The Cabinet has decided to bring forward the end date for the Asset Survey programme and approve budget growth for external surveyors.

URL: https://democracy.crawley.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=779

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Outcome:

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Purpose: To seek in-year budget growth to complete the stock condition survey programme by end Q3 25/26

Content: Exempt Paragraph 3 - Information relating to financial and business affairs of any particular person (including the Authority holding that information)   RESOLVED   That the Cabinet:   a)                approves the need to bring forward the end date for the first cycle of the Asset Survey programme to complete in Q3 2025/26.   b)                approves Option 1 as set out in paragraph 5.1 and 5.2 of report CH/228 as the preferred option for delivery.   c)                subject to recommendation (d) being agreed, delegates the negotiation, approval and completion of all relevant documentation including legal paperwork necessary to the Head of Crawley Homes, the Head of Corporate Finance and the Head of Governance, People and Performance, in consultation with relevant Cabinet Member. (Generic Delegations 2 & 3 will be used to enact this recommendation)     That Full Council be recommended to approve the in-year budget growth of £651,370 to deliver completion of the Asset Survey programme, this will enable the Council to procure six external surveyors to complete 5,200 Asset Surveyors for a cost of £95 per Asset Survey together with eight months of temporary support to administer the project.   Reasons for the Recommendations   a)                The commitment for completion of Asset Surveys on all council properties by the end of Q3 will ensure we can demonstrate equitable outcomes for our tenants, provide an evidence base for compliance with the Safety and Quality Standard from the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and record outcomes of all required works identified during inspection.   b)                The completion of all Asset Surveys by the end of Q3 will allow Crawley Homes to apply all the property asset data into the Planned Maintenance Module of Active-H, to provide an evidence base that will inform and enable the 30-year HRA Business Plan to be finalised and allow an accurate forecast for capital investment required to keep the council stock in line with required decency standards. Completing the survey programme by Q3 will allow for any adjustments to be made to the initial submission to be ratified for April 2026 with evidence-based projections for financial year 2026/2027.     c)                To date the Council has completed 1,900 Asset Surveys on Active-H, these have been delivered through a blend of in-house surveyors, agency surveyors and external surveyors. Therefore, a further 6,309 properties require an asset survey to fully populate our asset management system with current asset data.   d)                It is anticipated that the Council’s three in-house Stock Condition Surveyors will complete 1,109 Asset Surveys over a 110-day period, with an allowance for annual leave etc. built in as there are 132 working days to the end of Q3.   e)                This would leave 5,200 properties to receive an Asset Survey by the end of Q3. As per 3.3, Crawley Borough Council have already benefited from external surveyors who demonstrated they are able to average seven surveys per day. Should six external surveyors be commissioned during 2025/26 to undertake Asset Surveys on behalf of the Council the programme would be complete by end Q3.   f)                  The Asset Survey project to date has been supported by an administrative resource managed by the Planned Maintenance Manager. Due to the high volume of surveys to be completed by the external surveyors, which will result in a significant number of responsive repairs which must be addressed within relevant timeframes, our proposal includes the continuation of this resource to ensure that expected outcomes following Asset Survey are completed within relevant timeframes. This administrative support role will be responsible for ensuring that the high volume of Asset Surveys completed by the external surveyors have any outcomes addressed within relevant timeframes, as well as communicating with tenants and assisting the in-house team schedule their Asset Surveys. The cost for this resource over the eight months required to deliver the project is £25,145 of this £770 has already been incurred.   g)                 The spend for external surveyors on the project during the previous financial year, 2024/2025, was £83,329. Additionally, costs incurred for the administrative resource was £770 for 2024/25. This total sum of £84,099 was invoiced and budgeted during financial year 2024/2025.

Date of Decision: June 25, 2025