Thursday 14th December 2023, 1:30pm, Clyde room, Clydebank Town Hall
Apologies received from, Harry McCormack (Tullichewan TRA ),Ruby Wilkins ( Dalmuir TRA) , Mary Paton (Willox Park TA) , Nicola Pettigrew ( Housing Operations Manager ), Kevin McCrossan ( Housing Operations Co-ordinator –Alexandria) and Amanda Kean ( LHEES Officer)
Lift protocol – Scott explained how the process worked out of hours with on call staff. System only effective if Council has up to date contact details for tenants so they get the text alerts. Agreed more could be done to make sure tenants let Council know when their mobile number changes – unclear what level of contact details are up to date.
Action: Scott to do article for Housing News to explain that text will be sent whenever the lifts are off and for tenants to update contact details. Scott also to arrange for same information to be put up on the noticeboards at Multi-storey flats.
Action: Noticeboards also to be updated with HO contact details and remove out of date information so that they are more relevant.
Action: Walkabouts to be added as a Liaison agenda item to monitor when action plans issued and progress on actions.
Action: Walkabout process to be circulated.
District heating system –Been confirmed that within the Capital plan there is funding in 2025/26 and 2026/27 so Housing are committed to extending the DHS to the multi-storey flats. Amanda Keane will be invited to the February Liaison to update on the Council’s Local Heat and energy Efficiency Strategy in February. Tenant frustration is with the length of time progress is taking. John appreciated the frustration but the commitment is there and takes time to get the infrastructure in place.
Jackie advised that the policy was working well and the review of the policy was to reflect that the scheme had got bigger and to strengthen the criteria.
Since the draft policy was circulated, the Scottish Government now released national acquisition scheme guidance so Jackie advised that will need to look into their guidance and revaluate the draft policy to see if there is anything that would want to incorporate.
No question asked – happy with draft policy.
John confirmed that Brunswick, Montreal and Quebec all now empty and buildings been secured. June confirmed they were well lit at night. Police and Fire aware of empty properties as appreciate they can get targeted. Demolition scheduled for Feb/ March and will evaluate new development options and consult with neighbours.
New Builds updates,
Enhanced Capital programme
CCTV Survey had been delayed but should be carried out in the new year – once completed a programme of work will be developed. John confirmed the CCTV upgrades being done in all MSFs – Clydebank multis to get done first as more current issues than at Westbridgend.
Connected Response project moving forward and will be starting early 2024 with drop-ins to show how it works. Also had a successful bid for match funding from Scottish Government so will mean a saving for HRA.
The number of calls being made in November has gone up but so has the number of calls answered, so less being abandoned. Average call wait is just over 2 minutes.
Longest queue times still biggest concern - 28 minutes for an emergency, 39 for a new repair. Martin confirmed that more staff have been taken on and training increased so call handling is faster. Agreed to keep monitoring to ensure progress continues.
Main focus is on promoting the Rent setting consultation to encourage as many tenants as possible to vote. Information on the options and a free post voting card were included in the winter edition of the Housing News posted out last week.
Council consultation page has the option information, copy of the presentation from the launch meeting on 15/11 as well as the details on how to vote.
Staff briefing been circulated to Housing and Homelessness staff for them to encourage the tenants they deal with to vote.
Advert on internal system to encourage all Council staff who are tenants to vote been done. Posters for Multi-storey blocks put up today and tomorrow.
Text and email reminders are going to be sent out to all tenants we have contact details for to remind them to vote – going out this week and usually has a good impact.
Regular posts on our Facebook page and would encourage TRA s to share as much as possible and encourage their tenant members to vote. As of today only 39 votes in but consultation closes on 10/1/23 so still early days.
Current TP Strategy due to be reviewed in 2024 so beginning plans for that and will include tenants and staff to ensure the strategy is strengthened.
Jane then thanked all the tenants and staff for their contributions over the last year – really rely on all inputs to make TP meaningful in West Dunbartonshire and the Liaison meetings are a good example of how working in partnership with tenants does create improvements and makes these meetings so worthwhile.
Councillor Johal advised that he has a virtual meeting with Housing Minister on 8th of January and if there are any issues that the WDTRO would like him to raise with the minister to let him know. WDTRO to discuss at their committee meeting on 11/1 and let Gurpreet know before the 18/1/24.
WDTRO committee dates been set and Liaison and Joint Rent Group dates just to be confirmed for accommodation and will then be issued out for 2024.
Next Liaison should be on 22/2/24, 1:30pm at Church Street.
Thursday 26th October 2023, 1:30pm, Church St, Dumbarton
Apologies received from Councillor Gurpreet Johal, Craig Wilson, Ruby Wilkins (Dalmuir TRA), June Todd (WDTRO) and Stefan Kristmanns.
Councillor Sorrell introduced herself and welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Number of abandoned calls up slightly in September but average queuing time has gone down. Longest queueing time still19.23-25.54 minutes so still not ideal. Meeting agreed to continue monitoring to ensure improvements continue.
Suzanne talked through the performance template and explained that the average time to complete an emergency repair had gone up slightly but still in target. Average for non-emergency repair has increased but expected to go down in quarter 3 and 4.
Right First Time repair percentage down as if out of target can’t meet criteria so catching up on backlog repairs added to this.
Council corporately changed survey suppliers and new one doesn’t link in with repairs system but IHMS team are working on a work around. At moment only surveys carried out on operative handheld device being recorded. Number of no accesses has reduced but still higher than ideal. Suzanne clarified that the response target for an emergency was 24 hours and tenants do get told they need to stay in but often don’t. Have done training with staff about contact details and also to ensure that emergency repairs are being classified correctly.
Councillor Sorrell praised the repairs team from her own personal experience and Suzanne will feed this back to the teams.
Kevin acknowledged the inconsistency in walkabouts and want to make sure all are done well. He confirmed that the action sheet should be shared with each person after the walkabout. Recent walkabouts at Littleholm and N Drumry haven’t had any action sheets circulated. Kevin explained that had been some staff changes at Clydebank but would get these issued out as soon as possible.
Frances raised point that need to communicate better and send the right people to the walkabouts so that updates can be given.
Mary advised that at Willox Park they were very disappointed in walkabouts as issues weren’t followed up and they have issues outstanding 18 months later. Kevin will follow up with Scott and get feedback to Willox Park TA.
Ana suggested having a pre and post meetings for walkabouts to ensure all actions are noted and being progressed. The post walkabout meeting could be good for updating actions and then sharing with those who attended. TP to liaise with Kevin about improving internal communications after walkabouts to ensure the actions sheets are produced and updates provided.
Frances also noted that they would be happier if officers are more truthful and say if an action cannot be done rather than saying will be looked at.
Agreed actions;
Jamie outlined the report going to the Housing & Communities Committee in November and covers two main points,
New design standard builds on this and also ensures better matching of housing to needs eg. bigger houses for larger families. Also improving energy efficiency standards to net-zero housing and Passivhaus , future-proofing houses and introducing environmental sensors to help build up picture of how stock performing.
Mary asked for clarification on when decision will be made on Willox Park and John confirmed that there still to be 8 week consultation with tenants so earliest would be report going to February HACC.
Ana Deevy joined Tenant Participation in mid-September and been introducing herself to the tenant groups. She’ll be an invaluable support for groups so any who haven’t been in touch are encouraged to do so.
Main focus is on TP Strategy action plan and promoting the many ways to get involved to increase the number of tenants active in tenant participation in whatever form suits them. Want to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved either thro walkabouts, tenant groups or individually thro surveys, scrutiny panel etc – key is to make sure any involvement is worthwhile and people feel that they can make a difference.
Rent setting discussions have started, 2 meetings so far on possible rent options and a further meeting arranged for 8/11 at 11am in Church Street offices and on zoom. A date for the formal public launch of the consultation is provisionally the 15/11. Tenants this morning been given assurances from the Administration that they will go with the outcome of the tenant vote so that was very welcome. Will still be difficult to get tenants involved in any rent increase discussions when so many are still struggling with so many other cost increases but hope the TRAs will help us promote the consultation as still really important that tenants have their say.
Deadline for the winter edition of the Housing News is 27/10 so any last minute material can still be submitted. Winter edition due to be delivered to tenants 8/12.
The next full Housing & Communities Committee is in November so there will be a pre-HACC Forum on Monday 20 Nov and committee papers will be issued as soon as they are available – usually a week before.
Frances expressed view that it will still be hard to get people involved after last year’s rent setting. Councillor Sorrell confirmed that they are listening to tenants.
Dalmuir MSF tenants discussed their frustration with poor heating. Tenants would be happier with rent increase if heating was improved. Alan discussed the process of storage heaters. Connected Response would provide more control over the heating and will be an interim solution until district heating can be extended to the flats in Dalmuir.
Janette asked for the timeline for extending the District Heating System and John unsure but will ask for an update from Regeneration team.
14 December, 1.30pm at Clydebank Town Hall– in person meeting but Zoom option available if it assists attendance.
Thursday 24th August 2023, 1:30pm, Clyde room, Clydebank Town Hall
Apologies received from Councillor Gurpreet Johal, Peter Barry, David Lynch, Martin Feeney (Repairs represented by Suzanne Bannister and Craig Wilson), Ruth Dickinson (Willox Park TA), Ruby Wilkins ( Dalmuir TRA) , June Todd (WDTRO) and Cllr Sorrell.
USB sockets – confirmed are included in kitchen renewal – agreed action complete and can be removed from action sheet.
Fire door repair team - Craig confirmed that has discussed timescales with Martec and inspections are now all scheduled – agreed action is complete and can be removed from action sheet.
Lift protocol – update provided about out of hours – training been done – happy with progress but agreed to keep on action sheet until process been successfully put into practice due to recent incident at Dunswin Ct when text alert was missed.
Clean vents/extractor programme for blocks with communal roof vents in progress. Original action is to provide an update on the review of cyclical programmes so action to remain on action sheet – needs input from Martin Feeney.
Cancellation text for emergencies now live – being used as a pilot and then roll out for non-emergency – Multi-trade jobs more complicated and communal.
Resettlement programme figures provided – happy with details and agreed that action is complete and can be removed from action sheet.
Buzzers at Littleholm sorted – action complete.
Less calls made in July so more were answered quicker and less abandoned. Average queue times are around 2 minutes and that performance been maintained over last year. Longest queue time was still 28 minutes for an emergency, 25 for a new repair and 27 for an update on a repair so still some long waits but less than previously.
Analysis of survey responses and complaints are carried out by each service team and the feedback used to develop and improve these services. The briefing paper lists 7 specific issues identified from tenant feedback and the changes made in response from increasing the number of staff in the Repairs team to answer calls to providing more convenient places for handing in keys when a tenancy ends.
Enhanced Capital programme got approval at Housing committee (HACC) on 23/8 and John gave thanks to the tenants who gave their time to the working group meetings and for their invaluable input. CCTV team are moving over to Housing and will be under Nicola Pettigrew so will have better synergy and they will take the CCTV programme forward.
New nomination agreement been sign with Scottish Veteran’s Association to give them 2 properties each year for veterans and they will receive specialist support.
New Builds updates,
Janette asked about the old Boquhanran house site but John didn’t know as not been on a disposal strategy or been offered to Housing.
TRAs all back to meeting up after the summer recess. WDTRO have their AGM on 2/10 7pm at Dalmuir Community Centre and have invited a speaker from Tenant information Service (TIS) and will hopefully elect a new committee.
Tullichewan and CATRA held a successful family fun day on 19/8 to help raise funds for their community activities and also to attract more members.
A new Housing Development Officer has been appointed to replace Hanne but waiting on references and will hopefully start in a couple of weeks. Jane still supporting the groups in meantime.
An update report on year 2 of our Tenant Participation Strategy went to the Housing committee (HACC) this week. The report included an update on the action plan created to ensure that we could implement the strategy and all are completed or on target.
The HACC Report also included a copy of our TP performance report which highlighted the positive impact that tenants have had as a key driver for getting people involved is that they need to be able to see that they can make a difference.
The ‘you said we did’ information already discussed and an update on the TP strategy will be included in the Autumn HN to help reinforce to all tenants that improvements do come from tenant feedback and involvement.
Autumn edition of the Housing News being put together just now will be out around 29/9.
Issue of annual visits was raised as tenants at Dalmuir hadn’t had any ever. Nicola advised that they were working towards getting these in place. Following lockdown and the backlog of work created, been difficult but now getting them fully implemented. Annual visits are also done as part of routine visits and will set up a programme for those tenants that they aren’t in regular contact with. Tenant Liaison officers will also be used but there numbers recently been reduced from 4 to 2. Is a big undertaking but will be prioritising outstanding visits and Nicola will firm up plans and share with WDTRO.
Nicola agreed that the visits were a good way to get to know who your Housing officer was. A mobile app is being piloted and will hopefully help make HOs work more efficiently and free up capacity for annual visits. Frances confirmed that the HO at Littleholm had lettered tenants and was making arrangements for annual visits.
Janette asked for an update on getting a caretaker for Dunswin Court and Nicola advised that had been recruitment, did appoint for day and weekend caretakers but some withdrew or got other jobs. Only basic cover being provided at Dunswin Court and Nicola agreed to check and get an update.
Been a broken glass panel and missing door at ground floor of Dunswin Court for months and Suzanne agreed to chase up and get sorted as is a security concern for tenants.
Suzanne advised that had been recent incident of scam texts being sent pretending to be from the Council and asking for photos of any housing issue to be sent. Been publicity on social media that this is a scam and WDC texts will always say they are from WDC, have a reference number and be ‘no reply’ texts.
26 October, 1.30pm at Church Street, Dumbarton – in person meeting but Zoom option available if it assists attendance.
Thursday 15th June 2023, 1:30pm, Brock meeting room, Church Street, Dumbarton
Apologies received from Peter Barry, Nicola Pettigrew (Housing Ops represented by David Lynch), Martin Feeney (Repairs represented by Suzanne Bannister and Craig Wilson), Alan Young (couldn’t attend as no zoom option), Ruth Dickinson (Willox Park TA), Mary Paton (Willox Park TA) and Scott McClelland.
Gurpreet disappointed with delay in programme starting and Suzanne agreed to provide an update as soon as possible.
Longest wait time recorded as 32.21 minutes but Frances said that she has had a 45 minute wait and then got cut off and knows of others too. Suzanne had checked this out after last meeting and been advised that the system didn’t record wait times as long as that and system didn’t cut calls off after 45 minutes. Gurpreet asked for clarity as to whether the longest wait time was for the call to be answered or the call to be abandoned. Suzanne agreed to check with the CAS team and clarify the figures provided and advise them that at least 2 instances where tenants did get cut off after 45 mins.
John gave apologies from Mai who has been pulled into meeting with COSLA. John advised that Mai is the new team leader for the resettlement programme and been with the council for a while so has good experience.
Ukraine is the biggest programme at the moment. Looking at 4 lets a calendar month for all schemes. Current pause in Ukraine visas being granted which has seen a slowdown in people coming through. Those housed on boats are now mainly in temporary/hotel accommodation and likely to be greater pressure in the future.
WDC are working on a bid to access Ukrainian Accommodation Fund, looking at this for void properties with larger works required.
Afghan refugees currently get one offer of housing, after this they have to find their own accommodation. Concerns about LAs in England sending refugees to Scotland as there is no priority need test in Scotland as there is in England.
Scottish Government looking at widening asylum seeking dispersal to include all LAs in Scotland not just cities. Allocation for WDC is likely to be 37 asylum seekers to be housed Dec 2022 to 2023. Mears have the Home Office contract to source housing for asylum seekers, which they access across the housing sector, not just social housing.
John will feed back in future meetings about these schemes and invite Mai to next meeting.
Gurpreet asked how many properties have been allocated to asylum seekers and John will ask Mai to provide these numbers.
Action: John/Mai to provide figures on those who have been resettled.
Gurpreet asked about long term voids being used to rehouse Ukrainians if funding application is successful and raised concerns that these properties not going to be widely available to meet housing demand within WDC. John advised that the advantage of applying for the fund is that central government money can be accessed which means that HRA isn’t paying for these repairs and that properties are being brought back into use. John confirmed that property would be available for general use after first let to Ukrainians. David said that there will be robust discussions between Housing Operations and Resettlement team to make sure that high demand properties are best used. John and Craig also confirmed that Building Services have a contractor who would be able to do these works so as not extra pressure on Building services.
£4.5million budget and looking to buy 60 properties this year - focus on properties which are most needed for housing waiting list i.e. larger properties, adapted properties, properties in blocks which are largely owned by WDC to bring it under full WDC ownership. Looking to review the policy and take an updated version to the November Housing & Communities Committee and will be seeking views of WDTRO ahead of that.
Suzanne asked about levels of works required and Laura confirmed that in partnership with empty homes, is likely that some properties will require more work. John confirmed that these properties are exempt from void timescale targets.
June asked if condition of properties are taken into account when agreeing sale price, Laura confirmed that it was and there was an Empty Homes Fund that can be used to help cover costs as bringing a property back into use.
David asked about situations where kitchens have in built appliances and Laura confirmed that the new tenant should be advised that these are available and then tenant is responsible for upkeep if they want to keep them. If don’t want them then they can be removed.
BMQ – Eight tenanted properties remaining, six are on offer. Housing Officer working closely with remaining two tenants. Security contractor being worked with to make site secure. Would like to do demolitions as quickly as possible once properties are empty. David noted that they met with Fire & Rescue officers about keeping site safe until empty - will be greasing easy access points, screened off ground floor properties, boulders will be placed at access points at rear to deter fly-tipping.
New Builds updates,
Previous Clydebank Health centre – Found out yesterday that NHS has security contractor which costs £6,000/week, costs could be about £60,000. Purchase price only allowed £30,000 for this so are looking for alternatives to reduce costs.
Tenant event in May at Clydebank Town Hall went really well - 28 tenants attended and got good feedback from them about the event. There was good discussions following both the presentations and a strong tenant interest in both the challenges of climate change and what that means for tenants homes as well as the Enhanced MSF flat Strategy. There was an appetite for having specific focus groups to look at these issues to ensure that there is tenant involvement in these key areas of interest and we’ll make sure they get taken forward.
In terms of encouraging more people to get involved, the key message was that tenants need to feel listened to and we need to get things done so that people can see that issues can get resolved. A summary of the event will be circulate to TRAs for those who missed it and to staff and we have copies of Stephen and Emily’s presentations that can be shared.
Summer edition of the Housing News due out on 23 June and the front page focus is on the tenant event.
4 tenants are going to the TPAS conference at the end of June so hopefully they will enjoy that and come back with some ideas to help them in their own groups.
The Scrutiny Panel’s report on new tenant visits was presented at the HIB on 29 May and all their recommendations have been accepted and will be implemented. The Panel now deciding what to look at next.
The next Pre- HACC Forum is on Monday 21 August in Church Street -10 am for tenants to discuss the papers and the Housing Convener and officers will join at 11am. Zoom option too and transport can be arranged for those who prefer to attend in person.
June said that she pleased at the speed BMQ is moving forward ahead of target and David said that staff been working hard on this.
Frances raised concerns with ASB at West Court, Littleholm. Request is for cameras in the backstairs at each landing as stabbing incident previous night. John said that there may be opportunities for Communities team who monitor CCTV provision district wide and Tenant Priority Budget may be possible to be used for this but owners would need to contribute. Frances also noted that buzzers are still not working as you can’t hear person speaking so people just buzz people in.
Action: Suzanne to check why buzzers have no audio.
24 August, 1.30pm at Clydebank Town Hall plus Zoom option
Thursday 27th April 2023, 1:30pm,
Clydebank Town Hall plus via zoom
Apologies received from Nicola Pettigrew (Housing Ops represented by David Lynch), Martin Feeney ( Repairs represented by Suzanne Bannister) and Cllr Sorrell.
Tony was delighted to present a Gold Award to WDC and the independent panel made up of tenants and staff from across the country were impressed with the strength of tenant participation in West Dunbartonshire as well as the range of options available and an effective TP Strategy. Also saw evidence that tenants are listened to and being involved in decision making. This is the second gold award for West Dunbartonshire and sustaining high standards is just as hard as achieving them. Need to work together and joint aim is to improve housing services for tenants. Photograph taken as award handed over and Tony and Elaine left the meeting.
Updated action sheet was shared on screen and Jane talked thro updates.
Been discussed at Better Homes Group and Alan confirmed that Building Services preparing a proposal to get additional sockets done at same time as EICR inspections.
Dedicated repair team for MSFs – Suzanne advised that are doing a recruitment drive and some backlogs to clear but is getting discussed. No date as yet but Martec still doing inspections and any necessary repairs.
Suzanne shared information on complaints and enquiries over the last year. Tenants happy to mark action as complete as satisfied that internally complaints are being monitored by Suzanne and action taken so no need for further info on them.
Emily thanked tenants who had responded to the survey and was really happy with the results from the consultation – included some really positive suggestions. From the survey results have put together a Strategy and action plan based on 15 key themes. Have analysed responses by blocks too and created specific localised actions. Strategy and action plan going before Housing & Communities Committee on 3/5/23 – will hopefully be agreed and can then get on with implementing actions.
Question asked about improving heating in the blocks and Emily confirmed it was a common issue raised and been given a high priority – 2 actions being taken forward in the Strategy
Gurpreet thanked Emily for the presentation and that a lot of work being put into the issues at the MSFs.
Main point from briefing paper is to provide clear guidance to staff to use so that recharges are done consistently and effectively. Guidance includes examples as well as a procedural guide for staff. Kathryn advised that recharges not a new concept but weren’t being used consistently when they should be. Also introducing monitoring of the new procedures to ensure they are being followed correctly.
Kathryn confirmed that an update on the monitoring could be available for Liaison meeting on 26/10/23.
Suzanne ran through the performance template – emergency repair response up due to volume but have managed to reduce non-emergency response times to 7.8 days. Satisfaction with repairs service is 86.9% which is below target but is an improvement. Surveys get analysed and most negativity is about response times so if more repairs can be done in target should increase satisfaction levels.
No accesses are still a problem – 492 emergency or Right To Repair repairs had no access and they are done within 4 hours of being reported so even then tenants not staying in so is a worry. Doing an article for summer Housing News to encourage tenants to stay in for appointments.
Data provided on all complaints and enquiries received by Building Services including Stage 1 & Stage 2 from customer relations and Suzanne outlined the monitoring that she does and the actions taken when issues arise. Tenants and Convener happy that internally complaints are monitored and action taken so no need to add to repairs template and happy for action to be marked complete.
Frances asked about when gas checks where done on voids and Suzanne confirmed they were done as soon as void and that gas gets capped. Should be same process for decants but Frances flagged that her tenancy at 2E had a notice put on the door about gaining entry. Suzanne took a note to investigate and confirmed that should not happen and should have been communication to the contractor that Building Services had the keys.
Big increase in the number of repair calls being made in March so the number of calls that get abandoned is up. Do get seasonal variations and Suzanne is looking at pre-COVID trends to see comparison. Hoping to catch up in summer when usually the number of repair requests fall.
Longest wait time not been included in the stats provided so Jane will ask for this for next meeting.
David advised that Housing Ops have a new phone system too which gives a recorded message and number options to divert calls appropriately and includes an option re repairs as many tenants were phoning them in relation to repairs.
Progress on Brunswick, Montreal and Quebec going well and only 4 tenants aren’t on offer. The Housing officer is liaising with the remaining tenants and looking at a security strategy for when the remaining tenants leave.
John advised that discussion took place previous week at the Joint Rent Group (JRG) about the 5% rent increase option for additional £50m to boost Capital programme. Rent consultation identified tenant priorities of new kitchens, bathrooms, window/door renewals and energy efficiency measures. Proposal is to set up a short life working group of tenants and officers and will invite all TRA members, interested tenants and Scrutiny Panel to see who wants to be involved. Envisage 3 /4 meetings in May/June and will report progress to future Housing & Community committee meetings on plans. Can progress working group once paper agreed on 3/5.
One of the other papers going to the Housing & Communities Committee next week sets out proposals to accelerate the Council’s proactive response to dampness and mould and includes using technology to alert the landlord and also tenants when dampness levels increase. Another paper is on the Enhanced MSF Strategy that Emily has outlined.
New Builds updates:
Dennistoun Forge – were unsuccessful in Scottish Government funding bid but have now provided additional information and Hanne been working with tenants on the site to potentially create a TRA.
Jane advised that current main focus is on producing an in person tenant event on Tuesday 16 May, 10-2pm at Clydebank Town Hall and worked with the WDTRO on putting together the plan for the event. Want it to be encouraging for new tenants to get involved and hopefully re-energise ones already in groups to keep going. Stephen Connor from TIS coming to speak about Climate change and what that means for tenants homes. Also be looking at the response from consultation to creating the Enhanced MSF Strategy. Will be doing some well-deserved thank yous, awards as well as help available for getting on the tenant self-serve portal and some seed sowing. Invites been issued and people being asked to confirm if they can attend so that transport, creche and catering can be arranged.
Next Pre- HACC Forum is on Tuesday 3 May in Church Street 10 am for tenants to discuss the papers and the Housing Convener and officers will join at 11. Zoom option too and transport can be arranged for those who prefer to attend in person.
Any articles for the summer edition of the Housing News very welcome – deadline for articles is 10/5 and should be out by 22/6.
Ahead of meeting, Jane had circulated a briefing on our TPAS membership renewal for 2023/24. WDC has had a membership of the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) since at least 2011. There is an annual charge for membership which has gone up to £1,950 and consideration needed on whether this is value for money and worth renewing. Membership benefits were outlined and was confirmed that our Accreditation would still be valid whether TPAS members or not and can be renewed - we would just lose the 10% discount. Also have a Tenant Information Service (TIS) membership which is cheaper and their events have had very good feedback from staff and tenants attending.
Tenants were in agreement that TIS membership should be continued as was better value and also gives tenants free access to TIS benefits and our TPAS membership should be dropped.
Thursday 23rd February 2023, 1:30pm, Ballantines meeting room, Church Street
plus via zoom
Apologies received from Councillor Sorrell, John Kerr, Stefan Kristmanns and Nicola Pettigrew.
Martin provided a verbal update on his outstanding actions,
Lift Protocol –was confirmed that Out of Hours team will initialize the protocol as necessary and currently finalising the details of how the text are sent.
Getting community flats on self-serve portal – will be done as soon as team vacancies are filled.
Repair cancellations- Martin advised that this doesn’t happen that often but not been able to get the data to share but will bring to the next meeting. Gurpreet advised that in recent discussions with Housing Officers they were asking if ‘no access’ info could be shared with them and they could investigate. Martin agreed and will set that up and send to them monthly. Martin confirmed too that there has been delays in getting texts sent when a repair is cancelled so that not started yet but should be in place early March.
Frances asked if tradespeople could phone tenants if no answer at the door and Martin said that this should be happening already, however, sometimes have incorrect information on system. Frances gave example where tenant had got all the text reminders and that they were on the way but then didn’t show up. Martin acknowledged that sometimes process doesn’t work and if Frances shares details Martin will investigate. Gurpreet raised that if info on the system is wrong, then text reminders before the appointment aren’t going to be successful. Martin confirmed that Call centre staff have had re-training and should be asking for contact info at beginning of every call but high turnover of staff. Martin will relay concerns raised and re-iterate to team the need for correct contact details for tenants.
Foot patrol inspections of multi-storey flats – Scott said that he has checked reports and some damages not being reported as vandalism but he will raise this with staff and ask them to mention this when reporting a repair so that it can be tracked. Patrols are now in place with 290 having taken place since last meeting, every block will get at least one patrol a night, internal and external. Scott noted a recent good practice at West Court, Littleholm where there was a quick, multi-agency response and issue was resolved. Scott asked that people report vandalism as such. It was noted that people have mentioned seeing more patrols which is good, however young people now going into cellars, Scott thanked for intelligence and would pass this along.
(Scott left the meeting)
Emily talked through briefing note and especially thanked the WDTRO for drumming up interest and speaking to their members about it. Survey responses are being coded and will feed the results into the Strategy being developed. Further report and draft Strategy going to May Housing & Community Committee and Emily will bring a more detailed update to the April Liaison meeting.
Representatives from Dunswin Court noted that they have not had a caretaker for a while and the block is getting run down – only basic cover so middle section of landings not getting done. Suzanne noted that they have someone for the job and hoping to get them to start asap. Written response acknowledges that been a drop in service due to extenuating circumstances but have more staff back at work now so should improve.
Martin spoke through figures provided. Improving picture- emergency response time up, non-emergency repairs response time improved. Focusing on backlog and out of target jobs and working through them.
Martin gave some complaint and enquiry figures that had not been provided ahead of the meeting which created some confusion. The group confirmed it would be good to get these included in the repairs performance template so they can be circulated ahead of the next meeting.
Action: Complaints and enquiry info to be added into Repairs performance template for next meeting.
Emily spoke through figures (provided pre-meeting) for Brunswick, Montreal and Quebec. Progressing well and number of tenants been offered properties and waiting on void repairs to be completed. Keen to get people moved out asap so that there aren't any individuals left on their own.
John to provide written update on Forward Plan to go out with the minutes.
Rent Setting Consultation response rate was good (12.3% of tenants voted) with 1173 responses with the majority (621) voting for Option 1 (4% increase) with 552 voting for Option 2 (5% increase). Report going to Council on 1/3/23 with recommendation for 4% increase. Once agreed, tenants will get 28 notice of increase.
TPAS Accreditation, WDC has got a gold award again, Jane thanked all staff and tenants who participated in focus groups and those who give up their time to improve services for all tenants. Report from TPAS will give recommendations and comments which will form the basis of an action plan. Will circulate to staff and tenants in due course.
A few TRAs are organising their AGMS which will be good as will increase visibility and helps demonstrate that they are democratic and representative groups. Whitecrook TRA are considering disbanding, with a Special General Meeting for 23rd March to see if there is interest in continuing it. Active community council there so felt some work being duplicated but at least still a tenant voice there.
Housing News will be delivered around 23/3.
The Scrutiny Panel are putting together their latest report on new tenant visits and will share with WDTRO once finalised and been to the Housing Improvement Board.
TP staff starting to plan a Tenant Event, provisionally looking at May. Jane asked for tenants to discuss at next WDTRO Committee meeting and help decide what topics they would like to see covered. The wish is to make it an informative day which tenants can take something away from.
Martin raised that still getting a number of no accesses when trying to carry out EICR checks and want to encourage tenants to give access for these important checks.
27 April, 1.30pm at Clydebank Town Hall plus Zoom option
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Nicola Pettigrew |
Lift protocol to be updated with new texting procedure
24/8/23 Agreed to keep action on until out of hour process been successfully implemented. |
Ongoing 21/4/23 Update – Text Alerts have already been issued to advise of recent lift outages. Out of hour arrangements still being finalised - training and IT assessment to allow ASB team to issue alerts to be arranged. 15/6 Update - still to decide on best way to share passwords to text system so that can work out of hours - Scott is working on this. 18/08/23 Update – Training has been carried out with senior members of ASB staff to access and issue text messages out of hours. 26/10/23Not been utilised yet - to stay on action sheet until confirmation that out of hour process worked. |
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Feeney |
24/8/23 Need update on the original action on the review of the cyclical programmes |
|
19/10/2023 Update – All statutory cyclical maintenance programmes are ongoing. Fan cleaning and fire door maintenance is progressing well. Team are carrying out an analysis of reactive repairs to assess the requirements in terms of gutter cleaning as there are areas where they are worse than others which get a lot of leaf fall. We are reviewing when it would be appropriate to commence with a close painting programme. It is still the intention to share and publicise the cycle programme once we are in a position to do so.
|
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Martin Feeney |
24/8/23 Repair cancellation texts still to go live for non-emergency, multi-trade and communal |
|
Ongoing 22/8/ Update – Cancellation texts now live for Emergency/Right to repairs. 19/10/2023 Update – Review being carried out considering if including links in a text prior to a repair being cancelled is the best approach after some recent SPAM texts. Preference would be to send texts for all other categories after the repair has been cancelled and we have made several attempts to make contact to organise repairs.
|
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kathryn Irvine /Suzanne Bannister |
Monitoring of new repair recharge process to be shared |
26/10/23 |
Completed 19/10 Update – review underway and report will be shared as soon as it’s available. 26/10/23 - Review information shared. |
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Nicola Pettigrew |
Plans for implementing annual visits to be shared |
Revised date - April 2024 |
Ongoing 19/10 Update -Due to service demands and other priorities, the service is not currently able to commit to an ongoing scheduled programme of annual visits to all WDC tenancies. However, Housing Officers have been instructed to complete annual visit checks when undertaking other routine house enquiries with tenants and record on IHMS so we can start the process. Longer term plans – Work is underway with our rollout and development of our mobile app for Housing Officers. This is an ongoing working group which will eventually see 76 Housing Officer tasks being undertaken via the app (full completion date April 2025). Anticipated outcome to streamline processes and release HO resources to be able to undertake wider functions. 5 task areas identified to be rolled out via app across all HOs by April 2024, with remaining tasks to follow until target completion date. 2 x Tenancy Liaison Officers – discussions underway to develop role to incorporate limited annual visits. This will be based upon monthly termination trend data, however anticipated small numbers due to other duties and limited resource. Commitment given to review position April 2024 in line with further development of mobile app.
|
|
Nicola Pettigrew |
Update on recruitment for new caretaker for Dunswin Court |
ASAP |
Completed 19/10 Update - Caretaking Services have revised its deployment of staff and a Caretaker is in post at Dunswin Court. 2 vacancies still in progress with HR, due to further successful candidates withdrawing interest prior to start date.
|
|
Suzanne Bannister |
Repair for broken glass panel and missing door at ground floor of Dunswin Court to be chased up |
ASAP |
19/10 Update – work being investigated 26/10/23 Repair to laundry door completed but fire door needs further investigation as tenants confirm still no door closer and fitted with ordinary glass.
|
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kevin McCrossan/ Housing Operations |
|
14/12/23 |
|
|
John Kerr/ Regeneration Team |
Update on the timeline for extending the District Heating System to be provided. |
14/12/23 |
|
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
John/Nicola/Martin (Better Homes Group) |
Additional sockets and limitations of electrical boards and wiring being looked as potential capital programme being looked at by Better Homes group (BHG). | 02/02/2022 |
Ongoing NP update 21/4/22 the re-let standard is under review as part of the Void Working Group, Suzanne Marshall is leading the review and timescale has been revised to end September 2022. 16/6 update– confirmed that also being looked at by Better Homes Group and will be included in review of Capital programme discussions. 18/8 update - Capital Programme refresh initial exercise to be completed in September- action will feed into this. MF update 15/12/2022 – this is being picked up at Better Homes project board and also the multi storey strategy group 23/2 Update – to be discussed at next BHG (28/2/23) 29/4 Update- Been discussed and Building Services preparing a proposal to get additional sockets done at same time as EICR inspections. |
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin |
WDTRO to be kept updated on progress of pilot of dedicated repairs staff for MSF communal repairs (including fire doors). |
22/04/2021 |
Ongoing 25 August 2022 Update - service commenced on 1 August 2022 with maintenance carried out on all fire doors excluding flat entrance / egress doors. Dalmuir and Crescent Courts complete and team currently in Overtoun Court. 27/10/22 - Agreed to continue to monitor as improved repair times not been seen. MF update 15/12/2022 – have had to pull resources back from this programme to concentrate on the backlog i.e. the service is working hard to reduce the number of active repairs and those that are outwith target. In the interim we are using our contractor to carry out the cyclical inspection and maintenance of MSFs fire doors, screens and bin chute hoppers. MF will keep the group up to date on the programme and when we expect to have our own dedicated team back carrying out the cyclical programme. 23/2 Update – as above and will confirm as soon as resources available. 27/4 Update - recruitment drive in progress. No date as yet for restart but Martec still doing inspections and any necessary repairs. |
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Nicola Pettigrew |
Lift protocol to be updated with new texting procedure |
|
Ongoing NP update 16/6/22 - IHMS Board held 13/6 and update provided to advise outstanding text notification element to tenants effected during lift problems expected for completion July. Housing Operations will link with GW to progress implementation. 18/8 update- Texting ability now complete on IHMS, David Lynch, Suzanne Marshall and Building Services to meet to finalise process and persons responsible for implementation during office and out of office hours. 19/9 update- Further meeting with Citizen Services / Building Services to be convened to determine which service will issue text alert. 15/12 Update – solution being pursued and should be operating in new year. 23/2/Update – finalising the details of how the text are sent. 21/4/23 Update – Text Alerts have already been issued to advise of recent lift outages. Out of hour arrangements still being finalised - training and IT assessment to allow ASB team to issue alerts to be arranged. |
|
Nicola Pettigrew |
Lift protocol to be updated with new procedure. |
|
Ongoing NP update 16/6/22 - IHMS Board held 13/6 and update provided to advise outstanding text notification element to tenants effected during lift problems expected for completion July. Housing Operations will link with GW to progress implementation. 18/8 update- Texting ability now complete on IHMS, David Lynch, Suzanne Marshall and Building Services to meet to finalise process and persons responsible for implementation during office and out of office hours. |
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Martin Feeney |
Provide an update on the review of cyclical programme once completed in relation to Fire door maintenance programme (considering frequency, but likely will be a 3 monthly cycle) Gutter cleaning and UPVC window / door maintenance. |
|
Ongoing 27/10 Before leaving meeting, Martin advised that was being looked at and would update at a future meeting. MF update 15/12/2022 – programme still in development and now investigating if it would be necessary to consider other cyclical maintenance works to be included within the programme following the issue regarding dampness in homes. 23/2 Update – extractor fan maintenance programme being developed and should be in place by end of March/early April. 26/4 – Update – Programme due to start in June 2023, programme prepared and due to commence in Multi Storey properties in Clydebank, with a view to texting/emailing notifications the week we will be on site. |
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Martin Feeney |
Repair cancellations - Martin to provide further information on when staff do not attend repair appointments for next meeting. |
23/2/23 |
Ongoing 23/2 Update - data not available but will be shared at next meeting. Repairs also to start sharing repeat no access details with HO’s to investigate and assist. 26/04 Update- No access information being shared monthly with Housing Operations, commenced December 2022, automated report to be set up with IHMS team going to each Housing Officer area. |
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Martin Feeney/Stefan Kristmanns |
Add complaints and enquiry info into Repairs performance template |
27/4/23 |
26/4 Update -Data provided on all complaints/enquiries received by Building Services including Stage 1 & Stage 2 from customer relations. 29/4 – agreed action completed – happy that internally complaints are monitored and action taken. |
| Who | Agreed Action | When by | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kathryn Irvine /Housing Ops |
New monitoring of repair recharge process to be shared |
16/10/23 |
|
|
Jane/ Repairs call centre |
Repair call handling information to include longest wait time |
15/6/23 |
|