Agenda item

The Boards inquiry in 2016/17 municipal year focused on East Leeds Responsive Repairs Service. It was agreed regular updates would be provided by Housing Leeds on progress of recommendations made. 

Appendix 1 shows the current outstanding recommendations which will be discussed at this meeting.

JG introduced Simon Jarman and Rob Goor to discuss the new repairs system.

Recommendation 2 – Implement and roll out the Total Works system.

SJ told the board the new repairs system TOTAL has now been rolled out across all of Leeds Building Services.

Recommendation 3 – Implement new working practices through Total Works, in relation to creating additional appointments, by reducing waiting times and increased tenant satisfaction.

The TOTAL platform records all orders, labour, and charges, and will incorporate a feature called Optimise which was due to be in use during 2018 but is now scheduled to be trialled in March 2019. The Optimise system acts as a calendar which shows operatives their appointments for the day, can plan journeys and track the time taken per job, re-arranging jobs where necessary or allocating them to other operatives.

The system can show updates on the progress of jobs, and incorporates mapping, so jobs can be attended faster and resolved faster resulting in higher customer satisfaction. The new scheduling system will replace the current manual timesheet system and will allocate each operative 7.5 hours of jobs per day, tracking productivity by time stamping live jobs to ensure they are not over-running.

RESOLVED - Position Status agreed as (4.) Not fully implemented (Progress made acceptable. Continue monitoring)

Recommendation 6 – Administration on repairs performance is improved – so that orders are closed down in a timely manner on systems, including sub-contractor orders. This will ensure that performance reporting is not adversely affected. 

Van stocks are also being reviewed, aiming to reduce the number of times an operative has to visit the stores. TOTAL will also incorporate an out of hour’s system that can allocate jobs at any time, or schedule a repair for the first thing the next day. Monthly meetings are in place with subcontractors to chase up projects that are nearing deadline and need to be resolved as a priority. LBS is seeking to utilise a subcontractor portal which will reduce the administration of allocating jobs, and allow subcontractors to report on repairs in the same way as other LBS operatives. The TOTAL system will be trialled with a smaller repairs subcontractor of around 35 staff before being rolled out across all responsive repairs in the future. SJ offered to bring to a future meeting a live demonstration of the TOTAL system.

JG noted the TOTAL system had been introduced as a simple way of streamlining the repairs process, however Simon Costigan had revealed to him there have been glitches that have slowed the progress somewhat. JG asked how the vans are currently stocked, and if the current process of stocking vans was still in place. SJ answered they are still stocked with a variety of items for various jobs, and are still partnered with Wolseley for re-stocking. Wolseley had promised 100% delivery to site, however this is not always possible especially in responsive repairs as opposed to voids or pre-planned repairs. RG stated that a target of 100% deliveries would not have been realistic, however the current rate of 30-40% is not high enough at the moment, especially when it takes longer for some parts to reach the operative than it does for the repair to be completed. JG added that the TOTAL system incorporates mobile phone GPS functionality which is standard for all responsive repairs staff, and is less intrusive than the vehicle tracking system used previously that was unpopular with operatives and had to be discontinued.

JG asked if there was some separation between commercial repairs and repairs operatives. RG clarified that LBS is formed by the housing repairs and property management services, and there is work in progress to bring the two services closer together with some of the same infrastructure, operatives, meetings, and accounts. SJ added that there is a focus on trying to utilise LBS operatives wherever there is capacity to do so, and that operatives could clarify the areas they have the skills or are equipped to cover, reducing chances of the wrong person being sent to the job and making sure as many job types are covered as possible.

JG enquired if the number of apprentices has been increased and how many there currently are. SJ answered that the last cohort of QCF apprenticeships have recently finished, and 15 of the 17 have been taken onto full time apprenticeships. SJ added that next year a specialist trade apprenticeship scheme would be in place, recruiting six electrical and six gas apprentices. This is because it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit apprentices in specialist areas as pay scales are not competitive with other companies or nationwide. RG added that Mears are also struggling to recruit operatives, even though they currently pay their operatives more than LBS, and potential apprentices are choosing to work at other major construction works happening elsewhere. Options exist such as increasing the salary of higher skilled staff to tempt them to join, though discussions are ongoing on how best to overcome these barriers. SB asked if there is the capability to train operatives in more than one discipline to ensure they are more highly skilled. RG answered that LBS training already covers multiple trades and is more advanced than Mears’ own training. There is ambition to increase the capabilities of both the system and of operatives, with a potential process that could be developed through which residents can submit a photo so the fault can be better diagnosed and operatives can ensure they are properly stocked. JG questioned if the process would be able to cater to everyone, RG answered that it might not work for those who are not online or able to access online services, however the needs of those people will also be taken into account.

JG suggested the possibility of TSB members seeing the TOTAL system in use first-hand to see the its benefits, and accepted that there are developments still ongoing despite having expected more progress to have been made at this point in time. JG thanked RG and SJ for their attendance.

RESOLVED - Position Status agreed as (4.) Not fully implemented (Progress made acceptable. Continue monitoring).