The Housing & Communities Select Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 16 June 2026 to review annual performance reports for Housing Management and Needs, and for the Communities and Culture department. The committee will also discuss the selection process for the Voluntary Sector Support Fund and consider its work programme for the upcoming year.

Annual Performance Information for Housing Management and Needs

The committee is set to review the Housing Management and Needs Performance Report for 2025-2026. This report details the performance of the Council's Housing Management and Housing Needs Departments across various service areas.

Key areas covered include:

• Electrical and Gas Safety: High compliance rates are reported, with efforts focused on accessing properties where certificates are outstanding.
• Fire Safety: The Council maintains 100% compliance with Fire Risk Assessments for all buildings containing occupied homes.
• Repairs Service: While the average time to complete a repair is slightly above the target, there has been a consistent year-on-year improvement. Overall satisfaction with the responsive repairs service has increased.
• Estate Services: Satisfaction rates for internal and external cleaning are above target, though grounds maintenance satisfaction is just below target, with officers reviewing feedback to address this.
• Complaints: Performance was significantly impacted by a cyber-incident, leading to a backlog which is currently being addressed.
• Contact Centre: Call answering rates were affected by the cyber-incident but exceeded the target by the end of the financial year.
• Rent Collection: Data on current rent arrears is unavailable due to the cyber-incident.
• Anti-Social Behaviour, Safeguarding and Domestic Abuse: A decrease in reported ASB cases is noted, though resident satisfaction with the service remains low.
• Voids: The average relet time for both minor and major voids remains above target, but performance is improving.
• Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM): The report indicates steady improvements in tenant satisfaction with the Housing Management service between 2023 and 2025, with further room for improvement.
• Homelessness Prevention and Relief: Prevention outcomes achieved a success rate slightly exceeding the target, while relief outcomes were below target for the year, though performance improved significantly in the final quarter.
• Temporary Accommodation: The number of households in temporary accommodation has decreased, a significant achievement given market pressures.
• Housing Needs Allocations: The Allocations Team delivered strong performance in the final quarter, with an increased number of lets.

The committee will be asked to acknowledge the overall Red-Amber-Green rating for performance metrics, consider the report's contents, and make any relevant recommendations. They will also be asked if the data format is helpful and easy to understand.

Communities Key Performance Information

The committee will scrutinise the 2025/26 annual performance of the Communities and Culture department, specifically the Consultation and Participation and Community Partnerships teams. This report aims to provide insight into their effectiveness and gather advice on how similar data should be considered in the future.

The Communities and Culture department comprises five services, with this report focusing on:

• Community Partnerships: Responsible for engagement with the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS), grant-making, and providing statutory information, advice, and guidance.
• Consultation & Participation: A specialist resource supporting council departments in consulting and engaging with communities.

The report highlights the demographic makeup of residents accessing services supported by the Voluntary Sector Support Fund (VSSF), with over 60,000 people using these services. Feedback from beneficiaries of the Grenfell Projects Fund Round 4 is also included, detailing benefits such as increased community belonging, confidence in young people, and improved wellbeing.

The City Living Local Life initiative saw 169 applications received, with a significant number of multi-ward applications. The impacts reported include fostering community engagement, supporting vulnerable groups, and promoting wellbeing.

Information, Advice & Guidance (IAG) performance data shows that the KCAP partnership has undergone a period of transition and improvement, exceeding targets for service users and value of income gained through welfare benefit claims.

The report also includes data on the Citizens' Panel, showing the percentage of members who feel they can influence local decisions and the number of responses to various surveys. It details the number of responses to council consultations, surpassing the target for 2026/27, and assesses the representativeness of these consultations against the borough's demographics.

Voluntary Sector Support Fund 2027-30

The committee is asked to review the proposed selection process for the Voluntary Sector Support Fund (VSSF) for the 2027-30 period. This report outlines the due diligence, assessment, and selection stages, including key dates and the mechanisms for scoring and selecting local voluntary sector organisations for core funding.

The proposed process includes:

• Due Diligence: Checks on organisational status, financial position, and eligibility, with follow-ups for missing information.
• EOI and Full Application Assessments: A structured approach with briefing sessions for assessors, shared guidance materials, and independent scoring by two officers. A double-blind approach and formal moderation process are in place to ensure fairness and reduce subjectivity.
• Moderation: Two stages of moderation are planned to ensure consistency, involving officers from VCS Partnerships and senior managers.
• Panels: Cross-departmental officer panels will consider scores alongside contextual information such as geographic distribution, evidence of local need, and potential duplication of services.
• Recommendations and Key Decision: Final funding recommendations will be informed by scoring and wider strategic considerations.

The committee is asked to review and comment on the process, and to consider if they wish to make any comments regarding priorities or points of importance for the borough.

Work Programme Discussion

The committee will discuss the principles of effective scrutiny and work programme criteria to assist in developing the Annual Scrutiny Work Programme for 2026-27. The report outlines the committee's remit, which covers housing services, partnerships, social housing, housing stock management, housing strategy, and community relations.

The development of the work programme is based on principles of prioritising areas where scrutiny can have an impact, achieving a balance between pre-decision scrutiny and holding the executive to account, and ensuring a spread of topics across the year. The report also emphasises the need for timely scrutiny and sufficient councillor and officer capacity.

Suggested topics for the work programme include:

• Communities: Voluntary Sector Support Fund 2027-30, Grenfell Projects Fund Round 5, joint performance reporting for Community Partnerships and Consultation & Participation, and management of community assets.
• Housing Management: Progress on the Housing Improvement Plan, stock condition surveys, achieving 100% decency, Estate Services, recovery post-cyber incident, and resident involvement.
• Housing Needs: Housing Strategy 2025-30, Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Reduction Strategy, Housing Allocation Scheme, Key Worker & Intermediate Housing Policy, and Temporary Accommodation.

The committee will also consider opportunities for scrutiny involvement in upcoming policies and projects, including the Voluntary Sector Support Fund 2027-30, Grenfell Projects Fund Round 5, and the implementation of the Public Participation Commitments.