A MEETING OF THE HOUSING BOARD
WAS HELD ON 12 JUNE 2002
The Mayor (P) ; Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board ( Councillor Cully) (P) ; Councillors Bone (P), Mrs Cully ( Chairman) (P), Farr (P), Friend (P), Mrs Gravell (P), Hayward (P), P Russell (P), Taylor (P)
Councillor Mrs Cully (Vice Chairman) in the chair.
The Borough Secretary reported that in accordance with Standing Orders the Mayor had been appointed to the Board in place of Councillor Allen and Councillor Cully had been appointed in place of Councillor Mrs Wright
6. MINUTES
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meetings of the Board held on 13 March and 16 May 2002 be approved and signed by the Chairman as true and correct records.
PART II
7. DECORATION ALLOWANCES
The Board considered a report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "A"), which detailed the practice of awarding incoming tenants an allowance to help finance the decoration of their new property.
The report followed an update review of the existing scheme which had been in force since 1998/99 and proposed increasing the allowances in line with inflation and removing the maximum limit payable.
RESOLVED: That -
(i) an increase in decoration allowance rates of (approximately) 9%, as outlined in Appendix 1 of the Housing Services Manager's report, be introduced with effect from 1 July 2002 and be applicable until a review date in the 2005/06 financial year; and
(ii) the £600 per property maximum limit on allowances payable be removed.
8. 5 YEAR PARTNERING ARRANGEMENT FOR CENTRAL HEATING AND ELECTRICAL REWIRING
Consideration was given to a report of the Housing Services Manger (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "B") in connection with the appointment of a contractor to enter into a 5 year partnering arrangement with the Borough Council to carry out central heating and electrical rewiring installations.
The report outlined a successful partnering trial for the delivery of the planned maintenance programme together with details of the contractor selection process.
At its meeting in September 2001, the Housing Committee considered the outcome of a trial partnering arrangement for central heating and, given the high standards of the results, approved a recommendation to enter into a five year partnering arrangement.
The contract was advertised as a two stage selection process. Stage one was the completion of a questionnaire. Stage two involved formal interviews and presentations. It was after this process that 1st Saxon was recommended as the Council's five year partnering contractor with Connaught Property Services the reserve contractor.
RESOLVED: That -
(i) the contractor selection process undertaken be noted;
(ii) the appointment of 1st Saxon as the first choice contractor and Connaught Property Services as the reserve contractor be approved; and
(iii) contract standing orders in accordance with standing order 1.3.1 be waived.
9. REVIEW OF BARCLAY HOUSE HOSTEL OCCUPATION CHARGES
The Board considered the report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "C") which, following a review of the rent and service charges for Barclay House, proposed an amendment to the existing rent charging structure.
It was reported that, with the adaptation of the units at Barclay House over the past five years, some inconsistency in the rent comparable between units had arisen. In addition, the Council incurred charges (including utility charges) for a range of services provided to occupants of the hostel and it was appropriate that these were identified and charged separately. Housing Benefit would cover some of these charges; some would need to be met by the occupant.
The applied service charges were set out in Appendix 1 of the report. It was felt that these charges should be assessed annually to ensure that service charges remained consistent.
Members expressed concern at the proposal to delegate responsibility for the future review of service charges ( in relation to Supporting People and associated charges) to the Housing Services Manager. It was therefore proposed that this responsibility should be delegated to the Housing Services Manager in consultation with the Chairman of the Housing Board and group spokespersons.
RESOLVED: That-
(i) the amendments to the charging structure set out in Appendix 1 of the Housing Service Manager's report be approved; and
(ii) responsibility for the future review of service charges (in relation to Supporting People and associated charges) be delegated to the Housing Services Manger in consultation with the Chairman of the Housing Board and group spokespersons
10. REVIEW OF THE USE OF NON-SECURE TENANCIES FOR HOMELESSNESS PURPOSES
The Board considered the report of the Housing Services Manger (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "D") in connection with a review of the use of non-secure tenancies for homelessness purposes.
The report drew attention to a report made to the Housing Committee in March 1997, which introduced the use of non-secure tenancies for homeless households placed in the Council's stock. The Council had sought, in the past, to use such tenancies sparingly although recent increases in homeless households and a general shortage of temporary accommodation had required the Council to review this strategy.
It was stated that the Homelessness Act 2002 placed additional duties on the Council to accommodate 16 to 18 year olds and people who had been institutionalised.
In order to simplify the administration of non-secure tenancies it was proposed to move from 48 to 52 rent week cycles. Non-secure tenants could also be prioritised in the same way as homeless households in private rented accommodation for permanent rehousing.
RESOLVED: That-
(i) an amendment to non-secure tenancy terms from a 48 week cycle to 52 weeks be approved; and
(ii) a change to the allocations policy be approved to provide the following priority to the housing applications of non-secure tenants :
(a) 5 points, in addition to other housing need awards, for the first six months of placement in a non-secure tenancy
(b) 75 points, in addition to other housing need awards, six months after the commencement of the tenancy
(c) non-secure customers be given a period of choice for six months (once they have been approved to receive offers of rehousing). At the end of that six month period, these applications would revert to the standard offer conditions for homeless households
11. COMMUNITY WARDEN
The Board considered the report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "E") in connection with the Community Warden scheme.
The report summarised the achievements of the three year Community Warden project funded partially by the Home Office and based in Seafield. The funding for this post would cease on 31 March 2003. A further bid for 85% Home Office funding to pursue the scheme in 2003/04 had been made. Should the Council fail to secure the continuation of the grant, it was recommended that the Housing Revenue Account fund the costs associated with this temporary post until the end of the 2003/04 financial year.
The success of the project could be judged by the reduction of vandalism in the Seafield area, the introduction of new gardens and a tangible sense of ownership amongst the residents.
If this progress could be maintained during 2002/03, it was proposed that the Housing Services Manager should consider the creation of a permanent Community Warden post and report such findings to a future meeting of the Board.
RESOLVED: That -
(i) the progress of the Community Warden scheme to date be noted;
(ii) in the event of the Council failing to secure a continuation of the grant, approval be given to continue funding the costs associated with this temporary post until the end of the 2003/04 financial year; and
(iii) if the progress made in the first twelve months of the project could be shown to be maintained during 2002/03 financial year, the Housing Services Manager be requested to consider the creation of a permanent Community Warden post and report his findings to a future meeting of the Housing Board.
12. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the under mentioned item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 8 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
13. PPG 3 AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS
Consideration was given to an exempt report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed to the Minute Book as Appendix "F"), which provided an update on the progress of PPG3 sites within the Borough.
RESOLVED: That -
(i) the content of the Housing Services Manager's report be noted; and
(ii) subject to funding being available, the Social Housing Grant contributions outlined in Appendix 2 be approved.
CHAIRMAN
