Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee - Monday 9 March 2026, 4:30pm - Tower Hamlets Council webcasts

Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee
Monday, 9th March 2026 at 4:30pm 

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  1. Webcast Finished

Good evening. Sorry, good afternoon. Sorry, all the meetings easily happened in the evening,
so good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to the final housing
regenerations subcommittee meetings in this municipal year.
My name is Amadur Khan and I'll be chairing this meeting.
This meeting will be filmed for council website
or public viewing.
Those who are at the meetings, they will be in the footage.
If a technical Arab prevent online attendees
participating in the meetings, I'll take the decision
how to proceed the meeting after taking advice
from the officers.
Members, when you speak, speak in my direction.
Ensure that your microphones are close to the microphones,
clear into the microphones so that we in the meeting can hear you.
There is a courtesy please, have your mobile phone silent.
Online, can you keep your microphone on mute except when you are speaking?
Asima do we have any apologies
Yes, sure, we have apologies from councillor I'm in woman and councillor equal who say substitute
Thank you before before
Sorry chair, we've also had apologies from the lead member and the corporate director
Thank you before we go to the main meetings
I want to inform our members, speakers that we will be adjourned this meeting at 5 .55
so that we can open break our first and the evening prayers. We will be allowing 30 minutes
for this and so I expect the meeting at 6 .25 until conclusions.
Can I go around and ask committee members to introduce yourself and declare, do you
have any DPI and if any please indicate which aspect the interest related. State whether
the interest is a personal judiciary or nature. Provide the explanation of its declarations.
for the
Can I remind the
members that the guidance noted
declaration of interest including the
page 788 agenda pack.
If you are in
doubt, please refer this guidance.
Thank you,
chair.
Good afternoon, my name is
Councillor Ahmadul Kabir.
I'm representing
Bethnalgate East.
What?
I'm Councillor Asma Islam for Weaver's Ward and I do not have any DPI's.
Good afternoon Chair, good afternoon everyone. This is Councillor Iqbal Hussain representing
Llanthorpe Ward and I have no DPI in particular.
I am Susanna, I am actually a resident co -opty here on this building.
Online can you do it yourself please?
Hi, good afternoon. Is Councillor Mohamed Chadri, my landward, nothing to declare?
I am Mahbub Anam, I am tenant co -opty, nothing to declare.
Thank you. The minutes from the last meeting, 13 January, have been circulated. Can the
committee members confirm this as a true and accurate record?
Okay. Action logs. We have received a response and set out in the action logs.
Can I thank the officers and partners, stakeholders for their prompt response to the committee queries.
We have taken board on committees from the last meeting.
Along with Mahbub and Susana attend the visit, the quantitative centre,
I want to thank the officers for organising this.
I have found it insightful, but I am going to give Mahbub and Susana a minute each to give the reflection on this.
So, who are you? Let's start first.
So then you start first.
A few of us visited the contact centre, which is actually located in this building.
We definitely see a lot of calls being logged every day.
So it is quite resource intensive for those handling the calls.
My reflection is, personally I am a resident so I make calls as well about repairs, etc.
I noticed comparing to previous years there is an improvement.
Certainly, I think when I was there, I witnessed that there was like a 17 minutes call waiting time.
So I think in the past some of us during COVID was extreme, I believe like an hour or two hours.
So I see a slight improvement on it, which is good.
I also understand from the current switch from the policy that they will be putting more resources in the contact centre.
So I guess it's better for the residents that we have more people answering the phone and there's more training and there's more kind of help given to the call handlers.
So I guess it's a work in progress. I think some of us would find...
I will just summarise that some of us will still find that we sometimes have to wait a long time, especially during winter when there are lots of issues with everything like heat or cold etc.
But we look forward to more improvements as we go along. That's my reflection.
Thank you.
You have reflections on that?
Yeah, hi. So thank you. Yeah, I also visited with the chair. I think, from my perspective,
I think the first thing is, just thank you staff for arranging it, especially if you look,
I think the wires got crossed a bit. And for whatever reason, at the call centre, and it
wasn't anticipated that we were coming. So I think that would have been a bit useful, I think, to have
to be aware of us coming and so we could be, you know, adequately, we could take in.
From my perspective, I think I tried to understand what the process is, how staff respond, what the
waiting times are. I think there are also some challenges around taking telephone calls versus
online responses in terms of responding to residents, what the blockages are. There are
also threshold for the value of job that are raised by the customer centre staff. So for
example I think it was like £300 in terms of large ticket items for example if it's
spoilers, windows and so on those things are you know there's an approval process in terms
of there are challenges around contractor delays, how jobs are prioritised.
Abub, your time is up. Five seconds.
Okay, five seconds. I think we also need some training on staff and their mental wellbeing
in terms of some of the challenges they face responding to calls from some of the residents
who are sometimes angry.
Thank you, Muthakum Abus.
As I agreed at the last meeting to discuss the housing self -referral, between the last
meeting and today meeting, members were provided a brief note on the timelines for the self -referees
which provided transparency for the timeline of the self -referees.
Do have the both committee members, sorry they are not here.
In attendance for us with some details, I want to make it clear that it won't, I don't
We want to overrun our time today.
Even many of the members are observing Ramadan
and we want to manage energy level and time efficiently.
So we have a busy agenda.
Do members have any wish to comment or may ask the question on this?
A while back, a while back, Councillor, it was circulated.
A while back, as soon as the meeting was up.
I'll have a look on the email just now and I'll give you the date.
It was what we received before, straight after the last meeting.
Yeah, there was a briefing.
It was a really short meeting.
Yeah, time -lapse.
Just to be really clear, Chair, are we saying now that that's all we're going to do?
is just written piece as suffice to what was requested in this committee before?
Yes, it was provided but if you are not...
I got confused, so we did receive it, so are you saying this is all we are going to get,
is a written piece and nothing else?
If you have any queries on that you can ask any question you want.
That's very kind of you, thank you. My question is, I'll be a bit more clear, so there's no discussion in this committee whatsoever, yeah?
That's your ruling, that you're not going to have a discussion on this matter in this committee, it's just a written piece of briefing and that's it.
And we can give questions, submit questions, but there is no discussion, yeah?
That briefing would have what was requested for. I have nothing to add on that one.
The Chair is not here today and the Corporate Director is not here today.
I'm asking you, are you content as the Chair of this Committee not to have a discussion on this subject
when this Committee requested it? Are you satisfied with just the written briefing and that's it?
I'm happy to move on, I just need you to say that you're satisfied as chair that this has happened.
I'm kind of happy with the briefing. If you have any questions you can ask.
Ask a question to who? They're not here today.
Yes, after the jury they are not here.
The deputy choice and committee member is not there.
They have sent their apologies.
Karen will be able to answer your question if you want to ask something.
Okay, thank you. So they have no questions.
Okay.
Our first subset item this evening is spotlight residence engagement in sanctuary housing.
I remember that there were external guests, but on a board point I can remind all the
guests that the papers should be received in timely fashion. So to allow the committee
members to have sufficient time to review the papers, can I now, if I can encourage
All the stakeholders ensure that all the papers are received by the date requested.
And it is difficult for the committees to prepare for the time to prepare themselves.
And if the paper is late, they will not be able to prepare themselves.
So my request is to please provide the paper on time.
So for this time, for this item, can I now welcome Mark Wogan, Jackie King, Elena Gaven and Bijal Mehdad.
We also have three guests in attending from the sanctuary housing and he would like to welcome.
Welcome to this meeting.
And of course we have our director,
and director for strategic policy, regulatory assurance.
Also I welcome gentleman in the wheelchair.
He went to come to this meeting.
He was also one of the resident of sanctuary housing.
and he sent his question, I asked him to send his question by what sort he did,
but he did want to come in person to see how the meeting goes.
Thank you very much for your coming. I am grateful you came today.
We have provided sanctuary with brief, so we will allow five to seven minutes
for you to provide us with our views.
Please take the paper as read
and we'll then hear from the residents.
Again, I will have them five minutes to speak.
Then I'll move on to the discussions,
questions from the committee.
So you may start,
Sancho, you may start when you are ready.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Chair,
and thank you for the introduction.
My name's Mark Bourne.
I'm the Interim Regional Director for London for Sanctuary.
And I've been joined by three of my colleagues.
First thing I want to say was thank you
for the opportunity to come here today.
We provided the committee with some repairs information,
which I hopefully you've digested.
I'm sure you've got some questions for us. What I would say is that across Tower
Hamlets we continue to manage a high volume of repairs and we have a strong
focus on keeping our customers safe and responding quickly. Performance remains
is broadly stable, however, we do recognise
there are ongoing issues around communication
on some follow works and on no access cases.

4 a) SPOTLIGHT: RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT - SANCTUARY HOUSING

We remain committed to improving these areas,
particularly around lifts in partnership
with our residents and with all the teams across sanctuary.
And I don't know if you wanted to say something
around the repairs information.
Thank you.
I just wanted to highlight in terms of our delivery model,
if you notice from the paper,
we do deliver some of our repairs internally
We have a direct DLO team and some we deliver externally using various contractors.
Our performance is as highlighted in the paper for internal and external delivery and we
have a couple of initiatives that we are pushing forward in order to continue to improve that,
including looking at how we can introduce a little bit of flexibility where we're getting
no accesses and how we can extend our offering perhaps into the weekend.
and so that is something that we are proactively acting on.
Thank you.
And then I'll just finally say
is we don't get it right every time.
I'm keen to, as an interim and I guess new to sanctuary
and new to working with local councillors,
to, I would like to extend to you all
opportunity to meet with you in your wards when you want to.
So happy to do that.
Obviously, we can share my details and do that.
So I'll be keen to hear from you individually
over the course of the coming weeks and months.
But as I said before, we recognise that at times our customers have got frustrated.
We listen to residents, we look at our complaints, we are learning from those and we have clear
actions underway to fix the issues that I've talked about earlier.
We know where the service needs to improve and we are actively addressing it.
Thank you.
Anybody else want to hear anything on that report?
No?
Okay.
I'll ask the residents on the resident.
I will allow five minutes.
So there is three residents will be here.
So I will allow six minutes.
No, no, no.
So who is going to start first?
Makani, you are going to start first?
Okay. Zainab or Momotas, you start first.
Introduce yourself, yeah?
Hi, my name is Zainab.
Thank you for inviting us to the meeting today.
I'd say for us there's quite a few issues that we wanted to sort of talk about today.
I'll start with the first one, it's regarding the hot water and heating in our building.
Obviously we have a communal boiler that I shared across four buildings, and we've had this issue now since 2020.
and I can understand obviously at that time SWAN was the one responsible, but since sanctuary has taken over
the issue still remains
we still have
you know occasions where we have no hot water and heating. This is particularly difficult during winter times as you can understand
so we're just really concerned about this ongoing issue that has been raised I think in 2024 by two senior
management and it hasn't really resolved.
So we would like to get some information as to what the issue is.
Linked with that as well, the hot water heating was changed over from a system where we were paying on a weekly charge in 2018.
As residents we've raised this issue again to Swan, we've wrote several petitions, we've raised this in meetings.
Nothing has sort of been resolved following that. Again when Sanctuary took over we've raised to obviously some of the staff have continued on.
We've raised this issue again with them and there's no resolution.
To us it doesn't make really sense why we are being charged, whether it's winter or summer,
a similar amount, whether it's someone that lives by themselves or if it's a household of like five to seven people,
we're still getting charged the same amount.
We've asked as well if someone could show us where the metre is and no one has done that.
We don't know where this billing is coming from, the amount is coming from.
It's absurd that during the times where we've had no hot water and heating for approximately five weeks in a row,
that we would still be charged.
So I don't know where this amount is coming from and we would really be interested to find out.
Do you want to add anything?
Hi, my name is Mumtaz Bakiam. I'm one of the residents of the South Block.
and so Zainab said the hot water issue, so I'm not going to repeat myself again.
So my concern is with the lightning.
So on the top floor we have no lightning, so basically it went all blank,
and it's been having the same issues, it's been quite a while now.
One of my neighbours, she couldn't come, so she told me to say it,
and also the lift issues, lift and the back gate.
Back gate, somebody actually parks there, and then it's actually parking,
Park front or back gate where residents go in and out, but we can't get out because of the people
Park their cars and the communal area so we've raised that issue as well so again. I have to do it so many times and
Nothing has happened
Thank you very much
Sorry, I just drafted this now. Sorry, I didn't prepare for this. I was not well today.
But my name is Jakob Kiani. I might be Mohammed Kiani on the systems. I live at flat 112.
Yeah, sorry. I live at flat 112, 99 Blackhall Way.
We've had, I've tried to be as quick as possible. We've had many issues with the lift.
And especially in the summer, the lift keeps going out. If it's not buttons, it's another issue.
So as you can imagine, people that don't walk, like my neighbour who's in a wheelchair,
and other people, like my wife's got carpal tunnel, and anyone else that suffers,
when you're trying to take groceries up, it's really difficult.
The other thing was, I've made untold amount of complaints.
They're not going anywhere with the ombudsman as well, I just feel like I'm a dog chasing its tail.
And my rent keeps going up significantly, like one year is £80, the next year is £60, last year is £20.
And I think during the cost of living crisis, and now with this war in Iran, and obviously energy bills are expected to go down on the 1st of April, I don't know if that's going to happen.
Yeah, make a case for all of the 99, personal, money.
I'm worried about money and financially and everything.
Thank you.
Thank you Mark and Jackie also.
Mabutaz, Zainab and Yaqub for coming here
and for your brief and your summarizations.
Do members have any questions?
I'll take one at a time, please.
Ask Maislin your question, please.
Thank you, Cesar. I've written it down before I came today because I'm fasting and I just don't want to lose track of my questions.
So, can you tell us whether Sanctuary accepts that its current lift repair service contract is not actually fit for purpose?
and if you do accept, can you explain how these systematic failures across a range of blocks and estates,
across all the range of blocks and estates in Tahemes, and we've kind of got that sense from residents here today as well.
If you do accept that there is a systematic problem, is it because of sanctuary's own management of its lift servicing contract
or the contractors that you're using right now, and what action is being taken to resolve
this unacceptable situation.
Can you explain why sanctuary doesn't automatically also compensate all residents in those blocks
where lift is out of service, both of the loss of this key amenity and also not refunding
on service charges because of this?
and then there's a link as well to the way that the formal complaint process works for sanctuary.
So those are my three questions on lifts. If I can also just tap into two other things.
You might also have seen, be aware of allegations of serious anti -social behaviour,
drug dealing and sexual assault in one of the sanctuary blocks on Campbell Road
raised by one of my colleagues last week.
can you urgently respond and update tenants and the actions that Sanctuary is taking to make them safe?
I think there's two folds here, there's how the residents are being engaged and the response and the transparency and openness.
If you support councillors, members that raise this on behalf of their constituents,
they can better inform and better support as well as looking at you for the actions that needed to
remedy the problem. And lastly, if I can ask you, this is very, very important.
In 2023, your colleagues came to this committee to explain how they were learning lessons from
mishandling of the fire, safety, and remediation works at Polydamos closing boat.
Are you aware that after 18 months later your contract still hasn't completed those works?
And if so, can you explain why these remains outstanding for so long after the works have actually begun?
Asma, can you respond please?
Yes, so if I can begin with the lifts, which I know has been, created a lot of stress for residents over the last couple of years.
So following, as I explain it, and this applies also to our Blackwall residents as well.
So following handover of the Swan Homes into Sanctuary, Sanctuary identified a high number of repairs.
We reviewed the data and we have over the past 12 months developed a programme of major remedial works to improve reliability.
That programme has taken quite a bit of time to put together.
It involves a number of stages.
So every building with a lift has been visited by a consultant.
That consultant has come back with a dilapidation report.
and based on the dilapidation report, we will put together a programme of works if that
particular lift needs one. If it does need works and if we have lease holders then we
have to go through Section 20 consultation and then obviously we then go through the
process of bringing contractors in to come on site and do the work and then hand over
the work to us.
All lifts that are owned by Sanctuary,
that are in Tower Hamlets, have had a dilapidation report now.
All lifts are now on a regular service plan
when they weren't previously.
We brought in a new contractor, Rona Lifts, as well.
And where the dilapidation survey has said we need to do further works, we are in the
process of planning for those works.
Actually on some schemes, some of those works have already been completed.
Since we've started that programme, the number of repairs for our lists, and this is over
the last year, has reduced in volume by about 50%.
But we've still got a lot of work to do.
As I said, there are lifts that do need to be placed, or there are major overhaul programmes
that are required.
And where we're doing that, as I said, we're putting together schedule of works, bringing
contractors in, planning the work, and then getting that work carried out.
So on the other couple of questions, Jackie, do you want to deal with those particular cases?
Sure. Hi Zeena and hi. Nice to meet you. I know that we met, didn't we, at the block when we came out in January.
In terms of the hot water and heating, I know that when we spoke before you had some issues
and we were going to get someone out to come and meet with you individually and show you
how it worked. Did that all get sorted out? No, okay. And we also agreed to have like
a drop -in service if you like so people would go with individual billing issues or concerns
to go and ask any questions. Did we get that? I believe that happened, didn't it? It did,
yeah. The questions you had. Okay, alright, maybe we can pick those up outside.
But certainly with regards to showing you how to use the heating and hot water we can
surely do that.
But I do know that colleagues were going to meet with you to talk you through your...
But in relation to the other issues around light, no lighting, obviously we need to pick
that up urgently in the parking.
I know that there's been some new signage put up, hasn't there, outside just where
the parking issue is.
So if that continues to be an issue, we'll need to pick up the big car parking enforcement team
So if you have any details of that, then we'll certainly pick that for you. I think she's also mentioned that the gate
Gate back is not secure
There are times that me and my with the kids we've actually hurt our hand
It's really really heavy and it's always open. So we have outside a resident coming dog with dogs in our communal area
He's adjusting
Is still waiting for another question to answer then we can go to the residents so answer the counsellor question, please
Yes, and polydermal is closed, the safety works.
Yeah, which is, yeah.
It's the polydermal is closed that I was talking about when you've mishandled
the remediation works for fire safety, yep.
And Campbell Road is the really severe ASB.
With regards to the Campbell Road,
we have very recently been made aware of that.
And we are aware that some people have accessed
the building through an insecure door,
which we have addressed,
because they've been getting into the building
through another block.
So we've urgently got some technicians out there
to make sure that that's reprogrammed so that will stop anyone getting access into the block
that doesn't live there.
We've also had a walkabout with the police, with park guard or our community safety officers,
our own estate services team and we've also reached out to Talhamlet's Drug and ASB team
to get some additional patrols there.
So we are aware that we believe it links to one particular address and we are working around that.
Obviously we can't disclose all the information here, rather than give you the assurance that it has been brought to our attention.
We are giving it the due concern and taking the appropriate action.
And then on the building safety, I'm not aware of that particular case, so what I will do
is submit a written response to you if that is okay.
I guess it's going to have to be, but it is something that was raised 18 months ago when
I would have thought you would have understood
that we would have follow -up questions.
Fair enough.
If you are not prepared, I would like to see
a response on that.
I will write to you myself with all the questions
I have asked you today, please.
Any response should be given to the officers
and they will share with the councillors.
Are you patiently waiting online?
Your colleagues are waiting for you.
question please. Thank you chair. First of all I would like to know what's the
stock size how many properties they manage entire templates I think that
would be easy to show you know the analyse the performance and after that
I would like to know what is so much difference between internal and external
performance and it is very apparent and very clear that there's a huge difference of performance
between internal and external and what is being done or what have you been done to manage
that.
Another, you know, I don't have any, you know, in my land I don't know any stock managed
by sanctuary but when I spoke to colleagues and then the one feedback I found from everyone
what is the response when any, even the Councillor's response, when Councillor sends members inquiries,
the response are very slow and with the residents' communication, they didn't get any reply.
Many occasions they didn't get any reply at all. So what are you doing to improve on that?
Thank you, Councillor, for your question. I'm reminding all the colleagues, please, when you ask a question, ask a question brief so the other can, more questions can be asked to the officers and they will reply it, Inshallah.
So, can you reply that question, please?
I'll just ask one of your questions. We have 1700 social housing in Tower Hamlets,
which are the legacy swan properties that are managed by sanctuary.
Good afternoon everyone, my name is Richard.
In regards to contractor performance internal and external, there is a large difference.
The external contractors handle many of the specialist elements that we don't do in -house,
whether that is mechanical engineering for example,
lift, you'll be fully aware, is a completely specialist task.
We don't employ lift engineers.
And as a result of this, some of the response times
that we expect them to work to are much quicker.
So for a lift, it might be four hours, it might be 24 hours.
An internal team, an emergency would be 24 hours.
Therefore, when you look at what looks like more failures,
it's because we hold the external contractors
to a higher grade and a faster turnaround when we send orders out to them.
Thank you.
In answer to your question about the communication to residents, obviously we have dedicated
dedicated complaints teams who respond to some of our complaints. However, from a local
perspective, the local housing teams will feed into that to provide the information.
We're sorry to hear that you haven't been having responses as quickly as you might like.
We do obviously have SLAs to respond to, but that aside, we are committed to giving residents
a full response to their inquiries and sometimes we recognise that might take a little longer,
But if that is the case, then we should always be advising them that it will take longer
and why, and providing the full update.
We do have a dedicated MP and Councillor's inquiry in box for yourselves, which is monitored
on a daily basis.
So if you have any further queries about any specific cases, then please do contact us
and we will provide you with an update.
Thank you.
One question from me, the gentleman on the wheelchair, he wrote a question to ask the sanctuary.
It is regarding 99 Black Hole Way. February 24, 2025, Lift in the Block, the letter says that
They say that lift heads need to be replaced and new lift should be put up.
And since then there is no communication.
And what Sanxir is going to do about no communications?
So is there any issue, any news on that case?
Chair, on that particular lift I don't have any specific update.
I mean my previous answer to my sort of statement around lifts and what we're doing with lifts
applies to that.
However I did meet the resident before we came into the meeting and I've said to him
that I will have a look at that for him
and I'm going to arrange to meet up with him
in the next couple of weeks.
Also, sorry, same question.
Also you said that you're going to consult
with the Liz Walter for their contributions
on the leaf fixing.
Have you done that one?
Again, I don't have any particular information
about that particular building, but where we do have lease holders and where we are
going to be carrying out lift repairs, we will have to do Section 20 consultation. I
will find out whether or not we have to do it on that block and also whether that has
happened yet.
How will those residents know that you are going to do something about it?
I will look into it in the next couple of days and I will get back to the resident.
I understand that the resident has worked previously on resident engagement for SWAN.
So I think I will talk to the resident about the best ways to engage with our residents
in that building in Blackwall.
.
We have written on issues we can share with
the residents.
Your question, please.
My question is pertaining to
the two ladies
who raised about
the heating charges
and why they are built
when there is
no heating.
Can I request for transparency
of how you are
calculating the rates
down to sharing
the metre readings,
etc.
If you can report back
to the officer
the chair, I think you need to also submit the timeline of when you're going to resolve
the lift to us. Thank you.
Yeah, we can do that.
Okay, thank you for your response. Councillor Iqbal, send your question, please.
Thank you, chair. I missed, chair, two questions, a question to our resident guest. Which block
Who are you from?
My question to your guest from sanctuary housing.
When you
appointed the contractor, I mean the energy provider, did you consult the
resident? Was the process, did you take, was it open process to employ those
providers?
My second part of this question I also would like to know, could you disclose the clause
you have with them in the event of failure of providing disruption of heating or hot
water?
How is there any clear clause in there?
How would they respond to the residents and mitigate this situation when there is no hot
or hitting loss.
Forgive me.
When it comes to existing agreements, if there's something in existence,
we will end up absorbing that agreement as it stands.
For new agreements that get put in place, we have a procurement department,
which we work with.
Lift procurement is on their timeline to look into as a sanctuary wide element.
The hot water and heating charges is not a detail that I have.
Sorry, I couldn't hear you properly, can you repeat your answer please?
What process did you take to employ a pointy or heating provider?
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah, so I think with this contract,
it would have come over with Swan.
So in terms of heating and hot water contractors
that sanctuary procure, we will do that through a procurement
team.
There will be some form of resident engagement.
As I said, this contract would have been procured by SWAN.
And I don't have that information
about whether they involved residents in that.
They may well have done.
In terms of what clauses there might be within the contract,
there will be performance clauses.
But again, I don't have that information as to exactly what those performance clauses
are and whether or not I can actually share them because there might be a commercial element
to that contract.
But I don't know until we actually have a look at it.
Yeah.
We will have a discussion on the
Thank you.
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you,
resident.
You show your concern.
I
would like to ask Mark basically.
You have many complaints about the two
sides of the repair.
It is emergency
repair and one non -emergency
repair.
Both of them are under
below target, which is an emergency
emergency repair is 95 % and non -emergency repair about 85%.
So I'm just asking first question is how essentially what you are doing to increase the percentage
of the repair and time.
And secondly, mould and damp, 292K has been completed and 31K found is significantly risk
and about 16 are complete and 15 are open.
So basically what are you guys doing to complete this kind of model
and depth related issue?
And also another question is like in terms of date and time,
and how long you guys ensure the data accuracy from external contractor
and we have given issue
within incorrect completion
times.
So three questions.
Please, can you answer that?
Thank you.
.
Good afternoon again.
Thanks for asking.
There are a number of
initiatives that we have
undertaken to improve
response times for all
customers across the
country.
We have been hiring
since the summer additional
operatives and engineers.
We have
undertaken a programme of
training with high -end apprentices.
We've also put together a new rapid action task force
or a minor works team, which we have put in use now.
Specifically for Damper Mould,
we have implemented a new framework contract
agreement on October the 1st.
So we have refreshed the external contractors
that we use across the country and in Tallahannock too.
We have reasserted SLAs and targets.
This week we are undertaking the beginnings of a soft audit, if you like, a reintroduction into their offices.
There are a number of our sanctuary colleagues visiting framework contractors this week across the country and travelling from across the country as well.
So when we look at these figures at the moment, we know that they are improving,
But they don't show themselves until the period is complete till we can report on the past and I can assure you they are absolutely
improving with
More equities faster response time and a keen Orion the external contractors that we use
And then on
damper mould significant risk and those open cases each each open case is tracked by a
and then we will have an internal team
and each one will have an action plan
and that will be followed
on a tracker until everything
has been actioned
and that case is closed.
Thank you.
As you mentioned
on your speech,
you figured out
the problem you have
, you know that problem
and
and how you are going to solve
this kind of problems and issues.
It is
quite
worrying because you know the problem
and what is the biggest challenge
you have at the moment
and how
are we going to come out with that?
I think
as Vishal spoke to earlier
and I have spoken
to earlier,
I think there are a number of different
differences
Silver bullet here. There's no one main thing. It's a combination of different things
Such as missed appointments for residents
Us not doing the first first time fix
Communication again has been an issue and then us getting the right contractor in to do
The work so I think they're all
areas which we've identified as weaknesses and where we are taking action.
Okay, my question to Zainab and Mautas about your hot water.
Is the issue like occur every time for every resident of your both block, south and north block?
Or just one of the resident have these issues? And what have sanctuary have said all these days about your solving these issues once for all?
No, we actually share a boiler across four buildings, so it's south, north, maple core and streamlight.
So it's quite a lot of residents that are affected when there's an issue with the boiler.
I think the last issue we had was on the 5th of March, where we had no hot water heating throughout the day.
It started I think around midnight. I can't really say, I mean in the past there was leakages
which caused us to have no hot water and heating for like I said five to six weeks at a time.
But there's still a crisis where we have no hot water and heating.
So I don't really know what the reasons that that happens.
So, we have had, particularly during wintertime, we have had no hot water, I think, for about
five weeks.
Most of wintertime we have that hot water.
It depends mostly on winter times.
Like when there is demand, there is a problem.
Because winter time, everybody needs heat up.
In relation to sanctuary, what have you done to minimise that, mitigate that issue and fix it once for all?
And what is your plan for that two buildings, please?
I guess, chair, that is something I need to go and investigate and talk to the internal teams
and talk to our internal heating and hot water teams.
I just want to apologise to you
for having to suffer that.
It's not good enough and we need to absolutely do better.
I would be very happy to come and talk to you
about that experience with you and the other residents.
But certainly I will take this back
and get some answers for you and understand why the heating and hot water system is continuing
and failing. We need to get a full solution for you and fix the problem once and for all.
So I am sorry that you've had to go through that.
Thank you Mark, because you just knew in this post, so you have to look into and consult with other colleagues.
So I'll be grateful if you give me the update on that one, also how you're going to fix it, resolve it.
I'll be grateful then I can share with the residents.
Yes, I will.
I am grateful.
Also to Makani, you said that is the rent raised just you or all the residents who face the rent raise, which you think is not acceptable?
There are two things. There is someone else in my block that lives in a one bed but they are paying 20 pounds less.
So I don't know if you guys need to review your rents, but we've got a WhatsApp group
and we've just been speaking.
But yeah, it's just, it feels like it's not sustainable.
Like I'm a housing officer myself, so I know like a lot of information.
Even for me, you know, me and my wife are both working.
When I was just, when I moved jobs because of my mental health and I was earning significantly
less, it was very, it was very difficult because I was the only person working.
Do you get what I'm saying?
And when I sent emails, complaints, complaints, complaints,
I just felt like I was getting ignored.
And yeah, it's just very, very bad service.
You want to respond to that?
We can look into your individual case, absolutely.
I would expect that the rents are set correctly.
They are audited.
We did. We set them against the government legislation and regulations.
Anybody else have any questions?
I have two questions on that report.
Why are there so many follow -on jobs in emergencies that have been done in improper first -time fix?
How can you ensure that 292 downgraded, dumped and mole cases are genuinely loraxed and not misclassified?
Would you mind to repeat the figures please?
Yes, please.
First one is that why are there so many follow -on jobs in emergencies?
And what's been done to improve the first time fix, please?
So, with the emergencies, the order sent to a contractor or internal staff is a make -safe.
So, the initial visit will always be a make -safe only, usually because it's on social hours.
So we wouldn't expect a complete fix.
The follow on would then be the actual job.
So if there was a leak, it would be to stop it leaking
or reduce the leak and then to return the next day
or within 24 hours to put it right.
So it will always look that way
because the emergency attendants is make safe.
It's not that the job is ignored
or incomplete on purpose.
So with that one as well, with the introduction of O 'Hare's law, we put together a dedicated
team separate from the call centre itself and what happened was there was a slight increase
in calls and that particular team with their training to err on the side of caution they
were classifying at a higher grade as a matter of course rather than working through their
scripts and their procedures. So in the initial let's say 6 to 8 weeks many of the cases were
then actually we found was the case when we physically visited or carried out a survey
or an inspection. That then resulted in retraining back to our apps team, retraining back to
our supervisors and visiting surveyors. So that reclassification is confirmation that
we are reviewing the information that comes back to us and then going back with training
to the people talking directly to customers and visiting their properties.
Thank you very much for coming and answering all these questions.
Also our thanks to our guests Zainab, Mautas and Makani for coming and also with your reports
and also answering these questions.
So we'll move on to the next item this afternoon.
So a guest from Sengri, once again thank you very much for coming
and answering all these questions.
Hopefully once we go to the new interim regional director,
we'll sort out these things for the ones for all.
We also have a peaceful residence, so you are free to go.
Thank you.
Thank you.
If you guys go, then we are going to be wasted.
So stay with us.
Stay five metres.
Okay, so we move on to our next item.
This afternoon I've been considering the Sport Light on Major work programme.
Can I now welcome our director?
Stephen Platt and Naima is online.
So you will have 5 to 7 minutes to give us a strategic overview.
Thank you very much, Chair.
I'm conscious of time here, and I'm presuming people have had a look at the presentation.
I think we're going to break in ten minutes, aren't we?
So, I'll go through the highlights in the next five minutes.
I'm conscious that we haven't got Councillor Islam here, but I'm also happy to...
Is she going to come back, or not?
The presentation that I'm delivering today is an update on our capital programme.
It really covers where we've got to by way of procuring a capital programme,
by way of undertaking our stock condition surveys.
What we're doing now by way of activity, what we're spending, what we're looking to do in the interim,
and also what we're looking to do in the slightly longer term, challenges, risks etc.
and what those next steps are. So I'll run through the...
I was feeding back then, I don't know quite why, maybe it was picking up.
Anyway, so we've got a summary of what our housing stock looks like, and we've broken
that down into different archetypes, mainly around the height of buildings, because that's
quite crucial when we're looking at the Building Safety Act, etc.
And also it picks out where our priority programmes can be most effective.
So we've got our stock, excuse me, which is around 20 ,000 properties, as we all know.
And then we've also broken down the condition by category,
and we're talking about decent homes on slide number four.
For some reason it keeps feeding back.
So we've broken down our stock,
and where our 26 % non -decency mainly sits.
Shall I use this one?
Swapping over, hopefully that's a bit better, thank you.
So what we're seeing is a lot of our non -decency is actually contained in our non -HRB blocks.
And HRB stands for Higher Risk Buildings.
All buildings have a risk, but if they're over 18 metres they have a higher risk.
So what that gives us is an opportunity to concentrate on a certain group of properties
that will help us improve our decent homes standard as quickly as possible.
So we've had no capital programme in place since the Better Neighbourhoods Framework
from the Tower Hamlets Homes.
So we are developing a new framework and we've got sign off to do a capital programme.
We're also looking at our stock, we're looking at our condition and we're looking at trying to get it,
well we will be getting 100 % stock condition data by December this year.
Which will really focus our programmes.
programmes, we've got a new procurement act that has come in, but we need to do something
here and now as well as in the medium term.
So there's a slight change to slide six because we've got approval over the next 10 years
to spend 609 million pounds.
500 million of that will focus on housing decency and building safety.
The slide actually broke down building safety as a separate line but the 500 is housing
decency and building safety.
We've then got some consultancy services that we're bringing in to help support that programme
of around 20 million and then we've got mechanical which is heating, communal heating, electrical,
self -explanatory and lifts and that all forms part of the 609 million.
We've got targeted investment and we were looking at known issues around our stock,
around roof renewal, rainwater goods, we talked about damper mould quite a lot and that often
from the outside in new windows, new front entrance doors, concrete repairs
where we've had properties that have been needing some repair for a while.
Lift replacement, door entry systems, heating systems and then
decorations and obviously last but certainly not least building and fire safety.
We're using a South East consortium, the SEC, which is on slide 8,
which is a framework that we're members of, and we can deliver capital work through in the short term.
And we've got three tranches of schemes that we're putting through those,
and they will include some complex blocks, such as Latham House,
which is one that's been in our priorities for a long time.
We then got three frameworks in the spring,
which will be lifts, mechanical and electrical,
and we'll be procuring some consultants through RFQs
to help support with that.
Then we've got our quite exciting 10 -year plan,
which was signed off a couple of weeks ago,
which is going to break the power up into north and south.
it's going to have four SMEs and two main contractors spread across eight, four in each area.
It will take probably a couple of years to get on site to get those mobilised, but we've got ten year arrangements.
So there are ten year contracts coming up with flexibility in there.
A big driver is going to be social value and value for money.
So that's going to be one of the quality questions.
A north -south split and no exclusivity.
So if someone's not performing in one side of the borough,
we can get them to do, we can get someone else to do work from the other side.
There are risks. It's a big programme. We've got to procure it.
So we're going to do it at pace.
But we've got the SEC to support us while we're doing that and procurement.
We've got considerations like leasehold consultation.
We've got to deal with the building safety regulator on our HRBs.
And that has been a blocker for some times with time wise.
But obviously it's a huge opportunity,
benefit to our residents,
to replace windows. We've still got some single glazed windows.
we've got timber windows around there, Harkness house is an example.
All of that will support reduction in complaints and dissatisfaction,
improved value for money, but improved quality, safety and thermal efficiency of residence homes.
Our next steps is to commence the procurement, then mobilise,
but we're constantly reviewing and managing how we're doing.
having a pipeline of projects that we can share with residents
so they know where we're going to be in two years, three years and longer.
And my teams are going to be restructured to align with those proposals.
And I think, without having to rush through that too much,
I hope I've covered that well enough.
I'm happy to take questions now.
I'm also happy to obviously come back later this evening. Thanks.
Thank you very much for your report.
The question will come in the second part because now we'll take a break for the Iftar.
I request members to join. Also the officer, please join us for the Iftar.
After the Iftar, then we'll go for the question and answer session.
Thank you very much for your report.

4 a) SPOTLIGHT: RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT - SANCTUARY HOUSING

Thank you very much again to you for your overview.
Thank you. Now we will go for a question.
Do members have any questions?
Then we can ask the officer to respond.
Susan, your question please.
First of all, I think congratulations, Yifan.
I really like that point that you raised about making sure that we manage risk,
we get a competition amongst the best so that we can get the best contractors.
My question is on the spend breakdown. There's no way of us knowing, but if you can advise us,
is 609 million over 10 years sufficient to really address the current issue and bring the homes up to the decency standard?
To answer your question, yes, we think it is.
it's going to be spread across building safety as well as decency.
And we've got to gear up, we've got to get the contracts in place.
So these are projected spends.
So we're going to have to moderate it depending on if we're under spending in a year,
we can then spend more the following year.
But yeah, we think it is adequate.
So, is there like a timeline, because I noticed that you mentioned about taking 24 months
to get the procurement in place.
So for example, when would the first work under this new process start?
So, I think we will be appointing contractors at some stage in 2027.
I'd like to think that that was towards the middle of 2027,
but if it starts to get slightly later in 2027, we'll start to be mobilising in 2028.
So, I imagine work will be starting in 2028 realistically,
because we have a new year and everything in between.
And also we just got to get on with the procurement.
We're kind of think 24 months, it may be slightly shorter.
And if it's slightly longer for any good reason,
then we still got the SEC process,
which is the interim process that we're doing this year and next year to support that.
it makes it?'"
Thank you.
Maybe
you can start scripture.
REPORTERs
stored 2028, and given almost over a
quarter of
stock fails
decency, there
is a specific
trajectory,
I mean the timeline to reduce this figure and how the progress will be transparently reported.
We're going to be addressing the decency figures before we start the term contract in 24 months.
We've got the South East Consortium work, which will start to address some of the decency performance figures.
We're also having a full condition survey done by the end of the year, which will give us a more precise level of our non decency.
And we will be investing before we get those term contracts in place to start to address that.
requirements,
the first one, and the second one,
the long -term
contract performance
,
with the contract performance
of 4
plus 3
plus 3
tied to the
performance
and object
performance
use
,
and scrutiny given
visibility
when the contractor
underperforms
.
This couple of questions, please.
So, on the first question about capacity, I think it's clear we have, the capital team has reduced over the last few years,
because we haven't actually been delivering a capital programme.
So, at the moment we're increasing that capacity.
I've got an interim head of capital delivery who's here today, Nahim, on the screen.
We're appointing a permanent head of capital delivery in the next, well, by the summer.
We're looking at a restructure, we're looking at where we can set the teams up to match
the north and south proposals with the four contractors in each, so we'd have a team in
the north and a team in the south.
We will have to have external consultancy support to help us deliver the projects, especially
with building safety regulator approval and all of the requirements under the Act.
And that's where the £20 million consultancy services comes in,
which will be a framework to be able to pull in resources as we need them.
We're also keen on recruiting people who are able to manage it internally and in -house,
but that's a longer -term likelihood.
We have some here and now shortages in support for those complex areas.
So it's a restructure, that'll take a bit of time, and it's bringing in external consultants in the short term to help us do that.
I'm imagining my restructure will be this year, so we're going to be geared up well in time for the new procurement and new contracts going into next year.
The second point is around managing the contracts. In the restructure, I'm looking at a commercial team, so we're commercial management.
so that we often with large contractors they have a big commercial team
quantity surveyors I'm looking for an in -house commercial team that can manage
those contracts and can manage that commercial aspect the way we've set it
up is there's no exclusivity so we've got eight contractors if one of those
contractors isn't performing one of the other eight contractors could be awarded
more work and the contractor who isn't performing would be awarded less work.
So there is obviously an incentive to perform.
There will be a structure of core groups, strategic core groups across all of the eight
contracts to monitor performance and monitor delivery, monitor social value, those areas.
Does that cover the second part of the question?
One of the things you just mentioned, you know the capacity gap, you believe it will be solved by the end of this year or end of the summer?
When you recruit some end of the summer or just end of the year?
The resources, immediately, we've got some recruitment going on right now, which will
bring in some project managers and programme managers into the team.
And then when my restructure is progressed into the summer, then we'll be doing permanent
recruitment to those.
But I'm hoping we'll have a permanent head of capital delivery by the summer.
Any other questions? Susan?
I think my last question is on social value opportunities.
How do residents assess that? How do we get to know and how do we...
Because I think it's a great idea to kind of...
You know, people like residents who live on the estate have got most pride.
They will be your eyes and ears, but if they can also get involved,
picking up a skill or apprenticeship, it just makes them more committed to making their environment even better.
So how do we promote or get to be involved in that?
One of the key things of the procurement process is what level of social value we put into those contracts
and what level of social value the contractors will offer.
and under the new Procurement Act we can be quite prescriptive
around the levels of social value, around the levels of quality
versus cost, because often these contracts were let
and cost really is almost the
element that decides it, but we've got, we will have a
very significant quality score and that would include social value.
So that social value will be for the benefit of the residents of the borough,
As you say, the apprenticeships, all those are tried and tested.
But we also want the contractors to tell us what they're proposing to do.
What will make them different to work for this borough, as opposed to the usual offer.
And that will be measured as part of the contract management, the core groups, the KPIs.
They will be set out in the contract.
There are two questions from me.
Can you clarify how will the Council demonstrate that using SEC and interim framework,
delivering better value for money than previous arrangements,
especially over 10 years and £609 million programme?
Question 1. Question 2. How will you, how will you
lease holder consultation requirement?
We managed to avoid significant delay and what modelling
been done on potential legal challenge?
Thanks. Thank you.
So the SEC and the 10 year contracts
are two different things. So the SEC is the
is the framework that we're a member of,
that's going to deliver work over the next couple of years.
Value for money for that will be proven by mini -competitions.
So if we have a scheme that is sent to the SEC,
it will go to a particular lot,
depending on the value of the scheme.
Let's say it's under five million pounds for the scheme.
That lot will then have a mini -competition,
and that will prove value for money and quality.
So there will be small tenders within the SEC process.
So therefore the 10 year contract will be measured again on cost and quality.
And it will be probably set around a schedule of rates.
And those rates are measured and monitored over the term of the contract.
So those are two separate things.
and the idea around the 4 plus 3 plus 3 is that to get contractors,
we're going to have 8 contractors here who we need to get buying into Tower Hamlets,
being getting established here, investing in Tower Hamlets,
could be offices, it could be apprentices, etc.
So to have a longer term relationship is more positive than a shorter term,
that they'll be less likely to invest in the borough.
But those have a break clause.
So after four years, they will get extended or not.
It's not just going to be kind of ticked through.
So they're really being tested in the first four years,
whether we'd extend to the next three and then the next three.
On leasehold consultation, what we will be doing
is resident consultation as early as possible
in the process because actually leasehold consultation is only a small part of the overall
programme. We'll be engaging with residents early on when those programmes are identified
to talk to residents about the scope, about the reason for the work, about how we're going
to procure the work, etc. So by the time we get to the section 20 consultation everyone
will be aware of what we're proposing and will understand our proposals. That's not
It's not to say that everyone will agree with them,
but by engaging early, we're setting ourselves up
onto a much better footing with leaseholders,
so that we can positively engage and have grown -up conversations.
We're only going to be recovering what is reasonable,
and what is set out under the lease.
That work has to be...
The costs have to be reasonable,
and the quality of work has to be defendable and good.
As long as we get cost and quality correct, we won't be recovering all the costs, because
some costs will be, let's say, kitchens and bathrooms or some building safety work won't
be recovered.
So we'll be very upfront about what we're seeking to recover and the reasons behind
that, which will help the process.
The positive thing with leasehold involvement is we're going to be recovering a lot of money
back into the programme. So with broadly 50 % leaseholders in the borough and we're spending
500 million, we could be recovering a couple of hundred million over the course of the
payment terms etc. that goes back into the housing revenue account. So it's crucial that
we recover the right amount of leasehold contributions. So I see it as a really positive factor with
the borough.
Asma, she is waiting patiently with the questions.
Asma, your question please.
Yes, most of my answers were given but I just want to come back on the 10 -year contract.
So contracts and the procurement process.
So I know Westminster Council did a whole review on contracts across the board,
especially on the 10 -year ones and I think in some places they have ended them.
I know we've got the four year clause.
So those are sometimes tests to be quite difficult
to break away from contracts.
Can you just talk me through
what measures we put in place?
I know you've spoken about monitoring the standards,
monitoring the work.
How are we gonna ensure that,
is there anything we're doing extra
learning from Westminster and other councils,
making the most out of our contracts
and getting the best for our residents, firstly.
And secondly, can you just run me through why we've chosen
to still go for a 10 -year contract and not for a four year
that can then, the other way around,
so go for a four year, but the opportunity for a rollover
or another contract available for partners?
Yeah, no problem.
On the contractual one,
if I could start with the second question,
it's not a 10 year contract, it's a 4 plus 3 plus 3.
So that will be a process of evaluation and they'll be monitored throughout that first 4 years.
And there is no obligation for us to extend to the next 3 years.
There's the ability to extend but not the obligation.
So whilst it's a ten year maximum duration, I think it's very important to know that it's not a...
It is a process that has to be consciously approved to move on to the next three years.
And I can't comment on Camden's arrangements, but I can comment on Islington's arrangements,
where I was before I came here, and they did have exactly that.
had a 4 plus 3, plus 3, they were just going through the process
of extending or not, as the case may be, when I came over to here.
So that's that.
The first point is very much that KPI,
Key Performance Indicator monitoring of the contractors,
comparing contractors' performance across the board,
because contractors will perform differently across the board,
having that oversight, having that commercial acumen really to make sure
that we're holding them to account, they're delivering the value for money
and also the social value. So the whole piece of contract management
goes into that, are we extending or are we not extending. And also I think that
we should be clear, we're not beholden just to this, if for some reason we
wanted to go to another route, we might want to procure a particular scheme outside of
this framework or outside of the SEC. There's nothing stopping us going elsewhere to procure.
We don't want to do that on a regular basis because we want a term contract over years
enables you to get up to speed and it's quicker to get to site and it's quicker to deliver.
but it doesn't stop us having another alternative route for a scheme that might warrant, for some reason, a more particular approach.
Does that cover your questions, Councillor?
Yes, thank you, that's very reassuring.
Can I just ask, should it be an issue in between that four years, say we've done a four year on the second year, third year, if there's an issue,
how do we like what grounds do we have or what tools do we have in place to
make sure that those contracts are working for us and and this like in
between it could be the first four year could be the next four years in between
those contracts is there anything in place for us to secure that and the
other question is in like I know you're saying 10 -year contract and a lot of
residents feel really uneasy with that word can we find a better way to
communicate it because the way you explain it, it's actually four plus four plus three or four plus three,
whichever way you do it. Can we communicate this a bit more clearly so that
residents actually know that this is what the council's done to make sure that we're keeping
contractors on their feet just as much and we're actually reviewing these contracts on a regular basis on KPIs.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you, Councillor.
Councillor, you are a very experienced Councillor.
Before you ask a question, you need a chair permission.
So I hope you remember next time.
Yeah, you can answer the question.
I take the point about being clear with residents
about the 4 plus 3 plus 3, and I'll take that on board.
Picking up on Susanna's point,
we are looking at having resident involvement
in the procurement process.
So by having that involvement
during the procurement process,
hopefully we can get these messages to residents
through whichever bodies we engage with,
residents, groups, TRAs.
So I take your point about being clear
what we are actually going to deliver,
which is the four plus three plus three.
What do we do during that four year period?
if there are issues that come up.
Firstly, we want these contracts to succeed.
So we need to make sure that our contract management is correct,
we're behaving correctly, we're supporting the contractor
as much as we can, and we're an informed client
helping that contractor to deliver.
But if they're not delivering, then again,
there's no exclusivity and there's no guarantee of any work.
So you would start to give them less work.
You would start to hold them to account on schemes
and not provide the pipeline of work that you may have shown them
to explain you need to improve your performance,
otherwise this won't be coming to you
and we're able to give it to other contractors who are working in the borough.
So those are some of the methods of managing the contract,
but we need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to make the contract successful.
Thank you, Councillor, I hope that covers your question, please.
Thank you, Stephen. Again, I just forgot to ask you one more little question.
You know, how you will involve the resident to priority major work and also another thing,
and how you will involve the resident to monitoring the works? How are you going to do that?
When we're consulting on a scheme, we will start very early, as I said, with resident engagement in the form of in -person meetings, generally, explaining the scope, what we think, the work we need to do to the block.
But we often see these blocks in a snapshot on a sunny day in May or whatever.
So residents will have the opportunity to be able to say,
well actually in October or every January we have this particular issue with
my flat or in my block.
So we'll build up that knowledge from our information,
but also from residents information about living there.
What they feel are the priorities
and having that kind of two -way conversation is really important.
When you're on site with a contract, we will have monthly or weekly contract meetings with the contractor on site, my project team would.
And there's always an opportunity to have a 15 -20 minute initial meeting with residents, with a representative or with a group of residents,
to engage with the contractor, with the project manager on a regular basis as the project progresses.
We are doing very similar down at Brewster & Mortings at the moment, which is a scheme that has been on site for a while.
So we are engaging that TRA in that regular update meeting with the contractor.
Thank you.
Okay.
One...
Iqbal, you're in your picture.
Thank you, Chair.
I just want to understand.
I think in the past we had a kind of a map, a digital map,
where you can touch and see the progress, where is the progress going,
the work has been done, or the plan next phase.
When is my word, where the word will start in my word,
or it's next to this or that word.
So do you have any plan to introduce something digital
for people to keep the residents updated
on the major work plan programme?
Yes, absolutely.
We've done some consultation with residents
around our asset management strategy.
And one of the asks from the residents was
to share the information online.
So, what is the condition of the block that you live in?
What's the information that we have?
Share the condition survey online on a portal,
something that you can log on to
and have a look in in your own time
and be open and transparent.
So the next logical phase of that is,
okay, this is the condition of all the blocks,
therefore, this is the programme.
Publish the programme.
We're probably close to being able to define what we're doing for the next couple of years.
Later this year we should be able to define what we're doing in the next five years.
But this time next year we should have a 10 -year rolling programme.
So as you say, to publish that with a map, nice and visual, click on your block,
is it in year one, year six, whatever, absolutely have as much information online as possible.
because it's easier for people to understand.
A lot of these programmes are indicative.
So if we say we're planning on being on your estate in seven years time,
we don't quite know what's going to happen, but that's the plan.
But we try to keep that updated.
As you say, a simple map.
They are very useful. I've done it before.
Thank you, Councillor.
Just a question and clarification probably.
Yes, good to hear that we'll know in advance which word we're going to start the work.
So the people will say, in fact, that word will start working.
And my word, resident will come to what, when we're going to start another one.
So that will save our time and argument as well.
and that will know when their word will be next.
So my question is that significant amount of people in Tower Hamlet,
that lease holders, and I want to know that is there any opt -out option for them from this programme,
like tea centre, home, like bathroom, kitchen, fitted kitchen, bathroom and this.
Is there any option for them to opt out?
Well, we won't be doing kitchens and bathrooms for leaseholders, because that's within their
demise. They own their kitchen and bathroom. We'll be doing kitchen and bathrooms for tenants,
for our tenants. So they won't need to opt out, because they wouldn't be getting it in
the first place. We've got an obligation and a right to manage the communal areas, and
and the leaseholders have an obligation to contribute to the cost that we incur to those
communal areas. We've got to do it correctly and we can be held to account, but there is
also an obligation to pay. So for communal works, which would include windows, roofs,
electrical risers, etc., there isn't an opt -out because it's our obligation and our right
to do it, but leasehold management is simple if you communicate as early as possible and
as clearly as possible and you're as transparent as you can be, because then all of the information
is out there for people to make a choice around what they want to do.
And obviously people will challenge it, we've got payment options in the borough that we
hope will help.
but early engagement, transparency, is crucial with lease -out management.
Thank you. Thank you Asma, waiting patiently with your questions.
Please, can I have your questions to the officer?
Yes, it's similar to your question and Susan asked the question right at the beginning
about this pot of money, will it be enough to cover?
So a lot of these works are going to be dependent on stock condition
and I'm just like on communication can we be really clear so just to manage
residents expectations leaseholders are responsible for their own bathroom and
kitchen but where tenants social tenants that if we put in messages out of
expectation that everyone's going to have a new bathroom and new new kitchen
that obviously quite clearly that part of money is not going to cover that it
is dependent on stock condition and is also about the priorities, where the conditions
require the works the most. Is there any plans of how we're going to make sure we're really clear
on our communication with residents, just so they're in the understanding, because a lot of
people have memories of what the decent home programmes look like, and that was a much larger
part of money that came in and the investment that came in just so that they know what to
expect and you know there are some conditions in properties that really need new bathrooms
and new kitchens but then there might be others that might not quite be in those kind of really
bad conditions and they might be expecting a brand new bathroom as part of this work.
How are we communicating this to residents?
It's a very good question and I think we would do our best to communicate it and we would
take the views of elected members and of residents about how we are communicating and if there's
something that we need to be clearer on then we take that on board and we would be clearer.
But we're not going to do work for the sake of it so anyone who hasn't got a decent home
or a decent kitchen or bathroom would have them replaced.
But clearly if we've replaced a kitchen and bathroom a couple of years ago,
maybe in a void work or other work,
because we have been doing some kitchens and bathroom programmes
that only really finished a year or so ago,
then we won't be replacing them for the sake of replacing them.
So I think it's a really good question and it's about clarity,
not raising hopes or expectations,
and also not raising fears, oh they're going to come in and I've got my house all lovely and ready
and then they're going to come in and rip out the bathroom and rip out the kitchen.
So it's getting that across in the right, pitching it right, isn't it, I think is the key thing.
I've got a thumbs up, thank you.
Thank you. If there are any other questions? No.
Thank you very much Stephen for coming here for your presentation and also for answering the questions.
I hope you have a good time here. And also, Karen and others, thank you very much for coming and waiting patiently.
It was one break, still you stayed there. Thank you very much for your patience.
Thank you Stephen, if you want to stay, you can stay, otherwise you are free to go.
Is there any other business?
If not, finally, there is no other business to discuss, I have one.
This is our final subcommittee meeting for this municipal year.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank UPS officers,
witness for their contribution to this committee work.
I have enjoyed my, as a chair, and I am not,
I am sure that the future hold,
I'm not sure what the future hold,
but hopefully it is good place to go forward.
Thank you for, school team member,
for your attendance and participation tonight.
Also for transparency, I have to say that
I am a councillor for Black Elkie Big Town.
I want to, for transparency I have to say that.
I am a councillor for Black Elkie Big Town.
Thank you very much, good evening everyone.