Issue - decisions

Matter for Decision

The agreement that the increased cost of the building and cleaning services be passed onto Tenants and Leaseholders.

Decision of the Executive Councillor for Housing:

i.     Agreed that the increased cost of building cleaning services provided on behalf of tenants of the HRA, be passed onto tenants in a phased manner, with charge increase being applicable in three stages in August 2015, April 2016 and April 2017 at which full cost recovery will have been achieved.

ii.     Agreed that the increased cost of building cleaning services provided on behalf of leaseholders of the HRA, be passed on to leaseholders through the standard estimates and actuals process, with the full cost first appearing as part of the actual costs for 2015/16, which will be calculated and communicated to leaseholders in September 2016 and included as an adjustment in the estimates for 2017/18, at which point the full cost recovery will be achieved.  The cost for any new services will be implemented as part of the 2016/17 estimates process, to be payable from April 2016.

iii.  Agreed the charges for tenants living in category II sheltered housing schemes do not receive any charge changes mid-year, but instead have the charges for services provided to them reviewed from April 2016 as part of the usual service charge setting process, with inflationary increase passed on, if applicable, in an attempt to continue to recover the full cost of providing services. 

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Business Manager / Principal Accountant. The report presented a summary of the financial and operational impact for the Housing Revenue Account, and its tenants and leaseholders following the procurement of a new building cleaning contractor.

The report highlighted the financial impact of the new contract for both tenants and leaseholders and made proposals for some mitigation, by passing on any increase in a phased manner over a period of time.

Diane Best, Leaseholder Representative requested the following be minuted:

i.     Agreed there had been a need to pay for the services however the contract only started in June 2015 and it was disappointing that the standard of service had regressed back to the level of service in 2009.  The specification should provide value for money but unfortunately this was not what was being provided.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Business Manager / Principal Accountant and the Director of Customer and Community Services stated the following:

i.     The decision for the Committee was how the Council phased in the increases for the building cleaning contract; it was not a decision as to whether to approve the contract as a whole as this decision had already been made.

ii.    Thanked the Leaseholder/Tenant Representatives for raising concerns regarding the implementation of the new contract.  A meeting would be arranged with the Contractor, the new Contract Manager and the Tenant Representatives to discuss the standards of the contract to ensure that the standards improved.

iii.  There was a break clause within the contract which could be exercised if the contractor did not perform the requirements of the contract satisfactorily.

The Committee:

Resolved unanimously to approve the recommendation.

The Executive Councillor for Housing approved the recommendations.

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted).

No conflicts were declared by the Executive Councillor.