Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs T Jay, K Norchi and A Wells.

Apologies were also received from Cllr G Coates who would have to leave the meeting early.

Cllr H Hadley disclosed a declaration of interest for item number eight as a Leaseholder.

There was none.

There were none.

There were none.

The Char highlighted to the Committee that due to proximity of the Cabinet meeting to this meeting that they are receiving the reports in their Cabinet format with a  copy of their recommendations to Cabinet.

(Committee to consider the Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning which is due to be presented at Cabinet on the  10^th October 2024)

The Chair welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning and the Assistant Director. Neighbourhood for the report to:

1.    provide an update on the latest position regarding compliance with the Regulator Social Housing (RSH) Consumer Standards, published with effect from 2nd April 2024

2.    support any emerging and/or additional recommendations arising from Corporate Scrutiny meeting on 09th October 2024; further informed by discussions at the Homelessness & Housing Advisory Board meeting on 1st October 2024

The Portfolio Holder introduced the report and thanked the Assistant Director for their hard work, acknowledging that whilst the Council are not where they want to be they are well on the way. It was highlighted that the report updated the Committee on the self-referral made in relation to the regulatory social housing consumer standards.

The Assistant Director highlighted that there was a copy of the self-referral letter sent in the pack before going through the recommendations that were being presented to Cabinet. It was highlighted that the referral was made in the interests of transparency not as a result of any incident or complaint.

The Chair thanked Officers for the report and acknowledged that making a self-referral was brave move by the Council.

The Committee made the following comments/observations and asked the following questions:

1.    Clarification as to how the number or breaches around electrical inspections arose?

The Officer highlighted that the inspections are not a requirement of the regulator but are seen as good practice and the report shows that there are other organisations in similar positions. Immediate action to address the situation has been taken, an external contractor has been appointed and they are due to start work on a project plan to bring the inspections up to date by March 2025 aiming for 320 inspections per month, with some mop up expected to be required around properties where there are issues with access. There will then be an opportunity to take a review to see how the Council came to be in this position.

2.    Why are the Council not where they want to be and whether the repairs services commissioned by the Council had impacted on this?

Officers confirmed that as a result of the Social Housing Regulatory Programme a self-assessment was undertaken which enabled to Council to identify gaps which they can now focus on rectifying and then complete a review to inform a decision around how we structure moving forward.

The Assistant Director acknowledged that tenant satisfaction had fallen from 78 – 58% and that repairs contributed to that however there were a number of different factors, and it would be wrong to lay the blame on the contractors, but that shortfalls have been revealed. It was highlighted that were some planned roadshows to involve tenants in driving improvement and satisfaction.

It was suggested by Members that it may be beneficial to complete more regular inspections of repairs in the future.

3.    What impact this would have on the HRA account?

Officers confirmed that a report went  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

(Committee to consider the Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning/Executive Director Communities, which is due to be presented at Cabinet on the 10^th October 2024)

Councillor Hadley left the meeting for the discussion on this item.

The Chair welcome the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning and the  Executive Director Communities to discuss the report to provide an update on the work done by Campbell Tickell in relation to Leasehold Service Charges and sets out a series of recommendations in relation to that report. The Interim Section 151 Officer and the Recoveries Manager were also in attendance for this item.

The Portfolio Holder introduced the report highlighting that further to the discussion at the last Scrutiny meeting that recommendation 4 had been amended.

The Committee made the following comments/observations and asked the following questions:

Ø  Clarification around what repairs were required for the affected Leaseholders.

The Officer confirmed that following assessment by Campbell Tickall (CT), the majority of roofs had been assessed as needing repairs which could extend their lifespan before replacement being needed by approximately 10 years subject to reinspection after 5 years.

The Committee then addressed each recommendation that was being made to Cabinet for comment

Ø  Recommendation 1:

Were Cabinet being asked to endorse the all the recommendations made by CT?

Ø  Officers confirmed that they were looking for Cabinet to endorse all of the of CT recommendations except for the ones relating to the extending of payments terms and loans, which they were not looking to carry forward.

Ø  Recommendation 2:

Clarification was sought from Officers who confirmed that the Corporate Credit Policy laid out terms for debts and where a debtor had means to pay they would expect them to, however the recovery team could look at individual circumstances to offer a payment plan of up to 12 months as standard, but that a longer term could be offered where appropriate subject to an assessment of individual circumstances, supported by proof of income and expenditure. It was also confirmed that the option to place a charge on the property can be used when required.

The Committee expressed concern at assessing on an individual basis as this may lead to inconsistent decisions.

Discussions were had around whether it was made clear that a payment plan was available, and Officers confirmed that they needed to ensure they were collecting income on a timely basis and not incurring administration costs, and that spreading the cost was not an option for everyone and therefore they needed to make sure this wasn’t taken advantage of, however invoices did state that that if you were struggling to pay to get in touch with the recovery team.
Following discussion around whether the letters to residents should state that a payment plan should be offered the Committee agreed that as not everyone would be eligible for a payment plan that it should state that if they are having financial difficult that they should talk to the Council as soon as possible to look at what arrangements.

It was confirmed that there was some general advice on the invoice but that something could be added to the covering  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

To provide an update on any working groups

There were none.

(Discussion item – link to the Forward Plan attached)

Browse plans - Cabinet, 2024 :: Tamworth Borough Council

It was requested that Tenancy management Policy be added to the agenda for the meeting on the 19^th November before it is considered by Cabinet on the 21^st November.

(Discussion Item – to review the Committees work plan)

The Committee reviewed the work plan and it was confirmed that the next meeting was on the 19^th November where they would receive the next quarterly performance update and the Tenancy Management Policy.

To consider excluding the Press and Public from the meeting by passing the following resolution:-

“That in accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meeting and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, and Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public  interest in disclosing the information to the public”

That in accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meeting and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, and Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

(Moved by Councillor M Summers and seconded by Councillor M Couchman)

(Committee to consider the Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning, which is due to be presented at Cabinet on the 10^th October 2024)

The Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning, the Assistant director Assets and a representative from Ark Consultancy attended to provide the Committee with the report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Planning to update on the commercial position of the current repairs and investment contract with Equans, it identified terms of a commercial negotiation and provided details of contract value amendments to reflect the commercial/financial position of the contractual arrangements, including a contract reset and internal service transformation with the aim of improving service to tenants and leaseholders.

There were no specific recommendation for the Committee to endorse, the Chair thanked the Officers and consultants for updating them on the report going to Cabinet.