Repairs and Investment Panel - 17 September 2025

Location: North Tyneside Council offices, Quadrant, Cobalt Business Park

 

Attendees

Tenant members – Christine; Kim R; Kim S; Ann 

Lee Nesbitt - Asset Intelligence and Logistics Manager; Tony Ormston - Service Delivery Manager Repairs & Maintenance; David Foster – Head of Property Services; Simon Campbell – Customer Relations Manager; Graeme Milne – Business Intelligence Manager; Ian Rice – Service Manager, Financial Support; Rachael Sanderson – Housing Policy and Development Officer; Angela Melvin – Housing Engagement Manager

Apologies 

Tenant members – Irene; Heather; Chloe


1. Notes of the last meeting and action log 

These were agreed


2. Knowing Our Customers Report 

The panel had received this report in advance of the meeting.  It covers our vision for knowing our customers (“Everybody is different, so we don’t treat everyone the same”), equality and diversity, how we currently gather customer information and what it is used for.  IR ran through the main points of the report and highlighted key points of interest, including: 

  • We are working to address the imbalances caused by disadvantage and discrimination, so that we can make sure everyone has opportunities to access our services and be involved in what we do.
  • We cannot comply with any of our legal and regulatory requirements if we don’t hold information about our customers and their needs.
  • What we are doing to collect demographic details from new tenants, and update those we hold about current tenants as some of this is out of date.  
  • We now have over 76% of the customer information that we need to hold about our customers.  However, IR highlighted that some figures, eg around disability and sexual orientation, appear much lower than he would expect them to be. 
  • We only hold information on communication preferences for less than 3% of tenants and this is an area we must improve on.

IR asked the panel for their views on how we can improve our customer information and encourage tenants to provide details relating to protected characteristics, which can be a sensitive subject to talk about – from the perspectives of both our staff feeling comfortable asking the questions and our tenants feeling comfortable to respond.

The panel were interested in this work and talked about different experiences in accessing services.  They would welcome a future update as progress is made.  

 Tenants were asked to let AM know of any additional comments or ideas by 15 September.

 

 3. Complaints report 

The panel had received the quarterly complaints report for April-June in advance.

SC explained that during that time there had been 88 Stage One complaints.   This is slightly higher than in 2024, however the current figures include complaints relating to the Community Protection team which was brought back into the Housing service in November. Therefore, complaints per team has seen an improvement on the previous year.   Complaints across Repairs and Investment have reduced from previous year so this is a real positive.  

Of those, 40 complaints have escalated to Stage Two (compared to 33 for the same period last year).  There has been a recent change from the Housing Ombudsman which states that a tenant can go to a Stage Two complaint without needing to give a reason.  It could simply be that they disagreed with the Stage One decision.  As the number of Stage Two complaints upheld is very similar to the same period last year, SC is confident that there has not been an increase in issues.  

The main themes for complaints were:

  • A delay in a service being provided
  • Poor communication
  • Poor quality service or workmanship

SC explained that repairs complaints account for the highest number of interactions and that all complaints are analysed to identify trends, eg with the type of work.  

Feedback from complaints has contributed to improved policies and strategies, and regular feedback meetings are held with managers to review areas of focus to improve services. 

The panel acknowledged that they had seen improvements in the repairs service and recognised the effort that goes into this.

 

4. Kitchen consultation

The Decent Homes Standard outlines that kitchens should be renewed every 20 years and bathrooms every 30 years.  

Where possible, we will do both together around every 20 years. (There are circumstances when it would be less, eg if there was a need for an installation due to a tenant’s disability).

The panel had received a report on the recent consultation for kitchen choices in advance.

LN outlined that a survey of current kitchen choices had been carried out over the summer to get the views of tenants, ahead of a new supplier contract being sought.  The current offer has a range of options for fixtures and fittings, and we know that some choices are more popular than others.  Reducing the choices offered will save space, time and money, which can in turn be invested in other parts of our service for tenants.

The survey was online, with paper copies available from our six community hubs and libraries.  This was promoted via the website, the council’s social media channels and via cards taken out by the repairs teams when calling at tenants’ homes. Additional in-person consultation was carried out at our July tenant drop-in sessions.   

A total of 204 responses were received.  This was combined with data from recent new kitchen choices, meaning feedback was based on choices from over 400 tenants.  

LN shared the survey results with the panel, with clear favourites for each category:

  • Doors: Dove Grey – Porcelain White – Natural Oak
  • Worktops: Colmar Oak –Jet – Turkish Marble
  • Handles: HLE 50 – HLE 62 – HLE 63
  • Sinktops: Bowl & Half (Where possible)
  • Taps: Deva Lever
  • Floor Coverings: All four (Stonewall, Shadow, Lace Blue, Oak)  
  • Paint – Brilliant White (Including Mould additives)
  • Tiles – Brick Effect – White Gloss – Mid Grey – Black Gloss

The panel agreed to move to the reduced number of choices in the future.

The tender for the new contract begins in October, with a planned live date of April 2026.

 

5. Review of performance targets

The panel had received the regular performance scorecard in advance.   This has been updated to show data for the most recent month and the most recent financial quarter, alongside figures from the same period last year.  

  • Safety checks for gas, asbestos, water, lifts and fire safety are all at 100%
  • Emergency repairs completed on time is at 99.96%
  • Appointments made and kept is at 96.1%
  • Electrical safety testing is currently at 83% and is likely to reach 100% next summer
  • Stock condition surveys completed within the last five years are currently at 53.8% and it is likely to take until March 2027 to achieve the 100% target

Our performance targets are challenging, but achievable and are focused on what’s important to tenants.  We are looking to increase the 2024-25 targets by 5%.  TO explained that in many cases there isn’t much space to improve as we are currently doing well.  

Achieving the targets can be affected by weather, staff sickness, increasing costs for labour and materials, and changing legislation – for example, Awaab’s Law which is coming into effect in October and is focused on around damp and mould issues. 

TO took the panel through some proposed new targets for 2025-26, which the panel agreed were achievable and will be reflected in future scorecards brought to the panel.

 

6. Quality and Safety report

A quarterly report for April-June had been shared in advance.

DF gave an overview of the report, which updates on where we are in relation to Safety Standards.  We are confident that we have processes and procedures in place to maintain homes to good standard, with 100% compliance in several areas.  

There has been a significant improvement for electrical testing, following the move to complete this within a five-year period. 

  • Progress in stock condition surveys continues, which are identifying issues and making good – the figure for Q1 was 49.9% and this has since increased to 62.8%.  
  • There has been a significant reduction in complaints relating to condensation, mould and damp, which is evidence of the improvements we have made over the last year, including the video diagnostic tool and revised guidance for tenants. 

One tenant member asked about the video diagnostic tool and whether that was just for mould and damp issues, DF replied that it could be used for others too.   This has proved really helpful to allow us to send the right resources to the job, first time.

Overall, we are in a positive position but there are areas to focus on to continue make progress. We are keen to ensure internal audits and external quality assurance are continuing. We have engaged an external organisation to do an audit of our quality and safety standards.

The panel welcomed the progress being made and agreed to receive a further update in six months. 

 

7. Any Other Business

  • The annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) survey is going out to a random sample of homes next week.  This will be open until mid-October, subject to the required number of responses being received. 
  • The annual tenants’ event is on Friday 26 September.
  • Tenants can suggest any topics to consider at a future panel, please send any ideas to AM.