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 | Modernising Housing Services |
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The Conservative led Ipswich council is looking to modernise Housing services by redeploying resources from the current housing offices in order to:
• Spotting small problems before they become serious by increasing the number of Estate Officers by 70% having them on the beat rather than behind their desks
• Finding out the real issues by having every tenant personally visited by a housing officer at least once a year, with vulnerable tenants being visited more often
• Making the services accessible to those who work by allowing the full range of housing services to be available outside normal office hours, rather than close at 4pm
Richard Pope, the housing portfolio holder for Ipswich and Conservative councillor for Stoke Park, said
” It is misleading, and irresponsible, for Labour councillors to run ill-informed campaigns against these changes, we when the Conservatives, have shown their commitment to the Council owned estates by planning to invest over £100m by 2014; of which we have already spent £63m to date in an extensive programme of re-roofing and refurbishment to the high Ipswich Standard following years of Labour neglect. A shocking neglect of these and other publicly-owned property assets, despite their ever-increasing annual Council Tax. We are making a substantial investment in these improvements, despite the fact that the government will be taking £6.5m out of our housing revenue account this year for redistribution to other parts of the country, £400,000 more than it took in 2009/10. This is in effect an extra tax on the tenants of Ipswich those who can least afford.”
There are three Area Housing Offices in Ipswich to service 8,200 Council-owned homes. Their efforts are focused on specific locations, but do not cover all estates.
The Housing Offices are only open five days a week, between 9am and 4pm for four days a week, and from 9am to 1pm on Wednesdays.
Under the changes agreed by Executive on 16th February the Council will increase the number of Estate Officer posts from 14 to 20, in order to deliver a more personal and proactive housing management service for the benefit of our tenants. Each Estate Officer will have a reduced workload, with responsibility for 375 properties, instead of 550 as at present. They will concentrate their efforts in the estates, rather than in an office; visiting people in their own homes; making annual visits to every property, and assisting in the reduction of anti social behaviour.
Estate Officers will arrange ‘surgeries’ on the estates, and be available for home visits in the evenings and at weekends, instead of working the current restrictive hours.
The new Contact Centre will have dedicated, fully trained, staff to deal with day to day enquiries, and be available at times which are convenient to our tenants.
These facilities are in addition to the new Repairs Centre, which has streamlined the service, ensuring rapid response to repair needs.
23rd February 2010
 
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