Law firm report urges council to focus on data and reporting as it has “some way to go” following C4 grading of housing services

During RSH’s original investigation at Newham, the Regulator found:

• more than 9,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions, of which over 8,000 were overdue by more than 12 months and more than 4,000 categorised as high risk
• 40% of the council’s 16,000 homes had not had an electrical condition test for more than 11 years
• a lack of evidence that Newham was meeting the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements for any of its homes.

It was the first local authority to be handed the lowest consumer grade by the Regulator of Social Housing.

The Mayor of Newham requested an externally-led investigation and Newham subsequently commissioned Capsticks to examine corporate reporting and the governance arrangements surrounding housing services, the consumer standards, and information provided to members and Cabinet.

“In particular, the investigation considered whether information held should have highlighted issues of non-compliance with the consumer standards earlier and whether the information held was robust, clear and transparent enough to allow proper oversight and scrutiny,” a report for a meeting of Newham’s Cabinet last month said..

The Capsticks report, published last month, concludes that the initial focus for Newham should be on data and reporting, “ensuring the recommendations in both this report and in Pennington Choices’ report are implemented to achieve consistency and accuracy throughout the housing function. This will help LB Newham to have a clear position of its housing function and enable the improvement plan, which is being worked on internally, to be geared in the right areas to improve compliance with the.....standards.”

The law firm said: “It was clear from our document review and discussions with LB Newham staff, that there was already some awareness of the issues discussed throughout this report. LB Newham is actively taking steps, including by commissioning this investigation and work from both Pennington Choices and Savills, and working alongside the Regulator to improve the housing function in LB Newham.

“....[Our] review was limited to a specific period in time leading up to the Regulatory Judgment. It is though clear that many of the issues we identified existed prior to that period. At the time of the Regulator’s inspection, LB Newham was already undergoing a period of improvement and had taken steps to improve its housing function. Improvements were being put in place, such as digitalising data and introducing performance reporting, along with the introduction of resident engagement, none of which had existed previously.”

The law firm added: “LB Newham still though has some way to go to ensure the effective performance of its housing function and compliance with the consumer standards.

“We recognise that the issues discussed in this report are complex and some are longstanding. Meaningful improvement will require sustained effort and resource over time. This will not be a quick fix, but rather a long-term commitment to change. Ultimately this should improve compliance with the consumer standards, the performance of the housing function and, importantly, outcomes for residents.”

Newham is now working alongside Savills to implement further changes which will address all of the recommendations in the Capsticks report and ultimately be reflected in the new Target Operating Model for Housing Services.

Harry Rodd