FM Operational Performance FRS (June 23)
Renfrewshire Council · 8 June 2023
Back to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board — 8 June 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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To: Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board On: 8 June 2023 Report by: Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure Heading: Facilities Management Operational Performance Report 1 Summary 1.1 Environment, Housing & Infrastructure brings together a range of Council services and activities, with both strategic and operational responsibilities. This report provides an operational performance update on Facilities Management (Hard and Soft Services) delivered by Environment, Housing & Infrastructure since the last Policy Board in March 2023. From the next report, operational updates on Property Services will be included within this report. 1.2 Building Services continue to operate normal day to day business and our emergency out of hours repairs. The supply issue with materials has improved and only remains in a few areas where longer lead in times continue to be experienced. The service continues to manage all works. 2 Recommendations It is recommended that members of the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board: 2.1 Notes the content of this report. 2.2 Approves the defibrillator policy as detailed in Section 3.10.8 of this report.
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3 Operational Update 3.1 Responsive Repairs The chart below shows the monthly volume of responsive repairs reported by tenants that Building Services attended from April 2022 to end of March 2023. These are only the repairs that Building Services attended and there are other repairs that will be issued directly to other contractors. The annual figures above show that of the total number of repairs issued for the whole year, 41% are classed as emergency or next day attendance. In addition, of the total number of emergencies issued, 26% of these are outwith normal working hours. During the winter months there is a clear increase in the numbers being reported which is normally due to the colder weather conditions. Emergency and next day attendance categories are defined by the Housing Regulator. The Customer Contact Centre and Concierge services follow strict guidelines when categorising these repairs. Where possible, repairs are categorised into a normal repair category. However, the service continues to monitor the volume of emergency and next day repair requests, making improvements where possible.
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3.2 Domestic Gas Servicing From 1 January to 31 March 2023, the domestic gas servicing and repairs team carried out 3,780 gas services. The figures for January-March 2023 are in line with the same time period last year where the number of services carried out was 3,855. 2022/2023 Overview Figures From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 there have been a total of 12,779 gas services carried out across the Renfrewshire area. This is comparable to 13,218 services carried out in the same time period in 21/22. 3.3 Voids Building Services continue to work closely with Housing colleagues to maximise the number of houses that are returned to the letting pool. Houses are prioritised based on the current needs of those requiring housing. Weekly meetings take place between all teams to prioritise houses and review progress. The annual volume of void houses returned by Building Services for the last three years is shown below. The timescales for the return of a void from receipt from Housing with the work requirements to the returning of the house with the works completed is normally between 14 – 21 days. However, these timescales will vary in some cases due to the volume of work required or the requirement to replace elements such as PVC doors or kitchens which have longer lead in times for delivery of supplies and materials. Yearly return April 2022 - March 2023 - in addition to normal void houses, Building Services have also carried out 99 SHQS void house repairs which require more extensive works. Void Returns 4 April 2022 -31 March 2023 Full Void Works* *Inclusive Gas Central Heating (GCH) install *Inclusive Asbestos Removal (ASB RE) Preliminary Works 734 101 72 650 Yearly return April 2021 – March 2022 Void Returns from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 Full Void Works* *Inclusive Gas Central Heating (GCH) install *Inclusive Asbestos Removal (ASB RE) Preliminary Works 749 95 124 776
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Yearly return April 2020 – March 2021 Void Returns from 24 March 2020 – 31 March 2021 Full Void Works* *Inclusive Gas Central Heating (GCH) install *Inclusive Asbestos Removal (ASB RE) Preliminary Works 676 76 80 337 3.4 Electrical Testing programme As part of the on-going electrical compliance requirement of Landlords, Building Services, and other external contractors, have been working in partnership with Housing colleagues to carry out the statutory 5-year check of electrics within every tenanted household across Renfrewshire (approx. 12,200 houses). On behalf of Housing, Building Services have fully electrically tested 4,040 houses since the start of the programme in 2021. Building Services completed house numbers for 2022 - 2023 Quarter 1 - 639 Quarter 2 - 280 Quarter 3 – 42* Quarter 4 - 187 tested Total = 1148 * Issue with access and pilot process put in place to gain access. 2023/2024 Programme Building Services are projecting that over the next year they will carry out approximately 1,000 full EICR’s checks across the Council housing estate. 3.5 Aids and Adaptations Building Services work closely with our Housing team and Social Work services to carry out work to tenant’s homes. Work is completed while ensuring that tenants are able to live within in their own home safely and with as little disruption as possible. This work includes the reconfiguration of existing bathrooms to install fully adapted showers, grab rails, and handrails. For the year April 2022 to March 2023 Building Services have carried out 99 full adaptation alterations. In addition, Building Services have been working directly with the Health and Social Care Partnership to install key safes quickly and efficiently to Renfrewshire residents to allow them to be discharged from hospital or care.
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3.6 Streetlighting From 1 January to 31 March 2023 year, the Street Lighting Team have performed well with 98.97% of all reported dark lamps attended within the 7-day timescale. In addition, they attended 150 emergencies of which 13 were out-of-hours. 2022/2023 overview Overall, from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, the Street Lighting team have • Attended 2,889 reported dark lamps • Replaced 23 columns • Attended 620 emergencies, of which 50 were out-of-hours • Completed 1,433 planned maintenance works Collaborative working has been progressing well across Environment, Housing & Infrastructure with Procurement to tender for a streetlighting contractor to assist with replacement of columns/loops. The appointment is expected to meet the timetable for the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board in September 2023. However, the team also take cognisance of the challenges across the marketplace relating to the recruitment of qualified streetlighting engineers. 3.7 Capital works across the public building portfolio The £1.5 million extended school toilet upgrade programme has been completed in all 12 schools. 3.8 Apprentices Building Services has advertised for 4 new trade apprentices. There will be three youth apprenticeships available to young people who currently live in Renfrewshire and one adult apprenticeship open to anyone who currently works with the Council. The creation of these posts demonstrates the investment in both the young people of Renfrewshire and the existing workforce of the Council. These apprenticeships will provide great opportunities for the successful candidates to become qualified tradespeople. One of our second-year apprentice electricians, Callum Rae, has been selected by the governing body, SECTT and the lecturers at the college to go forward and compete in this years’ apprentice of the year competition for 2nd stage. This is a great achievement for Callum who has performed very well throughout his apprenticeship. Callum will be put forward to represent Renfrewshire Council and the college in the Glasgow & West heats which will take place at Glasgow Kelvin College on Tuesday 20 June 2023. 3.9 Energy 3.9.1 Installation of LED Lighting in the PPP Estate The installation programme has been complete with a reduction in electricity usage being noted at each of the completed schools. To date, Renfrewshire Council has spent a total budget of £1,803,898. Officers continue to work across the Council and
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with colleagues in PPP schools to ensure systems are working at their optimal performance. The installation of LED’s has been completed for a minimum of 6 months across each individual school. As such, savings have been calculated comparing consumption from October 2021 – March 2022 and October 2022 - March 2023. For this exercise the most up to date electricity tariff (2023-2024) has been used. Name Oct 2021 - Mar 2022 kWh Oct 2022 - Mar 2023 kWh kWh Saving £ Saving during same time period PPP - FORDBANK PRIMARY SCHOOL (PPP) 83,777 56,244 27,533 £ 6,828 PPP - GLENCOATS PRIMARY SCHOOL (PPP) 80,477 62,193 18,284 £ 4,534 PPP - GLENIFFER HIGH SCHOOL (PPP) 384,378 278,810 105,568 £ 26,181 PPP - LINWOOD HIGH SCHOOL (PPP) 217,028 171,512 45,516 £ 11,288 PPP - ST ANDREWS ACADEMY (PPP) 372,461 267,042 105,419 £ 26,144 PPP - ST BENEDICTS HIGH SCHOOL (PPP) 279,515 214,992 64,523 £ 16,002 PPP - TODHOLM PRIMARY SCHOOL (PPP) 102,563 85,651 16,912 £ 4,194 PPP - WEST JOHNSTONE SHARED CAMPUS (PPP) 120,635 90,624 30,011 £ 7,443 PPP - WOODLANDS PRIMARY SCHOOL PPP 111,749 78,967 32,782 £ 8,130 1,752,583 1,306,035 446,548 £ 110,744 3.9.2 Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) SWECO Limited have been appointed to assist Renfrewshire Council in delivering the LHEES strategy before the end of 2023. Interviews for the LHEES Officer have taken place and a successful appointment made for the 2-year temporary position being funded through the Scottish Government. An internal working group has been formed with key officers from across the Council. 3.9.3 CO2 Monitoring in Renfrewshire Schools The 1,765 CO2 monitors installed in all teaching spaces continue to allow teachers to monitor the air quality in their teaching spaces and act if carbon dioxide levels are noted to increase. This covers every teaching and learning space in Nurseries, Primary Schools, Secondary Schools and ASN Schools. Regular updates are reported to Children’s Services and the Trade Unions, highlighting the number of readings exceeding the acceptable threshold. To enable monitoring of the CO2 levels within each learning space, the Energy Management Team have created an online portal. This portal is designed to allow teachers to access the readings through the Building Management System in schools that use CO2 monitors. The system provides 24 hours of history. Where concerns relating to the recorded CO2 levels need to be raised, the process now in place would direct any issues to Soft FM Officers or Senior Facilities Officers who will then raise a
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job request on CAMIS. Once received, further investigations take place to identify the issue and discussion will take place with H&S, if required, to rectify these. 3.9.4 Energy Advocacy The Energy Advocacy service has been brought in-house. The 4 staff members previously employed by The Wise Group have now been transferred over to Renfrewshire Council and reside across both the Energy Management Unit and Housing. This comes during a cost-of-living crisis and will help residents of all tenure within Renfrewshire. 3.10 Hard FM - Support Services 3.10.1 Compliance Following the combined efforts of both the service and contractor base, the compliance stats are nearing pre-Covid levels, posting one of the highest returns for numbers since 2019/20. In quarter four of 2022/23, 89% of compliance tasks have been completed. This demonstrates further improvement from 85% in quarter three, 84% in quarter two and 70% in quarter one. Following a recruitment process, a new facilities manager has been appointed within the team. The challenge moving forward is to ensure compliance and continual improvement. Officers closely scrutinise suppliers who fail to meet target return dates, which in turn affects overall performance. The escalation of non-compliance and commercial pressures are expected to continue to improve performance over the coming months. 3.10.2 Capital/Life Cycle Projects - Support Services Officers have continued to work closely with the design team on the new Paisley Grammar Campus contributing to regular review meetings and discussions regarding building specifications etc. The general shape and form of the facility has now been agreed. 3.10.3 Commissions have been generated to replace boilers within the following schools - ➢ Ralston Primary ➢ Douglas St Nursery ➢ Lochfield Primary ➢ Gryffe High ➢ Mary Russell School All works have been programmed during the summer shutdown period. 3.10.4 Defibrillators have now been installed (externally) to every primary school. This vital equipment is ready and available for use to the wider public. Secondary schools (phase 2) continues to progress. Following building warrant approvals, it is anticipated the programme will be complete by November 2023. 3.10.5 As detailed above, Renfrewshire Council supports the provision of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) across the Council estate. However, it should be noted that the process is not simply about the procurement of AED’s.
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3.10.6 The new AED models require an electrical power supply to ensure there is heat when temperatures are low during the winter months. This often requires a building warrant and trenching works to install the AED correctly. This massively adds to the cost of installation. 3.10.7 In addition, the units require to be part of routine checks (weekly) to ensure they are working, require to be registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service for use, made “emergency ready” and will require to be replaced over a certain period of time. 3.10.8 Members of the public have been purchasing AED’s in memory of loved ones and donating them to Renfrewshire Council to put in public places. Whilst this gesture is appreciated, not all AED’s can be installed as detailed above. It is Renfrewshire Council’s proposed policy that AED’s will be located in easily accessible locations in communities (schools) to allow easy access. Where AED’s are gifted, a decision will be made if the AED will be installed or stored until a suitable location and adequate funding is obtained to allow installation. 3.10.9 There are no current plans to extend the AED network (apart from detailed above in 3.10.4), however, this will be kept under review throughout the coming years. 3.10.10 Net Zero Strategy (for buildings) – officers continue to engage with Property Services colleagues to embrace the challenges to achieve the Net Zero Carbon by 2030. A holistic approach is required when replacing or refurbishing building elements and discussions remain ongoing. 3.10.11 Condition Surveys proposed for the whole school estate is nearing tender issue (with Corporate Procurement Unit), with a proposed completion by year end 2023. Fire Risk Assessments will also be included within this project. 4 Soft FM (Facilities Management) 4.1 Capital Works Progress of the tender award outcome will be presented to the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy board in the next cycle. This will outline how the £876,000 Scottish Government Capital funding will be invested in improvements of kitchen facilities in Barsail Primary, Erskine, Bushes Primary, Glenburn, and Mossvale/St James Campus, Paisley. Soft FM will continue to work in partnership with Property Services and Corporate Procurement to ensure works commence in a timely manner following approval at the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board. Further capital award funding of £2.352 million for 2023/24 from the Scottish Government increases the scope to reinstate further production facilities. 4.2 School Meals 4.2.1 Soft FM is launching a new 3-weekly school meal menu on 19 June 2023 in non-PPP Primary Schools.
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The menu has been developed based on the result of the large-scale anonymous School Meal Survey conducted in February 2023. The aim of this new 3-weekly menu is to deliver pupils in Renfrewshire a more colourful, fun and vibrant school meal experience. With a combination of different textures, cultural references, animal/plant-based food and new descriptive wording, this 3-weekly menu provides our children nutritionally balanced and high-quality meals. 4.2.2 The 3-weekly menu design was submitted to School Plates Awards, administered through ProVeg International. The award recognised positive steps being taken to introduce healthier meals for children and the planet. The evidence-based award affirms that the menu design will encourage children to eat healthier and more sustainable meals. The 3-weekly menu to be launched in Primary Schools has been awarded ProVeg School Plate Bronze Award. This award is a first in Scotland. 4.2.3 A pilot has been undertaken to improve the dining environment within 2 secondary schools. With the aim of providing sociable and welcoming dining environments, Secondary age meal uptake will improve as pupils will prefer to spend their lunchtime in school instead of leaving the premise. A new secondary 3-week menu will also be rolled out to all secondary schools in August 2023 to coincide with these improvements. 4.3 Deposit Return Scheme The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) has been deferred to March 2024. There is currently a review of exemption criteria being carried out by the Scottish Government. ASSIST have been participating in the Scottish Government’s participation group to shape the requirements for educational establishments to comply with the DRS. Officers will continue to monitor updates from the Scottish Government to assess how this will be implemented and the direct impact on Renfrewshire Council educational establishments and the Atrium. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – Any financial elements referenced in this report will be progressed through the Council’s financial & budget planning process. 2. HR & Organisational Development – None 3. Community/Council Planning – the report details a range of activities which reflect local community and council planning themes.
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4. Legal – As detailed in Section 3.6 of the report, Legal Services are assisting with the procurement of a Streetlighting contractor. 5. Property/Assets - None 6. Information Technology - None 7. Equality & Human Rights – The recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – Advice and guidance is being given to protect the health and safety of employees and service users when carrying out priority services for the Council in line with government and health guidance. 9. Procurement – As noted within the report. 10. Risk – None 11. Privacy Impact – None 12. COSLA Policy Position – None 13. Climate Change – The work undertaken by the Energy Management Unit detailed in the report assists with Renfrewshire’s Net Zero targets. Close liaison is maintained with the Climate Emergency Lead Officer to help drive targets, actions and outcomes. List of Background Papers – None Author: Gordon McNeil, Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure Email: Gordon.mcneil@renfrewshire.gov.uk