Chesterfield Borough Council believes improved tenant engagement will ease housing complaints

Cllr Tricia Gilby stepped in for the Cabinet member for Housing, Cllr Jean Innes, in her absence to present a review of the council’s Housing Service Complaints Performance at a cabinet meeting .

The council leader described the authority’s engagement with council property tenants as ‘solid’ in terms of compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s code and in terms of its performance with complaints and improving its service during the first three quarters of the 2023-24 financial year.

Cllr Gilby told the meeting: “I think Chesterfield Borough Council has a really solid record of tenant engagement and since becoming portfolio holder for housing, Cllr Innes has engaged with as much of that activity as possible.

“We do that by enabling tenants and families to have a real say in how their service is run and to get involved in decisions that affect them, their homes and their community.”

Cllr Gilby said that council property tenants had a ‘really exciting morning’ recently after they attended a meeting with the authority and had spoken directly with the council leader about their concerns.

She said: “It is important we respond and get feedback from our tenants who are not satisfied with the service they receive and I also think it is good to get feedback when they are satisfied and we do get that too.”

A report showed that the number of complaints to the council has increased, particularly relating to repairs, but the council has put this down to prioritising emergency repairs like damp and mould so less urgent matters have taken longer to remedy.

Cllr Gilby acknowledged the biggest source of council housing complaints during the first three quarters of 2023-24 related to repairs,making up 88.2per cent of the total, even though she claimed that a lot of this problem has been created by a backlog after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Complaints about council housing management during the same period resulted in 11.8per cent of the total.

The council carries out about 3,000 repairs a month, according to Cllr Gilby, and during the first three-quarters of the 2023-24 financial year it had responded to 43per per cent of complaints within an acceptable timescale.

And although there has been an increased number of complaints, with an average of 46 per month during the first three-quarters of the 2023-24 financial year compared with 25 per month in 2022, the council claims this has been down to insufficient office-based staff resources and because more tenants are being encouraged to report repair problems.

The council noted that a small number of complaints during the first three quarters of the financial year progressed to Stage Two of the complaints process, with records showing 388 complaints had been received during Stage One part of the process – which requires a response within ten working days – but only 28 had been received during Stage Two.

There was also a reduction in the average number of days taken by the council to respond from 40 days in August 2023, to 12 days by the end of December 2023.

Cllr Gilby also said that the council does recognise that the number of necessary repairs is still too many but the council is working hard to address the backlog after the pandemic.

The overall main complaints from tenants related to: Chasing up a repair; Outstanding or ongoing repairs; Delays with repairs or works; Missed appointments; Poor communication; Overgrown hedges or gardens; Communal area problems; Antisocial behaviour; Trees; And tenancy procedures.

Subsequently, the council’s housing service is conducting a review of repairs and maintenance services, introducing additional customer service resources, and two new officers to deal with repair complaints which will hopefully mean repairs will be dealt with more quickly.

It will also be looking at the causes of housing management complaints, particularly concerning antisocial behaviour and communal areas, and it will be working with colleagues in other departments to implement service improvements alongside the introduction of manager performance reports with team reviews and further engagement with tenants.

Opposition Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Cllr Paul Holmes, told the meeting: “I recall last year there was an increase in complaints, and this year there is an increase in complaints – so it is not a good trend.

“The biggest source of complaints is delays and getting things done. It is not that they are nor done. It is the delays in getting them done.”

Cllr Holmes added that among the tenants who have complained they have also raised concerns about communication from the council claiming that nobody tells them anything.

However, Cllr Gilby told Cllr Holmes: “The two additional posts will help getting top side of the issue you raised about communication and that is being fed back in through the tenant engagement as well.”

The council cabinet confirmed that its housing service complies with the Housing Ombudsman’s code of practice after reviewing its complaints handling performance and it endorsed a range of improvement measures with a request for an end of year report and that further updates will be provided throughout the 2024/25 financial year.

Following the meeting, Cllr Holmes said: “Cabinet heard that complaints about council house repairs had increased again. Nearly doubling in the last year.

“Obviously, this must be the Government’s fault or Covid or something else. Nothing at all to do with the Labour-run council – the people who are actually in charge.”

During 2022-23 the council invested over £21.5 million in homes and estates across the borough and a further £3.2 million on new homes, and a stock condition survey aims to help the council plan for future investment for homes with other capital investment project plans in the pipeline.

The council stated in October that it has completed a £4.1 million scheme to build 21 new homes at Badger Croft, in Loundsley Green, and it also aims to deliver IT improvements, increase staff resources, reduce the waiting time for repairs and invest up to £22.4 million in its council homes to introduce new heating systems, windows and doors.

It also welcomed plans in December, last year, for 22 new affordable properties to be built across the borough in Staveley and Middlecroft overseen by the council’s main contractor Fortem Solutions Ltd to help meet waiting lists and the rising need for homes.