Decision

Chesterfield Borough Council (17UD) - Regulatory Judgement: 27 November 2024

Published 27 November 2024

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C2 Our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.	First grading	November 2024

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Chesterfield Borough Council (Chesterfield BC) following an inspection completed in November 2024.

The regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grading of C2. This is the first time we have issued a consumer grade in relation to this landlord.

Summary of the decision

From the evidence and assurance gained during the inspection, our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in Chesterfield BC delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in our Safety and Quality Standard and our Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Chesterfield BC.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Chesterfield BC to assess how well Chesterfield BC is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme. We considered all four of the consumer standards: Neighbourhood and Community Standard, Safety and Quality Standard, Tenancy Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

During the inspection we observed the strategic housing board, a cabinet meeting and a tenant challenge panel meeting. We met with involved tenants, officers and councillors, including the leader of the council and the cabinet member for housing. We also reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Chesterfield BC.

Our regulatory judgement is based on all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection, as well as analysis of information received from Chesterfield BC through routine regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings

Consumer – C2 – November 2024

The Safety and Quality Standard requires landlords to have an accurate, up to date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes and ensure that homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. During the inspection, Chesterfield BC provided evidence-based assurance that it has an accurate record of the condition of its homes through physical surveys, and a process in place to keep this information up to date. Chesterfield BC also demonstrated that it uses its understanding of the quality and safety of its homes to inform its strategic approach to investment to maintain and improve homes, and we saw evidence of regular external specialist assurance sought in this area.

We have assurance that Chesterfield BC has appropriate systems in place to manage its health and safety responsibilities and to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas. Outcomes across all key areas of health and safety compliance are good and performance is actively monitored by senior officers, councillors and involved tenants. We also saw evidence that Chesterfield BC is managing the risks associated with damp and mould and is taking steps to adopt a more planned approach and improve reporting.

Our inspection and engagement with Chesterfield BC and its tenants demonstrated that there are weaknesses in the council’s provision of an effective, efficient and timely repairs and maintenance service. Chesterfield BC has a backlog of non-emergency repairs, and there are issues with the timeliness of the repair and maintenance of empty homes. While steps have been taken in response, Chesterfield BC recognises further improvement is needed and has a transformation project in place to address this. We will continue to engage with Chesterfield BC and seek assurance that progress is being made so that outcomes for tenants are improved.

The Neighbourhood and Community Standard requires landlords to work co-operatively with appropriate partners to promote positive outcomes for their tenants. Chesterfield BC demonstrated that it works effectively with the police and other relevant organisations on a range of interventions to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides homes. We saw evidence that the council takes prompt and appropriate action in response to reports, in accordance with its anti-social behaviour policy and procedures.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Chesterfield BC offers tenancies or terms of occupation that are compatible with the purpose of its accommodation, the needs of individual households, the sustainability of the community, and the efficient use of its housing stock. Chesterfield BC operates a choice-based lettings system, and during the inspection we gained assurance that the council supports tenants to sustain their tenancies.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard requires landlords to provide accessible information so tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord and hold their landlord to account. It also requires landlords to take tenants’ views into account when making decisions about the delivery of landlord services. We gained assurance that Chesterfield BC provides a range of opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise services and saw evidence that tenant feedback had directly and positively impacted service delivery, but improvement is needed in communicating how tenants’ views have been considered. There are also some weaknesses in the consistency of communication in service delivery, particularly in relation to repairs. Chesterfield BC is already taking steps to address these areas, and we will continue to engage with the council as it makes these improvements.

During the inspection we gained assurance that Chesterfield BC is committed to treating tenants and prospective tenants with fairness and respect. While we saw evidence that Chesterfield BC has a general understanding of the diverse needs of its tenants, improving the quality of the information the council holds will enhance its ability to proactively tailor services to tenants’ individual needs, and take other action to deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants. Chesterfield BC recognises that it needs to continue to collect and update the tenant information it holds and has plans in place to do this.

Landlords must ensure that complaints are addressed fairly, effectively and promptly. Our inspection identified weaknesses in this area, particularly in relation to the timeliness of Chesterfield BC responding to complaints. We also identified that Chesterfield BC needs to strengthen its approach to learning from complaints and using this information to continuously improve services. We saw evidence that Chesterfield BC has taken steps to address this and has plans in place for further improvement, and we will continue to engage with the council to seek assurance that change has been embedded and delivered improved outcomes for tenants.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Chesterfield BC is a non-metropolitan borough in Derbyshire and owns around 8,800 homes.

Our role and regulatory approach

We regulate for a viable, efficient, and well governed social housing sector able to deliver quality homes and services for current and future tenants.  

We regulate at the landlord level to drive improvement in how landlords operate. By landlord we mean a registered provider of social housing. These can either be local authorities, or private registered providers (other organisations registered with us such as non-profit housing associations, co-operatives, or profit-making organisations).  

We set standards which state outcomes that landlords must deliver. The outcomes of our standards include both the required outcomes and specific expectations we set. Where we find there are significant failures in landlords which we consider to be material to the landlord’s delivery of those outcomes, we hold them to account. Ultimately this provides protection for tenants’ homes and services and achieves better outcomes for current and future tenants. It also contributes to a sustainable sector which can attract strong investment.  

We have a different role for regulating local authorities than for other landlords. This is because we have a narrower role for local authorities and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, and Value for Money Standard do not apply. Further detail on which standards apply to different landlords can be found on our standards page. 

We assess the performance of landlords through inspections and by reviewing data that landlords are required to submit to us. In Depth Assessments (IDAs) were one of our previous assessment processes, which are now replaced by our new inspections programme from 1 April 2024. We also respond where there is an issue or a potential issue that may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards. We publish regulatory judgements that describe our view of landlords’ performance with our standards. We also publish grades for landlords with more than 1,000 social housing homes. 

The Housing Ombudsman deals with individual complaints. When individual complaints are referred to us, we investigate if we consider that the issue may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards. 

For more information about our approach to regulation, please see Regulating the standards. 

Further information  

 

• Regulating the standards 

• Regulatory standards for landlords