Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a true record.

Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary.

Councillor Pat Vaughan declared a Personal Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Performance Monitoring Report Quarter 3 - 2023/24'.

Reason: His granddaughter worked in the Finance Department at City of Lincoln Council and his daughter worked in the Benefits Department at the City of Lincoln Council.

Councillor Pat Vaughan declared a Personal Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Housing Financial Performance - Quarterly Monitoring'.

Reason: His granddaughter worked in the Finance Department at City of Lincoln Council and his daughter worked in the Benefits Department at the City of Lincoln Council.

Councillor Pat Vaughan declared a Personal Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Target Setting 2024/25'.

Reason: His granddaughter worked in the Finance Department at City of Lincoln Council and his daughter worked in the Benefits Department at the City of Lincoln Council.

RESOLVED that the order of business be amended to allow the ‘Report by Councillor Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing’ to be considered as the next agenda item.

Councillor Donald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing:

a)    presented a report to Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee covering the following main areas:

·       Homelessness

·       Tenancy Services

·       Voids

·       Housing Repairs

·       Housing Investment

·       New Build

·       Decarbonisation

·       Lincare Control Centre

b)    highlighted that some areas were performing better than others, however, even those areas recorded as ‘red’ were showing as good performance when compared to other authorities, with all areas up and down the country facing the same problems

c)    invited questions and comments from Members of the Committee

Members of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee considered the content of the report in further detail. Comments and questions were responded to by the Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing and officers as follows:

Question: It was stated that 20% of new build properties within the Western Growth Corridor (WGC) development would be affordable homes and managed by social housing regulators. Were all new builds going to be affordable housing?

Response: The type of new build housing was dependent on the purpose for which finance was awarded to us by Homes England. If more funding was given for social housing then we would consider if there was opportunity to deliver a higher percentage of affordable or social homes. Affordable Housing products included affordable rented, shared ownership, first homes and some supported accommodation. These could be delivered by a registered provider and Local Housing Authority. The site at WGC was to be a mixed tenure site with market housing also captured within the development.

Question: Would new tenants living in old council stock still be classed as affordable housing tenants? Many would not be able to stretch to affordable housing rents. How would this be managed?

Response: There were no current plans to convert existing social rented tenants over to affordable rents. However, if a tenant moved they would sign up to the terms of the property they were signing for. For example if this was an affordable rented property, this would be the terms and this communicated to them. Financial assessments on affordability took place before the tenant signed up to the terms of the tenancy.

Question: Was the way forward that if a person was already a tenant and moved house, their payments were set at affordable rent and not social housing rent?

Response: A blanket approach did not exist, it would all depend on the property they were moving to and how and when this had been purchased/built. For example new builds were often funded via the affordable homes programme and let at affordable rent, whereas if someone was moving to a house which had been a council property long term these would normally remain as social rents. When purchasing properties or building new homes, the financial viability was also dependent on government intervention rates, for example better intervention rates from government to deliver more social rents could help the Housing Authority determine the rent type and if we were to introduce social rents rather than affordable rent again in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Mick Barber, Chair of Lincoln Tenants Panel (LTP), provided a written report highlighting the Panel’s continued work on a variety of projects with tenancy services, fire safety assurance, maintenance, business management and resident involvement teams. The briefing note, designed as a regular update to members of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee, covered the following areas:

·      LTP continued to hold quarterly meetings to review service areas.

·      The Complaints and ASB Review Group continued to implement recommendations and a positive impact on complaint processes and procedures had been seen.

·      A meeting had recently been attended with contractors and it was confirmed that installations of kitchens/bathrooms/communal doors were on target.

·      A robust tenant journey had been implemented which ensured communication took place on a regular basis.

·      The working group had been tasked to create a satisfaction survey for current investment installations.

·      The Schedule of Repairs (SOR) Working Group had again received positive information relating to performance with repair timescales and damp and mould procedures.

·      LTP continued to hold quarterly meetings with the Voids Team Leader reviewing void inspections and targets. The number of voids inspections had increased and they had all, again surpassed standards.

·      LTP had reviewed the following:

1) Caretaker Review for low and high rise

2) Tenancy Agreement Review

3) Pet Policy

4) Aids and Adaptations Policy

·       A new member of LTP had been recruited and joined in January 2024.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

Michelle Hoyles, Business Manager, Corporate Policy:

a)    presented Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee with a summary on performance indicators for the Directorate of Housing and Investment (DHI) for Quarter 3 of 2023/24 (October -December)

b)    added that regular monitoring of the Council’s performance was a key component of the Local Performance Management Framework and supported its ongoing commitment to continuous improvement of Council services

c)    confirmed that there was a total of twenty-one performance indicators monitored by DHI; an overview of performance for the third quarter of 2023/24, against such indicators, was attached at Appendix A to the report

d)    reported that of the 21 measures in total; nine had met or exceeded their agreed target, five had performed close to target and six had performed below target

e)    highlighted that three of the measures found to be performing close to target were ‘year-end’ measures and included two measures that cumulatively recorded expenditure in maintenance and capital works

f)      added that the third and final year-end measure related to the proportion of homes not at ‘decent homes standard’; performance against this measure, whilst formally recorded at year end, was currently exceeding target

g)    referred to Appendix A of the report which attempted to simplify the overall analysis by listing performance on a service functional basis (rents, repairs, etc) and then showing the source of the indicator (reason)

h)    confirmed that further detailed information on the areas highlighted was provided within the report

i)      invited Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committees questions and comments.

Members of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee considered the content of the report in further detail. Comments and questions were responded to by officers as follows:

Question: There was no reference to performance on electrical safety?

Response: That measure would be commenced in the 2024-25 meeting cycle and would be reported on a quarterly basis.

Comment: Reference was made within the report to ‘two weeks free rent’, This was not free rent as the rent charges for the whole year were averaged out over 50 weeks rather than 52.

Response: Apologies were made for the terminology used within the report which was incorrect.

Question: The Customer Contact Centre had been closed due to a fault on the system. What measures were being taken to improve the response times?

Response: A response to this query would be fed back by the officer under separate cover.

Comment: The target for response times to formal complaints made was not showing as performing well.

Response: Some complaints were being recorded as formal complaints that were actually service requests when the nature of the complaint was not known.

Comment: Performance on rental income was very good news. Congratulations to the officers concerned in achieving this figure.

RESOLVED that:

1.    A response to the measures being taken to improve Customer Contact Centre response times be fed back to members under separate cover.

2.    The current performance outcomes during Quarter 3 of the financial year 2023/24 to date, be noted.

Adam Oxley, Principal Finance Business Partner:

a)    presented a report to Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee with a summary of the third quarter’s performance (up to 31 December 2023), on the Council’s

·       Housing Revenue Account

·       Housing Repairs Service

·       Housing Investment Programme

b)    provided information on the Council’s

·       Housing Revenue Account –– for 2023/24 the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) net revenue budget was set with a planned contribution from balances of £58,930, resulting in  estimated general balances at year-end of £1,125,517, after allowing for the 2023/24 outturn position, at Q3 the HRA was currently projecting a forecast overspend of £13,787, which would result in HRA balances of £1,111,730 as at the end of 2023/24 (Appendix A provided a forecast Housing Revenue Account summary). Although the forecast position was an overspend there was a number of significant variations in income and expenditure. Full details of the main variances were provided at Appendix B.

·       Housing Repairs Service – For 2023/24 the Council’s Housing Repairs Service (HRS) net budget was set at zero, which reflected its full cost recovery nature. At quarter 3 the HRS was forecasting a deficit of £552,062 in 2023/24. Full details of the main variances were provided at Appendix C.

·       Housing Investment Programme – the revised programme for 2023/24 amounted to £16.862m following the quarter 2 position. At quarter 3 the programme had been decreased by £0.742m to £16.120m as shown at paragraph 6.2 of the report. The overall expenditure on the Housing Investment Programme at the end of quarter 3 was £7.029m, which was 41.85% of the 2023/24 revised programme. This excluded expenditure relating to Western Growth Corridor, which was currently shown on the General Investment Programme (GIP), to be apportioned at year end (current forecast outturn £1.97m) as detailed at Appendix G of the report. A further £0.525m had been spent as at the end of January 2024.

c)    invited Housing Sub-Committees questions and comments.

Members of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee considered the content of the report in further detail. Comments and questions were responded to by officers as follows:

Question: Why was rental income higher than anticipated?

Response: This was due to a higher than budgeted opening housing stock at the start of the financial year with voids turned around more quickly. The Rookery Lane new build development had been allocated quickly providing higher occupancy and rent levels.

Comment: It would be much preferred if we could carry out our own repairs without having to rely on sub - contractors.

Response: With current inflationary pressures, everything was more expensive. A piece of work was currently ongoing giving far greater allocation of where service vehicles were deployed and reviewing productivity with the workforce. Recruitment for a Maintenance Manager was also in process.

Comment: It would be great to see an increase in the take-up of apprenticeships, which had declined lately.

Response: The Housing service was looking at increased apprenticeships in the form of work experience and succession planning. We would provide practical day to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

Michelle Hoyles, Business Manager – Corporate Policy and Transformation:

a)    presented a range of proposed performance measures for the upcoming financial year 2024/25, intended to support Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee to effectively scrutinise the Council’s role as a social landlord

b)    requested approval of the range of performance indicators as attached at Appendix A of the report for presentation to the Sub-Committee on a quarterly basis

c)    advised that there were a total of thirty-seven measures for the Sub-Committees consideration; a significant increase on twenty-one measures reported in 2023/24

d)    explained that the increase in the number of performance measures was largely due to the introduction of new national reporting requirements, and recognition that some of these reporting requirements added value to the council’s scrutiny process by providing context to support existing measures

e)    summarised the proposed changes to performance measures, proposed to be deleted and new measures as detailed at paragraph 3 of the report

f)      invited Housing Sub-Committees questions and comments:

RESOLVED that the performance measures proposed at Appendix A of the report be approved for inclusion in the quarterly performance reporting for 2024/25.

Adam Oxley, Principal Finance Business Partner, provided a verbal update in relation to insurance claims paid for disrepair claims lodged, covering the following main points:

·       The Council was seeing an increase in disrepair claims and associated costs, increasing from 12 claims in 2019 to 42 cases in the current financial year, exacerbated by claim farming solicitors who cold-called and targeted specific areas.

·       The total estimated cost of disrepair claims to date, (since 2019), including current cases amounted to £668,000, with the Council successfully defending against around 50% of claims. On average tenants received less than 10% of this amount, the lions share being paid to solicitors on both sides.

·       We were currently in discussions with our legal representatives, regarding intervention before any claim was submitted, if for example during the complaint stage we had accepted repair delays we could look to offer compensation prior to tenants going to a solicitor, generating savings in solicitors fees (this incentivised tenants to come to us first rather than approach a claim farm).

·       The authority continued to network nationally with other social landlords on best practice to tackle disrepairs and how best to defend them. We had provided feedback to the Association of Retained Council Housing that claim farm firms needed to be more regulated and we were exploring property technology to increase our identification of building use and defects.

·       The Council was also making efforts to improve the defence rate of disrepair claims by improving record keeping and system processes, getting to the root cause of damp and mould and being more proactive in re-arranging operative visits cancelled by tenants.

·       Around 80% of claims settled during the financial year across the Council (value wise) were disrepair claims, around £150k to date, this being a direct cost to the Housing Revenue Account.

The Chair requested that a comparison be provided at the next scheduled meeting in June 2024 of disrepair claims paid between 2022/23 and 2023/24.

The Assistant Director, Asset Management reported that the introduction of a compensation policy to reimburse customers directly would generate savings. Also, damp sensors were being fitted in disrepair claim properties to assist customers who needed support.

RESOLVED that:

1.    Members be provided with a comparison of disrepair claims paid between years 2022/23 and 2023/24 at the next meeting of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee scheduled for 12 June 2024.

2.    The content of the verbal update be noted with thanks.

Amy Larder, Interim Maintenance Manager, provided a verbal update on the current timescales for scheduled repairs, covering the following main points:

·       Following the Scheduled repair performance review report in June 2023 one of our recommendations for development of the service was to reduce the weekly cycle from 12 weeks to 9 weeks.

·       It was envisaged due to the number of repairs in certain areas that the cycle of new calendar areas would be broken down to the following:

·       We agreed that we would review our calendar and look to implement the new schedule repair calendar by December 2023.

Introduction of New Calendar

·       Following the review, work started throughout August 2023 to create a new scheduled repair calendar based on the agreed weeks mentioned previously. This was produced to start from the new cycle starting in the North area on 2 October 2023 now for the reduced 2-week period.

·       Once the calendar was created this was communicated with the necessary teams including customer services, housing officers and issued to the Communications team.

·       A large amount of work had to be done to input the calendar changes made to our scheduling system to enable customer service to still be able to offer appointments at the point of call in most cases and within the newly defined appointment slots for each area.

·       We went live with the new calendar and booking schedule from 2 October 2023.

Comparison on Data since Changes

·       We had not seen a drop in service delivery through these changes being implemented and when comparing Q3 performance this year compared to 22/23 data we had completed an additional 1571 scheduled repairs.

·       Quarter 3 Comparison

Ø  2022/2023 - 2364 completed repairs, 99.24% completed in target.

Ø  2023/2024 - 3935 completed, 99.70% completed in target.

·       The central area remained consistently large reporting on average 7% more repairs than the other areas so we had no intention currently to reduce this any further.

RESOLVED that the content of the verbal report be noted with thanks.

Donna Lyons, Resident Involvement Manager:

a)    presented a report to update the Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee on the progress of the Tenant Involvement Strategy Action Plan 2022 to 2025

b)    explained that the Tenancy Involvement Strategy Plan 2022 to 2025 was reviewed by Lincoln Tenant Panel on an annual basis

c)    gave an overview of the main achievements over the last twelve months as contained at paragraph 3 of the report

d)    referred to paragraph 4 of the report and explained how the action plan would be delivered and how the outcomes of the strategy would be monitored

e)    advised that the City of Lincoln Council Landlord Services had successfully progressed to silver star status in co-design services with residents, expanded the way residents could get involved, facilitated community involvement and had progressed to gold star status in co-regulation with Lincoln Tenants Panel

f)      invited Housing Sub-Committees questions and comments:

RESOLVED that the contents of the revises Tenant Involvement Strategy and action plan assessments 2023 be noted.

Paula Burton, Assistant Director, Housing Management provided a verbal update on the Draft Downsizing Policy, covering the following main points:

• All Housing Officers had been asked to promote the downsizing scheme to people it may benefit.
• All tenants in receipt of Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to cover ‘bedroom tax’ had received letters in the last two weeks saying that DHP was only a temporary payment and would be withdrawn, but that a downsizing scheme was available to help them move to a more suitable property.
• The web form was up and running and we had received 4 expressions of interest so far, which had been passed to Housing Officers/Tenancy Sustainment Officer to follow up as per the policy.
• The downsizing panel met on 29 February 2024 to discuss the first case that had been assessed fully. It was approved and would free up a 3-bed ground floor flat with a wet room (& clear approx. £2300 arrears). The vulnerable tenant would be assisted with referrals for white goods and furniture from charities and having new floor coverings fitted at any new property.

Members of Lincoln Tenant’s Panel hoped the scheme would encourage tenants to downsize and asked whether there would be a questionnaire feedback form available both for those taking part and those who didn’t take up the scheme.

Paula Burton, Assistant Director, Housing Management advised that she would implement a feedback questionnaire form as part of the review of the pilot scheme. A further update would be scheduled in at the end of the pilot scheme

RESOLVED that:

1.    Enquiries regarding the implementation of a feedback questionnaire form be pursued by officers.

2.    A further update on the pilot Downsizing Policy be reported to Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee at the end of the pilot scheme.

3.    The content of the verbal update be noted with thanks.

Paula Burton, Assistant Director of Housing Management and Andrea Ripley, Housing Strategy Officer

a)    tabled a quick guide which assisted members to understand the different purposes of the Tenancy Strategy, Tenancy Policy and Tenancy Agreement

b)    presented the draft Tenancy Strategy for review prior to consideration by Executive

c)    gave the background of the report as detailed at paragraph 2 of the report and advised that the main purpose of the strategy was to make the best use of existing housing stock with mechanisms such as flexible tenancies, succession rights and affordable rented tenures

d)    advised that consultation of the draft strategy was sent out to all known registered providers operating within the City during December 2023; the responses were contained at Appendix 2 of the report

e)    referred to the draft Tenancy Strategy contained at Appendix 1 of the report and advised that it focussed on the following areas:

·       Fixed/Flexible Tenancies

·       Reviewing Fixed Tenancies

·       Starter/ Introductory tenancies

·       Assured Tenancies

·       Secure Tenancies

·       Non-Secure Tenancies

·       Licenses

·       Family Intervention Tenancies

·       The Use of Demoted Tenancies

·       Existing Social Tenants, Security of Tenure

·       Succession

·       Affordable Rent

·       Intermediate Rent

·       Tenancy Reviews

f)      explained that the Tenancy Strategy would be reviewed every three years to ensure compliance with current legislation and as part of a validation exercise to ensure that Registered Providers were letting homes in line with the Tenancy Strategy

g)    invited Housing Sub-Committees questions and comments:

Members discussed the content of the report in further details, asked questions, made comments and received relevant responses from officers as follows:

Question: When would demoted tenancies be used and what would this mean for existing tenants encountering more Anti-Social Behaviour in their local communities?

Response: Demoted tenancies were introduced in the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, to enable housing providers to demote a tenancy as a positive tool to help anti-social behaviour to be managed and controlled, as an alternative to eviction. This was a stepped mechanism, once a final warning was issued, if breached then the possession action route would be used as a last resort.

Question: Was a period of twelve months not a long time to take to alleviate such problems?

Response: The tenancy could remain demoted up to twelve months; possession action could be taken at any time during this period. if breeches of the tenancy occurred. A demoted tenancy would either go to Court or revert back to a periodic secure or assured tenancy.

Question: Was it possible to take away a tenancy without making a Court application?

Response: No There must be a possession order in place from the Courts.

Comment: We needed a strategy to address issues of tenancies being sub-let to family members. There were instances where tenancies were being sub-let at the same time as housing benefit was being claimed by the individual not living there, although it was difficult to prove. We needed to know who our tenants were.

Question: Could surveillance be carried out on properties via interaction with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

Andrea Ripley, Housing Strategy Officer:

a)    presented the revised Acquisition Strategy (Appendix 1) for review prior to consideration by Executive

b)    highlighted that the renewed Acquisitions Policy represented a refresh of the old one

c)    advised that the sale of council homes continued to create pressure to replace sold properties via Right to Buy (RtB) and to ensure that capital receipts were utilised within the required timescales for the purposes of replacing social housing

d)    explained that the process of purchasing homes from the open market or via direct approaches continued to work well; to date the policy had facilitated the purchase of 99 homes and this number would continue to increase following the structured process set out in the revised Acquisitions Policy

e)    summarised the amendments made to the Acquisitions Policy as set out in paragraph 3 of the report

f)      advised that following the budget update by Government the previous week, up to 50% of capital costs could now be apportioned to the Right to Buy (RtB) fund

g)    invited Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committees questions and comments.

Members discussed the content of the report in further detail. Questions raised were responded to by officers as follows:

Question: How did the Housing Authority use the 50% costs it was apportioned?

Response: Rtb receipts could be used for 50% of the capital costs for the purchase and repair of a property or new build development/acquisitions. Each purchase would undergo financial viability modelling on funding and revenue with delegated authority in place to authorise before proceeding with a purchase. Each year the government determined the level of RtB receipts the Council was able to retain from the sales of council properties. The receipt and spend of these funds was tracked by Finance and Housing Strategy to ensure compliance and to reduce any risk to pay back unspent funds within the required timescales. As only 50% of each purchase could be funded via the RtB receipts the remaining cost was funded via prudential borrowing or direct revenue financing. The Housing Strategy team would provide members with an example of  how funding had been apportioned and potential future availability of funding for 2024/2025.

RESOLVED that:

1.    A breakdown of Rtb receipts apportionment and potential future availability of funding to be forwarded to members of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

2.    The revised Acquisition Policy be supported and referred to Executive for approval.

The Senior Democratic Services Officer:

a)    presented a draft outline work programme for Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee for 2024/25 as detailed at Appendix A of the report

b)    advised that the draft work programme for 2024/25 would be circulated to the Chair/Vice Chair of the Housing Scrutiny-Sub Committee and the Chair/Vice Chair of Lincoln’s Tenant’s Panel for individual input/comments, once membership was confirmed for the new Municipal Year

c)    highlighted that the work programme would be used as a working document and could be added to or amended at the Sub-Committee’s discretion at any time during the 2024/25 Municipal Year

d)    reported that the work programme included those areas for scrutiny linked to the strategic priorities of the Council and themed housing matters, to ensure that the work of the committee was relevant and proportionate

e)    referred to a copy of the Terms of Reference for Housing Scrutiny Sub- Committee attached to the report for information.

RESOLVED that the content of the draft outline work programme for 2024/25 be noted.