The Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Gateshead Council was scheduled to discuss updates on the Council's progress in delivering its key priorities at its meeting on 02 December 2024, including a progress report on the Council's key housing priorities, as well as an update on how it is performing against its key housing performance indicators. The committee was also scheduled to receive a report on the number of complaints made about the Housing Service in the period from 01 April 2024 to 30 September 2024.

It is important to note that this article is a summary of what was scheduled to be discussed at a council meeting, based on the documents that were made public in the meeting's agenda. It does not describe what was said during the meeting, or any decisions that were made.

The Council's Performance Management and Improvement Framework (PMIF)

The Committee was scheduled to receive a report on the Council’s Performance Management & Improvement Framework (PMIF) for the period 1 April to 30 September 2024, as well as an overview of performance in areas relevant to the role of the Committee.

The PMIF is how the Council measures its progress in delivering its Thrive agenda. The report scheduled for discussion provided an analysis of the Council's performance against each of the six objectives of its Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The following are some of the challenges scheduled to be discussed in the report:

• Demand for council housing in Gateshead remains high, but there is low demand for flats and bedsits with an age restriction.
• The number of people on the housing register remains very high and there is a backlog in processing applications.
• Significant overspend on the bed and breakfast budget.
• Out of time repairs.
• The need to comply with Awaab's Law, which requires social landlords to investigate and fix damp and mould within strict timeframes.
• Highway repairs are not being completed within the target timescale of 10 days.

Areas of excellence and improvement scheduled to be discussed in the report included:

• The Rent and Income Team delivered £3.2 million in financial gains for council tenants in the first six months of 2024/25.
• A Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy is in place supported by an action plan, the Homelessness Charter and Gateshead Homeless Forum.
• Strong partnership arrangements are in place with Oasis Community Housing, which supports rough sleepers and people at risk of homelessness with multiple or complex needs. This has resulted in a low number of rough sleepers in Gateshead.
• Successful bids for Rough Sleeper Initiative (RSI), Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme (RSAP) and Supported Housing Improvement Programme (SHIP) funding. Funding has also been allocated to improve the Council's response to victims of domestic abuse.
• Go North East has introduced more frequent services on the Tyne Valley Ten and Angel 21 bus services, funded by the North East Combined Authority’s Bus Service Improvement Plan.

The report also scheduled to be discussed included a list of actions planned to improve the Council's performance in these areas, including the implementation of a B&B and temporary accommodation cost recovery plan. The report noted that this plan would be delivered over a 3 year period with a focus on stopping the use of B&Bs in Gateshead except in emergencies.

The report included a summary of a workshop that took place in October 2024 at which employees reviewed the PMIF and suggested areas for improvement. It noted that councillors would be engaged on their views of the framework as the review progresses.

Housing Performance Report – Mid-Year Update

The Committee was scheduled to discuss a report on housing performance for quarter 2 of the 2024/25 financial year. The report provided a summary of the Council’s performance against 49 key performance indicators (KPIs) used by the Council to measure the effectiveness of its housing services. The report noted that eight of the 49 indicators were not on target, 14 were on target, and seven were not on target, but improving on last year. The remaining 19 indicators had either not yet been measured, or were new in 2024/25.

The performance results therefore indicate that at quarter 2, performance relating to 21 out of the 29 measurable performance indicators can be traffic lighted as on target or improving, which relates to 72% of our measurable indicators. ¹ The following were some of the issues scheduled to be discussed in the report.

• Housing need and homelessness

  • The report noted an increase in the number of new households assessed as being owed a statutory homelessness duty, compared to the same period last year. The main reason for homelessness was reported as fleeing domestic abuse.
  • The report noted that there were 244 households in emergency accommodation as of the end of quarter 2, of whom 52 had dependent children. The report noted that the demand for emergency accommodation was driven by a lack of available social housing in the borough, and that the Council was reviewing its approach to the provision of temporary accommodation and considering a range of options to speed up the process of getting people into settled accommodation.
  • The report noted that 47 rough sleepers were found in Gateshead in quarter 2.

• Empty properties and void turnaround times

  • The report noted an increase in void turnaround times. The average time to re-let a property from the point at which it first became empty was 134 days. The report noted that 76 council homes had been empty for six months or more, although 36 of these were now available for letting and in the process of being re-let.
  • The report noted that the Council had previously agreed to recruit 32 additional tradespeople to speed up the process of carrying out repairs to empty properties, but that these appointments had been delayed due to TUPE implications. It noted that the Council was still hoping to have these positions filled by January 2025.
  • The report noted that rent loss due to empty properties had increased compared to the same period last year. The report noted that 3.31% of rent was lost due to empty properties, and that the target for the year was 3%.

• Repairs

  • The report noted a decrease in the percentage of damp and mould cases successfully resolved in quarter 2.
  • The report noted that 90.69% of repairs were completed right first time in quarter 2, up from 74.09% in the same period last year.
  • The report noted that the percentage of non-emergency responsive repairs completed within the target timescale had decreased slightly. The target for 2024/25 was for 80% of non-emergency repairs to be completed within the target timescale.
  • The report noted that satisfaction with repairs had decreased slightly in quarter 2.

The report noted that the Council had established a Housing Improvement Programme, which includes several workstreams to improve the delivery of housing services and address some of the challenges outlined in the report. These workstreams include the implementation of a new service model for the Housing Solutions Service, which will enhance the advice and support provided to people at the point at which they first approach the service. The Council has also set up a number of improvement boards and task and finish subgroups to address specific challenges, such as voids and lettings.

Housing Complaints Update

The Committee was scheduled to receive a report on the number of complaints made about the Housing Service between 1 April and 30 September 2024.

The report included an overview of the key regulations and legislation relating to complaint handling in social housing. The report noted that the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) requires social landlords to meet the standards set out in its Transparency, Influence and Accountability (TIA) standard, and that the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) sets out its expectations for complaint handling in its Complaint Handling Code.

The report noted that the Council's performance on complaint handling in 2023/24 was low, with just 26% of residents surveyed reporting that they were happy with how their complaint had been handled. The report noted that this was slightly below the median score for similar sized local authorities and ALMOs, as reported by Housemark.

In response to this low level of satisfaction, the Council’s Resident Influence Panel commissioned a scrutiny review of the quality of stage 1 complaint responses. The review was carried out by a focus group of tenants and leaseholders, who presented their findings and recommendations to the Committee on 17 June 2024.

The review’s main recommendation was for the Council to set up a dedicated housing complaints team. The report noted that this recommendation had been approved and that the Council was in the process of recruiting three new Customer Support and Insight Officers to staff the team.

The report included a breakdown of the complaints registered by service area.

The report also included data on the Council’s performance against the targets set out in the HOS Complaint Handling Code. It noted that the Council was not meeting the target of responding to 75% of stage 1 complaints within 10 days. The report stated that the Council had responded to 41% of stage 1 complaints within this target timescale.

The report noted that work was underway to respond to outstanding stage 1 complaints and that the Council was working with service managers to improve its approach to learning from complaints. The report also included a breakdown of the complaints investigated by the Housing Ombudsman in the period from April to September 2024. It noted that the Housing Ombudsman had made 10 determinations, of which nine were findings of maladministration and one was a finding of severe maladministration.

Repairs and Empty Property Performance Update

The Committee was scheduled to receive a report providing an update on repairs and empty property performance at the end of October 2024. The report noted that the number of empty properties undergoing work was 357, with 158 properties available for letting, 79 newly vacant and a total of 550 vacant properties.

The report noted that there were 6,944 live work orders, of which 3,477 were out of time. The report included an update on a range of process changes that have been introduced to improve performance, including training for staff and the introduction of new technology.

The report also included data on customer satisfaction with repairs.

Development of the Work Programme for 2024/25

The Committee was scheduled to discuss the development of its work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year. The Committee previously endorsed its provisional work programme at its meeting on 19 June 2024. The Committee was scheduled to discuss proposed additions to the programme, including a report on the Future Homes Standard, which will describe how the Council plans to make its housing stock more energy efficient. The report was also scheduled to include a discussion about locality working.