Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Chair, Councillor Milkinder Jaspal, it was agreed that Councillor Paul Sweet chair the meeting.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Milkinder Jaspal.

There were no declarations of interests.

[For approval]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 December 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting]

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting that were not otherwise covered on the agenda for the meeting.

[To review and comment on the performance and any areas for improvement]

Kate Martin, Service Director: Housing presented the report on the performance of Wolverhampton Homes (WH) and the Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs) in managing and maintaining Council owned properties during quarter three of the 2017-2018 financial year.  Generally, there was good performance across all performance indicators.  There were however, a few areas falling short of target. The service would be meeting with WH and the TMOs in the coming weeks to discuss their plans for bringing the targets back on track.

Councillor John Reynolds noted from the report that Dovecotes TMO and New Park Village Tenant Management Co-operative performance on some of the repairs indicators were outside of target.  He asked whether they were undertaking the repairs work themselves or subcontracting it out.  Melissa Green, Housing Strategy and Development Support Officer advised that Dovecotes TMO carried out their repairs through a contract with Wrekin Housing Trust.  New Park Village Tenant Management Co-operative were looking to recruit the services of a contractor to undertake their repairs work.  The Housing Strategy and Development Support Officer undertook to look into that issue.

Councillor Sandra Samuels OBE asked about the impact of the roll out of Universal Credit in Wolverhampton.  The Service Director briefly reported on arrangements for supporting the TMOs with their arrangements to prepare for the change to the benefits system. There were no main issues to report at the moment.

Councillor Paul Sweet commented that following the recent severe winter weather conditions, the Council was receiving calls from tenants about burst pipes.  He commended WH presence on social media in keeping its tenants updated.  He asked about the methods of communication used by the TMOs to speak to and receive feedback from their tenants.  The Housing Strategy and Development Support Officer undertook to take up the issue with the TMOs.

Resolved:

That the performance of the housing managing agents for quarter three 2017/2018 be noted.

[To receive and comment on the quarter three performance and GDPR update]

Anna Zollino-Biscotti, Information Governance Manager delivered a quarterly update on the work currently being undertaken in preparation for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that would replace the current Data Protection Act 1998.  The Information Governance Manager also reported on performance of Information Governance for quarter three (October to December 2017).  Targets had been maintained for the response to Freedom of Information/ Environmental Information (FOI) and Subject Access Requests (SARs) received. 

Councillor John Reynolds asked about the number of repeated requests for information the Council received and the costs incurred in providing responses. The Information Governance Manager reported that data on costs incurred in responding to requests was not currently collated but it could be considered.

Resolved:

1. That the quarterly progress update on the General Data Protection Regulation project be noted.

2.     That the quarter three performance for Information Governance be noted.

[To receive and comment on the update on the implementation of outcome-based accountability core corporate indicators and the new WV Insight website]

Ian Fegan, Head of Corporate Communications presented the report on progress made on the implementation of outcome based accountability core corporate indicators and the new WV Insight website.  Helena Kucharczyk, Insight and Performance Manager delivered a demonstration of the population model on WV Insight.

Councillor Paul Sweet commented that progress on the core corporate indicators and WV Insight had come a long way since initially proposed.  He congratulated the employees for their work on the initiatives.

Councillor John Reynolds asked that the University and College be informed when WV Insight is launched. 

Resolved:

1.     That progress with the continuing implementation of the Council’s new outcome-based corporate performance framework be noted.

2.     That progress on the development of the new WV Insight website be noted.

3.     That the presentation and demonstration of PowerBI dashboard functionality be noted.