Dear Resident,

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact L&Q and raise your queries in relation to the caretaking service at Chobham Manor. First and foremost, we want to thank you for your ongoing patience with not only this query, but others. Rest assured, myself and all other relevant departments are actively working to ensure all residents receive a timely and comprehensive response.

 

We are aware that the caretaking service is one which is not only growing but with that growth comes experience and diversity. This allows Chobham Manor to have a resourceful, in-house service where residents have a relationship with and can expect a consistent outcome to issues presented. The caretaking team are committed to constantly learning / training and utilising that progress to ultimately benefit the residents.

 

We have divided the below context into sub-sets for your ease of reference.

 

Duties and expectations

 

The role of a Caretaker at L&Q maintains the health and safety and maintenance of our buildings. Their duties include cleaning, grounds maintenance, performing minor repairs and maintenance tasks, carrying out security checks to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our residents.

 

Their daily presence on schemes and estates has proven to significantly reduce ASB, reduce maintenance costs and reduce bulk. For example, when lifts go out of service our Caretakers are often able to reset or remedy these issues in real time. The caretakers pro-actively use several means of communication to alert staff i.e. property manager to suspicious activities.

 

Our Caretakers are the first point of contact for residents and will immediately engage, troubleshoot, or sign post to assist in resolving any issues or concerns. They also carry out regular Health & Safety checks and report repairs that they are unable to complete themselves.

 

Having a localised in-house service benefits from faster turnaround times, resident engagement, knowledge of the estate and individual blocks. When these services are contract-based the development receives a weekly visit from multiple contractors, with increased maintenance costs, and issues arise with access for external contractors carrying out repairs that often lead to missed visits and may be subsequently charged back to residents.

 

Minor repairs

 

Below are common minor repairs which the caretaking team have demonstrated in their day-to-day duties (not limited to):

 

1. Car Park gates – when these encounter an error the caretaking team have the knowledge of where the equipment is located and can reset the gates so that they are back in use quickly.
2. Lifts – Often times lifts encounter minor faults due to various reasons i.e., residents / deliveries obstructing the doors for an extensive amount of Caretakers are able to reset the lifts. Should this not work, the property manager is then asked to intervene. If all else fails, we would then resort to instructing the lift maintenance company to attend and repair within a reasonable timeframe.
3. Door closures – Door closures are not only a security accessory for the building doors, but a critical building fire safety and health and safety Caretakers are able to quickly amend the door closures speed etc to ensure doors are engaging with the magnets and also not closing at speed which could lead to an injury.
4. Stains – The caretaking team have an inventory of equipment which they can utilise to resolve any stains which may be occur. Should the efforts of the caretaking team not yield the result we intended for, we would then subsequently ask for a professional cleaning company to attend and attempt to resolve this.

 

The passion and commitment of the in-house Caretaking team and the relationships that are developed between stakeholders, on site developers, external contractors and the property manager allow us to provide these services and mitigate costs. We also regularly engage with our scheme improvement team who carry out various other repairs across our developments such as painting, installation of kick plates, installing metal trimmings on walls, stair treads and any job that takes a considerable amount of time, and is not on the planned maintenance programme. This has been demonstrated with the recent November inspection summary whereby David, from the scheme improvements team was asked to attend site and assist with removing bike storage signs and making good the walls.

 

At Chobham Manor we have appointed nine caretakers that work exclusively on the estate from Monday to Friday with shifts covering from 7am – 5pm. This allocation is necessary to ensure that the upkeep of our buildings is met to the highest possible standard. We would like to give our residents the opportunity to express their feedback and therefore, the caretaking team will be conducting a survey, asking specific questions. We aim to take your feedback on board and make necessary improvements.

 

L&Q did not apply for any furlough for the Caretakers at Chobham as the Caretaking team were present and continued to provide the same service during covid, extra cleaning was carried out to the high touch point areas. Adjustments were also made to start/finish times to enable the team to avoid the rush hour period on public transport and minimise risks to staff.

 

The Caretaker Supervisor role is to monitor and provide support and practical assistance to the team, ensuring efficiency and that Health & Safety is upheld. Their day-to-day duties include:

 

• Induct/mentor/coach/motivate/guide/manage their team
• Inductions/Probations
• Plan rotas and duties of Caretakers
• Monitor performance
• Provide coaching, practical assistance and cover for absence
• Perform Monthly 1:1’s /annual appraisals
• Carry out workshop and equipment inspections
• Collect Key Performance Indicator (KPI’s) for monitoring
• PAT Testing and equipment servicing
• Ensuring their team are H&S compliant through COSHH & Safety Data Sheets/Risk Assessments/PPE etc
• Managing Annual Leave/Sickness
• Manage training (both individual and team)
• Team Events/Meetings
• Monthly Finance Records
• Perform block/estate inspections

Rotas and duties are advertised in blocks within the noticeboards. You will also find the contact details for your property manager.

 

If residents are unhappy with the Caretaker/Supervisor performance residents’, they should contact L&Q on 03004569998 whereby their query/complaint will be logged on to the system and allocated to a member of staff who is best placed to investigate the query and take necessary actions. A service level agreement ensures that this will be acknowledged within 24 hours and a 10-working day resolution period (this is subject to change depending on complexity of the issue). Rest assured we will keep you abreast of any ongoing progress we are making regarding a query/complaint.

 

We have previously accepted that there has been a lapse in service historically, however, we have adjusted, listened to our residents, and improved our service and continue to listen to feedback and act upon it. As mentioned before, we are committed to making a difference and ensuring our residents are receiving value for money.

 

In relation to the caretaking costs, we wanted to be as transparent as possible with this query.

 

Below are 2 sub-sets of what makes up the caretaking costs: Fixed costs: Applicable to all caretakers

1. Gross salary (basic, NI and pension) with cost-of-living increase
2. Over-time provision
3. Uniform costs
4. Lone worker solutions device costs (personal safety device)
5. Mobile phone costs

Variable costs: Applicable to only caretakers with access to vehicles

 

1. Vehicle costs
2. Vehicle insurance costs

 

 

For the benefit of ensuring residents are aware of the yearly estimated costs, we have listed the last 3 years of total costs, including the current year, for the caretaking service at Chobham Manor.

 

Year	No of roles	Total cost	Average per role
2020/2021	5.96	209,819.37	35,179.30
2021/2022	6.00	198,273.44	33,045.57
2022/2023	9.00	298,492.05	35,041.07

 

We acknowledge that there is always room for improvement in any service that is being offered on Chobham Manor, rest assured we are looking to improve this in the coming months by reintroducing monthly surgeries (virtually) with the Property Manager, the Caretaking Team Leader will also be in attendance every other month to address any concerns or issues. We will also be carrying out a survey to ask for your feedback on our Estate Services. This will be implemented in the New Year.

 

We are committed to delivering excellent estate service so your feedback will greatly be appreciated.

 

Should you have any queries in relation to the above, please do not hesitate to contact your Neighbourhood Housing Lead.

 

We would kindly ask that any queries in relation to the caretaking team is directed through to the supervisor via our call centre. We understand there may be occasions whereby an immediate resolution is required, if so, please do inform me and we will ensure a quick, responsive action is taken.

 

 

Yours Faithfully

 

Housing Management Team.