Ashford Borough Council set to take social housing repairs service in house providing tenants with an improved service

Taking the repairs service for its 5,000-plus housing stock in house has the potential to save a considerable amount of money and provide tenants with an improved and more efficient service, Ashford Borough Council’s Cabinet heard during a meeting in July.

The provision of a day-to-day responsive repairs service is currently outsourced by the council to a main contractor Equans. It has given notice to terminate the contract and this will end on 30 November 2023, councillors were told.

Among the options to continue providing a repairs service to the council’s 5,000-plus tenants is the recommended choice of taking the service in house within the Housing department.

The council provides housing to around 5,000 tenants and is obliged to ensure that the stock is kept in good order to meet the Decent Homes Standard and comply with landlords’ repairing obligations. A new arrangement must be in place by the end of November 2023 at the latest to create a seamless transition while providing a fully functioning repairs service.

The contract arrangements with Equans as the prime contractor is costing the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) £3.3m a year and Cabinet was told it’s anticipated that the in house provision can be delivered within the existing budget framework.

Officers have consulted the Housing Quality Network (HQN) to assist in reviewing the options available and HQN has identified that by bringing the service in house, a saving in the region of £500,000 a year is likely, as well as achieving a significant increase in satisfaction levels based on sector-wide experience.

The work with HQN suggests that the current contracted provision in Ashford is a relatively expensive service compared to the best performing landlords. There is room to improve performance and the council would have more control over this with an in house repairs operation. HQN also say there may be economies from utilising more modern approaches in terms of operating practice and stock control.

Further work is required to verify the full extent of such savings. Bringing the services in house will result in costs for staffing, a fleet of vehicles and a suite of IT requirements, including hardware and software and associated infrastructure.

Councillors agreed with the recommendations that the responsive repairs service becomes an in house operation and that a cross party member task and finish group is set up to oversee the work. The Chief Executive is delegated, in consultation with the Leader and relevant Portfolio Holders, to make a final decision on proceeding.

A full business case will be developed to support the transfer, while work will be done to consider transferring existing Equans staff into the new council in house repairs team. A more detailed report will be presented to Cabinet in the autumn.

Cllr Bill Barrett, Portfolio Holder for Homes and Homelessness, said: “Time is of the essence and we need to move quickly over the summer and into the autumn to have not only something in place but something of quality that will improve the service that we deliver to what are some of Ashford’s most vulnerable residents.

“I fully endorse this report and propose that the council moves forward with in-sourcing this contract. I support the ideas of a cross-party working group with shadow portfolio holders involved. It is essential that we absorb ideas from all stakeholders and learn from the experience of others who have taken this journey.

“We will be bold, embed customer satisfaction and environmental considerations at the heart of this work and take whatever steps are necessary to establish a fresh start.”