A review is being launched into the maintenance of council housing in Stoke-on-Trent.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council's 18,000 homes are currently maintained by Unitas, a company wholly owned by the authority that was launched six years ago.

Cabinet members at the council will discuss a report on 'maintenance and investment in council housing', in a behind-closed-doors session on Tuesday. The contents of the report have not been made public – due to the inclusion of 'exempt' information relating to financial and business affairs – but in the cabinet's forward plan the item is referred to as a 'review of future maintenance of council housing'.

It is not yet clear what this review will mean for the future of Unitas – with bringing the work back in-house one potential option. Unitas was launched under the council's previous City Independent-Conservative coalition in 2018, with 500 workers transferring from previous contractor Kier Stoke, a joint venture between the council and the construction giant Kier.

Last year, the council's then Conservative leadership agreed to extend Unitas' contract for a further five years up to 2028, saying at the time that they were 'extremely impressed' with the company's performance. Members of the Labour group, which took control of the council after last year's elections, had expressed more scepticism over Unitas while in opposition.

The council currently pays around £60m a year to Unitas for repairs and maintenance (Nub News).

Dan Jellyman, leader of the opposition Conservative group, questioned why issue was being discussed by the cabinet in private, and called for more transparency. He said: "I don't understand why this has to be on the closed agenda. Could it be that the council has already decided what it is going to do with housing maintenance?

"There is obviously a lot of strain on the council's finances, and it needs to find the most cost effective way of delivering a council house repairs service. But they need to make sure that whatever decision they make, it doesn't end up putting the council under even more pressure.

"The problems with the council's housing stock haven't just appeared in the last few years – they've been building for decades and now they're coming to a head. The council will have to deal with that."

The council currently pays around £60 million a year to Unitas for repairs and maintenance of council houses and public buildings.

According to the company's 2022/23 accounts, Unitas carried out 65,945 repairs to council homes over the course of the year, with 95.9 per cent completed within service level agreements. Complaints accounted for less than one per cent of all jobs undertaken.

The city council said it was not able to comment on the cabinet report, due to it being on the closed agenda.

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