Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services will attend the meeting in order to be held to account for matters within the remit of this Committee. 

Discussion:

Members received an overview of progress made within the Portfolio for Housing and Community Services falling within the remit of the Committee over the last year which included the following subjects:

·        Adult learning

·        Bereavement and registration services

·        Disabled adaptations to housing

·        Homeless and housing options

·        Housing allocations for social housing

·        Housing strategy

·        Private sector housing

·        The development and management of the Council’s housing stock

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services, Councillor Doe, responded to Members’ questions and comments as follows:

• Ofsted – On receipt of a request for an update on the Council’s Ofsted report, the Portfolio Holder reported that the Council’s Ofsted report had improved from a four to a three which acknowledged progress made by the Council. However the new systems put in place to achieve this improvement still needed time to settle in and, when they had, full account would be taken of these in any future Ofsted inspection. The journey of improvement had brought new sources of income that were more sustainable and effective to the Council. The new funding was also playing a useful role in a number of areas such as troubled families. Some lessons were still to be learned but overall, progress was going well. He noted that the model Ofsted worked to was difficult to apply to learning not directed at training for employment and so it was intended to rebrand the diverse business into three distinct strands, with different criteria for each.  The Portfolio Holder undertook to circulate the Council’s Ofsted report to the Committee.
• Bereavement Services – The Committee noted the bereavement project to install mercury abatement equipment had been well handled and well managed and it was requested that the Committee’s appreciation be passed onto the team at Medway Crematorium. Concern was raised that the Council had been required to install mercury abatement equipment and there were only two companies in the UK that could undertake this work. One company had gone into liquidation in the middle of the installation which had made the project very difficult to handle. However despite this issue the project had been well managed and the Portfolio Holder had been very impressed with the Team. It was requested that the Committee’s concerns be forwarded to the national body involved with developing this initiative.
• Registration Services – On being questioned with regard to the promotion of equal marriages in Medway, the Portfolio Holder replied that anything that attracted income to the registration service was to be welcomed.
• Homeless applications – Concern was expressed regarding the increase in homeless applications and the fact that the Council’s only approach to this increase had been to adopt the Homelessness Prevention Strategy and was anything else currently being done. The Portfolio Holder reported that the Council’s Housing Solutions Team was working with homeless applicants and was doing everything possible to assist.
• Licensable Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) – It was noted that the number of licensable HMOs in Medway had remained static for sometime. However some Members considered that the number of poorly run HMOs was increasing and more action should be taken by the Council. Councillors were requested to report any suspected licensable HMOs to the appropriate officer to enable appropriate action to be taken. He also advised that the Council had sent out a clear message that action against would be taken against badly run unlicensed HMOs.
• Housing Benefit - Problems had been arising out of the impending decision on paying housing benefits direct to tenants. The Portfolio Holder felt that whilst this would encourage financial responsibility, it was feared that some tenants would not use the money to pay rent. The housing building programme was ongoing and small units had been developed to enable people to downsize. The Portfolio Holder reported that new legislation had not caused the expected surge in rent arrears  due to careful management by the housing team.
• Private Sector Housing – It was noted that the number of complaints in relation to housing standards had increased by 23%. It was considered that the Council should be more proactive in sending messages to these ‘rogue’ landlords to give tenants confidence to report issues without the fear of losing their homes. Medway Council ran a landlord accreditation scheme and had attracted funding which allowed these issues to be dealt with.
• Rent Arrears – The Committee was advised that the rent arrears recovery statistic of 102% included rent due from previous financial years collected in the current period.
• HRA Development Team – The number of bungalows on the new build homes list was seen as a positive and the Portfolio Holder stated that although the criteria for applying to move to a new home would have to be applied it was hoped that older people in under-occupation would consider downsizing to release larger family homes.
• Free Health Checks – The Portfolio Holder reported that he was very pleased to see the progress on this initiative and he hoped that this could be built on to reduce health inequalities across the area. The Chairman of the Health Check Task Group advised that the task group had focussed on the five wards with the lowest uptake of health checks and this had included the peninsula.
• Roof Repairs to Benenden and Harbledown Manor – A request was made that a pitched roof, such as the replacement roof on Vidal Manor, be considered to replace the flat roofs on these buildings. The Portfolio Holder reported that flat roof technology had seen major steps forward in recent times and they were not as problematic as previously experienced. The financial modelling criteria contained in the Asset Manager Policy would be applied to decide how these projects were dealt with.
• Legal Strategic Advice – Further to a question directed at the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Customer Contact earlier in the meeting, regarding concern about the potential liability to the Council if the Government decided that the Council should not have ruled to transfer a surplus on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) to its general fund, the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services advised that he had seen the letter from the Minister who was seeking information on how the decision had been arrived at. The Council had responded accordingly stating that the surplus funding had been used to finance the Community Hubs at Twydall and the remaining funding would be used to improve Riverside One. The Portfolio Holder stated that the Council had acted correctly as housing was an overall service.
• STAR Survey 2013 – It was requested that congratulations be passed to staff on the improvement in overall satisfaction with Landlord Services and with repairs and maintenance. The Portfolio Holder responded that the Council would continue to work on satisfaction improvements. All results had come into the top quartile and improvements had been progressed by more user-friendly ways of reporting issues and having contractors who understood the issues.
• Partnership Working – In response to a question about working with education providers with regard to planning for the future in relation to housing and how to plan for the future, the Portfolio Holder stated that Medway attracted a great deal of university students and it was considered advantageous to the area if they should stay and work in Medway. The Portfolio Holder agreed that there were a number of ways for people to access housing including first time buyer schemes and affordable housing.

Decision:

The Committee thanked the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services for his attendance and the answers he had provided to the Committee and it was agreed that:

a)         The appreciation of the Committee be passed to the Medway Crematorium Team for the excellent management of the difficult project to install mercury abatement equipment at the Crematorium;

b)         The Council’s latest Ofsted report be circulated to the Committee; and

c)         The appreciation of the Committee be passed to the appropriate Housing Team and contractor.