Agenda item

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 million was 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 £315k in 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 would be beneficial and would give residents an idea of their choices. The Head of Service welcomed the suggestion but caveated that there was slight differences in cost between wards due to the level of work required.  
• Several questions were raised regarding possible deterrents for fly tipping and whether the perpetrators were residents or external.  The executive member for housing stressed that the education and enforcement of fly tipping prevention was a broad issue that required the involvement of the whole city and not just the responsibility of the housing department. It was detailed that several comms programmes were being developed to highlight the Council’s free bulky waste collection offer and the new changes regarding food waste that were due to be introduced in 2028. The executive member stated that she had been attempting the trial of a skip day as an easy solution to some of these issues but had encountered a degree of difficulty in arranging this. It was noted that this was something that the Council wished to trial and review its results.
• Members suggested that it would be beneficial for the council to work in partnership with local communities to help support the initiatives. The executive member detailed that several communities within Leicester had already taken ownership of their local area’s upkeep and that the Council aimed to ensure that a good dialogue remained in these areas.

AGREED:

1)    The report was noted.

2)    Officers to consider creating a ‘menu’ of options available to residents.