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London borough to bring repairs in house
A north London borough is set to bring all repairs services in house for its 23,000 council homes.
Camden Council’s Labour-run cabinet approved an insourcing programme for major repairs at a meeting last week.
It will start delivering large major repairs projects directly from next year, backed by a new supply chain for some specialist areas.
A single outsourced contract to deliver major repairs to council homes across the borough has been in place since 2013.
The council claims that handling the work in-house rather than continuing the outsourced contract will save £6m over five years.
It expects the in-house repairs team’s turnover to climb from the £15.7m projected for 2021/22 to £24.6m by 2025/26.
Camden has recently expanded its repairs team, bringing facilities management services in house in 2019 as well as day-to-day repairs in the Holborn area.
All day-to-day responsive repairs are now delivered directly by the council, with void refurbishment works brought in house last month.
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The council will agree contracts for 12 specific areas, such as fire safety, scaffolding, asbestos surveys and occupational therapy adaptations, with the in-house team progressively taking on greater proportions of this work.
Contractors will be required to demonstrate bringing social value to the borough through apprenticeships, working with small and medium-sized companies, and providing work placements for people with educational needs or disabilities.
The total value of the works over five years is expected to be £165.8m, with contracts accounting for £62.1m.
Meric Apak, cabinet member for better homes at Camden Council, said: “This approach is designed to build our capacity in house and therefore deliver more work directly.
“This will also make best use of our current assets and management structure, making the service more cost effective and therefore saving the council and its residents money.”
He added: “This move, however, is not just about saving money. We strongly believe that we can achieve social value through this process to create community and infrastructure benefits as well as opportunities for our residents.”
The council has promised to consult with residents on how the new arrangements will work in practice.
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