Agenda item

The deadline for questions is noon on Wednesday, 8th August 2018. 

(i)         Councillor Snartt – Cabinet 16th August 2018 Item 7 Model of Local Government in Leicestershire

Although the Policy Justification and Previous Decisions stated in Part A of the Cabinet Report 16th August 2018 does in some ways meet the objectives of the Corporate Plan, I believe that the recommendation in Part A of the Model of Local Government in Leicestershire falls short of the Council’s commitment to our residents. Customer First, we put the customer at the heart of everything we do.  I ask Cabinet to consider widening the recommendation to put the residents of Charnwood at the forefront of any changes to the structure of Local Government in Leicestershire.

In light of our commitment through the Corporate Plan, would Cabinet agree to amend the recommendation? That the Council adopts a collaborative approach with other Local Authorities in Leicestershire to examine what may be the best way of delivering local services for the residents of the Borough of Charnwood, the County and in the wider context of the East Midlands region.

The following response had been published prior to the meeting:

Councillor Snartt is absolutely correct that this Council puts the customer at the heart of everything we do.  The recommendation in item 7 was drafted to reflect exactly what had been agreed by District Council Leaders across Leicestershire in their joint statement issued on 27th July.

Cabinet will take Councillor Snartt’s observations into account when considering this matter later on the agenda.

In making a statement, Councillor Snartt thanked the Deputy Leader for the reply and reiterated the importance both of putting residents of Charnwood at the forefront of any outcomes that were decided and understanding fully how proposed structures would affect our communities.  Accordingly, he hoped that the Cabinet would amend the recommendation made in Item 7 to refer to residents of the Borough of Charnwood.  Councillor Snartt referred also to the importance of keeping councillors informed of progress on the matter, preferably via regular updates, and of making sure that residents saw genuine improvement and benefits to services and financial gains if changes to structures were made.

In response, the Deputy Leader confirmed that Councillor Snartt’s suggestion would be considered under Item 7 on the agenda. 

(ii)       Councillor Jukes – HMO Licensing

I look forward to the presentation of the research results by Professor Smith and Andreas Colura on the 20th of August.

Will the Leader/Deputy Leader confirm that, working with the appropriate Lead Member, he will investigate the possibilities of licensing across Charnwood Borough?

The following response had been published prior to the meeting:

We are all very much looking forward to Professor Smith’s presentation on his findings, following three years of study which the Council supported through £21k funding.

The objective of the study was to help identify Houses in Multiple Occupation by sharing data to produce a database, analyse the results of the mapping and study the impact of Houses in Multiple Occupation on the Borough in terms of dynamics and trends. This will then assist the Council in the formation of Planning Policies.

The Council are taking forward the implementation of the expansion of the mandatory Houses in Multiple Occupation Scheme, letters have been sent to owners of all Houses in Multiple Occupation that now fall under the expanded Scheme to apply for a licence.  Further letters will be sent out in August and September to remind owners to make an application for a licence and those that fail to apply for a licence by the 1st October 2018 will be reminded that they will be committing a criminal offence from that date. 

The evidence will be used to help inform future policies. This will include a range of possibilities including the various licensing schemes available for HMOs, and any proposals will be brought to a future Cabinet.

In making a statement, Councillor Jukes referred to past work by scrutiny in relation to HMOs and that he had hoped that licensing would have progressed more quickly to address issues since that time.  He considered that the Council’s approach was more reactive than proactive and that an additional two enforcement officers were needed to progress matters.  Councillor Jukes considered that effective licensing was in the interests of every resident of the Borough, in terms of quality of life and the way they lived.

The Deputy Leader asked Councillor Smidowicz to respond.  In doing so, Councillor Smidowicz referred to the value of the database produced by Professor Smith of Loughborough University and to the problem with HMOs nationally and how that had grown in recent years.  She also referred to work currently being undertaken to implement the expansion of the mandatory Houses in Multiple Occupation Scheme, detailed in the response above, and to the importance of effective enforcement.