Crawley Council
Services
Repairs and maintenance; Planned works; Voids
What was our client looking for?
In 2010 MITIE entered into a partnership with Crawley Borough Council to provide our suite of property services to their social housing stock. The contract, valued at over £10m per annum will last for 10 years. Crawley’s priorities from the start included the implementation of a systems thinking approach, improved customer relations and better value for money.
How did we help?
Our repairs and maintenance service covers the northern half of the borough, encompassing 4,000 properties requiring on average 60 jobs a day. The service is underpinned by our TotalCare approach to service delivery. Part of this approach involves implementing lean processes which removes inefficient practices that cost our client’s time and money. It also means that the entire service is designed around the needs of the end user – in this case the resident, ensuring customer satisfaction and service excellence.
In practice, when a tenant calls to report a fault they are given an appointment for a day and time convenient to them. The operative who attends then diagnoses the fault and the time needed to fix it when they arrive. Any additional materials or labour support they require are sent immediately, ensuring they can remain on site and begin the repair. Why is this important? Because tenants want their repair fixed first time, at a time that is convenient to them, and this approach to service delivery gives us the best opportunity to meet this expectation.
Our planned works programme includes new kitchens and bathrooms,boiler installations, external works, windows and doors, roofing, gas works,legionella, electrical rewiring and testing to 8,000 properties. We are also completing around 16 voids a month, with on average a 6 day turnaround. A separate domestic gas contract covering new installations, breakdown repairs and annual servicing started in April 2009 and is worth £2m per annum.
At MITIE we try to look beyond the skilled work required to complete a contract and consider further ways we can make a positive impact in the community. We have partnered with the YMCA to help them provide accommodation for vulnerable young people in the area. When Crawley Borough Council donated a building to the YMCA, MITIE provided the skilled operatives and materials required to mentor and support the young people renovating the building. This has not only provided much needed accommodation, but also given those young people working on the project new skills they can take with them into future employment.
The results
Our TotalCare approach to service delivery is providing Crawley Borough Council’s tenants with a responsive and high quality service they can rely on. Customer satisfaction is consistently high and we continue to work with the YMCA to ensure we can leave behind a lasting legacy in the community.