Annual Assurance Statement 2023-24 - Scottish Housing Regulator
Perth and Kinross Council · 2 October 2024
Back to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee — 2 October 2024 and its agenda
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL Housing & Social Wellbeing Committee 2 October 2024 ANNUAL ASSURANCE STATEMENT 2023/2024 – SCOTTISH HOUSING REGULATOR Report by Strategic Lead – Housing & Communities (Report No. 24/275) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 To comply with the Scottish Housing Regulator's Regulatory Framework, the Council must approve and submit an Annual Assurance Statement, giving assurance that it is meeting legislative and regulatory standards for social housing in Scotland. This report provides a brief overview of the Framework and appends the Annual Assurance Statement 2023/24 for approval by Committee. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that Committee: (i) notes the requirement to submit an Annual Assurance Statement (ii) approves the Annual Assurance Statement as detailed in Appendix 2 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background • Section 5: Annual Assurance Statement Overview • Section 6: Improvement Actions • Section 7: Evidence to Support the Annual Assurance Statement • Section 8: Tenant Assurance • Section 9: Self- Assessment • Section 10: Conclusion • Appendices 4. BACKGROUND 4.1 All social housing landlords are required to publish an Annual Assurance Statement in line with guidance within the Scottish Housing Regulator’s (SHR) published Regulatory Framework. The Framework details the SHR’s statement on performance of functions and sets out how they regulate Registered Social Landlords, as well as housing and homelessness services delivered by Local Authorities.
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4.2 Within the Framework, the SHR carry out their work in the following broad ways: • gathering and publishing data in ways that tenants and other stakeholders can use • seeking assurance from landlords and acting where they need to • undertaking thematic activity and scrutiny on specific areas of work and performance 4.3 Central to their approach is landlords assuring themselves, their tenants and the SHR through landlord self-assurance. 4.4 Every Registered Social Landlord and Local Authority is responsible for delivering good outcomes and services for their tenants and service users. The SHR is clear that landlords must be self-aware, analytical, open and honest about their performance and identify and drive improvement activities. 4.5 When considering whether to engage with landlords, the SHR will initially consider what they have done to assure themselves that they are meeting regulatory requirements. In line with this requirement, all landlords must prepare an Annual Assurance Statement to confirm to their tenants and the SHR that they are meeting regulatory requirements. 5. ANNUAL ASSURANCE STATEMENT OVERVIEW 5.1 Since April 2019, there has been a requirement for all Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords to submit an Annual Assurance Statement which must be agreed by the relevant Local Authority Committee. Statements should confirm the landlord’s level of compliance with the requirements detailed within the Framework, including: • all relevant standards and outcomes in the Scottish Social Housing Charter • all relevant legislative duties • details of any areas of material non-compliance, briefly describing plans and a timeframe to improve • confirmation that the relevant Local Authority Committee have seen and considered appropriate evidence to support the level of assurance 5.2 A signed and unsigned copy of the Annual Assurance Statement must then be provided to the SHR, who will then make the unsigned version publicly available. There is also a requirement for landlords to ensure the Statement is easily and readily available for tenants.
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5.3 During 2023/24, Perth and Kinross Housing Service complied with all, but one regulatory requirement as set out in Chapter 3 of the Scottish Housing Regulator's Framework. This confirms that we: • achieved all the standards and outcomes in the Scottish Social Housing Charter for tenants, people who are homeless and others who use our services. • complied with our legal obligations relating to housing and homelessness, equality and human rights, and tenant and resident safety. 5.4 However, we did not meet all our legal obligations around tenant and resident safety. We did not fully comply with Electrical Inspection Certificate Report (EICR) for 28 properties during 2023/24. These failures represent 0.35% of properties without a valid EICR out of a total property portfolio of 8,053 properties. 5.5 The non-compliance mentioned above is primarily due to some tenants’ reluctance to grant access for testing and the complex support needs of a small percentage of tenants (0.17%). Each of these tenants have an individual plan to ensure they receive the necessary support and assistance to enable these checks to be conducted. The remaining 14 properties are awaiting an EICR check as part of the void process. 5.6 However, to help minimise failures and provide reassurance to our tenants, we issued communications encouraging tenants to allow engineers access. 5.7 In line with Health and Safety Executive guidance, the repair and electrical history of these properties were analysed to ensure there was no immediate danger to tenants. 6. IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS 6.1 To ensure continuous improvement, the Service has an Action Plan in place to build on progress, implement improvement actions and ensure ongoing compliance with the Regulatory Framework. As a clear sign of our commitment to ensuring that tenant and resident safety remains a key priority for the Service, we have a dedicated Housing Compliance Team to ensure key areas such as gas, electrical, water, fire and asbestos safety are closely monitored, and that appropriate checks and governance arrangements are in place to provide the reassurance that we are meeting our legal obligations. 6.2 During 2023/24, we invested further in the Internet of Things (IoT) project to allow us to monitor more properties where tenants had reported issues with condensation or mould growth to find a resolution the first time around. We currently have 211 properties fitted with sensors and are aiming to include this technology in as many properties as possible.
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6.3 Through the collection of equalities information, we have reviewed our tenants’ handbook to ensure the information is accessible to all, delivered various staff training sessions on equality themes and implemented measures to ensure a human rights approach is adopted and enshrined in the services we provide to tenants and service users. This includes enhancing our engagement methods to empower all tenants to get involved in the decision- making processes of the housing service and updating our aids and adaptation policy. 7. EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT ASSURANCE 2023/24 7.1 Alongside our Improvement Action Plan, our management and democratic structures, are all designed to facilitate effective decision making, and the proper scrutiny of decisions and their impact, in terms of performance and the achievement of outcomes. 7.2 This is supported by a range of planning processes, ensuring we meet the needs of tenants and service users, and that targets for quality improvements are set and monitored. Individual Team & Improvement Plans set out detailed actions and outcomes for each Service and include performance indicators. This is underpinned by the statutory requirement on local authorities to produce a Local Housing Strategy and provide regular progress updates. This sets out our priorities and plans for the delivery of Scottish Housing Regulator Outcomes. Individual Team & Improvement Plans are also linked to the Corporate Plan and reported annually through the Council’s Annual Performance Report. 7.3 Service performance is also reported regularly to the Housing Management Team, Executive Lead Team and publicly through the Council’s themed Committees and the Scrutiny Committee. Financial performance is publicly reported through the Finances and Resources Committee. 7.4 The evidence required by the SHR forms part of the self-assessment process, which informs in part, the Council’s Annual Governance Statement. Appendix 1 details an overview of information that supports the Annual Assurance Statement. 7.5 On 1 April 2024, the SHR published its plans for engagement with all social landlords based on 2022/23 performance, including all 32 Local Authorities across Scotland. In response to challenges faced by homelessness services across Scotland and the ongoing demand for social housing, including the national declaration of a housing emergency, the SHR are again engaging with all Local Authorities this year to seek reassurance on their delivery of services for people facing homelessness. 7.6 However, the SHR has said it requires no further engagement on any other aspects of the Housing Services for Perth and Kinross Council over the next year. This means that Perth and Kinross Council are one of only two Scottish local authorities that require no other engagement from the Regulator.
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This level of engagement by the SHR demonstrates our ongoing commitment to delivering high quality services and good outcomes for our tenants and people in housing need. 8. TENANT AND SERVICE USERS ASSURANCE 8.1 The SHR has indicated that it is the responsibility of Committee to consider and approve the Annual Assurance Statement. There is no requirement for this to be approved by tenants or service users. 8.2 However, we held an interactive hybrid session with the tenants and service users during in June 24, where the Housing Management and the Tenant & Resident Engagement Team presented an overview of the Service’s performance for 2023/24 to enable tenants to assess the Service’s performance and provide feedback on potential areas for improvement. This feedback will be used to support our Annual Landlord Performance Report and the Annual Assurance Statement. 8.3 We also commissioned an independent market research company, Knowledge Partnership, to complete a tenant satisfaction survey on our behalf. The Knowledge Partnership carried out a mixture of face-to-face and telephone interviews with a selected sample of tenants. 8.4 The survey was carried out between June 2023 and March 2024 and 1,207 tenants were interviewed. Tenants were asked how satisfied they were with housing services against several national key indicators set by the Scottish Housing Regulator. 8.5 The survey results were largely positive, with 78.71% of tenants (950 individuals) expressing satisfaction with the overall service provided by Perth & Kinross Council as their landlord. This satisfaction rate aligns with the latest Scottish Council average. 8.6 This, together with our external scrutiny by tenants, provides the required level of assurance from the tenants and service users who receive and experience the services we deliver. 9. SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.1 During 2024, the Service carried out a self-assessment, using the framework “How Good is our Service” to assess service delivery against the outcomes of the Scottish Social Housing Charter. This assessment forms the basis of the Annual Assurance Statement, which is attached as Appendix 2. 9.2 The Scottish Housing Network also carried out a desktop review of our Annual Return Charter (ARC) performance prior to submission to the SHR. The feedback received was very positive. The findings of both assessments have been included within the overall Action Plan for the Service.
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10. CONCLUSION 10.1 The Council’s Housing Service continues to deliver high levels of service, with strong performance across all areas and ongoing high levels of tenant satisfaction despite the ongoing impact and challenges faced by the cost-of- living pressures and the increasing demand for affordable housing. This has also been achieved in the context of maintaining our rents at affordable levels by having the fourth lowest local authority rents in Scotland, demonstrating our commitment to delivering a value for money service for our tenants. Throughout the year, Committee has received several key reports providing assurance that we are delivering and exceeding the standards required by the SHR (Appendix 1). Author Name Designation Contact Details Elaine Ritchie Strategic Lead – Housing & Communities EPLCommitteeReports@pkc.gov.uk Approved Name Designation Date Clare Mailer Depute Chief Executive 11 September 2024 APPENDICES • Appendix 1 – Overview of information that supports the Annual Assurance Statement. • Appendix 2 - Annual Assurance Statement.
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes / None Community Plan / Single Outcome Agreement Yes Corporate Plan Yes Resource Implications Financial None Workforce None Asset Management (land, property, IST) None Assessments Equality Impact Assessment None Strategic Environmental Assessment None Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) None Legal and Governance Yes Risk None Consultation Internal Yes External Yes Communication Communications Plan Yes 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 This report supports all of the priorities within the Community Plan 2022-27. (i) Reducing Poverty (including child poverty, fuel poverty and food poverty) (ii) Mental and physical wellbeing (iii) Digital participation (iv) Skills, learning and development (v) Employability Corporate Plan 1.2 This report supports the objectives within the draft new Corporate Plan:- (i) Children and young people grow up safe, respected, well-educated, and confident in their ability to realise their full potential; (ii) People and businesses are increasingly able to prosper in a local economy which support low carbon ambitions and offers opportunities for all; (iii) People can achieve their best physical and mental health and have access to quality care and support when they need it; (iv) Communities are resilient and physically, digital and socially connected;
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(v) Perth and Kinross is a safe and vibrant place, mitigating the impact of climate and environmental change for this and future generations. 2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 There are no financial implications arising from this report. Workforce 2.2 There are no workforce implications arising from this report. Asset Management (land, property, IT) 2.3 There are no asset management implications arising from this report. 3. Assessments Equality Impact Assessment 3.1 This report has been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment process (EqIA) with the following outcome: (i) Assessed as not relevant for the purposes of EqIA Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.2 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Council to identify and assess the environmental consequences of its proposals. No further action is required as it does not qualify as a PPS as defined by the Act and is therefore exempt. Sustainability 3.3 Under the provisions of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 the Council has to discharge its duties in a way which contributes to the achievement of sustainable development. Under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 the Council also has a duty relating to climate change and, in exercising its functions must act: • in the way best calculated to delivery of the Act’s emissions reduction targets; • in the way best calculated to deliver any statutory adaptation programmes; and • in a way that it considers most sustainable. 3.4 The information contained within this report has been considered under the Act. However, no action is required as the Act does not apply to the matters presented in this report.
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Legal and Governance 3.5 Not applicable. Risk 3.6 Not applicable. 4. Consultation Internal 4.1 Strategic Leads and senior managers have been consulted on the content of this report. External 4.2 The Tenant Committee Report Panel was consulted in relation to this report and a hybrid meeting was held to allow tenants to question Lead Officers about the report. The Panel felt that the report was concise and compact and reflected the high level of service delivery from the Council as their landlord. The area highlighted within the report in terms of failure to comply in relation to EICR is out-with the Council’s control and the Panel accepted the Council’s assurance that a range of supportive measures are being taken to minimise non-compliance. 5. Communication 5.1 The Annual Assurance Statement will be made publicly available. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS No background papers were relied upon during the preparation of this report.