Agenda item

The Chairman asked the Committee if they had any comments in respect of the accuracy of the minutes.  One Member indicated that in reference to the Riverside item Members noted the findings of the feasibility study but they also supported the proposed enhancement and rectification works to improve the heating system at the Riverside Housing complex which he highlighted had not been included in the minutes.  It was indicated that the minutes would be amended to reflect this.

The Director of Housing and Projects gave a brief update on the heating works at the Riverside Housing complex in Grantham.  Work had commenced on Monday with a temporary boiler being installed to ensure all residents had heating throughout the duration of the works.

The primary system would be flushed at the same time as new heat exchanges and pipework was installed together with a new management system.    The second part of the project would be to flush the secondary part of the system which would take a longer period of time due to the addition of additives.

The current cost of the works to replace the six boilers, the new management system, the flushing of the primary system, the replacement of pipe works and and the heat exchanges was £100,000.   At the last committee it had been estimated at £160,000.  The Director of Housing and projects then referred to the emersion heaters and stated that there were six that needed to be wired, however, there were still three properties that the Council was struggling to gain access to but work would continue with tenants to gain access.

Quotes were also being sought for the secondary flushing of the system and the thermostats that needed to be placed in each property.  Once the information was available it would be shared with the Committee.

The second update given was in respect of the FOB system which was used to access blocks of flats and the maintenance of that system and managing expiry dates.

If there was a problem with the FOB system during the working day these were reported to the repairs team.  If it was out of hours, it went through to the CCTV team who reported it to the On-call Team.  The On-call Team could not reactivate FOBs, but they did have their own FOBs which could be used to gain access to the block of flats 24/7.  ID would be checked to make sure that the tenants did live in that location.    Issues would be passed on to the Repairs Team who would arrange a repair if there was a fault with the system, otherwise it would be referred to the Tenancy Team who would investigate whether the FOB had expired. A report was available which details when FOBs were due to expire and this was reviewed regularly.  The Director of Housing and Projects assured the Committee that there was a comprehensive process in place.

The Chairman gave the opportunity to the Ward Councillors for the area to ask questions on the Riverside Complex.    The Ward Councillors welcomed the work to resolve the problems at the complex and as part of the scrutiny process, one of the Ward Councillors asked if the Committee could be party to the three quotes for the work at the Riverside Complex.

The Director of Housing and Projects stated that they already had a procured contractor, Arran Services, in place and the Council were able to use the contractor to procure the works.  The Council did not have to use them but a lot of time and effort had gone into procuring the contract.  Officers did check the quotes received for reasonableness and it was noted that three quotes were only necessary if a contract was under £50,000. 

If a contract was over £50,000 the Council would have to go out to formal tender which could take between three to six months and if this method had been used rather than Arran, it would not have allowed the work to be completed now, but after the winter period.  When a contractor had been procured that contractor would be used for all works, the procurement officer would check that the awarded contract did not breach the threshold which for this contractor was £11m.  If the value did go above the figure of £11m the contract could not be extended. 

A further question was asked about compensation, as tenants had yet to receive anything.  The Director of Housing and Projects stated that information was currently being collated and this would be shared with the Committee once it had been resolved, the wait had been due to the changes within the management of the Housing Team. 

The other Ward Councillor for the area indicated that he had been in extensive conversations with the Director of Housing and Projects and the Cabinet Member for Housing and that there were plans in place and he had faith in the team that the issues at the complex would be addressed.

The Chairman then asked for a proposer and seconder for the minutes of the 19 September 2024 following this the minutes were AGREED.