Dear Alex,

Thank you for your request dated 19 February 2025, asking for information that we hold as follows; please see our responses below in blue:

I am sending this request under the Freedom of Information Act to ask for the following information:

  1. How long does the council housing department store reports and certificates on council-owned housing (units, flats, or houses) for:
    1. Gas Safety Certificates (CP12)

 

We have a statutory obligation to store LGSR’s for 2 years. This would work out to 3 completed LGSRS. However, since moving to our new system in 2020, we would keep these contained in Connect indefinitely within the completed job order.

 

    1. Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR)

 

5 years as they are superseded

 

    1. Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)

 

5 years as they are superseded as part of Sock Condition survey programme

 

    1. Fire safety checks for HMO properties

 

This is managed by LBB and not Barnet Homes so may be held by Barnet Council.

 

  1. How are the reports and certificates listed in 1.a–d stored? Please detail whether they are kept in physical or digital form and where they are stored.

 

These are stored digitally

 

  1. How are repair or surveying appointments carried out by contracted builders/surveyors on council-owned housing recorded and stored within the housing department? Please detail whether they are kept in physical or digital form and where they are stored.

 

DLO – If work is raised to our in-house repairs service, appointments are arranged and tracked through our IT system. This system is called Connect and provided by a company called Total Mobile. All appointments are stored as ‘visits’ under each job order with clear visibility of when they have been attended, moved or no accessed.

 

Contractors – Whilst we pass works to our contractors via the Total Mobile Connect Portal, their appointment system is not aligned with our internal DLO. We encourage the contractors to put visit or appointment details within the notes, but the visit section of connect is built for the in house labour model as jobs pass from this to operatives direct. Where necessary, we request information from contractors where visits have taken place as they have a duty to store this data within their own systems.

 

  1. How are decisions and repairs made by contracted surveyors or builders recorded and stored?

 

DLO – All information is recorded and stored within our IT system (Connect). Both operatives and surveyors who work for Barnet Homes have PDA’s which allows the real time upload of any information. This includes photographs, job coding, notes and changes to job statuses (follow on, completions, no access).

 

Contractors – Whilst contractors will utilise their own systems on site, they are contractually obliged to use the Connect Subcontractor Portal to update Barnet Homes on orders. This will include any variation to costing, photographs of completed works, and changes to job statuses. They also would update the system with any notes which were relevant to the job.

 

  1. How is progress on repairs to council-owned housing tracked, updated, and recorded?

 

We have a range of performance indicators at different levels. These include:

 

  • KPI’s – Measuring high level performance, notably ‘completed in time’ and tenant satisfaction.
  • OPIs (Operational Performance Indicators) – recording monthly performance of operational areas such as average days to complete repairs,
  • MI’s (Management Information) – weekly statistics produced at local level showing key areas of focus. For example, work in progress, order raising and completion rates, productivity, complaints etc.

 

On a day to day level, focusing on individual orders, repairs are tracked via connect. An individual order will have specific statuses reflecting which stage in the process it is. Whether this be ‘Shelved’ (order awaiting an appointment), planned (visit organised), completed or invoiced (financially complete), there is clear visibility throughout. Updates can either be applied through the system (back office) or when tasks are completed by the operative through use of their PDA. Widgets held in connect dashboard allow us to monitor job statuses and ensure processes are completed where appropriate.

 

Are records kept when contracted builders and surveyors fail to attend scheduled repair appointments?

 

As above, we are unable to track contractor appointments. However, if a customer reports a missed appointment, we are able to obtain information from the contractor directly.

 

  1. How are housing complaints made by tenants stored, recorded, and responded to?

 

Barnet Homes records complaints on our Housing Management system, QL and letters/emails are stored no SharePoint. Responses are sent by letter or email and also stored on SharePoint.

Advice and Assistance

As the information you have requested in Q1 (d) is not held by Barnet Homes but may be held by Barnet Council, they can be contacted at:

 

Barnet Council

Information Management Team (IMT),

2 Bristol Avenue, Colindale, London NW9 4EW

Email: foi@barnet.gov.uk

 

Your Rights

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled, you can request a review by emailing Talk2Us@barnethomes.org and marking it as an appeal for the attention of the Data Controller. There is no charge for making an appeal.

After this, if you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner:

Kind regards,

Carly Williamson

Complaints and Information Manager