Issue - meetings

Janet Spurling, Scrutiny Officer, submitted a copy of the report to Overview and Scrutiny Management Board following the scrutiny session undertaken by a sub-group of the Select Commission regarding housing for older people in Rotherham.

The purpose of the session was to develop a clear understanding of the key issues involved in increasing the number of homes suitable for older people and to make recommendations to inform future plans for older people’s housing.

The report summarised key issues identified and the ten recommendations which were as follows:-

(1)       That an article be included in the tenant newsletter explaining how bungalows are allocated to different groups of people, not only older people, based on need.

(2)  That discussion takes place with transport providers, including Community Transport, regarding:-

-        Services for proposed sites before building commences

-        Maintaining transport links to those sites in the future.

(3)  That the importance of family pets for older people’s health and wellbeing is considered in developing housing options.

(4)  That consultation is undertaken with older people currently living in three storey buildings to capture their views on how suitable this housing is for their needs, to feed in to decisions about future models.

(5)  That consultation is undertaken with older people to ascertain their views on the term extra care and how housing schemes should be branded.

(6) That the approach to branding and marketing housing options for older people should be a positive one such as promoting the third age rather than one of moving towards the end of a person’s life.

(7)  That new housing schemes are designed to look more generic rather than looking like they are only for older people:-

-        To reduce the risk of older people being targeted

-        To reflect mixed communities and reduce negative perceptions.

(8)  That Shaftesbury House undergoes external renovation and is made more secure for residents.

(9)  That action is taken to maintain high quality in current older people’s housing to avoid the development of a “two tier” system with differences in quality and experience between current and new provision.

(10)  That all multiple storey buildings for extra care housing should have lifts.

This was a good focussed piece of work and showed the role of scrutiny in policy development as opposed to its role in holding agencies and the Executive to account.  It was positive to have all ten recommendations accepted with a clear response and timescales for implementation.

Resolved:-  That the report be noted.