At a meeting of the Cabinet of Hounslow Council, members discussed the 2024/25 budget outturn, progress against the council's delivery plan, contract awards and renewals, and performance in handling housing complaints. The cabinet approved recommendations relating to the budget, the commencement of procurement for a water utilities contract, and the award of supported accommodation service contracts to the YMCA St Pauls Group.

Budget Outturn 2024-25

The Cabinet considered the budget outturn for the 2024-25 financial year, noting a £14.8 million overspend in the General Fund and a £1.3 million overspend in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). Councillor Shantanu Rajawat, Leader of the Council, acknowledged the challenges faced by local government, including increasing demand and costs. Councillor Thombrough, Deputy Leader of the Council, noted that the outturn demonstrated that the council was dealing with the issues well, and targeting money in the right places.

Councillor Peter Thompson, Leader of the Opposition, raised concerns about the overspend, the use of reserves, and losses through council-owned companies. Councillor Rajawat responded that the council had a strong track record of managing budgets and was taking prudent steps to address the challenges. He noted that the losses within the Lampton Group were being closely monitored.

The Cabinet approved recommendations to:

• Note the General Fund net revenue overspend of £14.8m.
• Note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) net overspend of £1.3m.
• Note the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) underspend of £0.3m, an in-year deficit of £4.8m, compared to the budgeted deficit of £5.1m.
• Note the capital programme outturn with an in-year variance of £22.8m on the General Fund capital programme and an in-year variance of £7.5m on the HRA capital programme.
• Note that any re-phasing of the capital programme will be approved under existing delegated authority.
• Note the performance of the Hounslow companies.
• Note the performance against key corporate financial indicators.
• Note the bad debt written off under delegated authority of £276k.
• Approve changes to highways fees and charges from 1 April 2025 to reflect contractual indexation in the Highways PFI contract as set out in Appendix D.
• Note changes to statutory planning fees that took effect from 1 April 2025 as set out in Appendix E.
• Approve the allocation of £2,650k in total for area regeneration capital projects in the East, West and Central areas from the unallocated General Fund capital programme 2025/26.
• Approve the allocation of £2,000k from the unallocated General Fund capital programme 2025/26 to a capital budget for the Pavement Pledge renewal of footways across the borough during 2025/26.
• Approve the allocation of Household Support Fund grant of £3.6m.

Delivery Plan Monitoring - Q4 2024-25

The Cabinet considered the delivery plan monitoring report for quarter four, noting progress on projects and programmes across the People, Place, Capital, and Digital portfolios. Councillor Rajawat said that the report was not an exercise in greenwashing, and that the council had to be honest about where there were challenges.

Councillor Bruce highlighted the red-rated elements in the report, but also pointed to the many things that showed the council was delivering for residents, including housing developments at Everglades, Chiswick Health Centre, Clements Court, Commerce Way and Bethany Way.

The Cabinet approved recommendations to:

• Note progress to date with the programmes within the People Portfolio as set out in Appendix 1
• Note progress to date with the projects within the Place Portfolio as set out in Appendix 2
• Note progress to date with the projects within the Capital Portfolio as set out in Appendix 3
• Note progress to date with the projects within the Digital Portfolio as set out in Appendix 4

Quarterly Performance Reporting - Q4 2024-25

The Cabinet considered the quarterly performance reporting for quarter four, noting a comprehensive and honest account of the council's performance. Councillor Thompson raised the issue of the payment pledge, which was still rated red, and asked when action would be seen on that. Councillor Garrool asked if the lead member for housing was assured that tenants were safe, given that some of the compliance indicators were amber.

The Cabinet approved the recommendation to note the corporate performance report for Quarter 4 2024/25 (January to March 2025) at Appendix 1.

Review of the Contract for Services between the London Borough of Hounslow and Coalo Ltd

The Cabinet considered the review of the contract for services between the London Borough of Hounslow and Coalo Ltd, which provides the repair service for the council's housing stock. Councillor Rajawat said that the report formalised all of the activity that had happened up till now.

Councillor Thompson said that it was hard to avoid the conclusion that this provider was not doing a good job, and asked if alternatives had been considered. He also asked if there were any mechanisms to be more forceful with Coalo if they continued to fail to meet their key performance indicators. Councillor Rajawat responded that there was a much stronger relationship and more liaison with Coalo, and that if they did not succeed, there would be strict conversations.

The Cabinet unanimously carried the recommendation to authorise the Director of Asset Strategy to enter into a revised Contract for Services between the Council and Coalo Ltd for a period of 5 years with effect from 30 June 2025 until 30 June 2030, with an option to extend for a further five years on the terms set out in the draft Contract for Services attached as Appendix 1, subject to such amendments as he may consider reasonable and prudent.

Award of a New Leisure Management Contract for Lampton Leisure

The Cabinet considered the award of a new leisure management contract for Lampton Leisure, which provides leisure services for residents. Councillor Rajawat said that Lambton Leisure had historically done a very good job, but had been impacted by the COVID pandemic. Councillor Shaheen said that it had been an absolute pleasure working with all echelons of the staff at Lambton Leisure in pursuing the borough's objectives to create a healthy borough, to provide leisure facilities at an affordable price to residents and to meet their needs.

The Cabinet carried the recommendations to:

• Agree to enter into a revised agency agreement with Lampton Leisure Limited (Lampton Leisure) in relation to the operation of the Council's leisure facilities for a period of five years with an option to extend for a further five years ('the Agreement').
• Delegate authority to the Director of ICP and Commissioning in consultation with the Executive Director of Finance and Resources to:
  • Finalise the detail of the Agreement broadly on the basis of the draft agreement attached as Appendix 1, subject to such amendments as he considers reasonable and prudent and to enter into all legal documentation necessary to give effect to the Agreement;
  • Agree to exercise the option to extend the Agreement by up to five years at the appropriate time should that appear to him to represent best value;
  • Agree to extend the current Interim Leisure Management Contract in order to preserve continuity of service in the event that it is not possible to finalise the Agreement before the expiry of the current interim agreement on 30 June 2025.

Annual Housing Landlord Complaints Performance and Service Improvements

The Cabinet considered the Annual Housing Landlord Complaints Performance and Service Improvements report. Councillor Sue Sampson, Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Homelessness, said that the past year had seen a 68% increase in complaints, which had impacted on performance significantly. Councillor Raghwinder Siddhu, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Customer Experience and Enforcement, said that effective complaint handling was a key driver of improvement for the organisation, leading to better services for the residents.

Councillor Ajmer Garrool asked if the lead member of housing was assured that tenants were safe, given that some of the compliance indicators were amber. Councillor Sampson responded that she was assured, and that there were only three areas of compliance that were amber: gas safety, asbestos, and lifts.

Councillor Shaheen said that these challenges are often opportunities as well, and asked for an example or two of improvements that had been made to the service based on the feedback from complaints. Councillor Sampson responded that one area that had been picked up was the lack of the issue around caretaking and ASB, and that better training had been provided to enable both teams to better understand what is expected and how to escalate.

Councillor Thompson said that it was a worry that all the cases that went to the Ombudsman were repelled or partly repelled, and that the areas that they focus on are poor customer service, dissatisfaction with repairs, waiting for repairs, and lack of communication. Councillor Sampson responded that an end-to-end review of the whole service had been carried out, which had led to greater confidence that it was going to work.

The Cabinet carried the recommendation to consider and note the Annual Housing Landlord Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report for scrutiny and challenge.

Water Utilities Contract Authority to Commence Procurement Activity

The Cabinet considered the water utilities contract and the authority to commence procurement activity. Councillor Rajawat presented the report on behalf of Councillor Katherine Dunne, Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Transport, noting that the contract for the supply of water to council buildings was a large contract, with a 3.7 million pound value.

The Cabinet carried the recommendations to:

• Authorise the commencement of the procurement of a Water Utilities contract for the operational estate to cover the period April 2026 to April 2030
• Delegate Authority to the Director of Climate and Strategic Programmes, in consultation with the Portfolio holder for Climate, Environment and Transport to approve the award of the new Water Utilities contract provided that the final tender sum does not exceed the estimated cost referred to in paragraph 6 by more than 20%

Mortuaries Contract

The Cabinet considered the mortuaries contract. Councillor Shaheen said that the council had a mortuaries contract already with Hammersmith and Fulham, who provide the mortuary service, and that this report was setting out that the council wished to renew that.

The Cabinet carried the recommendations to:

• Approve the ongoing provision of mortuary services provided to the Council by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, subject to the terms of the contract being approved by Director of ICP Health and Social Care Integration and the contract value not exceeding the amounts set out in the Report.
• Delegate Authority to the Director of ICP and Commissioning, to finalise the contract terms and conditions.

Children and Young People's Supported Accommodation Services

The Cabinet considered the Children and Young People's Supported Accommodation Services report. Councillor Samia Chaudhary said that the council has a strategy duty to provide care and support to looked after children and care leavers, and that Look Ahead Care and Support have been Hounslow's Commission Supported Accommodation Providers for Children's and Young People Living Care since 2016. She said that the contract arrangement was now reaching its expire, and that this report seeks approval to award supported housing service contract and leads to the YMCA.

Councillor Thompson said that this was a vitally important area, and asked what the department was doing to ensure that there were enough places, given that demand was going to exceed the 64 places that this contract gives the council. He also asked for reassurance that the transition from one provider to another would be as seamless as it can be. Councillor Rajawat responded that the council was trying to help some of that cohort live as independently as possible, and that Councillor Chaudhary would sum up. Councillor Chaudhary assured Councillor Thompson that the council does purchase other places as well, and that she was very confident that everything would be fine with the rollout on the first of August.

The Cabinet carried the recommendations to:

• Approve the award of three individual service contracts to the YMCA St Pauls Group, for an initial 4-year term, commencing 1st August 2025 until 31st July 2029, as the successful bidder in a recent procurement exercise for Children and Young People's Supported Housing Services. The combined value of these services over the initial four years, excluding inflation, is £3,744,233.
• Approve the grant of four individual lease agreements to the YMCA St Pauls Group, for buildings in which these services will be delivered, for an initial 4-year term, from 1st August 2025 until 31st July 2029 with the length of leases running coterminous with the service contracts and at a total lease income value, payable into the Housing Revenue Account of £1,146,780, (an initial annual value of £286,698, plus annual inflationary increases over the term of the leases).