Agenda item

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning

The Board considered the report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning setting out proposed new partnership agreement between Nottingham City Homes (NCH) and Nottingham City Council (NCC).

It was noted that tenant overall satisfaction is up to 90%, and satisfaction with repairs is up to 88% having been around 50% at the beginning of the existing agreement. This agreement aims to put tenants at the heart, and has gone out to tenants for consultation.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  agree the proposed heads of terms for a new partnership agreement as set out in the published appendix1

(2)  delegate authority to the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning to sign a new agreement based on these terms.

(3)  develop a numberofservice level agreements settingoutexpectationsfor the deliveryof the servicesby the Councilwhich support Nottingham CityHomesin theirwork.

(4)  develop further Service Level Agreements for those tenant-facing services carried out by the Council in and around housing estates, giving tenants greater transparency and understanding of the services for which they pay their rent.

Reasons for Decision

The existingagreement is no longerfitfor purposeand requires updatingto provideofficers with greater clarityabout responsibilitiesandexpectations

NCH nowdelivers a greater range of services via the main companyandits subsidiaries,and this is not reflected inthe current agreement

Rather than wait for the currentagreementto expire in two years’time it is appropriateto bringsome certaintyaboutfuture arrangementsnow.

The Councildelivers anumberofservices toNCH tosupport it inthe delivery of its operations – forexample, ICT,human resources,marketingand communicationsetc.The expectationsaround deliveryoftheseservices shouldbepart ofthis agreement, therefore it is necessaryto ensurethat robust service level agreementsunderpintheNCC-NCH main agreement.

In additionto theservices provided direct toNCH, there are a number of tenant-facingservices suchas groundsmaintenance,tree services, lighting etc on council-owned housingestatesand landheld within thehousing revenue account (HRA). Transferringthe oversight of theseto NCH will promotea more joined-up ‘one Council’ approachto dealingwith issues which are oftenthesubject of complaintsfromtenants tocouncillors.Theseservices alsorequireSLAs togive the necessary clarityofresponsibilityand accountability.

Other Options Considered

Toallowthe current agreementto expire in 2021: this was rejectedas this would lead to uncertainty;furthermorethere would continueto be inplace anagreementwhich doesnot properlyreflect thecurrentsituation.