Grounds Maintenace Sounding Board Update Q3 ... - Festival Housing

Grounds Maintenance Sounding Board Update
October-December 2012
Introduction
Update Originator:
Becky Smith, Maintenance Officer
16 January 2013
The very wet weather continued into the autumn to the extent that not all sites were
able to receive a final cut even after assessment. The contractor asked
permission to start winter works a couple of weeks and we allowed them to start in
the middle of October. This enabled more hedge and shrub work to be done. Two
culverts that run through our estates were monitored for water levels to reduce the
case of localised flooding..
Contract
performance
Performance for October, November and December have been
added. The number of site visits reflects the change to
monthly visits in October Despite the extremely poor weather,
overall, a total of 96.77% of sites have been visited so far this
year.
Month
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Number
of site
visits
880
1193
1009
1044
1077
965
552
552
552
Number of sites
visited within
target
871
1193
996
991
997
883
536
552
552
Percentage of
Visits within
Target
98.98%
100.00%
98.71%
94.92%
92.57%
91.50%
97.10%
100.00%
100.00%
7824 7824 7571 96.77%

2012
Tenant
Satisfaction
Survey
1627 survey forms were sent out to a random selection of
residents and 341 forms were returned. It’s difficult to say
exactly why the satisfaction results have dropped between
2011/12 and 2012/13 as residents who have provided
comments have covered a variety of issues, however, I do feel
that the poor weather must have played its part with residents’
perceptions.
Mar 2006
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
Cleanliness Grass Shrubs Level of Info
5.69 5.77 5.03 3.82
5.32 4.76 4.24 4.46
5.28 5.58 4.79 5.25
5.23 5.24 4.70 5.05
5.48 5.70 4.99 5.03
5.71 5.92 5.19 5.19
6.18 6.69 5.74 5.69
2012-13 6.11 6.19 5.40 5.59
Change in
satisfaction
since 2011/12
-1.21 -7.48 -5.91 -1.84
The results form the basis of the annual contract report which is
given to the contractor for his information and formal response
and to Festival housing management and performance team. If
you would like a copy please let me know.

Taking the
Service In
House
You may recall back in June 2012 we discussed the principle of
taking the grounds maintenance service in house. This was
subsequent to the Residents Conference at the beginning of the
month when the question was taken to residents for their views. As a
result of the positive feedback, a proposal was presented to the
Festival Board and approved this in principle subject to Festival
Property Care submitting a successful business case which they are
currently working on aiming to complete by the end of March.
As a prudent move, the existing contract with Vale Contract Services
has been extended until 31 December 2012 which will give us the
time to go out to tender again if the FPC business case is
unsuccessful.
If successful, however, consideration then needs to be given to what
could be done with the money that will be generated from savings on
the contract. Ideas so far have been:
• Extend the cutting cycle into the autumn.
• Reduce the visit cycle so that sites are cut more frequently.
• Do more tree works.
• Start a refurbishment programme of beds in residential
schemes.
• Set up a separate litter picking team.
• Participating in projects with local community groups (such as
the Pickersleigh Project and Green Collar) or funding initiatives
with the Probation Service
I would be interested to have your views and have attached a return
sheet detailing the ideas above and leaving space for your comments
and additional suggestions. Could you please return this either by
email or in the envelope provided by Friday 15 February. If you’d
like me to come and see you so that we can have a chat about this,
let me know by ringing or emailing me and we’ll arrange a date.

Other News
Next Quarter
Works will be weather dependent – we are keeping an eye out for any
signs of bad weather – but generally speaking, the teams will be
visiting sites on a monthly basis and continuing to tidy up sites before
grass cutting starts again in the middle of March. Vale actually start
cutting in the middle of March although the contract only requires
them to start in April
Sounding Board Membership
We currently have 13 tenant members of the Sounding Board.
Contact details
Any of the numbers or email addresses below can be used to report
any issues regarding grounds maintenance or Sounding Board
queries.
Repairsline
0800 146 742
repairsline@festivalhousing.org
Becky Smith, Maintenance Officer
01684 579601
bsmith@festivalhousing.org

Grounds Maintenance Sounding Board – Questionnaire
Question:
If the grounds maintenance service is brought in-house, consideration needs to be
given to what could be done with the money that will be generated from savings on
the contract. Ideas so far are:
• Extend the cutting cycle into the autumn.
• Reduce the visit cycle so that sites are cut more frequently.
• Do more tree works.
• Start a refurbishment programme of beds in residential schemes.
• Set up a separate litter picking team.
• Participating in projects with local community groups (such as the
Pickersleigh Project and Green Collar) or funding initiatives with the
Probation Service
Please tick 3 suggestions and list below any other ideas and views you have. Can
you return this by Friday 15 February 2012.
Name: