AN AGREEMENT across councils will see Reading borough’s maintenance team help with repairs in Wokingham borough.
The arrangement for emergency and urgent work has been in place for 10 years, and includes the towns of Earley, Woodley and Wokingham, as well as the parishes of Shinfield, Twyford, Sonning and Wargrave, among others.
Wokingham Borough Council is reviewing its future service requirements for responsive repairs and maintenance services for its social housing, with the new contract starting in 2025 and lasting three years.
The existing contract with Reading Borough Council will continue until that point.
Reading council’s administration was keen to stress that retaining the contract would have no impact on the town’s tenants, as repair services for each area are run separately.
Cllr Ellie Emberson (Labour, Coley), lead councillor for housing on Reading Borough Council, said: “Wokingham and Reading services run separate in terms of repairs, so there’s no impact in terms of our tenants.
“It’s prudent for us to create income where we can and we’re clearly capable of carrying out this work and Wokingham think we’re doing a good job.”
A report by Burston, Reading council’s head of housing property services, states that Wokingham council is ‘very satisfied’ with the service, citing performance data.
The decision to extend the existing contract was unanimously agreed by members of Reading Borough Council’s housing, neighbourhoods and leisure committee.
Welcoming the move, Cllr Adele Barnett-Ward (Labour, Thames) said: “I want to highlight the entrepreneurial spirit of officers in seeking and obtaining this type of work, I think it’s fantastic that we have a partnership working with neighbouring authorities.
“We’re bringing extra revenue to accounts and we’re also building our skills base and delivering benefits to our residents and our teams without impacting on the services the residents get.
“I just want to thank officers, I love this sort of thing.”
Councillors also agreed that conditions of the current contract be adjusted to ensure Reading Borough Council is not subsiding the work being undertaken for Wokingham Borough Council.
The Reading council committee meeting took place on Thursday, July 6.
The value of the future contract is listed as £4 million.
