The Committee were presented with the 2024/25 Quarter 1 Compliance Dashboard.    The Council’s housing assets team managed the occupation, refurbishment and maintenance of the council’s residential properties and were therefore responsible for the safety of residents under the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Housing Act, the Fire Safety and Building Safety Act and other associated legislation.

The Head of Housing Assets explained that the Compliance Dashboard will be presented to the Housing Services Cabinet Committee on a quarterly basis and formally documented the Councils compliance and position with the associated compliance work programmes.

The Building Safety Manager gave a summary of the report explaining that the dashboard covered the big six asset safety risks which were fire, gas, legionella, asbestos, lifts and electrical.  Members were informed that due to recent legislation the dashboard had now been updated to also include damp and mould plus property energy and performance.  The Building Safety Manager gave an overview on each element of the dashboard and the work that had been carried out.

The Chair invited Member questions:

• Members queried whether technology was used to monitor water temperature levels in respect of legionella, or whether these checks relied on Council resources to manually check levels.  The Building Safety Manager explained that currently this was done manually but the option was being explored to fit devices to take readings. This approach was due to start with LED emergency lighting checks.
• The Committee asked if there had been any consideration in carrying out a large asbestos removal programme.  The Building Safety Manager explained there was a programme for removal.  Residential communal areas were assessed to see how feasible any removal was and how cost-effective removal would be.  In some cases, asbestos could be deeply built into the fabric of the building, so if the asbestos was not exposed with no direct risk to residents, it would be inspected yearly and managed. Asbestos was currently being removed in communal areas where it was deemed feasible. When major works were underway in a block it was often an appropriate time to carry out this removal work also.
• Clarity was sought on how the impressive reduction of carbon emissions was being achieved.  The Building Safety Manager advised that many properties had been insulated over the last 3 years to improve the fabric of the buildings but also there were a number of properties where the EPC surveys that were not adequate and therefore revisited, raising the EPC rating. Software calculated the carbon emissions saved by the improvements made and the EPC rating.  The system created reports, which were generated on a monthly basis and used as a comparative tool for reporting each quarter.

• Members queried what the average turnaround time would be for cases of mould.  The Head of Housing Assets explained that the team were following the draft guidelines which fell under Awaab’s Law which the Government consulted on.  There were fixed timescales to triage, diagnose, remedy and post inspect mould cases.  This could vary depending on the severity of mould and the health situation of the residents of the properties.  The timescale could vary from 7 days and rise up to a few months depending on the complexity of the case and building.  The Head of Housing Assets team advised that a report separate to the dashboard would be brought to the Housing Services Cabinet Committee in the future, updating on the new processes and the new data obtained.

The Committee noted the report.