CASE STUDY – SOUTH KESTEVEN DISTRICT COUNCIL (SKDC)
FEBRUARY 2024
Propeller, in partnership with Manifest, have helped South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) to comply with standards set by the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH).
In 2020, SKDC commissioned an audit that identified key areas of work required to meet the Regulator’s Home Standard. Based on the findings, the Council referred itself to the Regulator and in February 2021, was issued with a Regulatory Notice.
To support the improvement process, a comprehensive action plan was implemented to tackle areas of concern which mainly related to inspection processes and awareness of the overall condition of housing stock. SKDC also strengthened its senior housing team and reformed its processes for compliance with the Home Standard to ensure important safety checks were carried out.
Driving positive change
As part of the action plan, SKDC wanted to overhaul the way it managed compliance safety checks for gas, electrical, legionella, asbestos and fire safety. Details of these checks and associated servicing requirements were collated and maintained using excel spreadsheets.
With circa 6,000 homes in its portfolio, SKDC recognised the need for a more robust and efficient system giving them greater control of compliance. To help meet this aim, it joined forces with Propeller and specialist consultancy Manifest.
“The process began with an in-depth review into the Council’s property register and details of every residential building owned or managed,” explains Peter Salisbury, Director of Housing Consulting at Manifest. “Acting as a critical friend, we then worked closely with the SKDC team to establish exactly what types of safety checks were required for each individual home and how frequently. Along with the latest inspection schedules and associated documentation, this enabled us to work with the SKDC team to identify any gaps.”
The information gathered provided robust baseline data which was then fed into Propeller’s cloud-based software and digitally analysed.
Single source of truth
The results were presented instantly on an interactive dashboard comprising easy-to-read charts. These visuals break down the percentage of properties with an overdue or missing safety check, which provided a real-time view of compliance across all areas. Any issues could be easily identified allowing the Council to proactively respond and put measures in place to rectify them as quickly as possible.
To keep the system up to date, Propeller set up an interface which allows the Council’s appointed contractors to upload details of safety checks, including reports and associated spreadsheets. This information is automatically fed into the Propeller software so compliance can continue to be recorded.
To support electrical and fire safety inspections carried out internally by SKDC’s repairs team, Propeller implemented its mobile application. This allows details of safety checks to be automatically captured on a smartphone or tablet on site, which then automatically feeds into the compliance dashboard in real time.
Turning the tide
The simplicity of Propeller’s software meant only an hour’s training was required to enable SKDC’s staff to manage the system internally. In the event of any issues or queries, the Council could contact Propeller’s support service which provides telephone assistance and aims to resolve all issues within 24 hours or point of contact.
Combined with other improvements and new ways of working adopted by SKDC, the system’s swift implementation helped the Council gradually move towards compliance. While under regulatory notice, the dashboard was used to provide real time evidence of this progress to the RSH.
“The dashboard provides a single, transparent view of compliance which is fundamental to building safety,” says Dave Carr, Managing Director of Propeller. “This allowed SKDC to understand their servicing progress and use this information to help provide assurance on safety and compliance as part of its wider action plan.”
In October 2023, SKDC’s housing service was given the all-clear by the RSH.
The Chief Executive of South Kesteven District Council, Karen Bradford, said: “A huge amount of hard work went into ensuring that the regulatory notice was lifted and we welcome the value that the Propeller system brought to this process. Our work towards delivering a much-improved housing service continues and Propeller is just one of the tools that will help us achieve that.
“The wellbeing and safety of our tenants is one of our fundamental priorities and it is thanks to a real team effort that our work to make sure tenants, their homes and our estates are properly looked after was officially recognised by the Regulator.
“We are determined to maintain this upward trajectory in order to meet our ambition to provide safe, secure, and affordable homes to the people who really need them.”
Propeller’s software continues to be used by SKDC to monitor and manage compliance as it seeks to continuously improve its housing service.
