This meeting of the Borough Residents Forum was scheduled to receive an update on the Local Plan for the borough, as well as updates on the rollout of food waste collection on housing estates and the findings of the second phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The meeting was also scheduled to consider reports on the Council's performance on Tenant Satisfaction Measures and a draft Vulnerable Residents' Policy.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report

The report pack included a report by the Executive Director of Housing and Regeneration on the impact to the department following the Grenfell Tower Fire Phase Two Report.

The report summarises the findings of the second phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, which was published on 4 September 2024. The report concluded that the deaths of the 72 people who died in the fire were avoidable and that the residents had been badly failed by those responsible for their safety. It highlights shortcomings in the work of the council, the London Fire Brigade, successive governments, the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), and the wider construction industry. The report was particularly critical of central government’s failure to prevent the fire through regulation, despite being aware of the risks for many years. It also noted that the systematic dishonesty of different product manufacturers was a very significant reason why Grenfell Tower was clad in such dangerous materials.

The Inquiry’s report does not make any direct recommendations for social housing providers, as the changes they would have made have already been enacted through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, however, a number of recommendations will impact on social housing providers, including:

• a review of the definition of higher-risk buildings
• a reconsideration of the appropriateness of ‘stay put’ as an evacuation strategy
• the introduction of fire safety strategies for all higher-risk buildings
• a licensing regime for contractors working on higher-risk buildings
• mandatory accreditation for fire-risk assessors
• urgent advice on lift control switch standardisation
• the creation of a single regulator to oversee the entire construction industry

The Inquiry’s report also made a number of recommendations for local authorities, which include:

• creating a contingency plan for providing immediate financial assistance to people affected by an emergency
• giving detailed consideration to the availability and role of key workers, so that suitable contingency arrangements can be made to ensure the continuity of support in an emergency scenario
• making arrangements to ensure that local authorities can effectively communicate with those affected by an emergency, using suitable technology and a range of languages appropriate to their area

The report confirms that the recommendations for local authorities are being progressed by the Council’s Emergency Planning Team.

The report concludes:

The final publication of the Grenfell Tower phase two report is welcomed by the Department. Changes to the housing and construction sector are needed in order to provide more clarity, accountability and a stronger regulatory oversight.

Vulnerable Residents' Policy

The meeting was also scheduled to consider a report by the Interim Executive Director of Housing and Regeneration on a new Vulnerable Residents' Policy.

The report sets out a new Vulnerable Residents’ Policy, which has been developed to provide an overarching approach for staff working in Housing to work with residents or clients with identified vulnerabilities. The report notes that, whilst a significant number of procedures and individual approaches are already in place, this policy builds on these and provides a consistent approach. The policy makes the following statement about how vulnerability is defined:

Vulnerable individuals may be considered as those less able or unable to take care of themselves or protect themselves from exploitation and harm.

The report then lists the following personal circumstances as potential indicators of vulnerability:

illness, substance abuse issues, leaving care, bereavement, victims of domestic abuse or harassment, relationship breakdown, discharge from institutional care/hospital, history of ASB or rent arears, communication needs or history of homelessness. Those likely to be affected include ex-offenders, care leavers or those experiencing or with previous experience of domestic abuse.

The policy sets out a tiered approach to identifying vulnerable residents, based on the definitions used in previously established internal processes, the Care Act 2014, the NHS, good practice from other social landlords, and the Housing Ombudsman. The report explains that, while information on vulnerable residents may already be known to services, it is important that all staff are aware of how to identify vulnerability in the course of engaging with residents.

The report states that:

Holding information about residents, their needs, protected characteristics or reasonable adjustments is important as it can inform a change in approach, for example, through different communication methods.

It then explains that this information should be held on the NEC (IT) system and actively managed so that it reflects any changes to a resident's circumstances.

The report concludes that:

The Vulnerable Residents Policy sets out how the Department identifies vulnerable tenants and the groups they are more likely to belong to. It states the types of adjustments that could be made to ensure their needs are met and highlights the importance of recording information that can be used to inform a tailored approach or a change to delivering a service where it is needed.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures Submission Data

The meeting was scheduled to receive a report by the Interim Executive Director of Housing and Regeneration on Wandsworth's submission of the 2023-2024 Tenant Satisfaction Measures.

The report explains that large social landlords like Wandsworth Council are required to collect and publish data on 22 performance indicators known as Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), which were introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing in April 2023. These measures are derived from tenant perception surveys and management information that landlords are required to hold and manage. The Council recorded its TSMs for 2023-2024 at the end of the financial year, and shared them with the Regulator in June 2024. They were then published on the Council’s website in September 2024.

The report provides an overview of Wandsworth’s performance against each of the TSMs for 2023-2024, as well as other relevant performance information from that period. It groups the data into the five themes used by the Regulator: keeping properties in good repair, maintaining building safety, respectful and helpful engagement, complaints handling, and responsible neighbourhood management.

The report notes that overall tenant satisfaction with the Council has increased this year to 64%, from 54% in 2023, and that this compares favourably to the regional benchmark of 59%. It goes on to explain that, while satisfaction with repairs fell this year to 53% (from 57% last year), satisfaction with the time taken to complete repairs has increased slightly to 52% (from 51% last year), and satisfaction that homes are well-maintained has also improved, from 56% to 59%.

The report notes that, while satisfaction with the Council’s approach to handling complaints is low at 16%, this is not a significant outlier when compared to similar London landlords. It also notes that, whilst the number of complaints has increased to 409 from 291 last year, this is partly attributed to the wider advertising of the complaints process and increased attention from high-profile cases, such as those relating to damp and mould.

The report states that:

Complaints performance will be an area of focus in a specially convened focus group, scheduled to take place in March 2025 where it is hoped that insight and issues discussed with tenants can inform improvements in this area.

The report concludes:

Overall satisfaction levels increased to 64 per cent from 54 per cent in 2023-24 and demonstrates year-on-year improvement in a range of areas including repairs completion timescales, neighbourhood and anti-social behaviour management, home safety, tenant engagement and treating residents with respect. Some areas of low performance, such as complaints and repairs satisfaction are not outliers and are issues present amongst similar landlords. However, the Council will continue to work on areas of underperformance and act on insight from tenants to make improvements where they are needed.

Food Waste Rollout on Housing Estates

The agenda indicated that Cindy Gardener, Assistant Director of Waste and Street Cleansing, was scheduled to present an update on the rollout of food waste collection on housing estates. The minutes of the previous meeting, held on Wednesday 25 September 2024, show that Ms Gardener was not able to attend that meeting and that Councillor Aydin Dikerdem, Cabinet Member for Housing, advised the Forum that she would attend this meeting instead.

The Council consulted residents on plans for the introduction of weekly food waste collections in 2022, and announced that they would be introduced in Spring 2023. In September 2023, they announced that the rollout would be delayed, citing issues with their contractor, and they have repeatedly refused to provide a timeline for when the rollout will begin.

Local Plan Partial Review - Verbal Update

The agenda for this meeting indicates that Daniel Goodman, Principal Policy and Information Officer, and Amy Ingle, Senior Planner (Policy) were scheduled to provide a verbal update on changes to the Local Plan. The Local Plan is the Council's principal planning document, which sets out the strategy for the development of the borough.

The Council consulted residents on a partial review of the Local Plan in 2023, which set out a series of updates to the existing Local Plan. These included:

• an updated assessment of housing need
• new policies on climate change and sustainability
• new policies on affordable housing
• new policies on town centres and employment areas

Following the consultation, the council began work to prepare the draft Local Plan, which they say they will publish in 2025. They will then consult residents again before submitting the plan to the Secretary of State for examination.