Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report providing an update on the improvements made to housing estates using the Environmental Budget in 2023/2024, and to highlight the current stage of consultation to identify future projects for 2025.

The Head of Service presented the report, and it was noted that: ? 
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·       The environment budget enables improvements to be made to council estates throughout the city. The budget has historically been set at £750k but due to pressures on the Housing Revenue Account?it was reduced in 2023/24 to £200k and will remain at the reduced level for 2024/25. ? 

·       Consultation was carried out with ward councillors to prepare project proposals prior to the reduction to the environmental budget and the report sets out those that were completed and those that were put on hold across the three districts in the city. ? 

·       The £200k budget was not fully spent as resources did not allow for all landscape maintenance to be completed. ? 

·       Alternative funding was sought from the highways division to complete the St Peters shopping parade car park renovations. ? 

·       Projects on hold were anticipated to be taken forward in 2024/25 but the retained reduced budget may require further delays. Consultation is currently ongoing with ward councillors to identify new priorities or determine whether existing proposals should be taken forward. A further report will be provided to the Commission on consultation proposals. ? 

·       The environment budget is one funding stream for improvements to council estates but other funding such as the public realm investment is also available. ? 

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The Commission raised concerns regarding the reduction in the budget and requested that future reports incorporate all available budgets for consideration. ? 

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In response to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:?? 

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·       The allocation of the environmental budget varied previously with reliance on proactive housing officers, community activists and ward councillors making suggestions. A consultation process has now been established to engage all ward councillors for proposals and it was agreed that the suggestion for a formalised process to document all proposals would be considered. The Deputy City Mayor provided assurance that correspondence would be reviewed to ensure all suggested proposals were included. ? 

·       It was the first time the budget was reduced and will remain at £200k during 2024/25 and the impact to local amenities is hoped to be minimal but will be reviewed in time. ? 

·       Cross-divisional services are responsible for ensuring cleanliness across the city. Neighbourhood services undertake street cleansing on a rota basis, highways cleansing of roads and drainage, and the housing division provide additional services to housing areas through the Housing Revenue Account for estate wardens etc.? 

·       Emerging priorities through ward councillor engagement, particularly in the east district, is for the environmental budget to be utilised for street cleansing and weed spraying. A report will be provided to the Commission on all proposals following the consultation.? 

·       Various considerations are given to proposals to identify priorities for funding from the environmental budget including previous spend in wards, resource and capacity, health and safety or legislative requirements and the impact to the area. ? 
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AGREED: ? 
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·       The Commission noted the report.?? 

·       Correspondence to be reviewed to ensure all ward councillor suggestions have been noted for consideration for the 2024/25 budget.

·       Formal process for documenting ward councillor suggestions to be created.? 

·       Future reports to include reference to other budgets available to investment in council estates.? 

·       Item to remain on work programme for update on proposals following consultation with ward councillors.?