Calderbrook Housing Group / BG-Demo – Escalation
Callcompleted
Calderbrook Housing Group · 27 Jan 2026 10:15
Escalation on 27 Jan 2026: repairs jobs are counted twice in the brain and the board pack figure does not reconcile. Helen Marsden links it to falling use, a value question and an in-house platform idea. Cause not yet confirmed.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Escalation on 27 Jan 2026: repairs jobs are counted twice in the brain and the board pack figure does not reconcile. Helen Marsden links it to falling use, a value question and an in-house platform idea. Cause not yet confirmed.
What happened: Daniel Okafor hosted an escalation on three high priority tickets from Paul Rigby about repairs jobs counted more than once. Ewan Pryce's line of enquiry is job identity on rescheduled jobs after the housing system upgrade, not confirmed.
Customer view: Helen Marsden says the repairs figure does not reconcile to the housing system and she cannot show the board the source. Colleagues have gone back to their own spreadsheets, with about six people active against forty licences.
Commercial: Helen put the cost of forty-four thousand a year against a figure she cannot defend, and said her IT people are talking about an in-house platform. She declined to discuss the contract and expects her director to ask about value in the summer.
Watch: she needs corrected figures by the Wednesday before the committee deadline, and Ewan would not promise it. Dominic Hale will post a daily update at 09:00 and phone Helen if the date is at risk.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Repairs data double-counting
Importance
complaint
Sentiment
negative
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Dominic Hale posts the 09:00 daily update and sends an incident note the same day.
- Ewan Pryce checks the whole repairs table and confirms whether the reschedule theory holds.
- Daniel Okafor offers Helen times for a follow-up conversation once the pack has gone.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Trust in the brain has fallen and daily use is about six people against forty licences.
- Group IT is discussing an in-house platform and the director will question value in the summer.
- The corrected figures may miss the Wednesday deadline before the board committee pack goes.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A reconciled pack with a weekly count beside the source can rebuild the value case.
- Helen wants a later conversation on what the team needs, and housing and complaints users could be won back.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforMorning, everyone, and thank you for making the time. Just checking who has joined. I can see Helen and Paul, and Dominic and Ewan are on from our side. Is that everybody?
Helen MarsdenMorning, Daniel. Yes, it's just Paul and me from Calderbrook.
Paul RigbyMorning. Can you hear me all right? The headset's been playing up.- Daniel OkaforClear as anything, Paul. How is the week treating you both? Still grey up there?
- Helen MarsdenGrey, and a lot of people off with colds. We're thin on the ground, which doesn't help when the board pack is due.
- Daniel OkaforThat's exactly why I wanted us all in one room. Dominic, would you start us off with where things stand on the tickets?
Dominic HaleYes. Thanks, Daniel. So, what's confirmed: there are three high priority tickets from Calderbrook open in the last month, all raised by Paul, all about repairs jobs being counted more than once. I've taken ownership of this, so I'm the named owner from today. What's not confirmed is the cause, and I'm not going to guess at it on this call.- Paul RigbyDouble-counted again, that's the long and short of it. Job ref attached on every one. I've got a spreadsheet, every ticket, every job number.
- Helen MarsdenIf I can add to that. I'd like to say what I'm chasing, because it's the reason Paul's tickets matter. In the board pack, the repairs completed figure in the performance section doesn't reconcile to the housing management system. The brain says more jobs than the system of record does. The board will ask, and at the moment I can't show them the source.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood, Helen. And I want to say, before anything else, that I'm sorry. You brought this to us because you needed numbers the board could rely on, and that's not what you've had this month.
- Helen MarsdenThank you. It isn't about apologies, though. It's about whether I can put my name to the figures.
- Daniel OkaforOf course. Fair.
- Paul RigbyCan I share the report that's wrong? Easier than talking about it.
- Daniel OkaforPlease do.
- Paul RigbyRight. Can you see that? This is the repairs completed dashboard for last week. Top line says a number I know is too high. I've got the same week out of the housing system on the left. Pull a single job, say this one, it's in the brain twice. Same job ref, same address, two rows.
Ewan PryceSame job reference on both rows. Not a near match.- Paul RigbyExactly the same. And it started after the housing system upgrade. Before that I had no bother.
- Ewan PryceRight. In short, here's what we know. The nightly refresh is running and completing. Nothing is failing. The records are arriving, they're just arriving twice for some jobs. What we don't yet know is where the duplicate is introduced, whether that's at our end of the connector or in how the upgraded system presents the jobs.
- Helen MarsdenSo you can't say whether it's yours or ours.
- Ewan PryceNot yet. If it's on us, I'll say so plainly. That's on us, and we fix it. I'm not going to call it either way without evidence.
- Helen MarsdenI appreciate that. But Ewan, the first ticket was a while back now. Why are we still at we don't know?
- Dominic HaleThat's a fair challenge, and it's mine to answer. The first ticket was picked up inside the response time for your tier, but it was handled as a single report rather than as the start of a pattern. The second and third should have pulled it together sooner. Paul's spreadsheet is what made it obvious. I'd like to say thank you for that, Paul.
- Paul RigbyDidn't do it for thanks. Any update on this was what I was after, to be honest.
- Dominic HaleUnderstood. That's the gap. You shouldn't have had to ask.
- Daniel OkaforHelen, can I ask how the team is finding it day to day at the moment? Not the figures, just how it feels from where you sit.
- Helen MarsdenHonestly, Daniel. People have stopped opening it. We have forty licences. On a normal day it's six of us, perhaps, and that's mostly Paul and me. A few months ago there was a queue of colleagues asking it things. The housing officers, the complaints team. Once word got round that the repairs numbers were off, they went back to their own spreadsheets.
- Daniel OkaforThat's useful to hear, and it's what I was afraid of. It's trust, not the tool.
- Helen MarsdenIt's both. If you can't trust one section, people assume the rest is shaky too. Arrears, complaints, tenant calls. Those are fine as far as I know, but the damage is done.
- Paul RigbyArrears are fine. I checked them against finance last week. Match.
- Ewan PryceThat's helpful, Paul. It narrows it to the repairs source.
- Helen MarsdenCan I ask something slightly uncomfortable?
- Daniel OkaforPlease.
- Helen MarsdenWe pay forty-four thousand a year for this. I'm not raising it to be difficult, but when the board asks what that buys, and the answer is a repairs number I can't defend, that's a hard conversation. I'd rather you heard it from me.
- Daniel OkaforI'm glad you said it. And you're right to put it that way. The value is in the pack being right, and until it is, I'd not expect you to feel you're getting it.
- Helen MarsdenThere's something else I ought to be straight about. Our own IT people have been talking about building something in-house. A platform of their own. That wasn't my idea, I'd like that on record. But I can't pretend the conversation isn't happening, and every double-counted job gives it more oxygen.
- Daniel OkaforThank you for telling us. Truly. I'd far rather know. And I'm not going to try to talk you out of anything on this call. Today is about fixing the repairs numbers.
- Helen MarsdenGood. That's what I want too.
- Ewan PrycePaul, can I ask you a couple of things about the upgrade? Do you know roughly when the housing system was upgraded?
- Paul RigbyEnd of last year. I can find the exact day, I think our IT sent a note round. Before Christmas anyway. The first duplicates I spotted were a week or so after.
- Ewan PryceAnd is every job doubled, or only some?
- Paul RigbyOnly some. That's what makes it awkward. Jobs that were raised and then rescheduled, mostly. Straightforward ones come through once.
- Ewan PryceRescheduled ones. That's a useful pattern. In the old version a rescheduled job kept its identity. If the upgrade now issues a fresh record for the reschedule, we may be treating the original and the new as two separate jobs.
- Helen MarsdenEwan, you just said you wouldn't speculate.
- Ewan PryceFair. I'm not saying that's the cause. It's a line of enquiry, nothing more. I'll test it against Paul's job refs before I say it's anything.
- Paul RigbyI can send you the list now. There's sixty-odd jobs in there with notes. I'll mark which ones were rescheduled where I know.
- Ewan PryceThat would save me a day. Send it to me and to Dominic.
- Paul RigbyWill do after this.
- Dominic HaleWhile Paul does that, I'd like to say how I'll run this from my side, so that you know who owns what. One ticket, the three merged under one, with me as owner. I'll post an update at a fixed time each day, whether or not there's news. If there's no news, I'll say that.
- Helen MarsdenA fixed time would help. Paul gets asked at stand-up every morning.
- Paul RigbyEvery morning. By the housing ops lead. I've nothing to tell him.
- Dominic HaleThen let's put it before stand-up. What time is it?
- Paul RigbyHalf nine.
- Dominic HaleI'll make it 09:00 each business day. First one tomorrow. Next update by 09:00 tomorrow, then, and I'll write it so Paul can read it out as it stands.
- Paul RigbyTa. That's what I need.
- Helen MarsdenRight, but a daily update tells me you're watching it. It doesn't get the board pack right. When's the pack?
- Daniel OkaforHelen, can you tell us when you need the corrected figures by? I don't want us to guess your deadline.
- Helen MarsdenThe repairs section goes to the committee chair a week on Friday. I need the corrected numbers in my hands the Wednesday before at the latest, so that Paul and I can reconcile them line by line against the housing system.
- Daniel OkaforThank you. So, Ewan, Dominic, we've got a hard date on the customer side. I'd like to be careful here, because I don't own the engineering timeline and I don't want to promise something on your behalf.
- Ewan PryceAppreciated. Here's what I can say. I'll have Paul's list tonight. By tomorrow I should know whether the reschedule line of enquiry holds. If it does, the fix is a change to how we match job identities, and then a re-run of the repairs history. If it doesn't, I'll tell you that tomorrow and we widen the search.
- Helen MarsdenAnd the history? The dashboards going back to before the upgrade. Will those be corrected?
- Ewan PryceThe history since the upgrade, yes. That's what the re-run is for. Before the upgrade it should be clean, but I'll verify that rather than assume.
- Helen MarsdenPlease do verify it. Can you show me the source for each corrected week? Not just a new number. I need to see how it ties to the housing system.
- Ewan PryceYes. I'll give you a count by week from our side next to the count from the source. Where they differ you'll see why.
- Helen MarsdenThat would be the first thing in this whole month that I'd call useful.
- Daniel OkaforHelen, that's fair, and I'd rather you said it.
- Paul RigbyList's gone. Sent to both of you, just now.
- Dominic HaleReceived. Thanks, Paul. I'll attach it to the merged ticket.
- Ewan PryceGot it. Opening it now.
- Daniel OkaforWhile Ewan's looking, Helen, can I ask about something quieter? You said the housing officers and the complaints team drifted away. Is there anyone in those teams you'd want me to speak to directly, once the numbers are right? Not to sell anything, just to find out what they need.
- Helen MarsdenPossibly. Let me think about who. I'd rather you didn't go to them before the figures are fixed, though. It would look like you were chasing licences.
- Daniel OkaforAgreed. Numbers first. I'll wait for you.
- Helen MarsdenThank you.
- Ewan PryceRight. A first look, and it's only a first look. Of the jobs on Paul's list, the ones he's marked as rescheduled all show two rows, and the second row has a later created time. The ones he hasn't marked mostly show the same. So it fits, but I'd want to see more than this list before I'd say it holds.
- Paul RigbyI'd say most of them were rescheduled, if I'm honest. I only marked the ones I was sure of.
- Ewan PryceThat'll do for now. I'll check the whole repairs table tomorrow, not just your sample.
- Dominic HaleEwan, just so that I can write the ticket accurately. Can I say the line of enquiry is job identity on reschedules, not yet confirmed?
- Ewan PryceYes. Say exactly that. Line of enquiry, not confirmed. Root cause, not symptom, and we're not there yet.
- Dominic HaleNoted. I'll write it that way.
- Helen MarsdenCan I ask what you'll put in writing to me? I don't want to relay a call. I need something I can put in front of my director.
- Dominic HaleI can do an incident note. What happened, what we know, what we don't, who owns what, and the times. I'll write it today with what we've said here, and amend as the facts come in.
- Helen MarsdenAnd when it's resolved, a proper write-up? Not a line saying it's fixed.
- Dominic HaleYes. A full write-up afterwards, with the cause, the fix and what we've changed so it doesn't recur. That's how I run every incident.
- Helen MarsdenGood. Because the in-house people will read it as well, whether I like it or not.
- Daniel OkaforThen it should stand up to being read by them. Ewan, Dominic, I think that's our standard.
- Ewan PryceIt is.
- Paul RigbyCan I ask something? Say it is the reschedules. Once you fix it, will it stay fixed? Or are we back here after the next upgrade?
- Ewan PryceGood question. If we fix it by matching on the right identity, a reschedule shouldn't create a duplicate whatever the system does with its own records. I'd also add a check that flags a job appearing twice, so it's caught on our side the morning after, not weeks later by you.
- Paul RigbyThat'd be a big help. Catch it before I do.
- Ewan PryceIt should have been caught before you did. That's on us.
- Helen MarsdenThank you for saying so.
- Daniel OkaforHelen, I want to just close the loop on something from earlier, if that's all right. You mentioned the in-house conversation. I'd like to make sure we don't talk about the contract today, because I don't think that's the right place to start. But I want you to know I'm here, and the team's here, for the conversation whenever you want it.
- Helen MarsdenI'd not want to talk about it today. But I'd rather you were aware that, come the summer, my director will ask what we've got for the money.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. I'd like us to have something solid to show him by then. A pack that reconciles, and a team that's using it again. That's the case worth making, not a pitch.
- Helen MarsdenThat's what I'd want.
- Dominic HaleCan I come back to the three tickets, because there's one thing I'd like to put right. Paul, on the second ticket, the reply you got was a standard acknowledgment. Was that what you had?
- Paul RigbyAye. A standard reply, then nowt for days.
- Dominic HaleThen that's the failing. Not the speed of the first response, the silence after it. I'll make sure the daily note covers that, and I'll look at how my team follows up when a ticket is waiting on engineering.
- Paul RigbyRight. Fair enough.
- Helen MarsdenDaniel, one more thing. The dashboards Paul built for the morning stand-up. Is there any way of marking them as under review in the meantime? I don't want anyone quoting them.
- Daniel OkaforYes, good thinking. Paul, you're the admin, so you can add a note to the repairs dashboards yourself. If you'd like me to talk you through it, I can stay on after the call.
- Paul RigbyI know how. I'll put a banner on the top. Repairs figures under review, do not quote.
- Helen MarsdenPerfect. Thank you, Paul.
- Ewan PryceSorry, one more question for Paul, if I may. When the housing system was upgraded, did anyone change how jobs are exported or which fields are shared? I'd like to know whether that moved.
- Paul RigbyI don't know. That'd be our IT, the team that runs the housing system. I can ask.
- Helen MarsdenI'll ask them as well. I know who to go to. I'll put it in writing, so that we've an answer by tomorrow.
- Ewan PryceThat would help. Even a one-line answer, did the job export change, yes or no.
- Helen MarsdenI'll get you that.
- Daniel OkaforThank you. So, can I try to say it back, to make sure I've got it all? Tell me if I've got anything wrong.
- Helen MarsdenGo on.
- Daniel OkaforThe three tickets become one, owned by Dominic, with an update at 09:00 every business day. Paul has sent the list of jobs, and Ewan is checking the whole repairs table tomorrow against the reschedule theory. Helen is asking your IT whether the job export changed. Dominic writes an incident note today and a full write-up when it's resolved. And the corrected figures, with a weekly count beside the source, need to be with Helen by the Wednesday before the pack goes.
- Helen MarsdenThat's right. The word need is doing a lot of work in that last one.
- Ewan PryceI know. I'll be straight with you: I can't promise the Wednesday yet. I can say tomorrow I'll know whether I can, and I'll say so in the 09:00 note.
- Helen MarsdenThen I'd rather you told me tomorrow it's at risk than told me on the Tuesday it's late.
- Ewan PryceAgreed. Early warning, not a surprise.
- Dominic HaleI'll hold us to that. If it's at risk, it goes in the note and I'll phone Helen as well.
- Helen MarsdenPhone me, don't just email. I might not look at the email in time.
- Dominic HalePhone you, then. Understood.
- Paul RigbyCan I add one thing to the list? A couple of the older tickets I never got a closing note on. Not these three, earlier ones from the autumn. Are they sorted?
- Dominic HaleI don't know offhand and I won't guess. Send me the references, or just say which ones, and I'll check each and come back to you.
- Paul RigbyI'll send them with the other lot.
- Daniel OkaforHelen, is there anything else on your side? Anything you'd want me to be watching that we've not covered?
- Helen MarsdenOnly that I'd like a short conversation, you and me, after the pack's gone. Not today. Once it's behind us, I'd like to talk about what the team actually needs from this, and whether we're using it right. I'm not sure we've set it up for the people who stopped using it.
- Daniel OkaforI'd welcome that. That's the thing I care about most. Let's put it in the diary once the pack is out. I'll come back to you by the end of next week with a couple of options for times.
- Helen MarsdenThat's fine.
- Daniel OkaforPaul, how are you holding up with all of this? You've carried a lot of it.
- Paul RigbyI'm all right. Bit tired of it. I'd just like to open the dashboard in a morning and not wonder.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a fair thing to ask of us. Not wondering.
- Helen MarsdenHe's been very patient. I'd like that noted.
- Dominic HaleIt is noted, and I'll put it in the write-up.
- Ewan PryceOne last practical point. Paul, if you spot another double before we've fixed it, don't open a new ticket. Add a line to the merged one, so I've got it all in one place.
- Paul RigbyRight. Will do.
- Ewan PryceAnd I'll not ship anything on a Friday. If the fix is ready late in the week, it goes out first thing Monday, with the re-run straight after.
- Helen MarsdenThat's sensible, as long as it still lands before the Wednesday.
- Ewan PryceIt's why I want to know tomorrow whether the theory holds. If it does, there's time. If it doesn't, we talk again.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is why I'd suggest we don't wait for another full call. If something moves, Dominic, would you pull us back together briefly?
- Dominic HaleYes. If there's a change in what we know, I'll set up fifteen minutes the same day. Same people.
- Helen MarsdenThank you. I think that's everything from me.
- Helen MarsdenActually, no. Sorry. The incident note. Could it go to Paul as well as me?
- Dominic HaleBoth of you, yes. And Daniel.
- Daniel OkaforThank you, Dominic. Right. Before we go, I'd like to say thank you to you both. It wasn't an easy call, and you've been clear and fair, which makes it easier for us to get it right.
- Helen MarsdenIt's not been easy for us either. But I'd rather it was this call than a surprise at the committee.
- Daniel OkaforQuite right. Just to close the loop on who sends what: Paul, the older ticket references. Helen, the answer from your IT on the job export. Ewan, tomorrow's view on the reschedule theory. Dominic, the incident note today and the first update at 09:00 tomorrow. And I'll be back to you, Helen, by the end of next week about that conversation.
- Helen MarsdenYes. That's the list.
- Paul RigbyAye. Fine by me.
- Ewan PryceUnderstood. Speak tomorrow, then, through Dominic's note.
- Dominic HaleThanks, everyone. I'll start the note straight away. Talk to you at 09:00 tomorrow.
- Helen MarsdenThank you all. Kind regards.
- Paul RigbyCheers. Bye.
- Daniel OkaforBest wishes, both. Look after yourselves. Bye for now.
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