Agenda item

F Williamson apologised that the formatting of the report has overlapped on pages 89/90.  This is due to desktop refresh to new laptops in Housing but not in Member Support so some compatibility issues.  It has been agreed that Housing will provide PDF version of reports to Member Support to avoid this happening in future.

Appointed Alan Mortimer as new Group Manager of Property & Place; he will be presenting any detail around contracts moving forward.

Report refers to Sun Realm and Osbornes and relates to Yr 4 performance, so we are looking at last year’s performance.

Sun Realm continue to provide a good level of service.  They are proactive in installing new boilers before multiple repairs occur.  In previous contract running at 60% of our boilers being replaced due to category 1 breakdowns.  Now down to 16.61%.

Osborne performance overall against key performance indicators has remained strong.  In terms of key strategic indicators, there have been some areas of concern around two of the indicators. 

Transparency of cost and IT integration of systems are both to be discussed at the next Strategic Core Group meeting.  They need to satisfy all the key strategic indicators in order to be awarded contract extensions when reviewed moving forward.

Cllr Imarni referred to pg 94 – open book policy, commenting that in meetings she has been involved in, both in and out and about in Borough, Osbornes pricing doesn’t seem to be that competitive against private contractors.  When we are setting these contracts, who are we setting these against?  This comes up a lot at TLC meetings; leaseholders challenge the costs.  Are we getting the best for our money?

F Williamson advised there is an opportunity at Yr 5 of contract for a full benchmarking review, which has already commenced and we are compiling benchmarking information.  Met with Welwyn Hatfield Council recently, who have shared their costs for all their major planned work components.  It is more difficult in areas such as small works and ground works.  The schedule of rates provides the cost base for industry. 

The monthly invoices are scrutinised against prior year costs and any external pricing we have from framework agreements; there is a non-exclusivity clause in the contract.  We do continually market test. 

F Williamson suggested arranging a Member Training session to look at the contract framework and how it works.

Chair confirmed that would be a good idea.

Cllr W Wyatt Lowe supported what Cllr Imarni had said; it is a regular cause of complaint on costing.  Be interested to know how many such complaints come in from leaseholders. 

Cllr W Wyatt Lowe asked; could you please change the fonts on 67 and 68 of the report – difficult to read. 

F Williamson confirmed that it has distorted due to the computer compatibility and will be addressed by Housing providing reports in PDF in future.

Cllr England agreed with the frustrations around cost disparity.

The Chair referred to electrical checks and asked; who does that?

F Williamson confirmed that they are delivered through Osbornes; we want to get into all properties within 2 years so we have a baseline of stock condition for electrical safety.

The Chair referred to Item 17.5 on pg 95; can you clarify what the auditors are saying?

F Williamson advised that one of their concerns was how the build-up of costs are able to be identified against the jobs; they made recommendations about how that information is provided to them.

Report noted.