Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Byrne.

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

Members were asked to declare any interests they might have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Aldred declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the general business of the meeting that family members were council tenants.

Councillor Aqbany declared an Other Disclosable Interest that a family member was a council tenant.

Councillor Cank declared an Other Disclosable Interest that family members were council tenants.

Councillor Joshi declared an Other Disclosable Interest that a member of the family was a council tenant.

Councillor Newcombe declared an Other Disclosable Interest that family members were council tenants.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, the interests were not considered so significant that they were likely to prejudice the Councillors’ judgement of the public interest. Councillors were not therefore required to withdraw from the meeting during consideration and discussion of the agenda items.

The minutes of the meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Commission held on 4^th February 2016 are attached, and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

that the minutes of the meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Commission held on 4^th February 2016, be approved as a correct record.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any petitions received in accordance with Council procedures.

In accordance with Council procedures, it was reported that no petitions had been received by the Monitoring Officer.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any questions, representations or statements of case received in accordance with Council procedures.

In accordance with Council procedures, it was reported that no questions, representations or statements of case had been received by the Monitoring Officer.

The Chair stated that he would take the reports out of the order given in the agenda, and would hear the report on Housing Voids Improvement Project Update first, in order to allow officers to attend another meeting.

The Acting Director of Housing submits a report to inform members of the Housing Scrutiny Commission of the progress made on the Voids Improvement Project.

A verbal update will be given following the Task Group meeting on 30^th March 2016.

The Acting Director of Housing submitted a report to inform Members of the Commission of the progress made on the Voids Improvement Project. The reported was presented by Simon Nicholls, Head of Service.

It was noted that improvements had been made. Next steps were to implement the process improvements aligned to the Housing Transformation Programme which would see improvements in re-let times.

Members asked questions and received the following responses:

·         The Void Improvement Programme would enable officers to review changes made throughout the process;

·         Liaison would take place with Tenants and Leaseholder Forum;

·         With regard to concern raised over the 2015/16 forecast rent loss of £635k and Council Tax liability of £174k. It was recognised that turnaround time needed to be improved, and that through improved technology, and challenging people undertaking the work on repairs, re-let times would be improved;

·         Members were assured the bidding process would be looked at in detail to ensure a smooth process for prospective tenants, and to reduce rent loss. There were many variables for those bidding to consider, for example, whether the property was high rise, a one bedroom flat, location, house, etc. Information would also be reviewed on the Home Choice website;

·         Properties were advertised pre-let before the repairs were complete, to reduce re-let times, rent loss and Council Tax liability;

·         The average re-let time was 66.5 days. The aim was to reach a 50 day average;

·         Members asked if smaller repairs could take place when the tenants were in situ. Officers responded the idea would not be discounted, but would be looked at on an individual basis;

·         In Paragraph 6.1 of the report, the £300K saving referred to staff changes under the Housing Transformation Review. Craft operatives roles were also changing, and was linked to the possibility that money spent on materials would be reduced.

The Chair requested void figures up to March 2016 when available, in addition to the appendices in the report. He also asked for further detail on St Peter’s tower blocks refurbishment project, and how this had affected voids figures.

Councillor Connelly said the current figures for voids were disappointing, but was fairly confident that 2016/17 would see the figures improve. He acknowledged the financial challenges facing the Housing Revenue Account but assured Members that rental income lost would be minimal.

The Chair asked that the Scrutiny Policy Officer to set up an evening meeting for the Task Group. Provisional dates were 27^th or 28^th April.

AGREED:

that:

1.    figures on voids and re-let times to March 2016 be provided to Members of the Commission;

2.    further detail on St Peter’s tower block refurbishment project be sent to the Chair;

3.    the Scrutiny Policy Officer to set up an evening meeting for the Task Group, either 27^th or 28^th April.

Area Managers will each deliver a presentation on the Department’s work in the Braunstone and Humberstone & Rowlatts Hill Housing Management Areas.

Ellen Watts, Area Manager, delivered the presentation on Braunstone. The following points were covered during the presentation:

·         There were few younger tenants on the estate;

·         The ‘Farm’ (community allotment) had had a huge impact, with gardening donations made by Housing and the tenants’ incentive budget to fund a poly-tunnel.

·         Conversions relocating bathrooms, using the smallest of the three bedrooms in properties had taken people out of the ‘bedroom tax’ bracket.

·         Challenges included further funding to complete / continue renovation projects on the estate.

Members asked questions and received the following responses:

·         High levels of deprivation, the lower life expectancy and use of food banks was noted.

·         Work would continue with the ‘b-connected’ community group in Braunstone to promote health.

·         Braunstone Park had been redeveloped with park run paths, and there were schemes to help people get into exercise.

·         Hockley Farm health centre were addressing the health priority of smoking through the smoking cessation scheme.

·         Insulating properties had had a big impact on health – properties were warmer, less damp, which led to less asthma.

·         The void figure was usually around 20 properties, though turnover was usually good. Housing tried to convert where possible properties from three bedrooms to two bedrooms to accommodate and upstairs bathroom, usually when the properties were empty.

·         The farm allotment volunteer base fluctuated seasonally. The intent was to get people growing at home, and send excess produce back into the community.

Councillor Connelly congratulated Ellen for bringing two houses on Raven Road back into use, and also noted that Ellen had put considerable effort into the external wall insulation scheme, which in itself had benefits in reducing heating bills for tenants, and improved the look of the properties. He also noted the levels of food poverty in the area which would benefit from a supermarket.

The Chair thanked Ellen for the area reports which provided a useful understanding of issues on other wards.

Suki Supria, Head of Service, presented the Humberstone & Rowlatts Hill presentation. The following points were covered during the presentation:

·         Humberstone & Rowlatts Hill tended to have a larger proportion of empty private sector homes.

·         Capital works had included the installation of parking bays on some roads, though parking still remained a concern across the area.

·         Growth bid monies had been used to improve landscape issues. Use of knee-rail fencing had also been used, and the look of green areas had improved since its installation.

·         Priorities for 2015/16 were established by tenants, and included resurfacing hard standing areas, improved lighting and shrub removal.

Members asked questions and received the following response:

·         Parking was an intense issue across the city. Where feasible, car parking spaces and laybys were created using the environmental budget. Car parking space for 6 cars cost approximately £20K. Work would have to be prioritised for the next year, as the level of spending could not be guaranteed year in, year out.

Councillor Connelly informed Members that with a 1% reduction in rent, there was a reduced amount of money that could be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

The Acting Director of Housing presents the new structure of the Housing Division and will set out key challenges facing the Division.

Chris Burgin, Acting Director of Housing, presented the latest Housing Division structure chart. As outlined in the document, he set out the key service areas covered by the Heads of Service in the division.

Members were informed that a recruitment exercise had been undertaken to fill the roles vacated by Chris, and Vijay Desor who had moved to a part-time role. Caroline Carpendale and Charlotte McGraw were now Heads of Service in Housing.

Members were told the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) operated in a self-financing environment. Spending priorities were made in the context of a 30 year business plan and needed to achieve the right balance between investing in maintaining and improving the housing stock, providing landlord services to tenants, building new homes and supporting and repaying housing debt of £198m.

·         The Government’s summer budget statement in July 2015 had a profound impact on assumptions about future rent increases. All housing associations and councils were required to decrease rents by 1% each year for 4 years, compared to the previous national policy of increasing rents by CPI + 1%. It would result in £2.2m less income in 2016/17 compared to previous business plan expectations, rising to £11.7m a year in 2019/20. The overall Housing budget would reduce from £85m pa to £73m pa. Over the four years, it meant that total income of some £27.3m was expected to be lost.

·         The Housing Transformation Programme began a programme of efficiency savings in 2013. To date, Spending Review Phases 1 and 2 had achieved revenue savings of £3.2m and capital savings of £1.1m. Totalling £4.3m.

·         It was proposed that the Executive consider the outcome of work on the HRA Spending Review Phase 3 in the summer of 2016 to identify total reductions of £11.7m p.a. by 2019/20. Further efficiency savings and options for service reductions, with an analysis of their impact, would be made. Proposing capital reductions in the 15/16 budget and deferring revenue reductions until next year and beyond allowed for a planned approach to making the required savings.

·         The single Central government decision to reduce rent by 1% for four years placed the HRA under significant pressures to deliver a balance budget. A number of other external pressures and changes also brought about by Central government placed the HRA at further risk.

·         The Department of Work & Pensions commenced the roll out of a new combined benefit called Universal Credit. This would place individual pressure on tenants which was likely to impact upon their income, thus impacting upon their ability to pay their rent. The rent due and collected totalled £84,900,000. This solely finances Housing budgets and spending. Currently Housing achieved excellent rent collection rates exceeding 99%. If the collection rate was to reduce, this would directly impact the budget available to run the Housing service adding further to the size of savings that would be required to achieve a balanced budget.

·         The significant difference and risk for Housing with the Welfare benefit change was that over 13,000 tenants out of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

The work programme is attached. The Commission is asked to comment and/or amend as it considers necessary.

The Scrutiny Policy Officer submitted a document that outlined the Housing Scrutiny Commission’s Work Programme for 2016/17.

The Chair noted the document, and suggested that further items be added to the work programme going forward, at the first meeting in the next Municipal Year.

AGREED:

that the work programme be noted.

Members thanked the Chair and Vice-Chair for their leadership over the past year.

The Chair thanked Officers and Members of the Commission. He added they had faced some difficult challenges, but looked forward to working with them on the Commission in the future.

Close of meeting 8.21pm.