4th September 2002

 

Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board ( Councillor Cully) (ex-officio) (P) ; Councillors Bone (P), Carter (P), Mrs Cully (P), Farr (P), Friend (P), Mrs Gravell (P), Hayward (P), P Russell (P), Taylor (P), Mrs Wright (Chairman) (P)

14. MINUTES

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 12 June 2002 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

PART II

15. 2002 TENANT SATISFACTION AND ASPIRATIONAL SURVEY

The Board considered a report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "A"). The Board was informed that this was the most comprehensive customer survey to date and the results were encouraging when compared to those of other Local Authorities. However it was also stated that a significant number of respondents indicated that they felt their home was in need of modernisation or improvement.

Euan Ramsey from Market Research UK briefly addressed the Board. He stated that the results of the survey were good and robust. He also stated that he had worked with a focus group of 11 residents selected at random. It was clear from discussions with them that, although there were some minor problems, they held the Council in high regard and that very strong ties and a high level of trust existed between them and the Council. He also stated that the results were a credit to Housing Services at a time when the investment required for the stock significantly exceeded the resources available.

Members expressed the view that all tenants and leaseholders made use of the housing service in some way and the results of the survey were therefore very satisfactory. It was felt that the staff in the Housing Services Unit should be congratulated on this achievement.

RESOLVED: That -

(i) the contents of the report be noted; and
(ii) the thanks of the Board be conveyed to the staff in the Housing Services Unit for their work with tenants and leaseholders.

16. HOUSING STRATEGY UPDATE 2003 - 2004

The Board considered a report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "B") which presented the Council's Housing Strategy Update 2003 - 2004 and supporting documents.

Some minor inaccuracies were identified on page 15 of the document regarding the Rowner Estate.

Thanks were expressed to all Housing Services staff for the work they carried out to produce the document.

RESOLVED: That the Housing Strategy submission and supporting background papers be approved.

17. HRA BUSINESS PLAN 2003 - 2004

Consideration was given to a report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "C").

The Housing Services Manager stated that Gosport's Housing Revenue Account Services were broadly sustainable over the life of the thirty year plan, provided that management costs and operational effectiveness continued to be controlled and perform as expected. There was still a high demand for the Council's housing service and a detailed assessment had indicated an improvement in tenant satisfaction over the last 15 months. Despite this, however, 65% of tenants felt their property required improvement, repair or modernisation.

A detailed stock condition survey produced last financial year indicated that 64% of the Council's housing stock currently met the Government's Decent Homes Standard. Extra investment beyond what was currently predicted in the plan would be required to achieve 100% Decent Homes Standard compliance prior to the Government's March 2010 deadline. The plan demonstrated a "pinch point" towards the latter end of the Decent Homes timetable, identifying a gap of around £10 million between what was anticipated to be available and what was needed.

It was proposed to investigate additional investment options with residents of the Council's tower blocks and to target the Council's investment over the next three years in order to ensure that a significant number of properties would be brought into line with the Decent Homes Standard whilst still meeting the aspirations that tenants had identified when consulted on improvements.

RESOLVED: That the 2003-2004 HRA Business Plan be approved.

18. DEVELOPING A CAPITAL PROGRAMME TO MEET TENANTS' ASPIRATIONS AND WORK TOWARDS A DECENT HOMES
STANDARD

The Board considered a report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix ("D").

The Housing Services Manager introduced the report which summarised the findings of the 2002 Stock Condition Survey and set out the criteria for the Decent Homes Standard. It also proposed an investment approach to target available funds towards achieving this standard and meeting the principal aspirations of tenants identified in the 2002 Tenant Satisfaction and Aspirational Survey. The report contained five options to work towards achieving this and the Housing Services Manager stated that, given that the resources sufficient to meet the Decent Homes Standard by 2010 had not yet been identified, Option 5 represented the best achievable balance between targeting the investment potential that did exist at the key priorities of this standard and the improvement aspirations of tenants.

Officers from the Housing Services unit were congratulated on the detailed analysis that had led to the report's conclusions.

RESOLVED: That the principles of a new capital programme contained in the Housing Services Manager's report be approved together with the preparation of a detailed schedule of investment for the next three financial years, based on these principles, for consideration by the November 2002 meeting of the Housing Board.

19. REVIEW OF THE NOBES HALL AREA OFFICE

The Board considered a report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "E") which sought approval to close the Nobes Hall Area Office with effect from 30th September 2002. In introducing the report the Housing Services Manager stated that the provision and running of the Area Office had been a successful learning process and had been useful in helping to develop new ways of providing services such as payment options.

However, demand for other services at the office during the pilot period had remained low. Development of the e-government agenda had provided the opportunity to ultimately replace this facility with "community kiosks" in various locations around the Borough.

RESOLVED: That the Nobes Hall Area Office be closed with effect from 30th September 2002.

CHAIRMAN