Agenda and minutes

There was nothing to report.

There were no Declarations of Interest made at the meeting.

There were no members of the public and press present at the meeting.

As agreed at the previous meeting, key witnesses had been invited to the Panel to gain an understanding of the key issues and reasons for the delays in re-letting empty properties in Rotherham and consider how performance could be improved against Local Performance Indicator 212 (average re-let times).

Kevin Lowry, Chief Executive, 2010 Rotherham Ltd. gave the following presentation:-

Empty Homes Review - An end-to-end review of voids had taken place.  They were now known as “empty homes” to emphasise to all that they were homes that should be occupied by tenants

-              “Every day counts” - adopted because when dealing with empty homes every day was crucially important particularly in the current economic climate

-              we have taken an holistic approach – working with colleagues in all areas of the Council trying to find ways to expedite the process

-              cut across teams and organisational boundaries

-              create a sustainable solutio

-              balance performance with quality – needs to lead to continual performance and quality.  The quality of a letting was as important as the speed of it

-              no issues of “blame” only achieving shared outcomes

Performance

-              Performance had improved during the last quarter of 2008/09 - average of 24.5 days

-              Significant step forward to that of the position in the first quarter although not achieved the yearly target

-              Need to look at the whole picture

§               Termination period

§               Selection and offer process

§               Clear out and repair

§               Key management

§               Policy issues

§               Control and accountability

-              Indicators need to show whole story – need for new suite to give better picture

§               Number of homes empty but available to let

§               Number of homes empty and unavailable

§               Rent lost through empty homes

§               Total turnaround times

§               Numbers of offers refused with reasons

§               Turnover of properties (sustainability)

§               Lettings to minority groups

§               Satisfaction levels

-              Do not always believe what the figures tell you – 31 properties that were awaiting a decision on investment/disinvestment etc. which had been empty for a number of years, should they be re-let tomorrow, would change the average re-let time as all the time they had been empty would be added to the void days

So what is our primary objective?

-              Performance?

-              Quality?

-              Choice?

-              Sustainability?

-              Cost?

-              Good practice?

Impacts

-              Performance

§               Cleaning and repair – 2010 was the senior partner when it came to performance on empty homes and, particularly in the last 12 months, for the cleaning out and repairing of properties.  Stringent targets had been set to improve

-              Policy options

§               Open bidding – there was an impact because of the bidding system as the 4 main reasons for refusal were not wanting an area, not wanting the property, not wanting to move at all or not willing to view even though they had bid for the property.  This lead to the Key Choices Team and 2010 having to spend a high proportion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116.

- minutes of meetings held on 2^nd and 30^th March, 2009

The Panel noted the decisions made under delegated powers by the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods held on 2^nd and 30^th March, 2009.

- minutes of meeting held on 12^th March, 2009

The minutes of the meeting held on 12th March, 2009, were agreed subject to the inclusion of Councillor Falvey’s apologies.

Resolved:-  That a report be submitted to the next meeting on Garage Sites investment.

- minutes of meeting held on 27^th February and 13^th March, 2009

The minutes of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee held on 27th February and 13^th March, 2009, were noted.

- minutes of meeting held on 4^th March, 2009

The minutes of the above Working Party held on 4th March, 2009, attended by Councillor Sharman were noted.

- minutes of meeting held on 6^th March, 2009

The minutes of the above Advisory Group held on 6^th March, 2009, attended by Councillor Wyatt be noted.