Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting

The minutes of the Housing and Community OSC meeting on 8^th November 2017 were agreed by Members and signed by the Chair.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies received from Cllr Adeleke and Cllr Silwal.

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)           may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

There was no declaration of interest.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation

There was no public participation.

None

James Deane presented an in-depth presentation providing information on the Budget detail for every area of the Council; this has also been made available to all Members in the report.

The Housing and Community OSC meeting started at 20:11 following on from Joint Budget.

E Brooks presented a presentation on housing to the committee.

E Brooks was happy to take questions.

Cllr Bassadone asked what the turnover was for housing staff.

E Brooks said it seems very low, but couldn’t be sure on exact figures but they have lots of secondments so figures change due to that rather than turnover.

Cllr Mahmood said he was glad to hear about the garages and temp accommodation, this is very positive.

Cllr W Wyatt-Lowe asked about recharges, How can the housing and community recharges be between minus 20 and plus 20%, how are they set out.

E Brooks said that it’s to do with the number off staff based in the service.

J Deane added to that it depends on the time spent, it’s tightly controlled and there is a legal ring fence.

Cllr W Wyatt-Lowe asked if they had considered the risks of the grant.

E Brooks said its 27 minimum and there is a 2 year arrangement. We currently have the grant it’s guaranteed for 2 years.

Cllr England said that he was in support of the garages as parking is an issue and some of the space could be used for parking.

Cllr Griffith said that she rents a garage and parks outside it but not all garages have that facility.

Cllr England said that he was aware that on private estates tenants are ticketed for parking outside garages.

Cllr Griffith asked if he had checked how much self storages cost for the space the size of a garage so we could compare the costs.

E Brooks said he believed it was approximately £43 a week. Storage spaces have been spoke about as the 12% increase for a garage was expensive. There will be a point where tenants say enough is enough and won’t want to pay no more.

J Deane said that garages are an income generator for the council and have made them 3 million.

Cllr Armytage asked if the void rate of 25% for ordinary garages was good.

E Brooks said some are in a very bad state and some are not even lettable, it seems about right not every garage can be up to scratch.

Cllr Bassadone asked if we could demolish bad garages and use them as parking bays instead.

E Brooks said he’s not sure exactly where all the bad garages are. It is an option for James and Nick to consider.

J Deane said those sites would not be picked up on the report.

Cllr Mahmood refereed to page 27, shelf life on D2 homelessness.

N Beresford said its staff costs, it’s the new post.

E Brooks added to that stating there has been an 80% increase in legal cost and explained the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Add victim support update in Feb – Julie Still/David Austin.