Question 6.1 from Councillor Sally Symington to Councillor Margaret Griffiths
Written Question to the Portfolio Holder for Housing
How many properties within Dacorum’s council owned housing portfolio have an up to date EPC rating?
Question 6.2 from Councillor Sally Symington to Councillor Margaret Griffiths
Written Question to the Portfolio Holder for Housing
How many reports of empty homes has the council received in the last 3 years?
Question 6.3 from Councillor Sally Symington to Councillor Andrew Williams
Written Question to the Portfolio Holder for Leader of the Council.
Residents in my ward are concerned that Dacorum has just one quarter of the national average of publicly available electric vehicle charge points. What actions is the portfolio holder taking to accelerate the installation of rapid and fast electric charging devices across the Borough’s publicly owned car parks and ensure that on-street electric charging devices are provided for residents?
Minutes:
6.1 From Councillor Sally Symington to Councillor Margaret Griffiths
Cllr Symington wondered how many properties within Dacorum's council-owned housing portfolio had an up-to-date EPC rating. Cllr Griffiths confirmed that DBS had 1,577 checked and verified EPC certificates. Cllr Symington further wondered how many of that 15% had an ABC rating. Cllr Griffiths noted that she didn't have those figures to hand. Cllr Symington additionally wondered how many properties were due to be retrofitted to improve the insulation, or if there was no policy to do that. Cllr Griffiths confirmed there is a policy for retrofitting, and noted that the EPC is not required unless selling, but will be included as part of the Whole Home surveys starting in April.
6.2 From Councillor Sally Symington to Councillor Margaret Griffiths
Cllr Symington wondered how many reports of empty homes the council had received in the last three years. Cllr Griffiths noted that 19 to 20 homes had been reported date, via 33 complaints from the general public. Cllr Symington wondered what level of confidence Cllr Griffiths had in the reporting system, and noted that residents who had reported empty properties were also reporting a lack of response to those reports. Cllr Griffiths stated that she had 100% confidence in the process, and noted that the website had been upgraded in the last year, encouraging people to report, with one specific case that was missed being an ongoing case at the time. Cllr Symington additionally noted that Action on Empty Homes had identified 659 empty homes in Dacorum, and wondered what the cause of the discrepancy was. Cllr Griffiths noted that she had not seen this information, and that the legal definition of empty is being used, that is, properties that can be evidenced to have been empty for two years.
Cllr Symington observed that cutting out question preamble leaves the portfolio holder without context, and unable to answer questions. Cllr Griffiths noted that the preamble information could have been sent beforehand. Cllr Symington confirmed that it had been submitted to the legal department, and suggested a revision to procedure.
Actions:
- Procedure to be revised, with question preamble sent to both the legal department and the portfolio holder prior to the meeting.
6.3 From Councillor Sally Symington to Councillor Andrew Williams
Cllr Symington noted that Dacorum only has one quarter the national average of public electric vehicle charge points, and wondered what actions Cllr Williams was taking to accelerate the installation of such devices across the borough's public car parks, and ensure their availability for residents without off-street parking. Cllr Williams noted the same question comes up frequently at scrutiny committees, and explained that the decision to work with two companies had been made in May 2022, leading to a funding submission at the end of October, with the expectation that a decision would be received in December, however the Energy Saving Trust had received a significant number of applications, and had not yet given an answer to the application, causing the delay. It was further noted that on street chargers were a matter for the Highway Authority, and any such schemes should be self-funding. Cllr Symington wondered when the project had gone from the two companies providing the finance in return for a long lease, to a project requiring grant funding. Cllr Williams agreed that the rapid chargers are being self-funded, but noted that the fast chargers had always been on the understanding that grant funding was available.