Agenda item

Future Options for the Housing Repairs and Maintenance Service

Report of the Executive Director, Communities

Decision:

16.1

The Executive Director, Communities submitted a report in relation to future options for the Housing Repairs and Maintenance Service.

 

 

16.2

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:-

 

 

 

(a)

approves the proposal in this paper to insource the Housing Repairs and Maintenance (HR&M) Service from 1st April 2017;

 

 

 

 

(b)

gives its approval for the insourcing to be done based on the principles and assumptions described in Section 9.4 of this report, and taking into account the risks and mitigations as set out in Section 10, including the potential contracting-out of a small proportion of the service;

 

 

 

 

(c)

gives its approval for the budget required to cover the one-off implementation and set-up costs, as described in Section 8.3 of this report;

 

 

 

 

(d)

delegates authority to the Executive Director, Communities to take all the necessary steps to progress and implement the insourcing of the service, in consultation with the Cabinet Member.  These steps will include:

 

  • at the appropriate time, commencing formal consultation with Trade Unions regarding the transfer of staff from Kier into the Council (in consultation with the Director of Human Resources as necessary).

 

  • developing the structure and agreeing the timescales needed to deliver an in-house repairs service (in consultation with the Director of Human Resources as necessary).

 

  • approving the procurement strategy and contract award, and agreeing contract terms and entering into the contracts, for all necessary goods and services.  This will apply to both the development / implementation work required prior to the insourcing, and for in-house delivery of the Service itself (including any elements of the Service which it is agreed will be contracted out by the Council) once it is brought back into the Council (in consultation with the Director of Commercial Services and the Director of Legal and Governance as necessary).

 

o   undertaking a more detailed assessment of which elements of the Service are more appropriate to be contracted out, rather than directly delivered by the Council, and what the impact of this will be and how that will need to be managed (in consultation with the Director of Commercial Services and the Director of Human Resources as necessary).

 

  • Ensuring that the statutory leaseholder consultation required by Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as amended by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002) is adhered to.

 

  • Any other work required for the effective preparation for and implementation of the insourcing of the HR&M Service; and

 

 

 

 

 

(e)

requests that a further report is presented to Cabinet if the underlying strategy for the future of the Service cannot be achieved, or if any unforeseen significant risks emerge which may prompt Cabinet to re-consider its decision.

 

 

 

16.3

Reasons for Decision

 

 

16.3.1

Insourcing the HR&M Service will give the Council more control, flexibility and accountability in managing the Service, enabling the service to be fully integrated into the Council and to work in close partnership with other relevant key Council services.  This will help to transform its approach to one which is more holistic, joined-up and outcome-focused and ensure that the Service is delivered in a way which fully supports the Council’s corporate objectives.

 

 

16.3.2

Bringing the HR&M Service in-house for direct delivery by the Council will also help to bring about an alignment of culture in the Service to that of the Council, and in its approach to customers.  As an integrated function within the Council, the Service will be much better placed to adopt the Council’s key principles of ‘right first time’ and holistic service delivery - and to be more adaptable to varying circumstances and to any changes in corporate priorities.

 

 

16.3.3

Based on all information known to date, and after the initial upfront costs of transferring the Service, the insourced option is expected to generate sustainable year-on-year revenue savings.  In addition, once fully integrated into the Council there will be further opportunities to reduce duplication, join-up procurement with other Council Services and increase efficiency within the Service – enabling it to achieve more and improve outcomes within the same level of spending.

 

 

16.3.4

Under this option, there is huge potential for the HR&M Service to help support and strengthen the Housing+ approach, which focuses on tailoring our Services to help achieve better outcomes for our tenants. HR&M staff would be out on estates and in tenants’ homes on a daily basis, and so would be ideally placed to identify problems with tenancies or additional support needs.  Strong links with the local Neighbourhood Teams (due to be implemented later this year under the Housing+ roll-out) would enable the HR&M Service to refer any such issues to the appropriate Neighbourhood Team staff, enabling these issues to be dealt with earlier.

 

 

16.3.5

Insourcing the Service will also make it easier to structure the Service around the proposed 7 Neighbourhood Areas (currently awaiting the outcomes of the Electoral Ward Boundaries Review before being confirmed).  This would enable the Service to be delivered in-line with the new Neighbourhood-based approach (again part of the roll-out of the Housing+ model), with staff potentially based in a particular Neighbourhood.  This would increase local knowledge for HR&M staff, and improve their links with the local community.

 

 

16.3.6

It is clear from in-depth consultation with tenants and leaseholders that the Repairs and Maintenance Service is for customers one of the most important elements of housing management.  Insourcing the Service will put it in a stronger position in terms of its ability to deliver the customer vision for the Service.  The Service will be directly linked into the Council housing governance and engagement framework (as all other key Council Housing Services are), enabling greater transparency and accountability.  It would also enable tenants and leaseholders to more easily have direct influence on how the service is shaped and delivered in the future.

 

 

16.3.7

Potential insourcing was part of the Council’s vision for the service in April 2013, and a requirement to prepare the Service for this was incorporated into the current contract with the new provider from April 2014. This preparation work has been taking place over the last few months, and will continue for the duration of the contract.  This work should mean that the Service, and its workforce, are fit-for-purpose at the point of transfer - and that the Council will inherit the foundations of a modern and efficient Service on which it can build even further.

 

 

16.3.8

Insourcing also brings with it the potential to run the Service as an externally-trading Council function in the future – for example undertaking repairs and maintenance work on behalf of other social landlords. 

 

 

16.3.9

Directly delivering the service in-house, with minor elements of it being outsourced to locally-based contractors wherever possible, would help support the concept of the ‘Sheffield Brand’.  Materials would be purchased from local suppliers wherever possible (subject of course to the usual procurement rules and Council policies), and the workforce would be predominantly local.

 

 

16.3.10

Sheffield would not be alone in insourcing a key service such as the HR&M Service Independent research by APSE (the Association for Public Service Excellence) has also identified a number of potential benefits of insourcing services, based on actual case-studies and local authority experiences:

 

o          Improved performance

o          Stronger links to corporate strategic objectives

o          Greater flexibility, and more responsive to local and national policy changes

o          Efficiency savings

o          Improved customer satisfaction

o          Enhanced local supply chains

o          Better integration and joining-up with other relevant key services

o          New development and employment opportunities for the city

 

 

16.3.11

There are of course risks associated with the option to insource the Service (as indeed there are with the other two alternative delivery options discussed in this report), and some of these risks are significant.  However, measures are and will continue to be in place to mitigate these risks, and if any of these risks significantly escalate, or any significant new risks (including financial ones) emerge, a further report would be brought back to Cabinet before progressing the transfer any further.

 

 

16.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

 

 

16.4.1

The alternatives considered are as described in Section 7 of the report.

 

 

16.5

Any Interest Declared or Dispensation Granted

 

 

 

None

 

 

16.6

Reason for Exemption if Public/Press Excluded During Consideration

 

 

 

None

 

 

16.7

Respective Director Responsible for Implementation

 

 

 

Laraine Manley, Executive Director, Communities

 

 

16.8

Relevant Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee If Decision Called In

 

 

 

Safer and Stronger Communities

 

Minutes:

17.1

The Executive Director, Communities submitted a report in relation to future options for the Housing Repairs and Maintenance Service.

 

 

17.2

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:-

 

 

 

(a)

approves the proposal in the report to insource the Housing Repairs and Maintenance (HR&M) Service from 1st April 2017;

 

 

 

 

(b)

gives its approval for the insourcing to be done based on the principles and assumptions described in Section 9.4 of this report, and taking into account the risks and mitigations as set out in Section 10, including the potential contracting-out of a small proportion of the service;

 

 

 

 

(c)

gives its approval for the budget required to cover the one-off implementation and set-up costs, as described in Section 8.3 of this report;

 

 

 

 

(d)

delegates authority to the Executive Director, Communities to take all the necessary steps to progress and implement the insourcing of the service, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, such steps to include:

 

  • at the appropriate time, commencing formal consultation with Trade Unions regarding the transfer of staff from Kier into the Council (in consultation with the Director of Human Resources as necessary).

 

  • developing the structure and agreeing the timescales needed to deliver an in-house repairs service (in consultation with the Director of Human Resources as necessary).

 

  • approving the procurement strategy and contract award, and agreeing contract terms and entering into the contracts, for all necessary goods and services.  This will apply to both the development / implementation work required prior to the insourcing, and for in-house delivery of the Service itself (including any elements of the Service which it is agreed will be contracted out by the Council) once it is brought back into the Council (in consultation with the Director of Commercial Services and the Director of Legal and Governance as necessary).

 

o   undertaking a more detailed assessment of which elements of the Service are more appropriate to be contracted out, rather than directly delivered by the Council, and what the impact of this will be and how that will need to be managed (in consultation with the Director of Commercial Services and the Director of Human Resources as necessary).

 

  • Ensuring that the statutory leaseholder consultation required by Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as amended by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002) is adhered to.

 

  • Any other work required for the effective preparation for and implementation of the insourcing of the HR&M Service; and

 

 

 

 

 

(e)

requests that a further report is presented to Cabinet if the underlying strategy for the future of the Service cannot be achieved, or if any unforeseen significant risks emerge which may prompt Cabinet to re-consider its decision.

 

 

 

17.3

Reasons for Decision

 

 

17.3.1

Insourcing the HR&M Service will give the Council more control, flexibility and accountability in managing the Service, enabling the service to be fully integrated into the Council and to work in close partnership with other relevant key Council services.  This will help to transform its approach to one which is more holistic, joined-up and outcome-focused and ensure that the Service is delivered in a way which fully supports the Council’s corporate objectives.

 

 

17.3.2

Bringing the HR&M Service in-house for direct delivery by the Council will also help to bring about an alignment of culture in the Service to that of the Council, and in its approach to customers.  As an integrated function within the Council, the Service will be much better placed to adopt the Council’s key principles of ‘right first time’ and holistic service delivery - and to be more adaptable to varying circumstances and to any changes in corporate priorities.

 

 

17.3.3

Based on all information known to date, and after the initial upfront costs of transferring the Service, the insourced option is expected to generate sustainable year-on-year revenue savings.  In addition, once fully integrated into the Council, there will be further opportunities to reduce duplication, join-up procurement with other Council Services and increase efficiency within the Service – enabling it to achieve more and improve outcomes within the same level of spending.

 

 

17.3.4

Under this option, there is huge potential for the HR&M Service to help support and strengthen the Housing+ approach, which focuses on tailoring our Services to help achieve better outcomes for our tenants. HR&M staff would be out on estates and in tenants’ homes on a daily basis, and so would be ideally placed to identify problems with tenancies or additional support needs.  Strong links with the local Neighbourhood Teams (due to be implemented later this year under the Housing+ roll-out) would enable the HR&M Service to refer any such issues to the appropriate Neighbourhood Team staff, enabling these issues to be dealt with earlier.

 

 

17.3.5

Insourcing the Service will also make it easier to structure the Service around the proposed 7 Neighbourhood Areas (currently awaiting the outcomes of the Electoral Ward Boundaries Review before being confirmed).  This would enable the Service to be delivered in-line with the new Neighbourhood-based approach (again part of the roll-out of the Housing+ model), with staff potentially based in a particular Neighbourhood.  This would increase local knowledge for HR&M staff, and improve their links with the local community.

 

 

17.3.6

It is clear, from in-depth consultation with tenants and leaseholders, that the Repairs and Maintenance Service is for customers one of the most important elements of housing management.  Insourcing the Service will put it in a stronger position in terms of its ability to deliver the customer vision for the Service.  The Service will be directly linked into the Council housing governance and engagement framework (as all other key Council Housing Services are), enabling greater transparency and accountability.  It would also enable tenants and leaseholders to more easily have direct influence on how the service is shaped and delivered in the future.

 

 

17.3.7

Potential insourcing was part of the Council’s vision for the service in April 2013, and a requirement to prepare the Service for this was incorporated into the current contract with the new provider from April 2014. This preparation work has been taking place over the last few months, and will continue for the duration of the contract.  This work should mean that the Service, and its workforce, are fit-for-purpose at the point of transfer - and that the Council will inherit the foundations of a modern and efficient service on which it can build even further.

 

 

17.3.8

Insourcing also brings with it the potential to run the Service as an externally-trading Council function in the future – for example undertaking repairs and maintenance work on behalf of other social landlords. 

 

 

17.3.9

Directly delivering the service in-house, with minor elements of it being outsourced to locally-based contractors wherever possible, would help support the concept of the ‘Sheffield Brand’.  Materials would be purchased from local suppliers wherever possible (subject of course to the usual procurement rules and Council policies), and the workforce would be predominantly local.

 

 

17.3.10

Sheffield would not be alone in insourcing a key service such as the HR&M Service. Independent research by APSE (the Association for Public Service Excellence) has also identified a number of potential benefits of insourcing services, based on actual case-studies and local authority experiences:

 

o          Improved performance

o          Stronger links to corporate strategic objectives

o          Greater flexibility, and more responsive to local and national policy changes

o          Efficiency savings

o          Improved customer satisfaction

o          Enhanced local supply chains

o          Better integration and joining-up with other relevant key services

o          New development and employment opportunities for the city

 

 

17.3.11

There are of course risks associated with the option to insource the Service (as indeed there are with the other two alternative delivery options discussed in this report), and some of these risks are significant.  However, measures are and will continue to be in place to mitigate these risks, and if any of these risks significantly escalate, or any significant new risks (including financial ones) emerge, a further report would be brought back to Cabinet before progressing the transfer any further.

 

 

17.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

 

 

17.4.1

The alternatives considered are as described in Section 7 of the report.

 

 

 

Supporting documents: