All Housing Services : Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 03/03/2003

Waverley Borough Council Committee System - Committee Document

Meeting of the Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 03/03/2003
All Housing Services

ANNEXE 1

HOUSING BEST VALUE FUNDAMENTAL SERVICE REVIEWS 2001/02

IMPROVEMENT PLAN – ALL HOUSING SERVICES

ACTION PLAN	BY WHOM	BY WHEN [month = by month end]	BUDGET	PROGRESS	REVISED TIMETABLE	SAVINGS
			IMPLICATIONS			Ł000
TARGET 1: Customer Focused Departmental Structure And Staff Able To Deliver Quality Service And Benefit From Economies Of Scale With Well-Trained And Motivated Staff	See below	See below	One-off training costs of Ł20,000 in 2001/02			11.6 [overall saving to General Fund from re-structuring Housing Department in 2001/02]
Identification of potential for service improvements and economies of scale through restructured Department, separating and centralising Housing Management, Repairs and Rent Arrears Recovery	Director of Housing	Jan 2001	See above	Done	Done	See above
Obtaining Members’ approval	Director of Housing	June 2001	See above	Done	Done	See above
Implementation of new structure	IMT	July 2001	See above	Done	Done	See above
Ensure customers and staff are aware of the roles and responsibilities of different sections of the Housing Department	Director of Housing	June 2001	See above	Done	Done	See above
Arrange with the Council’s Training Officer a series of away-days for staff involved in each housing service to consider improvements they can initiate and be responsible for implementing	Director of Housing	January 2002	See above	Done	Done	See above
Identify staff training needs including the areas of customer care, technical and IT and develop appropriate programmes making best use of available resources including using existing staff e.g. surveyors to provide technical training for day-to-day repairs staff	Service Managers	Ongoing through appraisal system	See above	Done	Done	See above

ACTION PLAN	BY WHOM	BY WHEN	BUDGET	PROGRESS	REVISED TIMETABLE	SAVINGS
		[month = by month end]	IMPLICATIONS			Ł000
TARGET 2: Improved Physical Environment For Customers	[Links with Facilities ManagementBV review outcomes]	As provided in Improvement Plan for Facilities Management	As provided in Improvement Plan for Facilities Management			nil
Secure appropriate, comfortable, private and accessible facilities for all housing customers visiting the Council’s offices	Central Services Manager	See above	See above	Possibility of creating additional interview rooms on ground floor Godalming being investigated in short term and more fundamental review of ground floor area taking place in longer term – possibly as part of introduction of one-stop shop facility (as being piloted in Farnham locality office)	March 2004	See above
TARGET 3: Departmental Policy, Procedures, Standards And Systems For Facilitating And Responding To Customer Complaints About Any Aspect Of The Housing Service	Director of Housing	September 2002	Within existing budgets			nil
Agree Departmental definition of ‘complaint’	See above	See above	See above	Done	Done	See above
Develop policy and standards for encouraging and responding to complaints in consultation with Tenants’ Panel and compatible with corporate complaints process	See above	See above	See above	Done	Done	See above
Agree, develop and implement recording, monitoring and reporting systems within Housing Department compatible with corporate complaints process	See above	See above	See above	Done	Done	See above
Produce leaflet summarising complaints policy, procedures and standards; send to all tenants; publish details in Tenants’ Extra	See above	See above	See above	Information about complaints policy/procedures included in Tenants’ Handbook	February 2003	See above
Ensure all Housing staff are aware of and receive appropriate training in complaints policy, procedures and standards	See above	See above	See above	Done	Done	See above
Report results of complaints analysis to customers, Members, contractors and staff	See above	See above	See above	Report to be produced for 2002/03	April 2003	See above
TARGET 4: Comprehensive Tenants’ Handbook · efficiency	Director of Housing	September 2002	Within existing budgets			nil
Agree scope and format of Handbook with Tenants’ Panel	See above	See above	See above	Done	Done	See above
Engage consultant to work with Tenants’ Panel and staff to agree and produce information to be included in Handbook	See above	See above	See above	Done	Done	See above
Arrange printing and collation of text into Handbook	See above	See above	See above	Ongoing	December 2002	See above

ACTION PLAN	BY WHOM	BY WHEN	BUDGET	PROGRESS	REVISED TIMETABLE	SAVINGS
		[month = by month end]	IMPLICATIONS			Ł000
Issue Handbook to all existing and new tenants	See above	See above	See above	Ongoing	February 2003	See above
Introduce arrangements for regular review and updating of Handbook	See above	See above	See above	Contacts leaflets to be updated annually or as required. Handbook to be re-issued every 3-5 years depending on amendments required.	Done	See above
TARGET 5: Introduce Formal Liaison And Feedback Arrangements For Operational Staff Across The Department	See below	See below	Within existing budgets			0
Identify information requirements of operational staff	Director of Housing	December 2001	See above	Done	Done	See above
Introduce feedback arrangements from Housing IMT meetings	As above	December 2001	See above	Done	Done	See above
Produce regular Bulletins for all Housing staff	As above	Ongoing: bi-annual	See above	Done	Done	See above
Introduce regular progress review meetings for staff involved in services that are dealt with by more than one section	Service Managers	April 2002	See above	Done	Done	See above
TARGET 6: Promote Equal Opportunities	See below	See below	Within existing budgets			0
Promote use of Language Line through posters and articles in Tenants’ Extra	Housing Needs Manager	April 2002	See above	Poster in reception areas. Information in Tenants’ Handbook. Articles to appear in Waverley Homes.	Done in part. Further publicity planned – by May 2003	See above
Arrange equal opportunities training for staff	Head of Personnel and Central Services	September 2002	See above	Taking place in Nov 2003. Follow-up housing specific training planned in 2003/04	General awareness training Nov 2002 Housing specific training by March 2004	See above
Check MTC contractors’ equal opportunities policies and make compliance a contract condition	Head of Housing Maintenance	February 2002	See above	Done	Done	See above
Develop policies and procedures for tackling racial harassment in accordance with DTLR guidance	Housing Services Manager	September 2002	See above	Action plan developed. Implementation 2003/04	March 2003	See above
TARGET 7: Maximising Use Of IT And Working Towards E-Government Targets	See below	See below	Within existing budgets			0
Address and resolve inefficiencies associated with current use of Orchard (integrated housing management system):				Done	Done
· Introduce arrangements for storing tenants’ phone numbers on Orchard	Head of Housing Management	January 2002	See above	Done	Done	See above
· In consultation with users identify and rectify any incompatibilities between Orchard processes and the most efficient ways of delivering services	Assistant Director of Housing/Head of Housing Maintenance	September 2002	See above	Done for review areas. Ongoing for other housing services	Done	See above
· Identify management information requirements and develop systems and programmes capable of providing it, maximising the potential of IT and rectifying any weaknesses in current processes	Assistant Director of Housing/Head of Housing Maintenance	September 2002	See above	As above	As above	See above
Identify staff training needs and provide appropriate IT training	Service Managers	September 2002	See above	Done as part of appraisal system	Done	See above
TARGET 8: Aiming To Achieve Top-Quartile Performance	See below	See below	Within existing budgets			0
Setting challenging targets for all services and reviewing them on a regular basis	Service Managers	November each year	See above	Done	Done	See above
Carrying out regular benchmarking exercises with other local authorities and registered social landlords using Housemark and other means	Director of Housing	June 2002	See above	Done for 2000/01. 2001/02 data gathering ongoing	Done	See above
Review and if necessary amend existing local PIs to ensure they provide adequate coverage, are appropriate and meaningful	IMT	March 2002	See above	Done	Done	See above
Ensuring robustness of Departmental performance management mechanisms	Director of Housing	April 2002	See above	Done	Done	See above

(housing/mwrigh/hsg/best value general/deptactionplan5progress1)