COUNCIL house tenants in Ilkley are hoping that a new scheme for increased co-operation with workmen will put an end to the

nightmare of repair delays.

The new scheme will involve workmen telephoning tenants to make sure they are in before calling to make repairs.

It aims to make the service more efficient by avoiding wasted journeys by workmen who often find no-one in when they call to fix routing housing problems.

Janet Gent, chairman of the Ilkley Housing Tenants' Association (IHTA), said the scheme was long overdue.

"It would be good if they could ring up and arrange a time when they are coming - it should improve things if they stick to the times and dates," said Mrs Gent, of The Crescent.

The present system operates via local housing officers trying to establish when tenants are likely to be in but no definite times or dates can be given for when workmen may call.

Mrs Gent said that although

tenants can say when they are likely to be in, unforeseen circumstances could mean they are called out unexpectedly, leaving the house unoccupied when workmen arrived.

Councillor Jim O'Neill, chairman of the council's housing services sub-committee, said: "This is a small but very important step towards making the repairs service more efficient by workmen dealing directly with tenants waiting for repairs.

"Thousands of repairs are carried out across the district each week but in some cases time is wasted because people are out when workmen turn up and that causes inconvenience and delays for everyone."

Ilkley district councillor Martin Smith said more co-operation between tenants and the housing office was long overdue.

He cited a case of an elderly tenant in Ilkley whose gutter was left without a down pipe, resulting in water cascading down his house wall and eroding the brickwork when it rained.

But because the man was disabled, every time workmen called to make the repair, they left again thinking he was out before the householder had time to get out of his chair and answer to the door.

Coun Smith said this happened around four times before the housing department liaised with social services visitors to gain access and make the repairs needed.

"Hopefully it will be a better

service to the customer and there will be less time lost and the

quality of the work and the accounting procedures will be improved - it is long overdue," said Coun Smith.

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