The Growth and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel are scheduled to meet on Monday 22 September 2025 in the Council Chamber of Huddersfield Town Hall. The meeting is scheduled to include discussions of Kirklees Council's preparedness for Awaab's Law, and an update on the redesign of the Housing Management & Partnerships service. The Panel will also receive any petitions, deputations or public questions.

Awaab's Law

The Growth and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel are scheduled to discuss a report outlining Kirklees Council's preparation for the implementation of Awaab's Law, which is due to come into effect on 27 October 2025. Awaab's Law introduces new statutory duties for social landlords to address damp, mould and condensation (DMC) hazards, and other emergency hazards within strict timescales. The legislation mandates that social landlords:

• Investigate reported cases within 10 working days
• Provide written feedback within 3 working days
• Carry out any necessary treatments or repairs within set timescales: 5 working days for significant hazards and 24 hours for emergencies.

The report before the panel sets out the steps taken by the council to ensure legal compliance, enhance service capacity, invest in preventative measures, and support both staff and residents. According to the report, Kirklees Council has increased both internal and external resourcing to meet the requirements of Awaab's Law, and has built additional staffing capacity into the DMC triage and inspection teams to improve throughput and case resolution times. The council has also procured the services of two dedicated mould treatment contractors who, alongside in-house teams, are delivering an average of 91 inspections and 89 treatments per week. The report states that between September 2024 and March 2025, the Council received 2,196 reports of DMC, averaging 73 cases per week during the autumn and winter months. The report also notes that legal compliance is assured through processes to demonstrate all reasonable efforts to gain access to properties, including multiple documented attempts and escalation routes through the enforcement of the tenancy agreement, or via the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) route as required. The report states that the council is reviewing and updating relevant service policies in response to the requirements set out in Awaab's Law, including the Repairs & Maintenance Policy, the Damp, Mould and Condensation (DMC) Policy, and the Decant Policy. The council has also adopted a data-led approach to identifying estates in need of structural intervention to address recurring DMC issues, and is upgrading ventilation systems, including the installation of Mechanical Extract Ventilation (MEV) and Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) units, in properties where persistent condensation has been identified. The council's 30-year Asset Management Strategy will also be reviewed in 2026-2028, and will include further evidence from the stock condition survey programme which is due to commence from September 2025.

Housing Management & Partnerships Service Redesign

The Growth and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel are scheduled to receive an update on the ongoing redesign of the Kirklees Homes & Neighbourhoods (KHNs) Housing Management and Partnerships (HMP) service. The HMP service is responsible for the delivery of landlord functions to 21,500 council tenancies, and comprises 250 members of staff who work across frontline estate management and specialist areas of Housing Management. The report highlights the progress made in the key changes to operational delivery to improve efficiency, performance, and increase tenant engagement and satisfaction with the services the council delivers. According to the report, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) introduced the following consumer standards in April 2024:

• Neighbourhood and Community Standard
• Safety and Quality Standard
• Tenancy Standard
• Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard

The report states that the standards include requirements around the safety and quality of homes, estate and tenancy management, partnership working in neighbourhoods, transparency and accountability with performance information and availability of tenant engagement opportunities. The RSH also introduced twenty-two Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). The report notes that while the council's TSMs are improving, they are still falling below the standard the council wants and the expectations of tenants in relation to neighbourhood management responsibilities. As a result, a redesign of this area of HMP has been undertaken. The report states that the current housing team model has historically been structured using a model where each team manages an equal share of housing stock, but that this approach does not align staffing levels with the differing needs and demands of individual neighbourhoods. To understand the needs of neighbourhoods, the council will work with tenants and key stakeholders from within the community, and will utilise available data and intelligence from a range of sources to understand more about the make-up of tenants and communities. This information will be collated and will form part of a Neighbourhood Plan. The aim of the plans is to understand the needs within neighbourhoods and will also provide a voice for tenants and stakeholders to ensure the council is working on the right things to improve service delivery for them. The report also notes that it is essential that tenants and communities feel assured that when they report anti-social behaviour (ASB), that it is addressed effectively and swiftly. In response to a decline in tenant satisfaction, the number of formal complaints received, and the determinations made by the Housing Ombudsman, the council's response to ASB needs to improve and quickly. It is therefore proposed that a core team of 4 housing officers from the existing HMP staffing structure, with the addition of a Housing Manager on a twelve-month temporary basis will undertake the responsibility for ASB case management. This core team will focus exclusively on ASB case management and will also support neighbourhood housing officers in addressing environmental enforcement issues. The report states that a skills analysis is being undertaken to identify specific training needs for staff, and that a review of the induction programme is in progress. Legal Services also plans to deliver training on tenancy breaches, which will include the updated conditions of the new Tenancy Agreement during November 2025.

Public Participation

The Panel will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities. The Panel will also receive any public questions. The period for the asking and answering of public questions shall not exceed 15 minutes.

Other Items

The agenda includes the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting held on 11 August 2025¹. Members will also be asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items².