Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting

The minutes of the Housing and Community OSC meeting on Wednesday 8 June 2016 were agreed by members

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies received from Cllr Adshead and Cllr Adeleke and Co–Opted TLC Members Cook and Horn.

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.

It was agreed by the committee that item 10 went first, Tenant Involvement Strategy.

A Vincent presented this report advising the committee of the new updated rents and other charges policy, expressing that we are reflecting the Government Policy. Pay to stay will come into place later this year; an update will be brought to scrutiny in September.

A Vincent was happy to take questions on the report.

Cllr W Wyatt-Lowe asked if de-pooling was something which other Councils are doing and what proportion of total rent is service charge.

A Vincent said that plenty of other Councils are doing de-pooling. The proportion of rents and service charge depends on what type of property you live in. There isn’t a consistent answer to that. They have already written to tenants in regards to this, there have had some reaction and people seem to be happier as the Council are not looking to put the service charge on top of rents, its separated out.

Cllr Mahmood referred to page 12 item 22, and queried if the 1% increase won’t work some cases?

A Vincent said that if you’re an existing tenant paying £100 your rent will go down by 1%. When a property is empty they increase the rent to the top end, and then reduce it.

Cllr Fethney said that resourcing Pay to Stay must be a massive re source.

A Vincent confirmed that the government are writing regulations for this, and that they are currently working on how to do things.

Action: Add Pay to Stay to the September forward plan.

Outcome: The report was noted.

A Vincent presented this report to the committee to inform them of the works to upgrade the alarm call systems within Sheltered Housing and to re-tender the alarm call monitoring service. The report covers the planned works there may be some minor changes in the sequence in which the works are undertaken. This will only be the case if the systems are deteriorating at one location then this will take priority.

A Vincent was happy to take questions on the report.

Cllr Timmis asked what alarms it was, is it the pendants?

A Vincent clarified that it was the main alarm systems and pendent alarms.

Cllr W Wyatt-Lowe asked A Vincent to confirm that we are not overlapping with the services provided by Herts County Council.

A Vincent stated that they have a life line service, Herts County Council tendered their alarm call service so this did cause and issue and an overlap, however since the Housing Portfolio Holder has spoken to HCC and now they don’t overlap.

Cllr Mahmood referred to appendix 1, and queried what work has already been completed?

A Vincent apologised for the confusion in the table included with the report. The work will commence in the financial year only 3 or 4 schemes have been done due to failing issues. He just wanted to bring this report to Members so they were aware of the planned upgrade sequence.

Action:  None

Outcome: Report was noted.

F Williamson presented the report for observation and comments on the performance of the two contracts highlighting a few changes in the contracts.

She referred to some key issues 4.2, where access has been difficult to properties and the reasons why and 6.2 the audits on a monthly basis and highlighted the tables in the report that links to profits and targets achieved.

F Williamson was happy to take questions on the report.

J Howard referred to 4.1 and asked if this was due to Sun Realm turning up.

F Williamson clarified this is tenant’s keeping the first appointment and stated that they also give tenants an incentive; if they are in on the first visit then they are entered into an £100 prize draw.

Cllr Mahmood asked if the half a million is savings is due to efficiency or overpricing of the original contract?

F Williamson said it was due to efficiencies resulting from reduced visits and replacing boilers based upon the repairs information

Cllr Mahmood referred to page 28 would you still service someone’s gas meter if they were in debt.

F Williamson said the contractors have an emergency £5 card, that can be used in card meters, the second appointment is made on the basis they ensure they have credit on the meter and  if on this visit if they are still not in credit  we notify the tenancy sustainment team.

Total Asset Management Contract performance

F Williamson highlighted a number of key areas of performance that there has been an increase in the number of empty homes, due to the use of HRA properties as temporary accommodation. There is currently an action plan in place to review the reasons for any areas that had not achieved target.

 There has been an increase in the average days to complete a responsive repair in 15-16 

12.3 gives details on completion projects due to commence including tarmacking.

There has been a peak in complaints in February which Fiona explained.

F Williamson explained the Performance is linked to 3% of the profit and that in 15-16 Osbornes had not achieved all of the targets and she is  meeting with Osborne tomorrow to conclude figures.

Action:  None.

Outcome: Report was noted.

F Williamson presented this report explaining that’s its more tenant focused and it follows a similar format to E Maxwell’s strategy.

The report is to consider the national and local factors that could influence the optimal use of housing stock in terms of value for money, the most economical use of resources and are reflective of the demand. She highlighted that there are some gaps in the appendices that’s because these are the working part of the document.

F Williamson was happy to take questions on the report.

Cllr Mahmood referred to page 48 who benefit is this for.

F Williamson said that the idea is it provides an understanding for the Tenants and Leaseholders and how we want to continue to manage the asset it gives them an overview of plans

It give the Council officers an understanding of where their prioritise lie in terms of investment. It also sets out the commitments to the Tenants and Leaseholders as to how we want to manage our assets but also need their input to do this.

Action:  None

Outcome: The report was noted

E Maxwell introduced the report. The purpose of this report is to provide the committee with an overview of the drafted tenant involvement strategy. This includes the approach taken by the Policy and Participation team to involve tenants in the development of the strategy. Throughout the report there are a number of questions for committee members to consider.

Feedback will then be used in the final report to Cabinet in September. It was recommended that Councillors review the questions and recommendations included in the report made by the Policy and Participation team.

E Maxwell gave a breakdown of each section of the report and explained it in greater detail.

Before taking questions E Maxwell asked for the opportunity to make two clarifications on Appendix 2 – Community Impact Assessment.

E Maxwell stated that the purpose of the form is to highlight any impact that may occur as a result of our decision to relaunch change the remit of the TLC.

The point  “Negative – Current Tenant and Leaseholder Committee members may not be recruited to the new committee” This was raised  as there is a risk that if current members do apply and are not then recruited onto the new committee, this could be a loss to the council due to their skills and knowledge.

Secondly the risk of negative feedback from Tenant and Leaseholder Committee members due to the proposed change in structure is a general consideration rather than something we anticipate will happen. She stated throughout the drafting of the new strategy the former TLC had been fantastic with both their support and engagement.

E Maxwell was happy to take questions on the report.

Cllr Mahmood opened the questions with a statement acknowledging the hard work and dedication all involved tenants have had to date.

Cllr Griffith explained that the format of the report and the inclusion of questions to members was something she was keen to trial as this allows a more formal way of involving members to shape key documents. .

Cllr W Wyatt-Lowe stated he found this approach to reporting interesting and it gave a clear focus for members to give feedback.

Questions were raised on the recruitment of tenants and leaseholders to the new committee and how this would be undertaken. Linking to section 3.4 in the report.

E Maxwell explained that the Policy and Participation team would consult with the wider tenant and leaseholder population to establish what they felt key skills and qualities we should look for in new committee members.

J Howard asked what the mechanism was for sampling.

E Maxwell explained thatrandom sampling would be used however they would be keen to get a representation from all demographics within the tenant population.

J Howard said that by doing random sampling you may miss people who want to be involved, and what percentage do we cover.

E Maxwell stated that it can be opened to Members to see what they think regarding sampling. Previous activities such as focus groups that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

To consider passing a resolution in the following terms: That, under s.100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 Schedule 12A Part 1, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, the public be excluded during the items in Part II of the Agenda for this meeting, because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that if members of the public were present during these items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information relating to:

Agreed

Add Pay to Stay to the September forward plan.