Agenda and draft minutes

The Strategic Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods reported receipt of a petition on 23^rd February, 2010, signed by 15 residents living within the St. Joseph’s Court Sheltered Housing Scheme.

The residents were concerned that the charge for the use of the laundry facilities were due to rise to £1.00 in April, 2010 and had requested an interim rise in April with the full cost being implemented in 2011.

In accordance with Minute No. 84(3) of 29^th September, 2008, consultation had taken place with tenants and residents in relation to the charging policy.  The cost of the service had not been reviewed for more than 30 years with the charge no longer reflecting the large rises in utility costs and being heavily subsidised by the communal facility charge.

On 2^nd March, 2009 (Minute No. 157) consideration was given to a report outlining various proposals for the Neighbourhood Centres.  This had included an increase to the laundry charges which at that time stood at 10p per wash and 10p per dry.  It was agreed that the charges would increase from the 6^th April, 2009, to 50p per wash and 50p per day and from April, 2010, increase to £1 per wash and £1 per dry.

In order to ensure that Neighbourhood Centres were sustainable in the future, income needed to be generated and that any charges for laundry reflected the costs of providing that service as previously approved.

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

(2)  That Minute No. 157 of 2^nd March, 2009, be reconfirmed i.e. that laundry charges be increased from 6^th April 2009 from 10p per wash and 10p per dry to 50p, and from April 2010, this should be increased to £1 per wash and £1 per dry.

(3)  That the petitioners be informed of the above.

The Landlord Relations Manager submitted the second quarterly monitoring report of the 2010 Rotherham Ltd. Improvement Plan.

Of the 62 actions within the Plan that were due to be completed by the end of quarter 4:-

-        42 had been completed on or ahead of time

-        15 were progressing in line with timescales

-        4 were progressing but may potentially run beyond original deadlines

-        1 action had failed to achieve the timescale.

In the quarter 3 progress report it was reported that 7 actions had failed to meet the original target date.  All of these had now been completed.  However, 1 indicator did not achieve its target which related to achieving 70% of key benchmarked performance indicators showing an improvement on 2008/09.  This was highlighted as a concern in the previous report.  The actual improvement on 2008/09 performance indicators was 65% i.e. 11 out of 17 exceeded the pervious year’s outturn. 

The quarter 4 report identified 4 actions where there was some concern over whether timescales would be achieved.  The details of the actions was set out in Appendix 2 of the report submitted.  Action was taking place to mitigate against potential delay and would be discussed at the next RMBC/ALMO liaison meeting.

To ensure a robust evidence base, RMBC offices would conduct sample checks of actions reported as complete between October, 2010 and March, 2011 and raise any problem areas at the liaison meeting.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the progress made against the Improvement Plan be noted.

(2)  That it be noted that quality checks would be made by RMBC officers to ensure that actions reported as complete during quarters 3 and 4 could be robustly evidenced.

The Landlords Relations Manager submitted a report which provided an overview of 2010 Rotherham Ltd.’s performance in 2009/10.

Since February, 2010 Rotherham Ltd. had held fortnightly workshops with tenants to review all current Service standards in light of the new Tenant Services Authority national standards.  The final suite of 60 standards was signed off by the Group on 27^th May, 2010 and a Borough-wide Forum had been arranged for 7^th June to consult tenants more widely on the new Housing Service standards.  Work had also commenced to develop the more detailed ‘local offer’ which would allow local people to set additional standards depending upon the community’s particular needs.

The following contained within the report were highlighted;-

-        Of the 17 Indicators for which performance could be directly compared between 2009/10 year end and the previous year, the majority (65%) had improved

-        Many of the improvements related to customer satisfaction

-        The percentage of non-decent homes had reduced and exceeded its target

-        6 Indicators had not improved – 3 x Repairs and Maintenance, rent collected as a percentage of total rent owed, average number of working days lost due to sickness and Gas Safety Certificates

-        3 targets exceeded – Decent Homes, number of empty properties, rents

Discussion ensued on Gas Safety Certificates. At the end of the year 113 properties were without a current Certificate.  2010 had commissioned an investigation by Internal Audit with a report on the findings to be given to the Board on 23^rd June.  A performance clinic had been established and a detailed action plan produced which was monitored regularly. 

The Organisation had a Legal Right of Entry under the Environmental Protection Act and the Board, at its May meeting, had tasked the Interim Property Services Manager to investigate this further.

The Chairman stressed the importance of ensuring that all properties had a current Gas Safety Certificate.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the performance improvements, compared with 2008/09 year end performance, for the Indicators set out in Section7.2 of the report submitted, be noted.

(2)  That the actions take to improve performance on gas servicing be noted.

(3)  That the progress made against Improvement Plan targets be noted.

(4)  That a report be submitted in due course on Gas Safety Certificates and the Legal Right of Entry under the Environmental Protection Act to those properties refusing entry.

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 Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Act - information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual/information relating to the financial/business affairs of any person (including the Council))

The Landlord Relations Manager submitted a report setting out the proposed new operating model in order to achieve future financial viability for 2010 Rotherham Ltd.’s core services and to enable service delivery improvements to be made.

The proposed structure was attached as an appendix to the report submitted.  The changes could be summarised as follows:-

-        6 delivery localities with teams of generic ‘Champions’ to deal with all core tenancy and estate management issues

-        2 dedicated Resident Involvement Officers

-        Contact Centre developed to cover all customer access activity including performance and complaints

-        Income Recovery Team transformed into a Financial Inclusion Team in order to make a greater impact on household debt, preventative arrears action and link with the Council’s Money Advice Team

-        15 new full-time posts created

-        29.5 downsized full-time employee posts

-        Approximate savings of £450,000.

Discussion ensued on the 6 Locality Teams and how they would operate geographically.  The Interim Chief Executive reported that the organisation was now moving to the implementation and consultation phase with Elected Members being informed who their Champions would be and respective contact details.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the proposed new operating model for 2010 Rotherham Ltd.’s Operations directorate be approved.

(2)  That Elected Members be informed of the proposed changes.

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

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

The Director of Independent Living reported that Rotherham had been awarded additional grant funding by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) for the construction of a further 50 new Council homes (Minute No. 165 refers).

Approval was sought to demolish 4 garages on the Albany Road garage site as part of the land assembly to redevelop the Albany Road, Kilnhurst, site with new Council housing.

The report detailed the processes that had been undertaken to engage with the occupiers of the garages and to ensure that they were either relocated to another garage site close by or provided with hardstandings.

Resolved:-  That the Albany Road garage site be decommissioned to allow for the demolition and redevelopment to proceed as part of the Albany Road new Council housing development.

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

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

The Service Accountant reported that the 2009/10 Neighbourhoods General Fund Revenue Account had outturned at a net overspend of £482,000 (+11.6%), an improvement on the previous forecasted outturn position (£610,000).

Detailed analysis of the overspend was set out in Appendix 1 of the report submitted.  The most significant area of overspend was in the Independent Support Service (Wardens) or Older People’s Housing Services which had been reported as a pressure throughout the year. 

It was noted that a request to carry forward the unspent balance of Members’ Community Leadership Fund (£41,386) was to be included in the consolidated outturn report to Cabinet.

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

(2)  That a report be submitted to a future meeting on the Community Leadership Fund.

(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/business affairs of any person (including the Council))

The Service Accountant submitted the final outturn position for the 2009/10 Housing Investment Programme (HIP).

The Programme’s outturn position was £77,860M, an underspend of £910,000 (1.15%).  Within the overall underspend it was noted that schemes managed by 2010 Rotherham Ltd. (£62,283M) had underspent by £1.090M and £15,532M on schemes managed by the Council.

The report set out 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 2 of the Act – information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual)

It was noted that an Appeals Panel had been held on 10th May, 2010, comprising Councillors Walker (in the Chair), Lakin and Nightingale, to review a decision to terminate an Introductory Tenancy.

The Panel had confirmed the decision made on 6th April, 2010.

Resolved:-  That the Panel's decision be noted.

(Exempt under Paragraph 2 of the Act - information likely to reveal the identity of an individual)