Near miss for Birmingham on repairs backlog target

Birmingham council has narrowly missed its target to clear a backlog of 48,000 repairs in little more than six months.

At least 1400 jobs are reportedly still being carried out, although the vast bulk were completed by the target of 31 March.

The city's two repair and maintenance contractors – AWG and Birmingham Accord – are waiting for components, mainly double-glazed window units, to be delivered, in order to complete the work.

Birmingham Accord has an undisclosed number of additional uncompleted jobs in the south of the city. They are expected to be finished next week.

Interim housing manager David Hucker, who was brought into the council to coordinate the repairs clearance, said: "Although it is disappointing not to have hit the target, given the size of the task and the timescale this has been a fantastic effort by everyone involved.

"We have built a platform for delivery of a high-class service in the future."

Hucker's contract with Birmingham ended last Wednesday and he is to join consultant Ecotec. The council will soon begin recruiting for a long-term replacement.

Birmingham's housing services have twice received zero-star Audit Commission inspections in the past three years.

The second of these, last September (HT 19 September 2003, page 7) singled out the repairs service for harsh criticism.

The council responded in December by switching £7.3m from its decent homes budget to fund an effort to tackle its vast backlog of repair jobs. In total, Birmingham spent £23.7m on repairs and maintenance in 2003/4 – almost £12m more than the previous year.

It also sought to improve its repairs service by offering incentives to its contractors, which seems to have paid off.

Lin Homer, the council's chief executive, said: "What we've begun to do with our two contractors has got the repairs service functioning. We start the financial year pretty clear and, hopefully, well able to maintain the repair and other responsive services."

Birmingham is locked in discussions with the Government Office of the West Midlands over when it will complete its stock options study. It is due by July 2005, but the city is arguing for more time to give tenants an equal say in the future of their housing.