Agenda item

N Howcutt presented the report in Fiona Jumps absence. He also introduced himself as this was his first time at a housing committee meeting. He highlighted the pressures in the budget and was happy to take questions from members.

Cllr Bassadone asked if anyone has raised any issues in regards to paying too much in water charges.

N Howcutt said no he wasn’t aware of any issues.

Cllr Adeleke arrived at 19:37

Cllr Griffiths added to that saying tenants that claim benefits can now apply for a discount straight to the water boards.

Cllr Imarni highlighted that as the Chair of the tenants and leaseholder committee people aren’t impressed with the consultation process, so this may come up. Going forward she recommended that it’s better to consult tenants and to appear as transparent as possible.

F Williamson said that there is a tenants and leaseholder meeting tomorrow. This was a difficult situation due to legal proceeding so it was a matter that had to be done.

Cllr W Wyatt-Lowe referred to the garages, what do we do if tenants can’t find space on a site, is there a policy for ear marking sites we want to clear.

N Howcutt said that there is no policy, garage sites are assessed and ones that aren’t used are sold.

F Williamson said if a garage is vacant then they go through a spreadsheet to see who has registered interest in that area.

The new system will go live at the end of September, this will automatically match garages for tenants.

Cllr Mahmood asked if there was a process if tenants don’t want to move from a garage.

N Howcutt said we simply write to them and give them notice, we ensure that there are garages within 3/5 miles that they can access.

Cllr England said in July he asked for a garage information for Adeyfield West, he said he was aware of garages in his ward but not on the list. He will feedback this information to Fiona.

F Williamson said that the postcodes weren’t matching up and there were errors, they have done a data cleanse and the information should now be correct.

Cllr Conway said she was concerned that there are 6 empty flats in sheltered accommodation in Tring.

F Williamson said she will pick this up in the quarter 1 report.

Cllr Wyatt-Lowe said when you do the budget do you include all the council tax/rent etc in it for the new builds that have had slippage.

N Howcutt said yes they do but in the scale of things it’s a very small percent so you don’t even notice it, its like 0.01%.

Cllr Mahmood asked if slippages were a good or bad thing.

N Howcutt said in terms of finance it’s a bad thing, we allow for slippage and under 10% is acceptable.

In some cases, it’s better to have slippage so it just depends what the slippage is.

Cllr England asked what impact he thinks Brexit will have on the budget.

N Howcutt said he believes that Brexit is expected to have an impact but the what that may be is uncertain at present, as Brexit terms are uncertain. He also stated that the labour market is the area expected to be most impacted by Brexit, in particular the low skilled labour market which for DBC would be Waste and cleaning services.