Giving services a work out

Less is definitely more for Milton Keynes Council’s housing department, which has been using ‘lean thinking’ methodologies to drive service improvements to its services

With a clear focus on customers’ needs the service ensures that tenants are provided with the right housing advice at the onset, rather than just being put on a waiting list in the hope of one day being housed.

The purpose of the service is summed up as ‘Right Person, Right Home’ and as well as putting a roof over people’s heads it aims to create sustainable tenancies and communities by placing customers in environments that meet their needs and in which they wish to stay.

Improvements have been made in a number of areas including the way in which the council deals with void properties.

Like the majority of housing services in the public sector, MKC’s focus for voids has always been on the period when the property will be empty but it was felt that this was not the most effective way of dealing with the issue, as head of housing David Moore explains: “An acceptance was created that a property will be empty for a given period and the systems became dependent on a property being empty to work, which systematised delays in providing customers with homes.”

The council has now redesigned the flow of work so that the focus is on the transition of tenancies rather than managing an empty property. This involves a more joined up approach between the housing service, building services, contractors, estate management officers and housing options to make the process as smooth as possible and to involve the incoming tenants early in the process.

Though traditional performance indicators have been replaced with systems measures, annual reporting shows that performance has continued to improve and the average re-let time has decreased from 56 days in 2006/07 to 23 days in 2008/09.

One area of the empty homes process that had caused Milton Keynes problems over the years was the installation of new gas meters at the start of a new tenancy.

In the past meters were being removed from empty properties unnecessarily, having to be replaced at a cost of £640. But the processes have been changed after talks with the gas provider resulting in time and cost savings and the £640 charge has been rescinded by the provider.

Another area of improvement has been the trialling of a handyperson scheme at a blocks of flats in Milton Keynes. A multi-trade operative from MITIE and the local caretaker are available two days per week to carry out minor repairs for tenants, as well as seeking out repairs to the communal areas. “As well as reducing the average time taken to carry out repairs, identifying repairs at an early stage prevents further degradation,” explains Moore.

Of the 11,500 properties that form the council’s housing stock 60 per cent are non-traditional with a wide range of archetypes, which presents particular challenges from a building maintenance perspective.

Partnership working has proved beneficial to meeting these challenges and the building services department is run as part of the public private partnership between Mouchel and the council.

MKC also works in partnership with four key contractors, MITIE who deliver the responsive repairs and empty homes contract, Apollo who deliver the Decent Homes programme and large-scale capital works, Potton Windows who deliver the window replacement programme and Wheldon Contracts and Services who deliver the gas maintenance and replacement contract.

The council often looks to work with external partners and to collaborate with the local community to enable value for money and an excellent level of customer care for the tenants.

For example, when replacing roofs in a rural village the council negotiated with a local farmer to provide a site compound with electricity.

As the homes were occupied during the works the scaffolding had to be designed to allow full protection to tenants living in the properties, while taking into account live flues, overhead electricity and telephone wires and adjacent private houses.

Decent Homes works, external decoration, insulation and drainage works were carried out to the relevant properties at the same time, in a bid to provide better value for money.

“This project is a brilliant example of collaborative working with partners, and liaison with the local community, to achieve the best result for the tenants,” says Mouchel project manager Chris Bardell.

So while the thought behind the council’s services may be leaner the overall provision to tenants becomes fitter.