Agenda and minutes

To issue a welcome to those present, and to confirm if there are any apologies for absence.

The Chair welcomed those present to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Cllr Halford.

Members will be asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 April 2026 have been circulated, and Members will be asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Commission held on 21^st April 2026 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Membership of the Commission will be confirmed and noted.

The Membership of the Commission was confirmed as follows:

Councillor Molly O’Neill - Chair

Councillor Nags Agath – Vice Chair

Councillor Elaine Halford

Councillor Mohinder Singh Sangha

Councillor Syed Zaman

Councillor Yogesh Chauhan

Councillor Jayanti Gopal

Councillor Aasiya Bora

Members will be asked to note the meeting dates of the commission for 2026-27:

9 July 2026

7 September 2026

10 November 2026

18 January 2027

1 March 2027

The dates of the meetings for the Commission were confirmed as follows: 

9 July 2026

7 September 2026

10 November 2026

18 January 2027

1 March 2027 

The Commission will be asked to note the Terms of Reference.

The Commission noted the Scrutiny Terms of Reference.

The Chair is invited to make any announcements as they see fit.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the new municipal year.

The Chair reminded members that the Commission scrutinised Housing policy in the city, and that if there were any casework issues in their wards that were about specific individual enquiries, these should be addressed through the appropriate channels.

The Chair announced that some reports would be taken as read.

Any questions, representations and statements of case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures will be reported.

It was noted that none had been received. ?

Any petitions received in accordance with Council procedures will be reported.

It was noted that none had been received. ?

The Director of Housing provides an introduction to Housing Scrutiny.

The Chair noted that the presentation had been sent out previously and invited

members to ask questions or seek clarification on any aspect of the presentation. 

No comments or questions were raised.

The Director of Housing will provide a verbal update on Mr X. 

The Head of Housing provided a verbal update on Ombudsman case relating to Mr X & Ms X:

·       It was highlighted that Mr X had complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). He argued that the Council had failed to provide sufficient support with his homelessness, his housing application and that it had also failed to provide suitable accommodation for him and his family. 

·       The Ombudsman report was formally published on 6th November 2025 and outlined a list of recommendations. Those recommendations were that the report be considered at the appropriately delegated committee of elected members, the Council apologised to Mr X for the faults identified and that two symbolic payments were made. One of £500 to Mr X for the distress and uncertainty caused and another of £3,525 for the distress caused to Mr X and his family by living in unsuitable B&B accommodation for longer than they should have done. 

·       It was noted that the Council had implemented all agreed remedies, including the combined payments of £4,025 which had been paid to the family via bank transfer.

·       A separate case involving Ms X was also highlighted. It was detailed that Ms X complained to the Ombudsman that the Council had failed to provide sufficient support with her homelessness and failed to provide suitable accommodation for her and her children.

·       The Ombudsman report was formally published on 14th November 2024 and outlined a list of recommendations. Those recommendations were that the Council was to send a written apology to Ms X, make a symbolic payment of £500 to acknowledge the distress and a further symbolic payment of £1,300 for the distress caused to the family for staying in B&B accommodation. In addition, a further £150 per month was to be paid to Ms X for every month her and her family remained in unsuitable accommodation. Finally, the Council was to review template letters used by the operational services and deliver training to front line Homelessness Officers. It was confirmed that all recommendation had been complied with and a total payment of £2,250 was paid to Ms X via bank transfer.

·       It was explained that there were no outstanding recommendations or remedial actions remaining, and the cases were therefore regarded as closed from an operational and the Ombudsman's perspective.

·       The Executive Member for Housing, Economy and Neighbourhoods reiterated the position made by a statement at full council. The ombudsman had made it clear that this was not setting a precedent for other cases.  

·       The Director of Housing explained that as result of the ombudsman’s verdict, he had requested a meeting with the ombudsman regarding the present situation of housing in the city. During the meeting the director detailed the homelessness situation and housing crisis which the ombudsman was not fully aware of. Following the meeting, the ombudsman understood the position of the Council and acknowledged the work done by the Council. The ombudsman accepted that the Council had done everything possible. 

In response to questions and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 101.

The Director of Housing submits a report on the annual rent arrears progress within the general housing stock.

The Director of Housing submitted a report on the annual rent arrears progress

within the general housing stock. 

The Head of Service attended the meeting to assist with discussions.

Key points included:

• It was highlighted that the total tenant rent arrears for general housing stock were £1.57 million compared to £1.7 million in the previous year. This represented a reduction of 8%. The rent collection rate was 98.96% which was exceptional, considering the backdrop of the cost of living.
• The team successfully administered £946,428.81in Household Support Fund (HSF) awards which assisted tenants impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. The fund supported 1,500 households of this 600 were families, 200 had disabilities and 700 had complex vulnerabilities.
• The team used multi-channel communications to contact tenants. It was noted that the team conducted 120 phone calls, sent 100 emails and 100 letters a day to tenants. They also conducted 786 home visits in the last year.
• It was stressed that the improvements had been seen in several areas. The number of tenants who owed 7 or more weeks of rent had reduced from 477 to 285. The average arears per debtor had reduced from £226 to £215 and the total value of arrears owed by the top 500 debtors had reduced from £440,000 to £424,000.
• At the end of March 2026, 10,482 tenants (which was 57% of council tenants) were claiming Universal Credit (UC) of that total, half were in rent arears. A further 17% were on housing benefit.  As UC was paid one month in arrears it was noted that there were usually technical rent arrears on some tenant accounts and tenants often had pre-existing arrears when they applied for UC. The Income Support Team coordinated with partner agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Job Centre Plus to help mitigate rent debt and support tenants. 
• There was a team of 8 Rent Management Advisors (RMA) who were responsible for supporting the most vulnerable tenants. As part of this role, the team helped tenants manage tenant benefit claims, helped set up email accounts and encourage tenants to undertake digital learning. The team handled just under 1000 referrals last year, with 75% coming from households with at least 1 vulnerability. At the time, 727 cases were successfully closed and 200 were ongoing. The RMA function resulted in the reduction of £524,000 in rent arrears and 77% of tenants have said that they increased in their confident and ability to manage benefit claims.
• It was stressed that the housing department only sought possessions as a last resort. In the last year 90 cases were submitted to court for possessions which was 90% lower than pre-covid levels where on average 80 cases were submitted a month. Last year 5 tenants were evicted from council properties which was from 4 cases the previous year.
• The Head of Service commented that this figure was lower than the national average. The low evictions rate alongside the high collection rate of income underlined the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102.

The Director of Housing Submits a Report outlining the amount of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) funding that will be invested on housing estates across the city in 2026/2027.  This includes the Environmental Budget.

The Director of Housing submitted a Report outlining the amount of Housing

Revenue Account (HRA) funding that will be invested on housing estates

across the city in 2026/2027.  This included the Environmental Budget.

The Head of Service, Housing Division attended the meeting to assist with discussions.

Key points included:

• It was explained that Housing Revenue Account (HRA) funding was invested on housing estates across the city. It was estimated that over £3 millionwas allocated each year, which included the £200k for the Environmental Budget. The Environmental Budget was distributed across the three housing districts, this equated to roughly £66k for each ward
• The Housing Division contributed £1.1 million to the grounds maintenance service which looked after housing areas across the city, this involved mowing the grass on housing land, cutting back shrubs and maintaining greenery. The Housing Division also contributed over £1.2 million towards the estate warden service. The teams of wardens maintained housing estates across the city with activities such as clearing rubbish and the removal fly tipping.
•  In addition, the Housing Division invested £315kin the Neighbourhood Improvement Team which helped bring people back into employment, 6 to 12-month work placements were offered to 10 individuals.
• Consultation was carried out with tenants (including members of the Tenant’s Scrutiny Panel), local ward Cllrs, and housing staff to identify possible proposals for environmental schemes. It was noted that the level of feedback for the year was much higher than in previous years. The full list of proposals was listed on Appendix 2 of the report.
• Due to restrictions of the budget, the proposals were prioritised based on various factors (See Appendix 3) such as cost, the need of funding in the area and whether the area in question had any Pride in Place funding allocated. These proposals were then scaled on a range of 5 and above as listed in the report.
•  Various projects listed in the report were highlighted, such as the new benches and refurbishments at St Andrews Estate in Saffron ward, the demolition of garages and waste removal on Colhurst Way in Thurncourt ward and the introduction of new bins and pest control at various location in St Matthews in the Wycliffe ward.  
• It was stated that as part of future proposals, tenants were required to submit a proposal between the price range of £1,000 and £20,000. This was to set tenants expectations on the scale of each project.

In response to questions and comments, the following points were made: 

• Members praised the work detailed in the report.
• Certain members advised that they were unaware of the consultation process that was detailed in the report. The Head of Service advised that a letter was written to all ward councillors regarding the environmental budget and the engagement was ongoing. It was highlighted that ideas can be raised during patch walks or by responding to the emails and letters which are sent out.   
• It was suggested by a member that presenting residents with a ‘menu’ of potential options  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

The Director of Housing submits a report outlining the current Mutual Exchange Swap Scheme available to LCC Housing Tenants who have a secure tenancy.

The Director of Housing submitted a report outlining the current Mutual Exchange Swap Scheme available to LCC Housing Tenants who have a secure tenancy.

The Head of Service, Housing Division attended the meeting to assist with discussions.

Key points included:

• The scheme helps to support tenant choice and mobility.  There was a legal right for them to exchange homes.
• Feedback from complaints and reviews had shown that people wanted clearer information on the process.  Therefore, improved communications throughout the process had been recommended, as well as a final property inspection from the tenant before the exchange was completed.
• A swaptracker had also been launched.  This was a self-service online tool to track the progress of the exchange.
• It was aimed to have information online, explaining the officer leads on processes and how people could contact officers.
• In 2025/26, 281 mutual exchanges were initiated by LCC tenants and 158 completed. 

The reason for the lower completion rate was:

o   Exchanges were refused following initial checks

o   A party pulled out of an exchange part way through

o   Tenancy breaches were identified that need to be rectified

o   Major repairs had been identified which needed to be addressed

• The Tenants’ Scrutiny Panel had wanted to strengthen communications and transparency.

In response to questions and comments, the following points were made: 

• Tenants had a right to have issues in the properties repaired.
• The potential incentive was only available for those in overcrowded or underoccupied housing, so that better use could be made of the stock available.
• The Council were affiliated with the national scheme, therefore if people could find a suitable swap in another local authority, then such a swap could be feasible.
• Local Government Reorganisation could facilitate the council having more stock if boundaries expanded. In this instance, additional stock would be in areas such as Oadby, Wigston and Syston.
• It took 42 days to make a decision, but this could sometimes take longer as the decisions were sometimes conditional.  Delays were often caused by issues around officer capacity.

AGREED:

1)    That members note the report

The Director of Housing submits a report providing the Tenant Scrutiny Panel Annual Report 2025/26 and the Engagement Team Work - Programme 2025/26.

The Director of Housing submitted a report providing the Tenant Scrutiny Panel (TSP) Annual Report 2025/26 and the Engagement Team Work - Programme

2025/26. 

The Chair outlines the TSP and noted that the commission was reported to regularly by them.

The Head of Service attended the meeting to assist with discussions.

Key points included:

• The TSP had a successful first year.  The Annual Report highlighted how tenant involvement had helped services and how the engagement team had supported tenants.
• The report was largely for information and went over the work of the panel and noted which services had been improved.  There was also evidence of increased accountability, future direction and continued partnership work.
• The work programme had been developed by structured overview.
• The report had been co-produced with the TSP, and the Chair of the TSP was happy with its content.  The work programme had also been reviewed by tenants.

In response to questions and comments, the following points were made: 

• In response to a query about the formation of the TSP and its engagement, it was explained that a strategy on engagement had been produced, and as part of this it had been aimed to increase tenant engagement, and part of this had been the establishment of the TSP.  Tenants had been asked to volunteer at a conference in the city centre and the TSP had been established in March 2025 with around six to ten people. This had been promoted and publicised through a letter and through pop-up housing officed.  Now 20 people participated on a regular basis, and attendance was monitored to check for underrepresentation.  If underrepresentation was noticed form a particular area of the city, then the TSP was promoted in that area.  The Chair added that there had been positive engagement the last time TSP members attended a Commission meeting.
• In response to a suggestion about having smaller scale activity on a particular estate, it was noted that this should be aspired to, however, there were budget constraints and competing priorities around support, investment, repairs and maintenance and the environmental budget.  It was further noted that the latest tenants and residents’ association had been in New Parks, and where people were involved, the Council had tried to enable it.  Additionally, it was noted that five and a half posts had been added to help with pressures around additional work, however, there was no additional capacity.
• In response to a query on whether pop-up housing officers could maintain a level of service, it was noted that this was why the additional officers had been recruited.  It was further added that it was necessary to look corporately ant the delivery of services locally.

AGREED:

1)    That members note the report.

Members of the Commission will be asked to consider the work programme and make suggestions for additional items as it considers necessary.

The Chair encouraged members to email her if there was anything they wished to be considered.

Members would be kept up to date on potential future site visits.

The Work Programme was noted.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting ended at 19:09