Agenda and minutes

The Board’s Terms of Reference state that the Chiar of the Board will be appointed annually by the Board, from among the tenant/ leaseholder members. The Board may also appoint a Vice-chair from among its members.

The Board was asked for nominations for a Chair and Vice-chair for the Council year 2019/20.

RESOLVED

1.       thatMrsT. EdwardesbeelectedasChairoftheBoardforthe2019/20 Councilyear;

2.       thatMsT.RileybeelectedasVice-chairoftheBoardforthe2019/20 Councilyear.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th March 2019.

Matters arising from the minutes:

(i)            The Tenancy Policy was due to be considered at the June meeting. The Board was advised that the item had been deferred as it was not ready for publication. It was agreed that it would be brought to the Board when it was ready.

(ii)          The date of the January meeting following concerns about previous January meetings being inquorate. The Board discussed options but agreed that the date of the meeting would remain the same and be rescheduled.

The minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 27th March 2019 were then confirmed as an accurate record.

All members will make a declaration at each meeting if they have an interest in any item of business on the agenda which would affect them more than tenants or residents of the ward(s) affected generally.

No declarations of interest were made.

A report of the Head of Landlord Services to update the Board on the progress of the New Decent Homes Contract supplied by Fortem, as requested, including the disabled adaptations work programme.

A report of the Head of Landlord Services to provide information to the Board on the mobilisation of the new Decent Homes Contract was considered (item 05 on the agenda).

Ryan Wilkes the Contracts Manager and Andy Green the Regional Operational Director (North) attended the meeting from Fortem to assist with consideration of the item.

Discussion points raised:

(i)            Some of the projects had not been completed such as the bathrooms but they would be carried over into the next year of work and Fortem were confident that all of the work would be completed.

(ii)          There had been an improvement in performance throughout quarter 1 and the target dates for completion of work had reduced. Fortem were aware that whilst the improvements were positive more needed to be done to improve waiting times for completion of work. They advised that Board that recruitment was in place for more staff to help achieve targets. There was also an ongoing discussion with the Council’s officers regarding a change of materials used to help with quicker completion dates. This would be implemented if it proved to be cost and time effective.

(iii)         Fortem were keen to highlight their involvement with local schools and colleges in the area where they were able to talk to the students about apprenticeship training.

RESOLVED

1.    That some more information be provided to the Board regarding the completion times for properties and a detailed explanation of “snag” properties to identify any trends or persistent problems.

2.    That a breakdown of the customer satisfaction survey responses be provided to the Board to show the levels of satisfaction for different work streams.

3.    That the report be noted.

Reasons

1&2.    To provide the Board with the information requested.

3.To acknowledge the Board’s consideration of this matter.

An annual report of the Head of Finance and Property Services updating the Board on the HRA Revenue and Capital Outturn for 2018/19, to follow.

TheBoardreceiveda report of the HeadofFinanceandPropertyServices setting outtheHRARevenueandCapitalOutturn 2018/19(item6 onthe agenda).Thereport was presented bythe GroupAccountant.

Summaryof discussion:

(i)            In regards to the HRA £1.079M had been moved to the Housing finance fund throughout the year.

(ii)          The Council currently owed £79M in debt relating to the 2012 self-financing settlement to the government. There was a concern that the money would need repaying soon.

(iii)         The planned maintenance works fund had a shortfall of £268,000 which was due to work not being carried out over the course of the year and so the money was being carried over to the next financial year.

(iv)         The amount of rent arrear debt had increased from £866,000 to £965,000 over the past year. The money to cover the rent arrear debt had already been provided for. If arrears were collected that could be spent on other housing priorities.

(v)          In regards to the Capital Programme there had been a £754,000 shortfall in spending but the Council had spent £6m which was more than in previous years. This amount included purchasing 11 properties to add to the Council’s housing stock.

(vi)         The Finance Team would be working on a revised HRA business plan to cover HRA spending for the next 30 years, specifically detailing the next 5 years. The plan also included balancing spending with loan repayments.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Reason

To acknowledge the Board’s consideration of this matter.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support providing the Board with an update on the Council’s new scrutiny structure and advising on how the Board can engage with the process.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support was presented to the Board detailing the Council’s new Scrutiny Structure (item 7 on the agenda).

The Head of Landlord Services assisted with consideration of the item.

The Board was keen to ensure that under the new structure their comments would still be included. The Cabinet Lead Members for Housing and Performance of Major Contracts attended the meeting and assured the Board that they valued their comments and endeavoured to include them wherever possible. They were also grateful for the input of the Board on issues as they knew the situation best being tenants themselves.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Reason

To acknowledge the Board’s consideration of this matter.

A report of the Head of Landlord Services updating the Board on the progress with the Communal Cleaning Contract proposal.

A report of the Head of Landlord Services updating members of the Board on the proposed communal cleaning service to residents was considered (item 08 on the agenda).

The Landlord Services Manager assisted with consideration of the item.

Discussion points raised:

(i)            The Board was advised that a mixture of fortnightly and monthly cleaning had been decided for the communal blocks following tenants being consulted on their preferences and then comparing those with the opinions of tenancy management officers There would be a weekly charge for tenants which would be eligible for recovery for those claiming housing benefit and universal credit. The additional charge might also make some tenants become eligible for housing benefit or universal credit who were not at the current time.

(ii)          The Board wanted to see a review of the scheme to see how it was working. It was agreed that a review would be provided to the Board halfway through the contract.

The Board wanted to record that they welcomed the report and were thankful for the work that officers had completed so far. They were pleased that the communal cleaning could begin soon and hoped that it would encourage tenants to take pride in their homes.

RESOLVED

1.    That some more information be provided to the Board following the meeting detailing which schemes would be cleaned on a fortnightly and monthly basis.

2.    That a recommendation be added to the report to include that the first cleaning to take place will not be charged to tenants.

3.    That the report be noted, and the Board endorses the recommendations.

Reasons

1.    To provide the Board with information requested.

2.    To ensure the information is provided to tenants.

3.    To acknowledge the Board’s consideration of the matter.

In accordance with the Board’s decision members of the Board were asked in advance of this agenda being published whether they had any questions on matters within the remint of the Board that they wished to ask, for response at this meeting.

On this occasion no questions were submitted.

In accordance with the Board’s decision at its meeting on 22nd March 2017 (HMAB Minute 24.1), members of the Board had been asked in advance of the agenda being published whether they had any questions on matters within the remint of the Board that they wished to ask, for response at this meeting.

On this occasion no questions had been submitted although the Board requested some updates which were added to the Board’s work programme.

A report of the Head of Landlord Services advising the Board of changes to the repot formats and how the performance information is presented.

A report of the Head of Landlord Services updating the Board on changes to the reporting of Landlord Services performance information was considered (item 10 on the agenda).

The Landlord Services Manager assisted with consideration of the item.

Discussion points raised:

(i)            It was proposed that some of the information currently provided to the Board be removed. The effect on rent arrears of welfare reform measures, namely the benefit cap and the spare bedroom subsidy, which were introduced in 2013 and on which Landlord Services have reported since then, has now stabilised. It is neither having an increasing nor a significant effect on arrears now. For that reason the proposal was to cease reporting on these measure and concentrate on develop further, performance indicators on the effect on rent arrears and income collection of universal credit.

(ii)          The Board requested additional information on universal credit performance by including the average debt owed by tenants who were not receiving universal credit in order to compare that with the average debt of those who are. There would be a change to the reporting of anti-social behaviour cases to make the presentation of performance information consistent. An additional performance measure would be added, namely, the number of cases still open at the end of the reporting period and the average time those cases had been open.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Reason

To acknowledge the Board’s consideration of the matter.

A report of the Head of Landlord Services to enable the Board to review and agree its Work Programme, together with proposed meeting dates for 2019/20.

For information further meetings of the Board are scheduled as follows in 2019/20:

Wednesday 11^th September 2019 at 4.30pm

Wednesday 6^th November 2019 at 4.30pm

Wednesday 15^th January 2020 at 4.30pm

Wednesday 25^th March 2020 at 4.30pm

Wednesday 13^th May 2020 at 4.30pm

Wednesday 15^th July 2020 at 4.30pm

Wednesday 9^th September 2020 at 4.30pm

Wednesday 11^th November 2020 at 4.30pm.

The Board received a report of the Head of Landlord Services to enable the Board to agree its Work Programme (item 11 on the agenda).

Members of the Board could identify matters that they considered required looking at over the next few meetings of the Board, including any already listed on the Work Programme but not yet scheduled. Officers present could provide advice as to whether items might be appropriately considered at the time proposed.

RESOLVED

1.    That an update on the Council’s Sheltered Housing review be added to the Board’s Work Programme for their next meeting in September.

2.    That a progress report on the Council’s void properties and the process for dealing with voids be added to the Board’s Work Programme for their meeting in November.

3.    That the Repairs and Investment Team Leader be invited to the Board’s next meeting in September.

4.    That the Board’s Work Programme be updated to reflect all decisions made above and earlier in the meeting.

Reasons

1&2. To enable the matter to be considered by the Board.

3. To provide the Board with an update on the Repairs and Maintenance Service under new management.

4.To ensure that the information in the Work Programme is up to date.