Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed Dave, the newly appointed Director of Housing and Neighbourhood Services, to his first Delegated Powers meeting.

In accordance with Minute No. 95 of 27^th October, 2008, the Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods presented an update on the above.

The price of an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) had risen slightly over recent months for private sector housing from £45 to as much as £80 which probably reflected the declining number of qualified EPC officers as the recession continued to affect the housing market.

There were 4 service areas within the Council affected by EPC legislation:-

-              Key Choices Property Management – As part of the KCPM service, properties belonging to private sector landlords joining the accredited scheme or benefiting from initiatives such as Rent in Advance, were required to have a current EPC in place prior to the property being occupied.

-              Trading Standards – To date Trading Standards had not taken any enforcement action in relation to non-compliance with EPC legislation.

-              Neighbourhood Investment Service – A very limited capacity exists within the Service to carry out an EPC assessment.  The opportunity had been made available to private sector landlords registered with the Council’s Registered Quality Landlord Scheme.  To date no appointments had been made.

-              2010 Rotherham Ltd. – 2010 employed 2 accredited Agency Surveyors to carry out EPCs on all voids, vacated and Right to Buy properties.  To date 2,622 EPCs (40 per week) have been carried out with an average rate of ‘D’.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be received.

(2)  That a progress report be submitted in 12 months.

Further to Minute No. 147(2) of 2^nd February, 2009, the Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods reported on the outcome of investigations into the maters raised in the petition.

The Neighbourhood Investment Service had contacted the petitioners to clarify issues and discuss possible solutions and entered into discussions with Chevin Housing Association.  A joint assessment had been carried out involving the local PCSO, Planning Officers and local Ward Councillor.

A proposal had now been agreed that satisfied both the residents and owners’ concerns.  The Housing Association had commenced work to replace the fencing with black metal railing around the sensory garden thereby eliminating isolation to the residents in the corner and with green stained timber palisade fencing to the rear of the newly built bungalows to improve visual and social connectivity between the new bungalows and the existing residents.  A gate was also to be provided to a property to restrict access to its rear to deal with concerns of vulnerability.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be noted.

(2)  That the actions undertaken in response to the petition to resolve residents’ concerns be noted.

Further to Minute No. 65 of 1^st September, 2008, the Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods presented an update on action taken to resolve the issues raised in the petitions.

The Neighbourhood Investment Service had continued to address the issues raised, maintaining regular dialogue with the relevant sections of 2010 Rotherham Ltd., the Council and Council partners in order to ensure that the concerns raised were concerned.

The 4 issues raised were:-

-              Play facilities – Herringthorpe Playingfield – future plans were on hold at present.  However, the local community would be consulted as part of the development process

-              Road safety – Middle Lane South – As a result of an assessment carried out by Streetpride, it was unlikely that a crossing would be installed at the present time.  However, a draft road improvement scheme had been drawn up for Middle Lane around Clifton School and Clifton Park.  Community consultation was currently underway.

-              Use of the community centre by the wider community – The Neighbourhood Centres review was underway with the initial recommendation to retain the neighbourhood centre which formed part of the Longfellow Drive sheltered housing scheme.  Further work was also being undertaken on any future requirements for funding to sustain the existing facility.  A protocol of hire and use of neighbourhood centres on sheltered schemes has been approved.  Petitioners had been advised that the facility could be hired by the wider community for a small charge.

-              Health and safety issues relating to an unsafe wall – Security gates and fencing have now been installed to the area.  Residents who lived within the gated area had been provided with keys.

The community had had the opportunity to discuss issues raised in the report and any other matters through a range of consultations which included door-to-door visits.  No further comments or concerns had been raised to date.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be noted.

(2)  That the Director of Independent Living refer to Chevin Housing Association the fact that the local community was interested in making use of the facilities at Bakersfield.

(3)  That the actions undertaken in response to the petitioners’ concerns be noted.

Resolved:-  That this item be deferred to a future meeting.

In accordance with Minute No. 240(3) of 29^th April, 2009, work was now underway on developing the Improvement Plan with the report submitted setting out the broad areas to be covered and explaining the process that would be followed to agree the final version.

A number of key areas for improvement had been identified by the Council including issues identified by feedback from tenants and leaseholders obtained from both the STATUS tenant satisfaction survey and the recent test of opinion survey.  Performance issues and Audit Commission feedback had also been taken into account.  The key areas included:-

-           address tenants’ and leaseholders’ priorities for improvement

-           achieve the standards expected of a three star, top performing organisation

-           make a unique contribution to Rotherham’s top priorities

-           ensure all services were well organised, well managed and well governed

-           ensure strong financial management processed were in place

-           deliver value for money, making excellent use of resources

A series of meetings had been arranged between the Council and 2010 to ensure that a draft document was agreed by the middle of June.

A stakeholder seminar was to be held to discuss the plan and confirm arrangements for ongoing consultation.  Tenants and leaseholders would be consulted in late June/early July via a series of focus groups.

Progress against the plan would be monitored via monthly Council/2010 liaison meetings as well as opportunities to enable tenants and leaseholders to provide high quality information through a variety of mechanisms to ensure the plan continued to meet customer aspirations.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the key areas for improvement set out in Section 7.2 be noted.

(2)  That a further report be submitted in July, 2009, setting out the final Improvement Plan and detailed monitoring arrangements.

(3)  That the timetable attached at Appendix 1 be noted.

Resolved:-  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in those paragraphs indicated below of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Resolved:-  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in those paragraphs indicated below of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any person (including the Council))

The Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods submitted an update on the financial position of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder as at the end of March, 2009.

The Programme had commenced in 2004 and to date had drawn down and delivered £41.5M of HMRP funding to support housing market renewal investment activity.  In the 2008-09 period, the Pathfinder Programme had delivered £11.5M of investment and exceeded by £0.8M the spend target for the year.

Transform South Yorkshire had announced that the 2009-11 funding allocation for Rotherham would be provisionally reduced by 10%, a funding reduction of £1.4M across a 2 year period.  This remained subject to final confirmation at the TSY Board meeting scheduled for 15^th June and to further financial appraisal by the HCA.

The 2009-11 Programme had been developed through a process of strategic masterplanning and regular reviews with ADF Steering Groups, key partners and stakeholders.  The Programme had been updated to respond to the new challenges created by the economic downturn and credit crunch to support the local economy and sustain the delivery of affordable housing.

A summary of investment to date and a financial overview of the 2009-11 proposed programme of activity was set out in the report.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the progress achieved to date be noted.

(2)  That the revised programme for the 2009-11 period be supported.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Council)).

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any person (including the Council))

Resolved:-  That this item be deferred for a meeting between 2010 Rotherham Ltd. and the Council.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Council)).

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any person (including the Council))

Further to Minute No. 133 of 22^nd December, 2008, the Interim Director of Investment, reported that the initial stage of the review had now been completed.

The review had recommended, confirmed by 2010 Rotherham Ltd. Board, that the decision to externalise the Repairs and Maintenance Service remained the best option available.  However, given the financial implications associated with the various models, the Board had been advised that the establishment of a joint venture company may not be the best vehicle to externalise the service and that other forms of partnership with the private sector should be explored.

The review also proposed that, given the likely duration of an OJEU procurement process and the financial position of the in-house service provider, a change and cost reduction programme should commence immediately and run in parallel with the procurement exercise to address immediate financial viability issues.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the continued process of externalising the Repairs and Maintenance Service be approved.

(2)  That the recovery actions being undertaken and the potential support that may be required from the Council be noted.

(3)  That progress reports be submitted to the 2010 Rotherham Ltd. Board and Cabinet Member.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Council)).

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any person (including the Council))

The Service Accountant reported that the Neighbourhoods General Fund Revenue Account had outturned at a net overspend of £261,000.

Detailed analysis of the overspend was set out in Appendix 1 of the report submitted but were the result of 2 key areas relating to the Dignity contract and an animal disposal case.

Discussion took place on the overspend and the Community Leadership Fund.

Resolved:-  That the report be noted.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act – information relating to financial/business affairs of any particular person (including Council)).

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any person (including the Council))

The Service Accountant submitted the final outturn position for the 2008/09 Housing Investment Programme (HIP).

By 31^st March, 2009, £81,272M had been spent against the approved Programme of £79,019M, an overall overspend of £2.254M.  This included an overspend of £0.127M on schemes managed by 2010 Rotherham Ltd. and a re-profiling of the Housing Market Renewal Programme on Council managed schemes of £2.127M.

Appendix 1 of the report submitted provided a scheme by scheme analysis of spend against the approved Programme with explanations for any significant variances.

Resolved:-  That the report be noted.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to financial/business affairs of any particular person (including the Council)).

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any person (including the Council))

The Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods reported on the recent Budget announcement with regard to a £100M fund to support local authorities to build up to 900 new homes.  The funding was being administered by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and would be allocated through a similar process to the National Affordable Housing Programme.

Proposals must be new build, demonstrate strategic fit and deliverability.  There were 2 opportunities to bid for resources with very tight deadlines of July and October, 2009, with successful bids being announced in September and November.

The report set out the bidding process along with scheme proposals.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be noted.

(2)  That the next steps detailed in the report be supported.

(3)   That a bid be submitted to the Home and Communities Agency at the earliest opportunity.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act - information relating to financial/business affairs of any particular person (including the Council)).