Item 13 - Appendix 3
West Dunbartonshire Council · 20 November 2024
Back to Housing & Communities Committee — 20 November 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Housing Services Consultation Summary Name of consultation: Review of Housing Repairs Policy Person responsible: Stefan Kristmanns, Housing Development Coordinator Consultation start date: 12 June 2024 Consultation end date: 27 September 2024 Its aims and objectives? The aim of the consultation was to get views from our tenants on how important key aspects of the repairs service are to them. The key objective was to use this feedback to ensure that tenant priorities were front and centre right at the start of the process and fully taken account of as the policy was being reviewed and updated. We also aimed to communicate changes and improvements that were being proposed as a result of this review to the West Dunbartonshire Tenants and Residents Organisation (WDTRO) and to tenants more broadly and get their views and feedback in advance of the draft policy being finalised. Who was invited to get involved? All current WDC tenants were invited to participate and provide their views. Specific engagement with the WDTRO was also part of the consultation process and the views of the West Dunbartonshire Equality Forum were also sought. Methods used to invite and promote tenants to get involved? We developed a short survey made up of 6 questions seeking the views of tenants on how important key aspects of the repairs service are to them. The survey opened and was published on the Council’s website on 12 June 2024. A text message or email was sent to those tenants we had these contact details for with a link to complete the survey. The survey was also promoted via the Tenant Participation Facebook page, the West Dunbartonshire Tenant and Residents Organisation (WDTRO) and individual Tenant and Residents Associations (TRA’s). The consultation was highlighted to the WDTRO at the WDC/WDTRO Liaison meeting in June 2024. Following a revised policy being drafted by Council officers and based on tenant feedback, a briefing note was ITEM 13 - APPENDIX 3
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2 provided in advance of the WDC/WDTRO liaison meeting on 22 August 2024. The purpose of this briefing was twofold. Firstly to provide feedback in relation to the consultation exercise, outline how the content of the draft policy had been shaped by tenant feedback and inform the WDTRO of the key changes being proposed in terms of target timescales for certain categories of repairs. Secondly, the key asks of the WDTRO were to comment on the content of the draft policy and the changes being proposed and for the WDTRO members to read over the draft policy to ensure the wording was clear , tenant friendly and provide us with feedback. A follow-up discussion was held with council officers and the WDTRO and their Committee meeting on 12 September 2024. A further survey was also posted on the Council’s website, inviting tenants more broadly to provide their views on the draft policy and the views of the West Dunbartonshire Equality Forum were also sought. Who took part? Just over 1000 individual responses were received, representing around 10% of all council tenants. There was also on-going engagement with the WDTRO throughout the consultation process. What good practice or minimum standards can you evidence as part of your consultation? A key element of good practice was to seek tenant views right at the start of the process and fully take these into account as the policy was being reviewed and updated. A variety of advertising methods were used to highlight and promote the different elements of the consultation which ran from 12 June 2024 to 27 September 2024. Outcome of the consultation? The key feedback from tenants via the consultation is outlined below: How important are the various ways they are available to report a repair?
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3 90.2% 56.4% 44.7% by phone by email via the online Repairs Reporting Form 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Feedback showed that being able to report a repair by phone is by far the most important to tenants, with 90.2% of those responding saying this was very or fairly important to them. How important to you is it that there are target timescales to carry out different types of repairs? 84.9% 7.7% 5.4%0.8% 1.2% Very important Fairly important Important Slightly important Feedback showed that 92.6% of the tenants responding said that target timescales for repairs to be completed was very or fairly important to them.
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4 How important to you is it that a repair is carried out within these target timescales? 85.1% 8.1% 5.3%0.6% 0.8% Very important Fairly important Important Slightly important Feedback showed that 93.2% of the tenants responding said that it was very or fairly important to them that repairs are carried out within agreed target timescales. How important to you is it that a repair appointment is agreed within these target timescales? 85.4% 7.8% 5.4% 0.5% 0.9% Very important Fairly important Important Slightly important Not at all important Feedback showed that 93.2% of the tenants responding said that it was very or fairly important to them that a repair appointment is agreed with them within the target timescales.
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5 How important to you is it that the repair is carried out at the agreed appointment time? 86.1% 8.3% 4.4%0.5% 0.7% Very important Fairly important Important Slightly important Feedback showed that 94.4% of the tenants responding said that it was very or fairly important to them that a repair is carried out at the agreed appointment time. How important to you is it that the repair is explained when completed. 69.6% 14.3% 12.2% 1.8% 2.1% Very important Fairly important Important Slightly important Feedback showed that 83.9% of the tenants responding said that it was very or fairly important to them that a repair is carried out at the agreed appointment time.
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6 WDTRO members were supportive of the proposed changes being made in relation to target timescales for repairs, specifically of the proposal to reduce target timescales for Urgent Repairs from 10 days to 5 days. WDTRO members read the draft policy and the feedback received was that the wording was clear, tenant friendly and easy to understand. The WDTRO were also asked to provide their views on the definition of complex repairs. The need for such a definition was identified during the review process. It refers to instances where we recognise it will be challenging to complete a repair within a defined timescale. Whilst this is pre-dominantly an operational issue and not specifically referred to in the Repairs Policy, good practice would be to discuss any such definition with tenants. Feedback from the WDTRO was that the definition was sensible and that they would be supportive of this definition being adopted and for tenants to be advised when any reported repair was being characterized as being complex. This definition will be included in future staff guidance as part of the process of implementing the revise policy. The feedback received via second survey was limited and more mixed. Only 72 responses were received but as the survey was asking for views on the draft policy as opposed to what elements of the service are the most important, participants would have to have read the policy to fully participate. At this stage of the process the views of the West Dunbartonshire Equality Forum were also sought. How did the consultation influence decision making? This consultation feedback was key to informing the review which was undertaken and to the development of a draft Responsive Repairs Policy. The feedback was key to ensuring that the draft policy: Delivers an enhanced level of service tenants can expect around repair appointments and improved communication via text and email. Retains target timescales for all categories of repairs. Provides clearer definitions of our different repairs categories with additional examples, so that they are easier to understand Provides clear information around the type of repairs the Council is responsible for and the repairs that tenants are responsible for. Provides clarity that repair target times begin when a repair is reported.
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7 Following feedback from the second stages of the survey, some improvements were made to the wording used in the policy document. Tenants will also have an opportunity at the Pre- HACC Forum to add any final comments on the draft Repairs Policy and these will be conveyed to the Committee by the Housing Convener. Are you able to demonstrate this? Yes through the survey results and content of the draft policy. How was feedback about the consultation and final decision given? Feedback was provided to tenants via the summer edition of Housing News. Our thanks was communicated to those that had participated and a commitment given that the feedback provided would be used to help inform the revised policy. Further feedback was provided in the autumn edition of the Housing News which provided detail of the numbers that had participated, broadly outlined the feedback that had been received and how this would shape the revised policy. Following the meeting of the Housing and Community Committee meeting on 20th November 2024 we will highlight the outcome of the consultation and subsequent policy changes to tenants in a Housing News article, update the Council’s website and send tenants and text or emailing with a link to further increase awareness. Was the eight week timescale observed? Yes Was equal opportunities information collected? Yes Did you check with participants that they were happy with the opportunities given to make their views known and that they felt that we listened and acted upon them? This was done directly with the WDTRO who provided positive feedback. This was not done directly with the wider number of tenants that participated but feedback was provided via the Housing News with the message that tenant opinion would shape the content of the revised policy. The fact that the response rate in the consultation was so high, provides credible insight into the views of tenants. What worked well, what didn’t work well – or any other comments you have. The first stage of the consultation worked particularly well with high numbers of tenants participating and providing their views. Using the QL Housing Management System to send emails or texts to tenants we have up to date contact details helped promote the consultation and resulted in a high response rate and also meant that tenants not already involved in participation provided their views. The feedback received
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8 was key to the development of the draft policy and ensuring that it delivers in terms of tenant priorities. There was less participation at the second stage of the consultation but this was expected to an extent, as it was asking for feedback on the draft policy that had been developed and it was recognized that in order to fully participate and provide feedback at this stage, would require a higher level of time commitment.