 (18) 253 (0) (0) - Housing Information 653 404 372 (32) 685 32 32 - Business Improvement 796 464 438 (26) 782 (14) (21) 8 Procurement 7 4 78 74 16 9 17 (7) Communications 386 225 166 (59) 391 5 3 2 Governance 276 161 129 (32) 223 (53) (48) (5) People Management 258 150 152 2 238 (19) 60 (79) Recruitment team (HfH) 320 187 125 (62) 286 (34) (34) - Corporate Affairs - Directorate 3,083 1,822 1,669 (153) 3,012 (71) 11 (83) HRA Management Fee (39,144) (22,824) (22,824) - (39,144) - - - GF Management Fee (4,200) (2,443) (2,443) - (4,200) - - - Overheads - (LBH Corporate Service Level Agreements) 4,131 4,609 4,242 (367) 4,131 (0) (0) - Overheads - (HfH Insurance) 356 918 480 (438) 345 (11) (11) - Overheads - (HfH Accommodation + Central costs) 543 317 124 (193) 461 (82) (44) (38) HfH Transformation Programme - - - - 349 349 - 349 HfH Contingency - - 43 43 101 101 101 - Corporately Managed - Directorate (38,313) (19,424) (20,379) (955) (37,956) 357 46 311 Director of Operations 243 142 107 (34) 233 (10) 23 (33) Supported Housing 177 179 168 (11) 117 (60) (59) (1) Income Management 2,267 1,322 1,152 (171) 2,164 (103) (110) 7 Tenancy Services 1,577 920 931 11 1,597 19 44 (24) Estates & Neighbourhood Services 6,215 3,625 3,186 (439) 6,068 (147) (69) (78) Community & Customer Relations 650 379 348 (31) 636 (14) (15) 1 Housing Management - Directorate 11,129 6,568 5,892 (675) 10,814 (315) (187) (128) Executive Director of Property Services - sub total 261 152 152 (1) 400 139 89 50 Client Services & Annual Maintenance (CS&AM) 5,000 2,849 2,607 (242) 4,766 (235) (232) (2) Disrepair Structure & Compensation 2,112 1,232 1,228 (4) 2,112 - (9) 9 Repairs Contract (Non-HRS) ------Repairs Contract (HRS) - Income & Capitalisation ------(CS&AM) - sub total 7,112 4,081 3,835 (246) 6,877 (235) (242) 7 HRS Haringey Repairs Service - sub total 12,159 8,591 8,696 105 12,894 735 417 318 Director of Asset Management 247 144 154 9 222 (25) 52 (77) Facilities Management (LBH) - Strategic Projects - 0 730 730 - - - - Capital Programme (995) (482) (603) (122) (1,218) (224) (223) (0) Policy & Strategy 314 183 127 (56) 259 (55) (55) (0) Commercial Portfolio Statutory Compliance Project - - 318 318 - - - - Broadwater Farm Project - - 66 66 10 10 10 - Asset Management - sub total (433) (154) 791 945 (727) (294) (217) (77) PROPERTY Services - Directorate 19,099 12,670 13,473 803 19,444 345 48 297 Dir of Hsg Demand (459) (565) (585) (20) (438) 21 1 20 FHSG Funded Activities - - 111 111 - - - - MCHLG Funded Activities - - 117 117 - - - - Service Development 91 68 65 (4) 108 17 17 0 Housing Supply 937 568 531 (36) 962 25 24 1 Housing Needs 1,806 1,201 1,449 248 1,715 (91) (86) (5) Occupancy Management 1,229 838 1,001 163 1,300 71 40 31 Hearthstone 265 169 135 (35) 249 (16) 11 (27) HOUSING DEMAND - Directorate 3,868 2,279 2,824 545 3,896 28 8 21 (Surplus) / Deficit - Totals - 4,575 4,257 (318) 420 420 8 412
123 Appendix 2: 2020/21 HRA Managed Accounts - Revenue
EOY Prior Month on YTD YTD EOY Budget YTD Actual Forecast Month Month 2020/21 HRA Managed Accounts - Period 7 Budget Variance Forecast £'000 £'000 Variance Variance Movement £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Dwellings Rent Income (82,992) (47,424) (46,408) 1,016 (82,869) 123 234 (111) CBS - Lease Rental Income - - 1 1 - - - - Hostels Rent Income (320) (183) (179) 4 (320) - - - Garages Income (857) (490) (454) 36 (806) 51 48 3 Shops Income (753) (564) (605) (41) (778) (25) (25) - Rental Income - Total (84,921) (48,661) (47,645) 1,016 (84,773) 148 257 (109)
Leasehold Service Charge Income - Total (7,378) (7,162) (7,125) 37 (7,370) 8 8 -
District Heating (615) (351) (350) 1 (610) 5 5 0 Light & Power (1,064) (608) (610) (2) (1,065) (1) (4) 3 Supported Housing (1,495) (854) (850) 4 (1,490) 5 0 5 Concierge (1,540) (880) (884) (4) (1,536) 4 (11) 15 Grounds Maintenance (2,514) (1,437) (1,428) 9 (2,496) 18 13 6 Caretaking (1,856) (1,061) (1,061) (0) (1,852) 4 (1) 5 Waste Management (2,313) (1,322) (1,321) 1 (2,307) 6 (0) 6 Tenant Service Charge Income - Total (11,397) (6,513) (6,504) 9 (11,355) 42 2 40
Hostels Service Charge Income - Total (1,815) (1,037) (1,047) (9) (1,715) 100 100 -
Estate Controlled Parking (Income) - Total ------
Water Rates Receivable (Income) -Total (1) (1) 0 1 (1) - - -
Total Income (105,513) (63,373) (62,320) 1,053 (105,214) 298 367 (69)
Water Rates Payable 31 18 4 (14) 31 - - - Corporate Overheads 109 64 - (64) 109 - - - Tenants Incentive 382 223 188 (35) 340 (42) (46) 4 Council Tax - Void Properties 357 208 306 97 573 216 216 - Supported Housing - Utility Costs 289 169 83 (86) 289 - - Housing Management Costs - Total 1,169 682 581 (101) 1,342 174 170 4
Shops - NNDR/Repairs/Legal - Total ------
Increase in Bad Debt Provision - Leasehold Serv. Chgs 19 11 - (11) 240 221 221 - Increase in Bad Debt Provision - Dwellings 768 448 - (448) 4,431 3,663 3,663 - Increase in Bad Debt Provision - Hostels 68 40 - (40) - (68) (68) - Increase in Bad Debt Provision - Commercial ------Bad Debt Provision - Total 855 499 - (499) 4,672 3,817 3,817 -
Supporting People 1,852 1,080 506 (574) 1,000 (852) (852) - Waste Management 3,173 1,851 1,638 (213) 3,302 129 129 - Grounds Maintenance 2,065 1,205 62 (1,142) 2,065 - - - Estate Controlled Parking 145 84 24 (60) 78 (67) (62) (5) Energy Costs 1,123 655 558 (96) 1,123 - - - Pest Control 295 172 8 (164) 295 - - - Service Charge Costs -Total 8,653 5,047 2,797 (2,250) 7,862 (790) (785) (5) - Hostels Costs - Total 636 371 254 (117) 1,045 409 409 -
Total Expenditure 11,312 6,599 3,632 (2,967) 14,921 3,608 3,610 (1)
(Surplus)/Deficit on Managed Accounts (94,200) (56,774) (58,688) (1,914) (90,294) 3,907 3,977 (70)
124 Appendix 3: 2020/21 HRA Managed Accounts - Capital Programme
EOY Prior Month on Revised YTD YTD YTD EOY 2020/21 HRA Capital Forecast Month Month Budget Budget Actual Variance Forecast Comments Programme - Period 7 Variance Variance Movement £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
H207 Estate Improvement 900 90 (42) (132) 900 - - - Full spend projected
H210 Planned Preventative Full spend projected. There is a risk to the delivery of the programme 350 126 117 (9) 300 (50) - (50) Maintenance (Windows) as HRS have not provided their delivery programme.
Full spend projected. There is the potential to increase the spend on H211 Structural Works 919 240 405 165 919 - - - this programme.
The variance is due to this being a demand led programme, the H212 Extensive Works Voids 315 184 (14) (198) 150 (165) (165) - spend is dependant on the number of properties becoming void during the year. There is currently 2 property in the programme.
The variance is due to the impact of COVID-19 and the start of a H215 Boiler Replacement 2,500 400 516 116 1,987 (513) (559) 46 new framework contractor. This is a demand led project and spend is dependent on the number of boilers that will have to be replaced
This is a demand led programme which HRS deliver, the spend is dependent on the number of propertied becoming void in the year. H216 HRS Capitalised Voids 916 100 1,138 1,038 1,800 884 584 300 The variance is due to the number of voids in the projection to the year end.
H218 Lift Improvements 357 94 - (94) 294 (63) (63) - Variance is due to COVID-19 and delays in the award of contract.
This is a demand led programme and the spend is dependent on the H228 Urgent/Unplanned 1,000 200 229 29 800 (200) (400) 200 number of projects required in the year. The variance is due to the Capital Works lack of demand on this programme.
H229 Decent Homes Standard 698 434 (58) (492) 946 248 - 248 Variance due to prolongation cost and adjustments to final accounts
This is a demand led project. Variance due to an increase in demand due to a fire at Firs House (£10k) and clearance for the loft at The H235 Asbestos Removal 250 60 201 141 413 163 163 - Lindales (90k) and an increase in sampling and testing for planned works and voids.
H243 Mechanical & Electrical Variance due to an increase of £620k in the EICR tests and remedial 1,780 641 336 (305) 2,223 443 443 - Works works that HRS are delivering.
125 EOY Prior Month on Revised YTD YTD YTD EOY 2020/21 HRA Capital Forecast Month Month Budget Budget Actual Variance Forecast Comments Programme - Period 7 Variance Variance Movement £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Variance due to the inclusion of overheads for the Clerk of Works & H244 Professional Fees 2,456 1,433 1,310 (123) 2,526 70 70 - Occupational Therapist. Additional posts for a RLO on a fixed term contract and a M&E CoW to be included next month.
Variance due to the Stock Survey being added to the programme H265 Preparatory Works 453 60 42 (18) 453 - - - which was not included in the budget.
Variance due to the decision not to split the contract and delaying H268 Noel Park Pods 4,100 2,392 43 (2,349) 981 (3,119) (2,766) (353) the Cabinet report to December 2020.
Variance due to delays in the design, procurement and projects H272 Internal Works 9,152 20 196 176 3,261 (5,891) (6,471) 580 being put on hold for 4 months because of the CVID-19 pandemic. Programme
Variance due to delays in the design, procurement and projects being put on hold for 4 months because of the CVID-19 pandemic H273 External/Communal 46,356 3,103 2,638 (465) 12,691 (33,665) (33,515) (150) and slower than anticipated restart plus new covid working Works arrangements. The issue regarding the fire doors is yet to be resolved.
H274 HRS Voids Boiler Variance due to the decision not replace boilers as part of the void 300 85 206 121 222 (78) (79) 1 Replacement works.
Total Major Works - Haringey 72,802 9,662 7,263 (2,399) 30,866 (41,936) (42,758) 822 Standard
126 EOY Prior Month on Revised YTD YTD YTD EOY 2020/21 HRA Capital Forecast Month Month Budget Budget Actual Variance Forecast Comments Programme - Period 7 Variance Variance Movement £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Other Investment
Carbon Reduction (Affordable The Council has provided the brief and scope of the project. The 1,000 583 - (583) 250 (750) (750) - Energy) variance is due to the delay in receiving the project brief.
Variance due to issues with the composite fire doors. Also the projects being put on hold for 4 months due to the CVID-19 H247 Fire Safety Works 17,513 10,216 208 (10,008) 3,991 (13,522) (13,646) 124 pandemic. Fire test are being conducted on the composite doors to enable the decision to be made whether or not to install them. There have also been delays in the awarding of contracts.
The anticipated spend for this financial year has been reduced, primarily due to a reduction in the number of leasehold acquisitions we anticipate to complete this year. Acquisitions have been impacted by Covid-19 as residents have been harder to engage with and less Broadwater Farm 17,900 10,442 2,221 (8,221) 9,070 (8,830) (8,947) 117 willing to look for alternative accommodation, during the lockdown. We have also reduced our forecast spend on equity loans because fewer leaseholders have requested a loan than was previously anticipated.
Total Other investment 36,413 21,241 2,429 (18,812) 13,311 (23,102) (23,343) 241
Total Existing Stock Capital 109,215 30,903 9,692 (21,211) 44,177 (65,038) (66,101) 1,063 Investment
127 Appendix 4: 2020/21 GF Temporary Accommodation
EOY Month on YTD EOY Prior Month 2020/21 GF Temp Accommodation - Budget YTD Budget YTD Actual Forecast Summary comments on outturn variance including Month Variance Forecast Variance Period 7 £'000 £'000 £'000 Variance mitigation actions Movement £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Corporate Overheads 1,048 700 212 (487) 212 (835) Corporate overheads for HD (835) (0) Fee for HFH for TA staff in HD, Income recovery team & ALMO (HfH) - GF Management Fee 3,321 1,937 2,443 506 4,200 879 878 0 compliance post ALMO (HfH) - GF Management Fee - - - 28 28 Contribution from HD in HFH - 28
Arms Length services 4,369 2,637 2,656 19 4,440 71 43 28
Legal Recharges 310 181 (95) (276) 258 (51) EOY projections are based on last year's actuals (51) -
Storage Costs 174 102 43 (59) 174 - - -
Indirect T.A. Housing services 484 282 (52) (334) 432 (51) (51) - This cost centre captures the recent acquisitions of RTB Priv Sect accomm LBH (39) (23) (149) (126) (125) (86) (64) (22) properties for possible transfer to CBS Includes BDP forecast based Qtr2 projection. And this code PSL Managed in house (828) (483) (1,249) (766) 764 1,592 1,540 52 has a £776k MTFS saving Purdy's cost. We have a risk here if we are not on top of the PSL Gas Maintenance 45 26 84 57 158 113 113 - landlord recharges Risk here is if we have no control over PSL voids work, we will PSL Repairs & Maint 711 415 203 (212) 1,001 290 288 2 overspend PSL Dilaps - Hbacks 136 79 (17) (96) 136 - - - This costs is to furnish Decant properties used for T.A. i.e. GN Prop used for TA 40 23 31 7 41 1 1 - Love Lane Hsg Assoc Lease Sch 480 280 153 (127) 420 (60) Genesis @ an average of £42k per month (60) -
PSL Managed Hsg Supp 194 113 12 (101) 91 (102) (90) (12) This code is for AST incentives only and will be funded by the PRS Assur Short Ten - - 517 517 1,400 1,400 1,400 - FHSG. Expect to be £1.4m for all activities by HD GRS activity are either coming to an end or have been PRS Prevention Fund - - (81) (81) (80) (80) (80) - embedded in the main accounts Bed and Breakfast Bookings - NPA 3,698 2,157 2,434 277 4,580 882 Includes BDP forecast based on QTR2 EOY projection 859 24
Direct T.A. Housing services 4,436 2,588 1,937 (651) 8,386 3,950 3,907 43
128 EOY Month on YTD EOY Prior Month 2020/21 GF Temp Accommodation - Budget YTD Budget YTD Actual Forecast Summary comments on outturn variance including Month Variance Forecast Variance Period 7 £'000 £'000 £'000 Variance mitigation actions Movement £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Overall we are forecasting a drop in income due to Covid. As Broadwater Lodge -TA 6 3 109 106 305 300 298 1 well as an increase in staffing costs for cleaning. Lodges must be viewed together as all staffing costs are Whitehall St -TA (135) (79) (34) 45 2 137 141 (4) booked to BWL and used as and when required T.A. Lodges (129) (75) 75 151 307 437 440 (3)
Grand Total 9,159 5,431 4,616 (816) 13,566 4,407 4,340 68
129 Homes for Haringey Board of Management Meeting 24 November 2020
Report for Board of Management Title Transformation Programme – Progress Report Agenda item 14 Report for Discussion Classification Public Report author Puneet Rajput, Director of Corporate Affairs Contact email [email protected] Contact telephone 07795 528831
1. Introduction 1.1 This report presents the Board with progress on implementing the transformation programme for HfH.
2. Transformation Programme Progress 2.1 A transformation programme board comprising HfH executives, key heads of service (Business Improvement, IT and Finance) and the Council’s Assistant Director for Housing is in place and meets monthly.
2.2 Project plans for each of the six workstreams are in place and each work stream has an executive lead assigned to it.
2.3 A programme highlight report summarising progress, activities planned and an overall risk register accompanies this covering report.
3. Key Highlights 3.1 The main points to draw to the Board’s attention at this stage are: a) The programme has been launched to all staff and positively received. b) The current focus is on reviewing and updating our vision and values. Workshops have been held with the Board, executive team and employee forum to discuss and consult on proposed changes. These have all so far been positive and supportive of the changes. Further consultation is planned with residents, staff teams and the Council. c) Consensus with the Board that we ‘retire’ the current business plan and its six strategic priorities and that this is superseded by the five specific strands of our proposed vision from which annual plan objectives will flow. d) Offices at Station Road, Broadwater Farm and Commerce Road have been made covid safe and are available to staff to work from. e) Unbudgeted transformation costs of £349k have been identified. These are covered in the Finance report to the Board.
130
HfH Transformation Programme highlight report – November 2020
The purpose of this Programme Highlight Report is to provide the TP Programme Board with an overview of progress to date and to highlight any areas that require a decision or escalation by the Board. Key decisions required from Board Note update on progress of overall programme and summary of progress in six workstreams.
Authors James Missenden / Bernie Mooney Date 10-11-20
RAG Rating Guide R = Critical A/R = off track / serious A/G = slightly off track / moderate G = on track
1. Programme Overview
Overall Time Issues/Risks Resources Benefits Budget Workstream 1 - A/G G A/G G G G Technology Workstream 2 - A/G G A/G A/G G G Customers Workstream 3 G G A/G G G G – Our Model Workstream 4 G G A/G G G G - People & Org Workstream 5 - G G A/G G G G Offices Workstream 6 G G A/G G G G – Financial
Despite continuing good progress on launching the programme and starting delivery of the projects in the workstreams, the programme is seen as A/G overall as: ELT and Board have agreed the need to update HfH’s vision and values and support the emerging approach to developing our ‘winning hand’, capabilities, and new operating model. As a consequence of the new, and improved, approach being introduced, the timelines for the programme and some of the workstream projects will need to be revised, assuming the approach is agreed by November programme board. Some significant risks and issues have been identified within the Workstream highlight reports and Programme Risk Register and Issue Log.
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2. Programme Summary Activity not Activity planned for next period Activity complete in this period completed this period Third round of workstream meetings held with all ELT leads and business leads. Head of Transformation to take up post. Mobilisation of all projects due to start in each work stream. Programme launched to all staff by MD. Fourth round of workstream meetings due to take place. Review and reshaping of programme including the following: Mission statement – reviewed and revised draft produced. Aligned with new Finalise draft winning hand/comms for engagement. Council housing vision.
Strategic objectives/vision strands – proposal to align to a single set to ensure clarity of direction. Agreed the 2018 Business Plan strategic objectives Team/Department engagement commencing. superseded. An additional strand has been added to the initial four in the
transformation business case to incorporate the ‘non-core/value add’ elements particularly ‘tackling homelessness’ which was one of the previous strategic Customer consultation on ‘caring’. objectives. Our vision is now captured in our ‘winning hand’ which articulates
what success will look like against each strand. Key success factors – agreed to align these with the ‘winning hand’ five Customer profile analysis based on recent customer strands to ensure clarity and enable us to understand if we are ‘winning’ in surveys and reports. each area.
Values – draft values produced to replace ‘business like’ and ‘trusted partner’. The new draft values are based on existing staff feedback and the ethos of the Finalise draft values/comms for engagement. initial case for change.
Business plan – Board agreed that 2018 business plan is now superseded by transformation agenda and that moving forward we would move to a rolling Team level engagement around values/behaviour plan. framework. All the above have been reviewed by ELT and Board have approved in draft form. Workstreams have also been engaged in the process (ROM & People). Uzma & Maurice have incorporated unbudgeted programme costs into the new budget structure developed and are using this to inform budget monitoring and forecasting.
Finalised work on making BWF, Station Road and Commerce Road Covid safe and accessible to staff when required (any arising minor issues now being picked up as BAU).
132 2
3. Key Risks: Programme level risks identified in table below.
RISK IDENTIFICATION INHERENT RISK RESIDUAL RISK
Risk RAG Owner RAG Status: Date & Review comments & new Ref Risk Description Current Control Measures Score Score Control Measures Impact Impact Likelihood Likelihood Overall Programme (Delivery of Critical Path) Update 13/11 Disruption caused by Covid-19 - risk to Programme Board to review & monitor impact of C-19 : ELT participating in work disruption. Service resumption plans have been revised with council to review approach to Covid timescales There may be disruption to the to respond to this potential risk. Each service will be 19 (assessing ourselves v Covid TP1 programme if there is a second wave and lockdown, 7 7 49 Sean McLaughlin 5 5 25 clear about how they will operate in the event of a recommendations). Service resumption resulting in resources being diverted away from the second wave. Timescales and scope of programme to plans & BCPs being reviewed again in programme. be reviewed against impact of disruption of C-19. response to second national lockdown. Lack of buy-in to change in the programme and Clear strategy in place to ensure staff engage with the Update 13/11: Leadership launch new ways of working from staff & managers programme setting out objectives and WIFM. undertaken . Programme of staff risks successfful delivery of projects & programme Programme launched at Leadership Forum and all staff consultation re 'winning hands' to TP2 objectives. 8 6 48 launch. Staff consultation & engagement activities set out Puneet Rajput 6 4 24 take place before xmas. in workstreams. Dedicated resources to focus on Communications & engagement plan programme communications & O&D. drafted and presented to October programme board. Failure to engage and consult meaningfully with Update 13/11:Residents recruited to residents results in a new model and ways of Customer workstream..Caring working which don't meet customer needs and conulation now planned for TP3 8 6 48 Clear strategy in place setting model for customer Denise Gandy 6 5 30 requirements engagement. Customer consultation & engagement November. Engagement activities with activities set out in workstreams. Dedicated RE residents mapped out and summarised in resources in place. Communications Plan. Scope, objectives and critical path to TOM not 13/11: Critical path to TOM reviewed & clearly defined at outset leads to scope creep as amended since October Prog Board to other issues get drawn into the programme and it’s Workstream scopes definied with objectives and reflect new approach. Presentation of outcomes defined and signed off at the earliest stage of seen as the silver bullet for resolving all HFH ills and new road to TOM to Prog Board on mobilisation by programme board - to be communicated James TP4 issues, resulting in failure to deliver on key objectives 7 6 42 5 5 25 13/11. Project plan now reduced from 48 across all appropriate levels of the organisation in a Missenden and delivering new TOM. timely manner. Critical path focusing on centrality of to 35 priority projects. Highlight reporting acheiving new TOM signed off by programme board. established to ensure on going focus remains only on priority projectrs identified. Business leads and other workstream team Ensure that there is not a dependency and over reliance members don't have capacity to work on on the same few people to deliver much of the programme at intensity required to deliver programme as well as delivering their “day” jobs. To be 13/11: Continues to be monitored at projects to timescales set out in the programme managed by clear roles, accountabilities and articulated workstream level.Workstream leads to TP5 7 6 42 Sean McLaughlin 5 5 25 time demands required for delivery of the programme. All review workstream capapcity on on going risks and issues to be managed at the workstream and basis. programme boards.ELT to emphasise message that transformation work is the business priority. Insuffient budget for programme to deliver key Update 13/11: Unbudgeted items went projects in programme particulary innovative new IT to October Prog Board & are being solutions worked into budget forecasting by Workstream leads to idenfy all known & potential new Finance. Unbudgeted items of new TP6 6 6 36 workstream costs ,budgeted and unbudgeted and Puneet Rajput 5 6 30 spend for projects to be agreed by present to programme board. programme board. Programme Board to identify sources of funding for unbudgeted costs through reserves, efficiencies, council budgets.
133 3 RISK IDENTIFICATION INHERENT RISK RESIDUAL RISK
Risk RAG Owner RAG Status: Date & Review comments & new Ref Risk Description Current Control Measures Score Score Control Measures Impact Impact Likelihood Likelihood Key dependencies between workstreams are not The critical path already identiifes current known Update 13/11:Adoption of new understood and managed resulting in delays to dependencies. Programme lead to ensure that the issues strategy to implementation of TOM the programme, specifically projects on critical are flagged in highlight reports to programme board . has impacted on key WS path Leads to identify and report new dependencies emerging dependencies. These have been to programme board. James identified and WS milestones TP7 7 4 28 6 3 18 Missenden amended, wil lnot effect overall programme delivery timescales. Head of BI and Senior programme manager attend all workstream meetings to ensure dpendencies understood and managed. That we make permanent changes post-COVID Build into the programme opportunities to reflect on the before we have monitored and reflected fully on changes, in order to assess whether the current new Update 13/11: No change ELT working the impact of Covid - resulting in mobilisation of a normal is the right one for the organisation.Ensure that TP8 8 5 40 Puneet Rajput 4 4 16 with council to ensure long term approach implementation of change only occurs after full new model and ways of working which do not meet following Covid 19 is fully robust. customer needs and motivate staff. discussion and consultation with residents, staff and boards. That we make make changes to the We will carry out consulation and engagement with staff Update 13/11: No change Plans for organisational model and ways of working which and customers throughout the programme. We will carry James staff and resident consultation being TP9 8 4 32 3 2 6 have adverse impacts on either groups of out EQIAs on key worksream proposals to assess Missenden further developed and consultation due to customers or staff. impacts of changes proposed. start. That we are unable to demonstrate that the An agreed set of measures in place which baseline 13/11: Proposal that KSFs are aligned changes made through this programme have performance and resident satisfaction at the start of the to 'winning hands'. A paper baselining TP10 8 6 48 Robbie Erbmann 5 3 15 resulted in an improvement in service delivery programme against which we can measure the impact of service performance went to October and resident satisfaction and engagement. the programme at agreed intervals. programme board. NEW: That HFH is distracted by responding to MD/ELT to ensure that strategic programme delivery is important 'events of the day' at the cost of prioritised alongside work to respond to arising critical TP11 successful implementation of strategic 8 7 56 issues. Put in place stable HFH leadership team, & Sean McLaughlin 6 5 30 programme delivery protocols with council re comms responses during emergencies.
134 4
4. Issue log Issue ID Date raised Issue Description Issue Severity Action Taken Next review Status Owner (low, date medium, high) ITP1 04/11/20 New ‘vision and values’ and roadmap to TOM will SM / Medium Report on ‘Strategy to 13/11/20 Open re-set programme and workstream timelines if RE implementation’ agreed at programme board. discussed by ELT. Proposed new Vision and Values discussed by HfH board. Paper and new timeline going to November programme Board. IT1 30/09/20 Ownership of the Access HR project as the JG Medium Conor Cahill given lead 27/11/20 Open current HR lead identified capacity issues in on project. Update and relation to taking this forward. project plan to be provided to ELT to decide on long term future of the system. IC1 05 10 20 Additional resident engagement resource TBC Medium BI team currently 30/11/20 Open originally requested is now not likely to be providing additional provided, putting strain on the capacity of the support to RE team in resident engagement team. developing consultation and engagement approach. IO1 02/10/20 Too many staff coming into offices (BWF mainly) DS Medium Conor and David to 30/11/20 Open who do not have an essential need to be in the agree comms and send office. out reminder to directors about staff only working in the offices when essential. IF1 03/09/20 Interim Director David Lewis left HfH and has MB Medium Quick appointment of MB 30/11/20 Open been replaced by interim Director Mark Baigent. following DL’s departure. There is likely to be another change of leadership Quick and effective of the group when the permanent appointment is handover of workstream made so a quick and effective handover of responsibilities will be workstream responsibilities will be required. required when new Director.
135 5 HfH Board Forward Plan 2021
26 January 2021 30 March 2021 25 May 2021 27 July 2021 28 September 2021 23 November 2021 Chair’s report Chair’s report Chair’s report Chair’s report Chair’s report Chair’s report
MD’s report MD’s report MD’s report MD’s report MD’s report MD’s report Performance report Performance report Performance report Performance report Performance report Performance report Finance report Finance report Finance report Finance report Finance report Finance report Capital programme Capital programme Capital programme Capital programme Capital programme Capital programme report report report report report report Board forward plan Board forward plan Board forward plan Board forward plan Board forward plan Board forward plan Transformation Transformation Transformation Transformation Transformation Transformation programme report programme report programme report programme report programme report programme report Complaints handling Budget 2021/22 Annual report Annual financial Strategic risks report Health and safety code – self assessment statements report and policy Annual closed meeting Health and safety Modern slavery Audit committee with the Board report statement assurance report Annual plan objectives Strategic risks report Board appraisal AGM resolutions feedback Draft budget 2021/22 Compliance self- assessment November 2020 away Health and safety day follow up report report
136 Homes for Haringey Audit and Risk Committee Meeting 20 October 2020
Meeting: Audit and Risk Committee Meeting Date & Time: 20 October 2020, 6.30pm Venue: By Videoconference Present: Adzowa Kwabla-Oklikah (AKO) – Chair, Andrew Crompton (AC), Cllr Dana Carlin (DC), Costa Elia (CE) Officers in Sean McLaughlin (SM), Puneet Rajput (PR), Tracey Downie (TD), Mark Attendance: Baigent (MB), Jonathan Gregory (JG), Denise Gandy (DG), Minesh Jani (MJ), Vanessa Bateman (VB), Pete Davey (PD) Apologies: None
Item Minutes Action
50/20 Welcome, Apologies and Declarations of Interest
The Chair welcomed members and officers to the meeting. There were no declarations of interest.
51/20 IT Business Systems Presentation
Pete Davey, Head of IT at HfH, gave a follow up presentation on one delivered in February on the use of technology to improve services and manage risks.
DC asked about linkage with other Council systems. This was confirmed to be the case through specific business systems and via both the Council and HfH websites.
AKO asked about risks relating to out of date systems on the risk register. The internal audit of bespoke systems scheduled for the New Year would help to identify smaller spreadsheet based systems that need to be tackled and this would be included in the next phase of the housing management system implementation. Delays with implementation of the NPS system were discussed. The first stage would take place in February. A facilities management and property compliance system would be in place before the end of December.
AC asked about any impact on the rent and service charge setting process also timed around February. PD confirmed this would not be impacted.
The Committee thanked PD for his presentation.
PD left at this point.
137 Homes for Haringey Audit and Risk Committee Meeting 20 October 2020
Item Minutes Action
52/20 Minutes of the Meeting 14 July 2020
The minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2020 were approved as an accurate record of the meeting.
53/20 Actions Log
AKO requested the British Safety Council accreditation to be maintained and for re-accreditation to be sought at the right time. This was confirmed to be the case.
54/20 Internal Audit Progress Report
Internal audits had now commenced and would be completed by the end of the financial year.
55/20 Internal Audit – Outstanding Recommendations
Good progress continued to reduce the number of outstanding recommendations. Of the eight recommendations outstanding, seven would be complete by the end of December and one by February.
56/20 Internal Audit Repairs Stock
This audit had received nil assurance. Weaknesses had been identified in all areas covered by the review. The Committee commented on the extent to which a lack of IT was a contributing factor, expressed disappointment and concern at the lack of proper management and supervision and asked if nil assurance presented an opportunity for more radical reform.
JG responded that the report had been welcome and not unexpected. The introduction of a new vehicle fleet would help to improve stock control as would the appointment of a new Commercial Manager. A rolling stock take approach was currently being piloted. SM added that the issue was not primarily IT related as systems were available but not used. It was more an issue about management. He stated that the whole operation of the depot was under review with radical solutions and options being considered. At this stage a timescale could not be given due to other priorities but the audit recommendations, in the meantime, would be followed through.
AKO suggested stock management as a future themed presentation JG to the Committee.
138 Homes for Haringey Audit and Risk Committee Meeting 20 October 2020
Item Minutes Action
57/20 Counter Fraud Report Q2 2020/21
The report was noted. AKO asked when a report would be received in relation to the employee fraud case. MJ reported that the internal audit investigation had been completed but the police investigation was continuing. There had been some delay due to covid but at this stage a timescale could not be given. Risks were continuing to be managed and the improvement work underway in HRS would help to strengthen the control environment.
DC asked about channels for whistleblowing for members of the public including, for example, neighbours. Channels were in place and included a fraud hotline and dedicated email and telephone MJ details. MJ would provide information to DC.
58/20 Arrears Write Off Report
Arrears write off proposals were reviewed and discussed. AC asked management to ensure statute barred debt did not reach these levels again. AKO asked if an up to date former tenant debt policy and TD procedure was in place. TD would check and confirm. CE commented that a related recommendation on policies and procedures had been made by the Resident Scrutiny Panel from their review of voids. AKO asked about the impact of covid on bad debt. TD responded that there hadn’t been much change in former tenant debt but there had been improved levels of rent collection for current debt.
The Audit and Risk Committee approved the write of proposals presented for recommendation to the Council for final sign off.
59/20 Non-Compliant Spend Report
Good progress had been made to reduce non-compliant spend. The majority outstanding was now historic legacy expenditure.
60/20 RSP Report
CE summarised the work of the Resident Scrutiny Panel.
A review had been carried out of the resident experience during the first wave of the covid pandemic. This had been largely positive. The RSP had expressed concern at finding a lack of progress with addressing the recommendations from their original review of sheltered housing in 2017. A report would be presented to
139 Homes for Haringey Audit and Risk Committee Meeting 20 October 2020
Item Minutes Action
management. There were a number of issues identified following a review of fire safety. These had been passed to the Head of Health and Safety to review. The RSP would shortly commence a review of estate services.
AKO expressed concern with the findings of a follow up review of sheltered housing. TD responded that mini quality audits had been introduced in this area and these would look into the latest findings from the RSP. AKO asked for RSP recommendations accepted by management to be given the same weight and focus of attention as PR internal audit recommendations. A similar system of reporting on these would be introduced.
DC expressed concern with the quality of cleaning at some schemes and how this could be reviewed and monitored. TD responded that TD she would look at the introduction of deep cleaning, which had been successful elsewhere, in those schemes where appropriate.
61/20 Risk Register Q3 2020/21
The register was considered to be well documented and properly managed. AKO asked for the Board to be kept informed about risks relating to data protection breaches and excessive reliance on PR/DG temporary accommodation. She suggested reliance on temporary accommodation as a future themed presentation to the Committee DG and having a clear definition of what “excessive” meant.
DC asked about the increase in risk relating to people management. PR responded that this related to wellbeing issues from prolonged remote and isolated working. SM added that recent changes in leadership, more organisation development support and plans to improve the HR service would help to improve the management of this risk.
62/20 Audit Committee Forward Plan
Items suggested included: PR Continuity and succession based on the age profile of the organisation Stock management Excessive reliance on temporary accommodation
63/20 AOB
There was no other business. The meeting closed at 8.22pm.
140 Homes for Haringey Audit and Risk Committee Meeting 20 October 2020
Item Minutes Action
Signed:
Date:
141