Agenda item

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Community &

Children’s Services on the Estate Inspections Performance – November 2019

to March 2020.

The Head of Housing Management stated that the Members had requested

six months data, but the report sets out data from the last five months was due to COVID-19.

The Chairman noted that there is a new and robust reporting system in

place, which will allow the City of London to keep track of the works that are

being carried out within the Estates. The new system will enable Members to

appraise the services across the Estates.

A Member asked how the new system relates to the Service Level Agreements

and who is responsible for the inspections. The Head of Housing Management

responded that not all estates have Service Level Agreements in place, but

Officers are working towards addressing the issue. The inspections are carried

out by the Estate Officers and the Estate Service Manager. All the Officers are

trained to carry out the inspections, which are moderated.

A Member commented that the narrative on page 40, which states that 75% is

the minimum threshold, this will trigger an improvement plan, but he

observed that the rating on Middlesex Estate is 60%, an improvement plan would be instigated. The Head of Housing Management responded and reassured the Sub-Committee that an improvement plan for Middlesex Estate had been initiated, which was due to the low results caused by a poor inspection result in a car park, but other areas within the Estate had rated well. Officers are waiting for the latest result from September 2020 to check the most up-to-date data on the matter.

A Member questioned if the Service Level Agreements can be rolled out across

all the Estates within the City of London. The Head of Housing Management

responded that the Service Level Agreements are still being reviewed. As in

more work is required in some areas than other areas. This will be reported to the Sub-Committee bi-annually.

This was followed by a Member who inquired if there can be residents’

involvement within the inspection process, which will provide an independent

view to the City of London. The Sub-Committee was informed that there is a

web page where the results of the inspections are provided, as well as in on

notice boards with the averages of all the figures. The Department will explore

the options of having a resident scrutiny panel for the future.

A Member commented that the City of London does not have Service Level

Agreements for all the Estates; some of the services are covered by

the contractors. The Member asked if the Department can look at the

specifications, such as the windows cleaning contracts. Members were

informed that the windows cleaning contracts are currently under review and

will soon be going out to tender.

The Chairman, with the permission of the Sub-Committee, noted that he had a

message from the Alderman and Members of the Portsoken Ward, that they

wished to place on record that they are deeply concerned that their

Estate should be the listed as the worse on the list. They would like additional

time to be allocated on their meeting with Officers on the 14 October 2020 to

discuss the performance in detail.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee noted the report.