Issue - meetings

Appendix A to the report is exempt from publication as it contains commercially confidential information (exempt under paragraph 3, Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended)).

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Core Services presented the Barking and Dagenham Reside Regeneration Ltd (Reside) Business Plan for 2023-2028.

It was noted that the number of properties managed by Reside had doubled between 2021 and May 2023 to almost 2,000 units and was projected to increase to circa 4,500 by the end of the five-year Business Plan period.  The Cabinet Member advised that a key aspect in the first year of Reside’s new five-year Business Plan was to establish a neighbourhood management service, consisting primarily of a team of neighbourhood leads directly employed by Reside who would be empowered to resolve resident and housing management issues at source.  The move to the new neighbourhood model would enable Reside to achieve autonomy from the Council, which had always been the joint long-term aim. The new model would also incorporate the management of frontline services such as cleaning and caretaking, once those services could be safely and compliantly de-coupled from the Council.  Reside also intended to procure a substantive new repairs and maintenance contract for all of its homes in the first year, subject to the successful outcome of a pilot that was currently underway.

The Cabinet Member commended the Business Plan, commenting that it provided a clear vision for the company’s expansion and would enable it to enhance its reputation as the Borough’s landlord of choice through the provision of cost-effective services.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Approve the Barking and Dagenham Reside Regeneration Ltd (Reside) Business Plan 2023-28 as set out at Appendix A to the report; and

(ii)  Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Shareholder Panel, to:

(a)  approve the final timeline for withdrawal of services from the Council and delivery of the detailed Neighbourhood Management model as set out within the Business Plan;

(b)  take all necessary action to enable Reside to carry out its proposals under the Business Plan and to agree any variations to the Business Plan, legal agreements or shareholder agreement as necessary, subject to the provisions of the Subsidy Control Act 2022;

(c)  approve, subject to compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the company’s contract rules, the exercise of all decisions relating to reserved matters to enable Reside to enter into any procurement or other commitment required to enable the delivery of the Business Plan, including:

(i)  The procurement of a substantive repairs and maintenance provider (subject to a successful delivery of a pilot scheme)

(ii)  The procurement of an income collection provider.