Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest to report.

There were no questions from members of the public or the press.

The Chair welcomed Ella Webster, Joe Fothergill, Sophie Emery, Young Tenants, and Sue from Target Housing to the meeting, along with new Members and introduced the new Vice-Chair, Councillor Sansome.   Councillor Sheppard, former Vice-Chair, was thanked for his services to the Commission.

The Chair also wished to report that the meeting of Improving Places scheduled for 31^st January, 2019 would be moving to the 14^th February, 2019 at the same time.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission, held on 18^th April, 2018, be approved as a correct record.

Reference was made to Minute No. 124 and the resolution and an update provided on:-

(3)    The commissioning process was for operational staff only and Member involvement was not required.

(4)    A letter had been distributed to Asset Management regarding the need to consult with Ward Members on proposals for community buildings.

(5)    A response had been provided for Councillor Cutts’ with regard to his query about the temporary bus interchange.

(6)    Councillor McNeely was now a member of the Town Centre Marketing Sub-Group.

With regards to Minute No. 125(2) (Homelessness in Rotherham) it was confirmed that there were two guest bedrooms located in Shaftsbury House, only one of which was used on a regular basis.  In terms of the number of properties in the private rented sector in Rotherham it was noted that as a result of the last survey undertaken in late 2015/early 2016 there were 14,562.  This number was expected to rise in the next housing survey which would be undertaken in late 2018/early 2019.  This information would be shared with the Improving Places Select Commission once this had been finalised.

Further to Minute No. 89 of the meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission held on 15^th November, 2017, consideration was given to the latest update introduced by Asim Munir, Tenant Involvement Co-ordinator, detailing progress against the recommendations. The latest progress update against the recommendations was set out in detail in the Action Plan at Appendix 1.

This report identified how the engagement with younger tenants had improved and how some of the young tenants were in attendance today to provide evidence of the work undertaken as part of meeting the recommendations.

It was noted that all of the recommendations were on track with some key achievements identified:-

·                Development of the Younger Tenants Forum.

·                Young tenants having input into key policies such as the Housing Strategy and HRA Business Plan.

·                Areas of work such as the pre-tenancy workshops and customer care training.

The Action Plan showed that all the recommendations were in progress with many already being achieved and the progress against the actions demonstrated that the Council were involving young tenants in key areas of work such as informing the customer care training with staff, pre tenancy workshops and Welfare Feform.

The Chair was pleased to welcome Ella Webster, Joe Fothergill, Sophie Emery, Young Tenants, and Sue from Target Housing, and for them to share their experiences with the Commission.

Ella Webster expressed her initial reservations and lack of understanding around young tenants and housing, but welcomed the progress made to date, how her own involvement had boosted her confidence, the greater awareness and support for young tenants and the value.

The Commission noted that Ella had been shortlisted for the Young Tenant of the Year Award and was a great ambassador for young tenants and actually featured on the front cover of the previous edition of Home Matters.

Joe Fothergill and Sophie Emery also shared their own experiences having only joined the Young Tenants Forum recently, the progress to date and what they would like to see more involvement with in the future.  This included more youth clubs, information and awareness raising via social media and for the voices of young tenants to be heard, even if this was a plea for support.

It was proposed that information should be regularly shared about the dates/times that meetings were taking place where young tenants could become involved and what support mechanisms there were for young tenants.  Even sharing information for basic maintenance would have a positive effect on some tenants who lacked confidence to seek out help or assistances.

Sue from Target Housing outlined her own role and her own involvement to removing barriers with young housing tenants and signposting them to relevant services.

Mrs. Shears from Rotherfed congratulated the young people for their courage and the positive impact they were making which had resulted in en-suite bathrooms being provided for shared accommodation and the recycling initiative using cans.

The Council was also working with the young tenants to inform the menu of options of tenant involvement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Thursday, 27^th July, 2018 at 1.30 p.m .

Resolved:-  That the next meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission take place on  Thursday, 26th July, 2018 at 1.30 p.m.