Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of Communities, Housing & Environment that provides an overview of progress relating to key performance indicators identified by members as priorities within the remit of the Scrutiny Board (Environment, Housing & Communities).

Those in attendance for this item were:

·  Cllr D Coupar (Executive Member Resources)

·  Cllr J Lennox (Executive Member Housing)

·  Cllr M Rafique (Executive Member Climate, Energy, Environment & Green Space)

·  Cllr F Venner (Executive Member Equality, Health and Wellbeing)

·  James Rogers (Director Communities, Housing & Environment)

·  Lee Hemsworth (Chief Officer Community Hubs, Welfare & business Support)

·  Paul Money (Chief Officer Safer stronger Communities)

·  John Woolmer (Chief Officer Environmental Services)

·  Adam Crampton (Head of Property Management)

·  Mandy Sawyer (Head of Housing, Neighbourhood Services)

·  Ian Strickland (business Development Manager)

 

Ian Strickland was invited to provide an overview of how the performance report had been compiled.

 

Ian noted that wherever possible year-end figures for 2023/24 had been included for each of the indicators and that information had been categorised according to the three pillars of the Best City Ambition.

 

Following a request in January 2024 for updates relating to each of the transformation projects within the directorate plan, Ian also highlighted where separate updates have been or will be provided to the Board.

 

Members were advised that the report also provided an update on Office for Local Government (OFLOG) indicators which fall within the remit of the Scrutiny Board (Environment, Housing & Communities).

 

It was noted that performance data for the contact centre had been included following changes to the Terms of Reference for the Scrutiny Board, agreed at the Annual General Meeting in May 2024.

 

It was agreed that consideration would be given to the presentation of performance information for future meetings, to ensure members can easily identify significant changes in outcomes.

 

In response to a query from the Chair about the percentage of residents who say they feel safe in their local area, Paul Money confirmed that the outcome of the 2024 WYCA survey of West Yorkshire residents is anticipated imminently. He advised the Board that he would expect trends to be very stable across the five West Yorkshire districts.

 

Further information was requested in relation to development of a new ASB Problem Solving Team and the Capable Guardian Service. Members requested clarity about the funding secured to provide these services and the way in which impact will be measured.

 

Paul Money confirmed that funding has been secured through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and WYCA. He noted that the capable guardianship scheme will involve uniformed patrols by officers from Safer, Stronger Communities in priority wards.

 

Cllr Golton requested more information about the evaluation criteria for WYCA funding.

 

In response to Board member queries Paul Money outlined work being undertaken to tackle the misuse of motor vehicles in communities across the city. He reiterated the importance of community intelligence to identify local perpetrators, with a view to enabling early intervention and targeted preventative activity.

 

Further information was provided about the additional powers available via the various public spaces protection orders that in place in Leeds, including through the vehicular nuisance PSPO.

 

It was noted that while a PSPO provides additional powers to tackle antisocial behaviour, they are part of a suite of tools available and officers will look to deliver a positive outcome via the most efficient route available to them.

 

Concern was raised about procurement challenges which have prevented councillors in Rothwell buying electric bikes for use by local police officers, despite funding being in place.

 

Clarity was sought about the use of drone footage to collect community intelligence. It was noted that this is an evolving operational tool, which is available in West Yorkshire.

 

Cllr Heselwood outlined the success of PSPO action days in her ward and welcomed engagement from different Council services and partners.

 

Members raised concern about under reporting in relation to hate crime and noted reports of heightened tensions following an increase in tensions in the Middle East. Paul also confirmed that there has been an increase in both anti-Muslim prejudice and antisemitism.

 

Clarity was sought about how ‘high risk environments’ for hate crime had been identified.

 

Paul Money highlighted that partners acknowledge there is underreporting of hate crime. The use of third-party reporting in schools and strengthened hate crime reporting in community-based settings, education establishments and businesses is designed to encourage the reporting of incidents.

 

Paul further advised the Scrutiny Board that further information about the role of the Strategic Hate Crime Board will be provided at the dedicated hate crime session in December. 

 

The Scrutiny Board noted that there has not been a reduction in the faith strand of hate crime.

 

Cllr Coupar reflected on the work of the Council to help facilitate positive inter-faith events. 

 

Cllr Iqbal highlighted first-hand experience of underreporting of hate crime incidents and agreed that there is need to give people the confidence to report such crimes.

 

The Scrutiny Board will be exploring matters associated with hate crime in greater detail later in the year.

 

Members explored performance in relation to housing repairs completed within target timescales and sought clarity about comparative performance between Mears and LBS. It was confirmed that last month there was a variance in performance of around 2%.

 

Adam Crampton responded to member queries about the future of the existing contract with Mears and confirmed that the contract runs until September 2026.

 

Members sought further information about the level of void properties in the city and the turnaround time for re-letting. Adam confirmed that post-covid backlogs have been reduced and voids are now operating within the 1% target. 

 

Cllr Lennox welcomed the reduction in voids, highlighting the significant additional rental income achieved through having fewer void properties. She also outlined the importance of maintaining some voids within the system to meet new urgent housing need. 

 

Scrutiny Board members highlighted the increasing demand for housing from constituents and welcomed the reduction in void properties.

 

In response to member queries, Cllr Lennox confirmed there are around 26,000 people currently on the housing waiting list with approximately 7,000 applications in Band A and B. She raised concern about increasing numbers of section 21 no fault evictions noting renters without adequate protections are consequentially presenting as homeless and placing further demand on local housing stocks. In addition, she reminded members that ‘right to buy’ results in around 600 properties a year being removed from the Council’s housing stock. Many of these properties subsequently become private rental properties.

 

Members asked that consideration be given to ways in which tenant satisfaction can be captured for residents in properties let through housing associations or registered providers.

 

Cllr Lennox reassured members that the Council has strong relationships at a West Yorkshire level with a range of housing providers. Mandy Sawyer noted that approximately 800 nominations into housing association homes are achieved each year.

 

Members explored regional activity to tackle homelessness and strengthen the arrangements for nominations. The Board also noted that a review of the Council’s letting policy is underway which has involved public consultation. The outcome of the consultation will inform proposals that will be developed in the autumn, which will aim to set out how the Council can best meet the most urgent housing need in the city.

 

In response to queries regarding comparative tenant satisfaction, it was noted that all social landlords will have to report on the same Tenant Satisfaction Measures and that data will be published nationally.

 

Mandy Sawyer noted that she anticipates stronger relationships developing between LASBT and housing providers due to strengthened requirements in the regulatory framework for collaboration between social landlords and local authority anti-social behaviour teams.

 

In considering performance indicators relating to waste services, members welcomed the position regarding the overall number of bins collected. However, concern was raised about areas that experience repeat missed collections.

 

John Woolmer set out the current approach to collecting bins that have been missed. He acknowledged there are regular challenges in some areas of the city, often linked to problems with access due to parked cars.

 

Concern was raised about the potential obstruction of pavements where bins need to be left out following missed collections. It was suggested that this could cause difficulty for those with mobility challenges. 

 

John Woolmer noted the importance of reporting missed bins via the member inbox to ensure cases are tracked within the system.

 

Members were updated about plans to create capacity in the team to focus on frequently missed bins. John intends that work to take a ward-based approach to problem solve in areas of concern. 

 

Cllr Heselwood welcomed enhanced enforcement activity, delivered in partnership with the Neighbourhood Policing Team in Headingley and Weetwood, which aimed to tackle obstructions caused by parked cars.

 

Members commented that they would welcome an update on recovery where missed bins have been reported. John confirmed there is an ambition to include recoveries in the end of day report.

 

Cllr Jones highlighted the excellent service in his ward where there has been a need to tackle issues relating to difficult properties.

 

Members sought more information about the recent expansion of alternate weekly collections for another 10,000 properties and the advice provided to residents about what materials can be recycled.

 

John Woolmer and Cllr Luke Farley agreed to have further discussions about resident communications associated with new green bins outside of the meeting.

 

Cllr Rafique confirmed that issues linked to street cleansing should be reported via community committees.

 

Members requested further information about the introduction of glass collections when the waste strategy is discussed in September. Members raised concern about the capacity of waste vehicles given the additional material anticipated in recycling collections.

 

Clarity was sought regarding the categories of calls reported in the performance information relating the contact centre.

 

Lee Hemsworth outlined the way in which the IVR system works and the capacity to re-direct callers to online forms. He also highlighted the introduction of automatic call-back options where there are more than 10 people in the queue or the call queue is 5 minutes or more.

 

Cllr Farley left the meeting at 12pm.

 

Cllr Coupar welcomed the significant improvements in caller wait times in the contact centre in recent years – the average wait has reduced from 11 minutes to 6 minutes. Digital transformation is providing more routes for customers to interact with the Council thereby reducing demand for in person calls.

 

The Chair sought reassurance that in-person support can be accessed with ease where a customer experiences difficulties with digital options.

 

Members of the Scrutiny Board noted the demand for digital access and expressed an interest in exploring customer experiences of the digital offer.

 

The Scrutiny Board received an overview of woodland creation.

 

Members of the Scrutiny Board discussed the approach to relaxed mowing and welcomed the opportunity to discuss the future approach in more detail in October.

 

RESOLVED: Members noted the latest performance information contained in Appendix 1 of the report and noted several areas of interest for exploration in future reports scheduled within the Scrutiny Board work programme.