The Lambeth Council Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee met to discuss the condition of council housing stock and repairs strategy, proposals for a new call centre model, and the council's homelessness strategy. The committee agreed to review the call centre plans again in six months. They also requested more information on housing association routes, a breakdown of figures, non-decent homes criteria, and data showing comparisons with other boroughs.

Condition of the Housing Stock and Repairs Strategy

The committee reviewed the condition of Lambeth's housing stock and the council's repairs strategy, based on the findings of a recent stock condition survey. Councillor Danny Adilypour, Deputy Leader of Housing, Investment and New Homes, said the survey assessed 85% of eligible stock, which equated to 16,757 homes and 2,721 blocks. The survey identified that £2.6 billion is needed over the next 30 years to invest in housing stock to meet decent homes and net zero requirements.

Councillor Nicole Griffiths raised concerns about historical underinvestment and questioned whether there were sufficient funds for fire safety work over the next five years, and whether prioritising fire safety would lead to further underinvestment in other areas. Councillor Danny Adilypour responded that the council had the funds to meet legal and safety requirements, but external funding would be needed to bring all homes up to the decent homes standard¹.

Councillor Timothy Windle sought clarification on paragraph 2.6 of the report, which discussed the life expectancy of components needing replacement. He wondered how much capital investment was effectively treading water by replacing kitchens and bathrooms to a standard, rather than addressing more fundamental building fabric improvements.

Councillor Jodie asked if there was any recourse to reclaim monies for fire safety remediation against contractors or engineers. Councillor Danny Adilypour responded that most fire safety work was needed because regulations had changed, not because contractors had done something wrong.

Councillor Nicole Griffiths asked about fire safety in housing stock owned by Southern Housing and private developers. She was told that the council's enforcement team dealt with those issues. She also asked about cases of serious disrepair caused by structural defects, and whether residents could be encouraged to apply to housing associations.

Councillor Nicole Griffiths asked how the £2.6 billion figure for works was reached. She also asked how much involvement Wates had in the work, or whether it was going out to other contractors. She was told that Wates was the responsive repairs contractor, but major works were dealt with as individual projects and procured separately.

Councillor Timothy Windle asked about disposals of Housing Revenue Account² (HRA) assets and whether capital receipts were reinvested back into the capital programme or used for revenue purposes. He was told that all capital receipts from HRA assets could only be used within the HRA for capital assets.

The committee made several recommendations:

• The housing association route should be more clearly defined for residents.
• A breakdown of figures should be provided.
• Data showing non-decent homes criteria, comparisons with other boroughs, and the regulator's rating should be provided.
• Appropriate disposals of assets should be encouraged.
• There should be transparency with tenants about what can and cannot be afforded.

New Model for the Call Centre

The committee reviewed new proposals for a new model for the call centre. Councillor Fred Cowell, Cabinet Member for Digital, Data and Resident Experience, said that the Labour 2022 council manifesto made a commitment to considering insourcing housing services as the first option. The current contract with Capita is due to end in November 2026, and the aim is to bring all centres currently operated by Capita in-house, with some specific services re-procured from another service provider, known as a hybrid model.

Councillor Dominic Armstrong asked for more detail about the mitigations for the six key risks identified in the report. Natasha Patterson, Chief Digital and Data Officer, responded to each of the risks in turn.

Asked if Capita were working well with the council in terms of the mitigation processes, Natasha Patterson said that they were being cooperative.

Councillor Nicole Griffiths noted that Lambeth offered more calls than any other council in London, and asked how this connected with the collection and holding of data. She asked if all information about a single dwelling was placed in one place, and whether housing had access to that data. She was told that there was one system, NEC, where all property and tenant information was stored.

Councillor Nicole Griffiths asked if there were any weaknesses in the system that members should be aware of. She was told that the principal area where there was a small delay was where there were subcontractors working. She also said that residents should necessarily be able to get straight through to Wates.

Councillor Timothy Windle asked what the number of the workforce was that the council was thinking about bringing over. Natasha Patterson said that the housing call centre was somewhere in the region of 50 people, but the numbers had not been finalised.

Councillor Timothy Windle asked how success would be measured in the first year, and what key performance indicators (KPIs) would define whether it had been a success or not. Natasha Patterson said that the true measure of success would be an organic and natural reduction in calls because more issues would have been resolved on the first call.

Councillor Alison Inglis-Jones asked what the policy was for the 20-25% of residents who would struggle to access digital services. Councillor Fred Cowell responded that the objective was not 100% digital, and there would still be a call centre operation. He also said that the council was probably looking to align opening hours with the nine-to-five, as those hours after 5pm all spilled into the following day.

The committee made several recommendations:

• A gap time chart between when risk was talked about should come back to the Housing Committee for information.
• Career progression opportunities for those in call centres should be brought back to the Housing Committee.
• KPIs should also come back to the Housing Committee within six months.
• The Housing Committee should continue to monitor the workforce structure, bearing in mind the financial constraints at the moment.

Homelessness Strategy

The committee reviewed the council's homelessness strategy. Councillor Danny Adilypour said that the strategy set out plans to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping in Lambeth as much as possible, and was focused on four key priorities. He said that in the last year, there had been a 29% decrease in rough sleepers in Lambeth, going down to 483. The number of households requiring temporary accommodation had also levelled out and started to decline, from around 4,700 last October to 4,600 in June of this year.

Chris Draper and Bethan Evans from Thames Reach said they were pleased to see the strategy committed to addressing rough sleeping in Lambeth through providing well-resourced, innovative services. Ed from Centre Point said that the Routes to Independence youth homeless pathway was the most progressive youth homelessness pathway in the country.

Councillor Dominic Armstrong asked how Lambeth was working with neighbouring boroughs to ensure that people were not slipping through the gaps. He was told that there was a lot of work with neighbouring boroughs, including attending regional meetings and meetings held by the GLA³.

Councillor Karen asked if the figures dealt with were for those who presented to the council and were considered statutory owners, and therefore owed a duty. She was told that the strategy referenced the work being done around the cost of living, and that the council was trying to identify people before they became homeless.

Councillor Nicole Griffiths said that she still felt there was some disconnect with the information available and grassroots groups, and that some really clear pathways were needed for volunteers to know what to do when someone presented.

Councillor Dominic Armstrong asked what the council did to support single parent families in temporary accommodation or going through the homelessness system. He also asked what work the council was doing to try and identify women who were being hidden in the rough sleeping system. He was told that the council offered a tenancy sustainment and support offer for households in temporary accommodation, and that Homewards was also focusing on single mothers in Lambeth.

Councillor Timothy Windle asked if the reducing number of households in temporary accommodation and the reducing proportion of households in nightly paid accommodation was expected to continue. He also asked how successful the negotiating with nightly paid providers had been. He was told that the council was getting some good success in terms of finding property in the PRS⁴, and that the negotiating with nightly paid landlords was on a more solid footing now.

Councillor Nicole Griffiths said that she had families who had been in unsuitable accommodation for months on end before they were given a more suitable replacement. She asked if there was now a target for how long families should be in that sort of accommodation. She was told that there wasn't a target.

Councillor Alison Inglis-Jones asked about the subletting of council-owned properties and the underused places where families could possibly be moved to different sized property. She was told that it tied in with the new voids and empty homes policy, and that the council was trying to improve the turnarounds on those.

The committee made one recommendation:

• Information dissemination in terms of services available to grassroots groups should be made as widely as possible.