Agenda and minutes

The following Declarations of Interest were made at the meeting:-

Councillor McNeely                         Personal (Council tenant)

Lilian Sheers                                    Personal (Council tenant)

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

Christine Majer, Scrutiny Adviser, advising that Scrutiny was still working with the Local Government Association.  It had been suggested that each of the Commissions undergo an exercise on how to look in detail at the performance monitoring of the Directorates that came under the respective Commission’s remit.

The suggested dates were;-

Thursday, 24^th November               a.m.

Friday, 25^th November                     a.m.

Monday, 28^th November                 all day

Members were asked to contact Christine as a matter of urgency with their preferred date and suggestions of potential areas to scrutinise.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14^th September, 2016.

Arising from Minute No. 18(2) (Cemeteries and Crematorium – Dignity PLC), it was noted that the contact details of the Liaison Officer had not been supplied.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14^th September, 2016, be agreed as a correct record.

(2)  That the Scrutiny Adviser circulate to Members of the Select Commission the contact details of the Dignity Liaison Officer.

Paul Elliott, Business and Commercial Manager, to report

Paul Elliott, Business and Commercial Manager, and Tom Bell, Acting Director of Housing Services, presented a report on the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan 2016/17 and gave the following powerpoint presentation:-

What is the HRA Business Plan?

-          Localism Act

-          Self-financing introduced 2012-13

-          Risk Vs Reward

-          Long term planning – sustaining the housing stock

Housing and Planning Act 2016

-          Mandatory Fixed Term tenancies

-          Pay to Stay

-          Extension of the Right to Buy

-          Levy/enforced sale of high value stock

Welfare Reforms

-          1% rent reduction

-          Universal Credit

-          Local Housing Allowance

Under 35s

Under 21s

-          Benefit Cap

Universal Credit

-          A means tested benefit for people of working age who are on a low income/out of work.  It is paid monthly, in arrears, into a bank account and combines six existing means tested benefits

Income Support

Housing  Benefit

Child Tax Credit

Income based JSA

Working tax credit

Income related Employment Support Allowance

Benefit Cap – 5^th December, 2016

-          Further reduction will take the cap from £26,000 to £20,000

-          This will affect around 400 families with 1400 children of which 190 with 520 children on our tenants

-          Except for supported housing the limits will be:-

£384.62 per week for couples – with or without dependent children

£384.62 a week for lone parents with dependent children

£257.69 a week for single people without children

Housing Benefit v Local Housing Allowance

-     Local Housing Allowance – private rented sector

Based on the household size e.g. 2 person household (mother and son) would quality for the 2 bed rate

-     Housing Benefit – social rented sector

Based on the property size e.g. 2 bedroomed property costs less than a 4 bedroomed property

Different rates payable

-          Locally calculated  based on the bottom 30% of private sector rents

Shared room rate                      £58.50

One bedroom                             £79.40

Two bedrooms                           £96.96

Three bedrooms                        £101.00

Four bedrooms                          £138.08

-          RMBC rents (average by property size not type)

Bedsit rate                                  £67.81

One bedroom                             £69.49

Two bedrooms                           £75.19

Three bedrooms                        £80.74

Four bedrooms                          £87.74

Extent of the problem

-          1,929 applicants to the housing register who are under 35 years old

1,592 staying with family, others are rough sleeping, no fixed abode or staying in hostels/temporary accommodation

Commences 1^st April, 2018, for tenancies that started on/after 1^st April, 2016

Impact on the HRA Business Plan

-          1% rent reduction

Loss of income over next 30 years equivalent to £638M

Assume rent will now increase by CPI only after the 4 year rent reduction (was previously CPI + 1%)

Lilian Shears, Co-opted Member, to report

Lilian Shears, Co-opted member, presented the interim report of the investigation into engaging young tenants in Rotherham by Rotherfed Tenant Scrutiny.  It had formed in April 2016 and this was its first investigation.

The Panel had met 5 times and achievements so far included:-

-          Scoping and preparing a time plan for the investigation

-          Designing and circulating a survey for younger tenants

-          First meeting with officers

-          Younger tenant engagement event

-          Second meeting with officers

Next Steps:-

-          To find ideas for good practice for engaging younger tenants used by other housing providers

-          To connect with other younger tenants by visiting existing groups where there are concentrations of younger tenants

-          To map out existing support and engagement services and identify any gaps

-          To get more surveys completed and carry out a final analysis of the responses

-          To submit final report and recommendations in February/March 2017

Resolved:-  That the report be noted.

Councillor Wyatt to report

Councillor Wyatt, Chairman of the Task and Finish Group, gave the following verbal report:-

-          The majority of the content and inserts in the Emergency Plan were last updated in 2012/13

-          It was not anticipated that the review would be signed off until April 2017 but was not to say that any work emanating from the review had to wait until that time

-          The resilience of the emergency plan was to be tested – to look at the governance arrangements, the meetings that took place and how they were accountable, the terms of reference, systems within the Directorates

-          There had been a massive change in the organisation and staff that many of the named people in the plan had left the employment of the Council some time ago

-          The need to test the arrangements that existing between the Council and other external agencies e.g. Police, Fire and Rescue, NHS, Yorkshire Water

-          The need to test the arrangements for the Forward Liaison Officer – what training they had received, what support and equipment they had

-          Recommendation that the Senior Leadership Team carry out an exercise of the Emergency Plan

-          Elected Members would be provided with a copy of the LGA Booklet – guidance stated that a copy should be provided to all Members as a reference document

-          The Group would be speaking to key witnesses including Karen Hanson (Assistant Director Regeneration and Environment), Claire Hanson (Senior Resilience Officer), 1 of the Forward Liaison Officers, ascertain how the incident room worked/was managed

It was noted that the joint arrangement with Sheffield City Council would not form part of the review.

The outcome the review would be looking for was an improved Emergency Plan which was fit for the purpose it was designed for, adequate resources to meet any potential major incident which could happen across the Borough and to confirm that the governance structure in place prioritised ongoing leadership and review.

Resolved:-  That a further meeting be held on Wednesday, 30^th November, 2016, commencing at 1.30 p.m.