Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

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p 40 London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) 253 HFI has introduced various mechanical tools for caretakers, in order to improve the level of service that can be delivered to estates. These include road sweepers (being trialled at present); small electric powered vehicle for equipment and bulk refuse moving, aqua-vacs, power tools, hand held floor scrubbers and leaf blowers. Staff consider they have the tools to do the job, they also have new uniforms and mobile phones. Greater emphasis is being placed on the training of estate caretakers with courses being offered which are module based and give staff an external accreditation. Our reality checks showed that the estates managed by HFI directly met a high standard of cleanliness. 254 The estate services officer’s role has also been developed: they are now the day to day link between the area office and the TMOs. This has helped build relationships and develop an information network to provide greater consistency in standards and provide support. TMOs who responded to our survey indicated that they were regularly informed of issues and 82 per cent considered there are adequate opportunities to discuss key issues with HFI, although 45 per cent considered that concerns are not always acted upon. 255 There are estate agreements for all major estates, that are decided with local residents and reviewed annually. There is £250,000 available to each resident area panel for estate improvements with clear criteria for the panel to decide on bids. This money is being spent although some TRA representatives found it often took too long to get work completed. 256 HFI has established a bulk refuse collection team with Islington’s local strategic partnership (LSP) to remove rubbish from estates within 24 hours of notification. This is resolving the problem we identified in our last inspection. This pilot has been funded by the partnership for one year at a cost of £100,000 and some of the furniture picked up is recycled through the King Cross Furniture Project. Performance <strong>report</strong>s on tonnage collected are <strong>report</strong>ed back to the LSP. 257 HFI is also piloting the use of ‘clean up’ teams on specific estates to improve response times and keep areas clean where there are known problems, and the estates managed by HFI were clean. 258 With the council, HFI have increased the number of estates that have recycling facilities to over 120 estates. In addition HFI has set up a system for tree mapping and lamp column numbering and mapping to improve the identification and management of trees and lights. 259 Contact numbers are displayed in block notice boards and estate agreements have been delivered to all households to indicate the name, address and number of working hours for each caretaker. There is also a contact phone number and e-mail address for caretaking queries and access to a caretaking manager. However, the estate agreement fails to give clear caretaker duty details. These improvements have impacted on tenant satisfaction with estate services which has improved from 50 per cent in 2002/03 to 62 per cent in 2003/04. 260 However leaseholders we spoke to at a focus group considered there is a lack of accountability of caretakers, but TRA representatives found the caretaking service much improved and were happy with the service provided. There was some dissatisfaction with poor maintenance of paved areas and lighting although HFI have increased resources to deal with this in 2005/06.
London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) p 41 261 HFI consult with residents when establishing controlled parking on estates. Consultation is through the TRA and by individual letter. There is a ballot of residents which invites comments, these are then used to further develop the scheme. HFI are linking the development of controlled parking on estates with the Islington street parking strategy, 189 out of 230 locations are now covered by the wheel clamping and removal contract based on the highest demand areas in conjunction with the introduction of street parking zones and permit area by Islington council. 262 The procurement of the contract for wheel clamping and vehicle removal is a three year contract with a further two year extension option based on performance. Four members of the selection panel were residents who challenged contractors and visited vehicle pounds as part of the selection process. There is a clear after payment appeals process in respect of wheel clamping and vehicle removal. Around 12 per cent of clamping cases are appealed against each year with an average of one in ten appeals being upheld, the cost of those upheld are met by the contractor. 263 There is also a transparent arrangement for the removal of abandoned vehicle that is keeping estates free of dumped cars. 264 Our reality checks showed that cleaning standards were not always met on those managed by Hyde Northside. Leaseholders and TRA representatives considered there are major issues with the refuse collection service with too few and missed collection. This means some estates regularly have overfull bins and plastic bags left outside the shutes. We also found this to be a problem on a number of estates we visited even though HFI’s quality checks indicated missed collection was not a problem. They also wanted more feedback on communal repairs and improvements. 265 The arrangement for caretakers to clean all internal communal windows and windows up to the fifth floor externally, is not working effectively as residents on higher floors do not get the same service. However HFI is procuring a contract to have all external windows cleaned. Allocations and lettings 266 In our previous inspection, we found that void turnaround times had improved assisted by the pilot choice based lettings (CBL) schemes. The council was also part of an inter-borough lettings scheme. Comprehensive information was supplied in a variety of formats to new tenants. There was a basic voids standard in place and this standard was being delivered. Lettings were covered by written procedures. However, accessibility for prospective tenants could have been greater. The council needed to ensure that all lettings were in accordance with its allocations policy. We also found that services for vulnerable people were not seamless and it sometimes took a long time to co-ordinate action. 267 HFI provide access to the council’s allocation service and have developed their own transfer scheme linked to this. They are achieving high performance for turning around of empty properties for re-letting at 22 days in 2003/04. HFI Direct staff now deal with allocation enquiries and performance is positive. There is a basic void standard which has been revised with residents and now provides some choice over work and there is a comprehensive sign up pack. New tenants are visited at four weeks to help sustain tenancies and ensure tenants are aware of services available and how to access them. HFI is proactively dealing with under occupation, there is joint working with council staff dealing with allocations and complaints about allocations are handled effectively.
Page 1 and 2: Inspection report
Page 3 and 4: Summary London Borough of Islington
Page 5 and 6: London Borough of Islington - Homes
Page 7 and 8: Recommendations London Borough of I
Page 9 and 10: © Audit C
Page 11 and 12: The service London Borough of Islin
Page 13 and 14: How good is the service? London Bor
Page 39: London Borough of Islington - Homes
Page 45 and 46: Service charges London Borough of I
Page 59 and 60: Summary London Borough of Islington
Page 61 and 62: Documents reviewed London Borough o
Page 63 and 64: Gary Doolan GMB London Borough of I
Page 65 and 66: Positive practice London Borough of

Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

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