Minutes:
Councillor Wilshaw, the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Housing, introduced report MCa/18/06 and moved the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor Flatman.
Members agreed that paragraph 4.2.1 within the report should be amended to indicate that two Districts were served rather than stating “the whole district”.
A member queried the financial charts within the appendices and whether any double counting had taken place. Also, why “other expenses” had materialised which had not been taken into account within the first business case. Also, it was felt the capped maintenance figures were going up and down considerably, and with voids, the worry was some really significant differences from the original business case to the current one.
The Cabinet Member for Housing, with the Assistant Director for Housing, explained there were now two Team Leaders in place and as such it was hoped there would be a vast improvement in deliverability. Further detail had been included within the financials in the business plan. The financial detail had been reviewed by an external consultant and the business case would also be referred to the internal audit team which should provide members with additional reassurance.
A concern was raised about one of the objectives for BMBS being commercialisation. Objectives needed to be clear and for members to have the confidence these could be achieved and delivered. Members agreed it would be much better to properly serve customers and provide a high-quality service in the first instance.
It was questioned whether the IT mobile working solution, Total Mobile, was now up and running, the impact was of not being able to complete jobs and whether these were being monitored? Whether the loss of staff as detailed on page 148 were experienced people and whether the use of Property Services added more staff time and costs.
The Corporate Manager for BMBS explained Total Mobile was still an ongoing issue but much work had been completed in respect of developing the system. This had been raised as an urgent item to be resolved. Paragraph 4.8 within the report gave detail on feedback, but it was noted that although the new service had experienced teething problems complaints had been low. Property Services were part of the process in terms of delivering the best customer service, providing a one stop shop for repairs.
After much discussion it was felt the recommendation should be amended so additional wording of “that places a high-quality customer service above a surplus generating “commercial” business” was added within the future vision. Also, that recommendation 3.3 was removed in order for the document to go straight to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to make recommendations in the first instance. This was proposed by Councillor Wilshaw and seconded by Councillor Flatman.
By a unanimous vote.
It was RESOLVED:-
(1) That the progress made during Year 1 of the BMBS Business Plan be noted and endorsed.
(2) That the following future vision for BMBS be supported:
BMBS will provide an inhouse repairs and maintenance service to both Babergh and Mid Suffolk with priority on delivering an efficient, value for money service that places a high-quality customer service above a surplus generating “commercial” business.
(3) That this report and the revised BMBS Business Plan is referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for review and consideration.
Reason for Decision:
To ensure that BMBS can focus on achieving the ambitious targets set out in the revised Business Case.