The repairs service also undertook comparison activities with other social landlords to identify areas of good practice.

Over the course of the year the service arranged 7,616 repairs appointments with tenants met 90.3 per cent of these. Results show that 87.2 per cent of the council’s repairs were completed right first time against an average performance of 83 per cent for comparator authorities.

The survey also revealed that 85 per cent of tenants were satisfied with the quality of their home which is similar to the previous year and compares well with an estimated national average of 79.9 per cent.

During 2014/15, the housing service significantly improved its performance of preparing properties for re-letting. The teams took an average of 21 days to re-let empty properties, compared to 29 days in 2013/14 and the Scottish national average of 40 days in 2014/15.

Analysis of tenant feedback about the quality of service delivered and a range of performance indicators demonstrates that Perth & Kinross Council is performing strongly against comparator authorities.

These indicators include:

In order to provide a speedier and more efficient system for recording and dealing with requests from tenants for repairs to council houses the council has integrated the repairs call centre with the council’s customer service centre.

In addition, the introduction of mobile working for 60 per cent of the council’s trade teams has resulted in more stock being held in repair vans, which means that most common repairs can be completed from van stock at first visit.

Year-end stock for 2013/14 highlighted that 62 per cent of stock purchased was held within our fleet vans and this and a review of the supplies stored has resulted in a reduction of stores facility by approximately 70 per cent. The further use of mobile technology is currently being explored and a review is underway to look at alternative software for mobile working and for scheduling repair work.

Councillor Dave Doogan, convener of the council’s housing & health committee, said: “The importance of keeping the council’s 7,415 council houses in a very good state of repair and well maintained is fundamental and a key priority for the council. I am pleased to see such positive results from the tenant satisfaction survey and that the improvements being made by the repairs service are having the right impact.

“As we continue to review and look for further improvements we can make to the benefit of our tenants, I hope that our performance and tenant satisfaction will continue to improve and the service provided by Perth & Kinross Council will set the benchmark for comparator authorities across Scotland.”

@PerthandKinross