Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2017 be confirmed.

The committee was updated on LTP matters under the agenda item ‘Lincoln Tenant’s Panel Annual Report’.

Councillor P West,  Portfolio Holder for Housing

a)    presented his report regarding activity and the achievements within his portfolio over the last year.

b)    updated on the following since the writing of the report:

·         Yvonne Fox had been appointed Assistant Director of Housing.

·         Bob Ledger would be leaving the Authority after 3 years in his position as Director of Housing and Regeneration and expressed his thanks for his hard work and achievements during this time.

·         The target of 25 days for the re-let period was a challenging target and would not be met this year. The re-let period for the year was 27 days and measures had been put in place to achieve the target for next year.

·         A decision on the Queen Elizabeth Road scheme had been delayed until after the election in May 2018.

c)    invited committees questions and comments.

Member of the Lincoln Tenants Panel asked the following questions and received the relevant responses.

Question: What was the completion date for the houses at Welton Gardens?

Response: They would be completed in June and an official opening ceremony would be held.

Question: How many of the properties would be Council housing?

Response: There would be 75 Council houses.

Question: Could members of the Lincoln Tenants Panel be invited to attend the opening ceremony?

Response: Yes an invite would be sent to members of the Lincoln Tenants Panel.

Members of the Committee expressed their thanks to Councillor West for his work as the Portfolio Holder for Housing as he would be standing down as a Councillor.

Councillors asked the following questions and received the relevant response.

Question: Had there been any changes in the number of homelessness applications received?

Response: There had not been a large increase in the number of homelessness applications received, however, the legislation was due to change next month which could have an impact.

RESOLVED that the report be noted with thanks.

Yvonne Fox, Assistant Director of Housing

a.    presented the end of quarter report on Performance for the third quarter of the year 2017/18 (October 2017 to December 2017)

b.    advised that of the 23 measures 11 were on or exceeding targets for the year and 12 had not met the targets set.

c.    referred to paragraph 4 of the report and highlighted the areas of good performance including:

·         Percentage of rent collected as a percentage of rent due.

·         Percentage of repair appointments kept against appointments made

·         Complete repairs right first time

d.    further highlighted areas that had not achieved their target and explained the reason for this:

·         Percentage of offers accepted first time

·         Complaints

e.    invited committees questions and comments.

Question: How much did the rent arrears equate to in money?

Response: The information could  be circulated to the committee following the meeting.

Question: Has the recommendations from the ASB accreditations been put in place?

Response: An action plan had been developed and work had been started in completing the recommendations.

Question: Have the targets been set for the forthcoming year and have the LTP had an input?

Response: The targets were presented to the Lincoln Tenants Panel each year and would be considered at their next meeting.

Question: Could committee be provided witha comparison of this year’s performance and the targets set for next year.

Response: The information could be circulated to the committee following the meeting.

Comment: The allocations target should not be reduced next year.

Response: The target had not been reduced, officers wanted to make improvements on this year’s figures.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

Chris Morton, Resident Involvement Manager

a.    presented an update on the Tenant Involvement Strategy 2018-2021.

b.    advised that involving tenants in services had a number of benefits for both the Council and tenants including better designed services, increased levels of tenant satisfaction, improved communities and higher standards of service.

c.    advised that there was also a legal duty to involve residents under the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Regulatory Framework for Social Housing in England.

d.    advised that the new strategy had been developed jointly with the Lincoln Tenants Panel and Members had been consulted on a number of occasions, these included:

·         Initial consultation at the housing roadshow in July 2016

·         Through a survey in the Home! magazine

·         At several of the neighbourhood boards

·         Further consultation at the Housing Roadshow in August 2017

e.    advised that the vision for tenant involvement was to ‘Build on the council’s successful involvement arrangements to further develop and deliver meaningful engagement; so that tenants and leaseholders had a range of opportunities to be involved and their involvement led to service improvement’

f.     advised that the following four objectives had been developed to deliver the vision:

·         Ensure Accountability

·         Strengthen Involvement

·         Help to Develop Thriving Communities

·         Communicate Key Messages and Increase Digital Engagement

g.    invited committees questions and comments.

Comment: Tenants did not know who their Housing Officer was for their area.

Response: Housing Officer details had been advertised in the Home! magazine, it was a key message that would be continuously promoted.

Question: Could a report on the roles and responsibilities of the Housing Officer be brought to committee?

Response: Yes a report could be added to the work programme to be considered at a future meeting.

The committee discussed in detail the issues of parking on grass verges throughout the City and discussed options to tackle the problem. Yvonne Fox, Assistant Director of Housing explained the options that had been considered by officers and advised that many were not feasible due to the cost to the Council and also where they came under the remit of the County Council Highways Department. Councillor Peter West, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regeneration suggested that officers scope a scheme for one area to provide an indication of the cost and feasibility. Yvonne Fox, responded that this could be circulated to committee when it had been completed.

RESOLVED that the Tenant Involvement Strategy for 2018-2021 be noted.

Debbie Rousseau, Chair of Lincoln Tenants Panel

a.    presented the activities and achievements of the Lincoln Tenants Panel between 1 April 2017 and March 2018.

b.    thanked the previous Chair of LTP and the other LTP members for their work in making the panel a success.

c.    referred to paragraph 4 of the report and highlighted the activities that the Lincoln Tenants Panel had been involved with over the last year.

d.    referred to paragraph 5 of the report and highlighted the priorities for the LTP panel over the next 12 months.

e.    invited committees questions and comments

Question: Could the findings of the Lincoln Tenant Panel be fed back into the Housing Scrutiny Committee?

Response: Yes it would be fed back as part of the LTP Matters agenda item.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

The Democratic Services Officer:

a.    presented the work programme for the Housing Scrutiny Sub Committee for 2018/19 as detailed at Appendix A of the report.

b.    advised that this was an opportunity for the committee to suggest other items to be included within the work programme.

Members of the committee asked for a report outlining the roles and responsibilities of Housing Officers be added to the work programme.

RESOLVED that

1.    the work programme be noted.

2.    a report outlining the roles and responsibilities of Housing Officers be scheduled into the work programme.