Agenda item

Contract Management - Overall Policy and Repairs, Maintenance and Investment Contract

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report that updated on the Council’s contract management procedures and the progress made by the new Repairs, Maintenance and Investment (RMI) service partner, Osborne Property Services Ltd, in the first year.

 

Members were informed that a significant amount of work had been done to develop and improve the Council’s approach to contract management in response to internal audit recommendations.  A new corporate commercial function had been established along with a new Commercial Strategy which was set out in Appendix A to the report.  The Council had considered the options about how best to manage contracts in the future, either through a centralised or decentralised system, and had decided to pursue a hybrid model.

 

Detailed consideration was given to scrutinising the first year of the new RMI contract.  The previous contract with Interserve was not considered fit for purpose and the new contract had been developed following extensive engagement with councillors, staff, tenants and leaseholders to address some of the historic issues that had emerged.  Members were updated on the key features of the new contract that had supported improvements including the co-location of the SBC client team with Osbornes at Hawker House; a new payment mechanism; fully functional new IT interface; and strengthened governance arrangements.  The progress in achieving key performance indicators was set out and it was noted that resident satisfaction levels, the number of calls to the contact centre lost and the average call waiting time had all improved through the first year.  Representatives from Osbornes highlighted that the first year of the contract had focused on operational delivery and as good progress had been made the next year would also focus on the social return on investment.

 

The Committee discussed the accessibility of the services to elderly and vulnerable residents and it was responded that in addition to the enhanced access through the new app, more traditional methods such as the call centre were still available.  A Member highlighted concerns about the data that had been available under the previous contractor and asked whether any further action had been taken to investigate any issues.  The previous contractor had had exclusive ownership of the data and as it had not been inherited the priority had been to improve the future position.  Huge changes had been made and, for example, residents could now track repairs online and check costs for the first time.  An end of contract audit had taken place but this was separate from working with the new contractor to deliver improvements.  Other issues discussed included the staffing position of the 108 people who transferred to the new contractor under TUPE.

 

Speaking under Rule 30, Councillor Strutton welcomed the improved governance and early indications of performance improvements.  He highlighted the importance of ensuring suitably qualified staff were sent to make repairs and the process for training and upskilling the workforce was explained.

 

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Chair thanked the SBC team and representatives of Osbornes for the comprehensive report.  It was agreed that the Committee receive six monthly updates on contractual performance in the future.

 

Resolved –

 

(a)  That details of the report be noted.

 

(b)  The Committee note that the RMI report was an indicative report to be reviewed by the RMI Strategic Management Board at its meeting on 24th January.

 

(c)  That the Committee receive twice yearly strategic overview of contractual performance of the RMI partnership, from April – March to fit with budget monitoring and financial reporting for both partners. A summary report to be provided in May 2019 for 2018/19.

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