Agenda item

To present the report of External Audit.

The report of External Audit on the outcome of its review of Anglesey’s Council House tenants’ experiences in relation to the delivery of the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

Mr Gwilym Bury, Wales Audit Office reported on the main issues as follows –

•           In 2017/8, the Wales Audit Office completed work to understand the “service user perspective” at every Council within Wales. A broadly similar approach was followed at each council, although the specific focus and approach to the work was agreed with each council individually. In the Isle of Anglesey County Council, the Housing Service was reviewed and in particular, tenants’ engagement with and degree of choice experienced in delivering the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) and their view on the quality of the service they receive from the Council.

•           That for the purpose of the review, the auditors spoke to a sample of 119 tenants via a doorstep survey. Although it was not possible to talk to everyone, engaging with a sample of service users helped gain a better understanding of their perspective. In addition, a focus group with the Môn Tenants and Officers Voice Group was held and most of the Council’s housing estates were visited.

•           Overall the review found that most of the Council tenants who the auditors spoke to were satisfied with the quality of the service, but they were less involved in service design than they have been, and the Council has not always evaluated the impact of changes to the service. This conclusion was reached because –

•           Before 2015, the Council effectively involved tenants in service design on WHQS, but tenant involvement has declined since.

•           Most Council tenants are satisfied with the quality of the service although 37% of the tenants felt they had problems with damp and condensation in their home. The Wales Audit Office has conducted a similar survey in the last 12 months at all 11 councils in Wales which retained their housing stock and this is one of the highest recorded percentages of tenant reporting problems with damp and condensation in their homes.

•           Tenants can access the services they need but the Council has not always evaluated changes it has made to access models and service standards for sheltered housing. Many of the sheltered housing tenants whom the auditors spoke to said that they value the housing service and are happy in their homes. However, they feel that although they are informed of changes, the level of service has declined and their views are not always listened to. The tenants approached regretted the withdrawal of the dedicated site-based warden service and some felt lonely and isolated as a result. At two schemes visited, the arrangements for the fire-alarm service in which wardens used to play a role in checking and resetting alarms is a concern to some tenants. The auditors were told that alarms are sometimes taking over an hour to be reset by some external contractors and their concerns were not being addressed.

•           That as a result of the review findings, the following proposals for improvement have been made –

•           The Council should work with tenants to review its approach to assisting people experiencing problems with condensation and damp, and

•           The Council should work with tenants to review the long-term impact of ending the resident warden service from its sheltered housing schemes.

The Head of Housing Services said that the Service is working to maintain the Welsh Housing Quality Standard which it met in 2012. One of the areas which the service is working on is the information held in relation to acceptable fails i.e. dwellings where an individual element(s) of the WHQS has for specific allowable reasons not been achieved but are otherwise compliant. Currently, the Service is carrying out inspections on those dwellings and its focus has been on reducing the number of acceptable fails amongst its housing stock. It is the Service’s intention next year to conduct a complete stock condition survey so that it can gain a better understanding of any areas where it needs to focus attention. With regard to the number of tenants who were concerned about damp in their homes, 37% of the 119 tenants spoken to is not an especially high number and reduces the issue to around 40 tenants. Lifestyle factors e.g. tenants not heating their homes or not opening windows to ventilate their homes are a consideration as is educating tenants on how to deal with the issue and remediate the problem and these are high on the Service’s agenda. In the worst cases the Service can install specialist dehumidifying units to eliminate dampness. However, the number of complaints about dampness is not particularly high in the context of the complaints the Service receives.

The Committee considered the information presented and made points as follows –

•           The Committee noted that the External Audit report recognises that the Council’s WHQS programme has successfully raised housing quality and that the WAO’s survey with tenants shows that people are generally very satisfied with the quality of the housing service; that they value the housing service highly and that many commented on the high level of customer service provided by most housing staff.

•           The Committee noted that 37% of tenants had raised concerns about problems with damp and condensation in their homes. The Committee noted also that this is a complex issue with multiple causes; and it further noted that the External Audit report accepts that the Council is reviewing its process for investigating reports of damp and condensation and intends that in future surveyors will gather more information on damp in homes and raise awareness on how to avoid and eliminate condensation via a number of channels which the Service deploys to engage with its tenants. This approach is confirmed by the Head of Housing Services.

•           The Committee noted and was concerned by the comments made by many of the Council’s sheltered housing tenants about feeling lonely and isolated following the withdrawal of the dedicated site based warden service. The Committee was particularly concerned by the arrangements for the fire-alarm service at the two sheltered housing schemes visited because of the potential risks arising from the delay in re-setting alarms now that this task is undertaken by external contractors where previously it was part of the warden’s role.

The Committee emphasised the importance of the Council’s sheltered housing schemes as a component of its preventative agenda whereby older people who might otherwise have to enter residential care are given appropriate support to live independently. The Committee highlighted that for sheltered housing schemes to be effective, standards of service need to be maintained. The Committee endorsed the External Audit proposal that the long-term impact of the ending of the warden service should be assessed and it recommended that the Housing Service conduct a post-implementation review of the withdrawal of the dedicated site based warden service at its sheltered housing schemes.

The Head of Housing Services said that the warden service has to all effects been externalised with mobile support being commissioned through the Supporting People Programme; this was one of the decisions made by the Council in withdrawing its dedicated warden service. There is therefore a mobile service available to individuals who require support but this provision extends beyond the Council’s tenants and is available to property owners and private sector renters and is centred on individual needs rather than on a housing scheme.

It was resolved to accept the External Audit report on the Service User Perspective in relation to the WHQS at the Isle of Anglesey County Council and to note its contents.

ADDITIONAL ACTION PROPOSED – The Housing Service to conduct a post-implementation review of the withdrawal of the dedicated site-based warden service at its sheltered housing schemes.