Agenda item

The Boards inquiry in 2014/15 municipal year focused on Annual Home Visits.

The Board is requested to receive the update on Annual Home Visit recommendations and raise any questions with the manager in attendance for this item.

The Chair invite Gerard Tinsdale to present the report on Annual Home Visits inquiry. The Chair noted that the recommendations have been updated with a new position, however there was only a requirement to vote on recommendations 1, 9 and 10. The remainder of the recommendations being achieved already.

Recommendation 1

GT explained that the visits can still be used to detect fraud but this is not their primary purpose. GT explained that whilst fraud detection was the factor when they were first introduced, this has evolved over time and we gain a lot of valuable knowledge about our tenants and any needs they may have form the visits.

RESOLVED The Board voted unanimously to agree to position status 2 - Achieved

Recommendation 2

GT noted that these visits are no longer referred to as Annual Tenancy Visits and reported the content of the visit was enhanced to give greater emphasis on considering additional support needs for the tenant.

The Chair noted that the change of name of the visit has helped remove the visits reputation as a ‘snooper’s charter’. GT noted that the change of name has helped officers feel more comfortable carrying out the visits and helped tenants understand we are visiting to help assist them.

Recommendation 3

GT reported that the majority of Annual Home Visits are carried out with an appointment made with the tenant. The Chair noted that this was a recommendation the Board offered Housing Leeds and has been taken up by them with positive outcomes.

Recommendation 4

GT explained this has been looked into by Housing Leeds but it is felt important that all tenants receive an annual visit. The Chair asked if officers are meeting their targets for visits which was explained they are.

GT noted that officers attempt to carry out the visits in the first 9 months of the financial year so that a focus on rent can be done for the last 3 months.

MH reported that some tenants report being visited more than once a year and some tenants express a concern there is an issue and that is why they are visited twice. GT explained this can happen because visits are not done on a rolling year but by financial year but it is explained to officers to space visits out so that this is not a frequent occurrence.

MH asked if this would impact on performance where two visits are done, and GT explained that each property is only counted once, regardless if they were visited twice so this occurrence would not affect performance figures.

Recommendation 5

GT noted that offices receive lists of gas checks which need to be carried out which allows Housing Officers to work with Property and Contracts to gain access and carry out the Annual Home Visit which is a more efficient use of officer time and also benefits tenants by having one day of visits rather than over a few days.

Recommendation 6

GT explained that this is something which has been ongoing for a number of years, through blitzes or mutli agency action days which prove successful.

Recommendation 7

GT explained that visits are still carried out to those tenants living in Sheltered accommodation and that these are carried out by Scheme Support Officers as they are better equipped to deal with issues that may arise from tenants.

Recommendation 8

GT updated the Board that we continue to offer flexible appoints to arrange for multi team visits so that tenants can have visits from Housing Leeds teams all in one day.

Recommendation 9

GT referred to item 7 of this meeting’s agenda which had been discussed prior to item 6 as the update for this recommendation.

GT noted that there may be some time before an update on a mobile solution can be provided however when this is known a further update will be provided to the Board.

RESOLVED The Board voted unanimously to agree to position status 4 – not fully implemented progress made acceptable – continue monitoring.

RESOLVED The Board resolved to receive an update on mobile working during the 2017/18 municipal year if appropriate and to add this to the yearly work plan.

Recommendation 10

GT explained that this links to being able to do Annual Home Visits through the mobile working solution and that because of the current situation this is not something we have been able to do as we would have liked. However it should be noted that the visits still pick up a large amount of information which is used to help drive improvements.

RESOLVED The Board voted unanimously to agree to position status 2 – Achieved, as this relates to the data rather than the mobile working solution.