To receive a presentation from Accent Housing.
Minutes:
The Committee received a presentation from Julie Wittich, Executive Director of Assets & Sustainability, Accent Housing in respect of recent management changes and the appointment of a new main repairs and maintenance contractor.
Since its last presentation to the Committee in February 2022, there had been a restructure of the Accent Leadership Team, including the appointment of a new interim director, Shaun Finnegan, for the South region. The recruitment process for the vacant post was underway and was being led by Claire Stone.
Ian Williams had been appointed as the South Region’s new main repairs and maintenance contractor from 30 May 2022 and immediately started picking up the circa 1500 outstanding maintenance orders which the previous contractor Axis Europe had left. The most urgent repairs were being prioritised and analysis of the outstanding cases was being undertaken by a line by line exercise. Despite some jobs such as plastering and groundworks were being allocated to sub-contractors, it was still anticipated that the maintenance backlog left by Axis Europe would still take 6 months in order to clear. In addition, some jobs such as fencing was anticipated to take a particularly long time.
Ian Williams were keen to do joint engagement events across the region in the summer in coordination with Accent and the Council. Furthermore, joint branding was starting to be rolled out in areas such as maintenance vans in order to promote synergy between Ian Williams and Accent.
Arising from Members’ questions and comments the following points were noted:
· Accent Housing was struggling to recruit in respect of some technical maintenance roles. This was part of a wider national issue and Accent were looking to use market supplements in order to recruit the right staff which would be able to successfully tackle an increasing amount of mould and damp cases.
· On 1 October 2022 Accent would be launching a technical contact centre to receive new maintenance calls from its customers. Advisors would have duty surveyors on-call to provide live advice as well as a diagnostic tool. The change to a more specialised contact centre worked off the premise that contact centre advisors would develop a more specialised knowledge after taking solely maintenance related calls. On their recruitment, advisors would also undergo an intensive 4 week training programme before contact with customers.
· Ian Williams had been appointed at the end of the tender process, after it had demonstrated an excellent track record in the Accent North West and East regions and that they shared similar values to Accent. Ian Williams specialised in serving housing associations and had the ethos of investing in their staff and were also keen on direct delivery (rather than use of subcontractors).
· The Customer Relationship Management System would allow contact centre advisors to review system notes, and case history whilst engaging with customers.
· In previous years Accent had a policy of ripping out and disposing of any previously-used carpets, when new residents moved into a property. The pulling up of carpet was no longer an automatic part of changeover processes, but it was noted that it was found that carpets were rarely left in an acceptable state. Accent employed surveyors who were responsible for recommendation of any work which needed to be undertaken before future inhabitation.
· Where Accent contractors had failed to turn up for a prearranged maintenance appointment, residents who had been forced to take a day off work and were financially worse off as a result, were entitled to claim compensation. However this wasn’t routinely offered to all residents who had suffered from a missed maintenance appointment.
· In order to meet the goal of making Accent properties more sustainable, Accent ensured that all its new properties achieved an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A. Furthermore, it was noted that Accent was in the process of retrofitting some of its existing properties as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Funds scheme.
Following the Committee’s discussions it was remarked that although the Committee were grateful for Accent’s virtual attendance at the meeting, they would much prefer them to send representatives to attend in person where possible. It was also noted that the Committee were especially keen to see how much progress had been made with the maintenance backlog 6 months into the Ian Williams contract.
Furthermore, Members noted the upcoming all-Member briefing from Accent Housing and acknowledged the recently set up email address to provide a single point of contact for all Surrey Heath Councillors’ Accent-related enquiries.
The Committee thanked Julie for her attendance and her presentation.