Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held 19 March 2018 be confirmed.

Members asked if the following actions had been followed up and completed:-

1.    Statistics on rent arrears for the past year – Yvonne agreed to circulate this information to all members following the meeting.

2.    Comparison of this year’s performance targets – Yvonne agreed to circulate this information to members following the meeting.

3.    The roles and responsibilities of a Housing Officer – Yvonne confirmed that it had been added to the work programme for August 2018

4.    People parking on grass verges – Yvonne Fox had liaised with Andrew McNeil and the costs were likely to be excessive and there were concerns that funding would not be available. Nevertheless, sites were being costed up.

5.    Welton Gardens Housing Completion – Work had been put back slightly due to bad weather at the start of the year. The new completion date had been set for mid-September but the handover would be phased over a 6 week period so that the properties could be filled gradually.

No declarations of interest were received.

Yvonne Fox, Assistant Director for Housing:

a)    presented the Housing Scrutiny Sub Committee with an end of quarter report on performance indicators for the fourth quarter of year 2017/18 (January 2018 – March 2018)

b)    stated that from April 2010, all social landlords were required to have local offers in place alongside the national standards as set out in the new Regulatory Framework for Social Housing. The Framework was amended with effect from April 2012 but the principles remained the same.

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

d)    referred to appendix A of the report and highlighted the areas where there had been overall improvement including:

·         Percentage of all emergency repairs carried out within time limits

·         Tenant satisfaction with repairs

·         Councillor enquiries replied to within the timescale

·         Percentage of ASB cases closed that were resolved

e)    highlighted areas that had not achieved their target and explained the reason for this:

·         Percentage of rent collected as a percentage of rent due

·         Average re-let period

·         Percentage of offers accepted first time

·         Percentage of complaints replied to within 10 working days

f)     invited committees questions and comments

Question: On 8.2 of the report, nothing appeared after ‘particular areas to highlight are:’, what was the reason for this?

Response: Yvonne explained that it was a mistake made on the report and assured that it would be changed and re-circulated to members.

Question: Can people without a bank account be offered a Council property?

Response: The individual would need a bank account of some sort to be able to pay their rent as the Council had now become a cashless workplace.

Question: How many times was an allocation of a property allowed to be refused by the tenant?

Response: It varied depending on the band of the property. For Band 1 it was once, band 2, twice and bands 3 and 4, three times. If they hit the limit of refusal, the tenant could potentially be suspended for between 6 and 12 months.

None.

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.

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted