Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health

Recommendations:-

1.    That the existing Area Housing Panels be disestablished at the end of the 2019/20 financial year and be replaced by 25 ward Housing Hubs.

2.    That from 2020/21 financial year, a base budget of £4,000 be set per ward, with the remainder of the annual budget provision then being allocated to wards, based upon the percentage of Council homes within each ward.

3.    That the Assistant Director of Housing be authorised, in consultation with the Head of Finance (Adults, Public Health and Housing), to increase the ward Housing Hubs budget (on a ward by ward basis) by the value of the ward Housing Hub underspend in the preceding year within the 4 year cycle.

4.    That the proposed governance arrangements, set out in 3.2.3 below, be approved.

Consideration was given to a report which provided details of the Area Housing Panels review process and consultation findings and set out recommendations for revised budget setting, associated governance and organisational arrangements for tenant engagement, to be implemented from 2020.

The proposal would create 25 ward Housing Hubs, aligned to the new ward boundaries from 2020, with a ‘menu’ of options for involvement, specific and flexible to each ward. This would include online engagement through a Ward on-line platform, local meetings, attendance at local TARA and other tenants meetings by request, ward walkabouts, news and alerts by instant messaging and other methods. This approach would align geographically with the new Ward boundaries, reflect neighbourhood working arrangements and provide a variety of means by which more local tenants and residents could ‘get involved’.

In approving the proposal, the Cabinet noted the support of Improving Places Select Commission, as reported via the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board’s recommendations.

Resolved:-

1.    That the existing Area Housing Panels be disestablished at the end of the 2019/20 financial year and be replaced by 25 ward Housing Hubs.

2.    That from 2020/21 financial year, a base budget of £4,000 be set per ward, with the remainder of the annual budget provision then being allocated to wards, based upon the percentage of Council homes within each ward.

3.    That the Assistant Director of Housing be authorised, in consultation with the Head of Finance (Adults, Public Health and Housing), to increase the ward Housing Hubs budget (on a ward by ward basis) by the value of the ward Housing Hub underspend in the preceding year within the 4 year cycle.

4.    That the proposed governance arrangements, set out in 3.2.3 below, be approved.