Agenda item

The Committee received the Quarter 4 Performance and Delivery Update 2022/23. 

The following areas were raised through discussions and consideration of the report: -

Staff Sickness - It was recently noted at a Southwest Area Councillor forum that it was a concern to St Leger that the number of staff missing work for stress/mental health issues was considerable.  Members queried whether this was a contributing reason for certain work not being completed. In terms of issues around installing ramps, it was advised that this was not a St Leger function.

It was explained that this performance was thereabouts in-line with that of the Councils, although had worsened since before the pandemic.  It was highlighted that SLHD was averaging 11.5 days a year (days lost through sickness per FTE) which was considered as too high. It was clarified that a third of that number was related to stress/depression and mental health-based issues which had both grown considerably throughout the public sector during the last two years.  It was acknowledged that such a high average number of days absent would likely have an impact on performance.  It was advised that this could be mitigated by using additional measures such as contractors carrying out repairs where possible.

Regarding KPI2 Void Rent Loss, it was advised that the target days for turning around properties was ambitious.  Members were advised that SLHD was currently in Quartile 1 (top 25%) for performance. Other issues that impacted this indicator included difficulty in recruiting and the retention of staff, for example, electricians. This in turn had an impact on the ability to turn around properties. It was stressed that SLHD continued to make small incremental improvements. 

In view of KPI4, the number of residents undertaking training or education, it was explained that SLHD had seen a difference in performance from last year and had taken the decision 18 months ago to offer training to residents in addition to SLHD tenants. SLHD was looking at considering the training they were delivering and what could be done to change and develop it.

In response to a question raised regarding KPI18 Tenant Satisfaction with property condition %, and the decline in the % from 86.5% to 75.7%. Members were advised that St Leger had a number of tenant satisfaction measures in place, which had been monitored for years and had dropped last year (as part of a national trend) although now sat slightly above the national average. During the pandemic, people had spent further time in their properties which had resulted in more repairs coming forward resulting in a backlog which had now settled.

It was reported that resources had not been boosted to cover this increased demand for repairs. It was acknowledged that some frustrations arose from not knowing when repairs were going to be carried out. It was explained that work was being done to mitigate certain issues through a one repairs service, where repairs were triaged.

It was highlighted that one of the biggest decreases in satisfaction was around Value for Money.  It was commented that this was a difficult area to unravel as St Leger was the 9^th lowest in the country in terms of rent and did not have service charges unless a tenant was on district heating scheme. However, this was not to say there was work to be done around this KPI.

           RESOLVED that the progress of SLHD performance outcomes and the contribution SLHD makes to supporting City of Doncaster Council’s (CDC) strategic priorities be noted.