Agenda item

A report of the Head of Strategic Support, enabling the Panel to consider its Work Programme, to propose to Scrutiny Management Board any additions, deletions or amendments as appropriate.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support was submitted to enable the Panel to consider its work programme and to propose to the Scrutiny Management Board any additions, deletions and amendments as appropriate (item 10 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Cabinet Lead Member for Planning, Inward Investment and Tourism Strategy, the Head of Planning and Regeneration and the Head of Strategic Support assisted the Panel with the consideration of this item.

The Cabinet Lead Member for Planning, Inward Investment and Tourism Strategy and the Head of Planning and Regeneration explained that the Council had minimal control over the number of houses built and it was reliant on developers providing this information annually.  It was complex to calculate the five year housing supply and would be challenging to identify meaningful actions that could be put in place to return the five year housing supply to a satisfactory level if it fell below 5.5 years as the local planning authority had very little control over housing developers.  It was possible to provide an indication of the direction of travel for the five year housing supply status and this could be shared as part of the quarterly planning training.

The Head of Strategic Support drew the Panel’s attention to the additional information provided by the Head of Landlord Services.

The Head of Strategic and Private Sector Housing asked the Panel to consider if it wished to receive a six monthly update of the Homeless Strategy.

RESOLVED

1.             that the response of the Scrutiny Management Board with respect to the Zero Waste Strategy item be noted;

2.             that the decision of the Scrutiny Management Board to request the Policy Scrutiny Group scrutinises the Customer Services Strategy and the Housing Acquisition Strategy be noted;

3.             that the decision by the Scrutiny Management Board that if the Council’s housing land supply falls below 5.5 years, a quarterly report to be provided to the Panel and the Lead Member to attend to explain what actions are in place to return the five year housing supply to a satisfactory level be noted;

4.             to note the recommendation to the Cabinet that the following Key Performance Indicators for the 5 year housing supply be added to the Council’s Business Plan from 2019 / 20:

·         The five year housing supply figure

·         The various deadlines by which planning applications of different types should be determined

5.             that the Customer Engagement Strategy is not added to the Panel’s Work Programme for scrutiny;

6.             that a six monthly update of the Homeless Strategy be added to the Panel’s work programme for its meeting on 22nd January 2019;

7.             To note the current position with the Panel’s Work Programme.

Reasons

1.             The Panel agreed with the decision of the Board that the scrutiny of the Zero Waste Strategy should be added to the work programme of the Policy Scrutiny Group for scrutiny after the publication of the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy.            

2.             The Panel agreed with the decision of the Board that the issues raised with respect to these policies fitted more closely with the remit of the Policy Scrutiny Group.

3. & 4.     Although the Panel understood that it could be challenging for officers to provide the information required, it agreed with the recommendations of the 5 Year Housing Supply Scrutiny Panel and of the Cabinet, that the Panel monitor key performance indicators and scrutinise the Council’s housing land supply if the figure fell below 5.5 years.

5.             Having considered the information provided by the Head of Landlord Services regarding the Customer Engagement Strategy, the Panel concluded that it would not add further value by scrutinising the Customer Engagement Strategy as the strategy was already being scrutinised by other bodies.

6.             When the Homeless Strategy had been approved in March it had been anticipated that a six monthly update would be submitted to the Panel for its scrutiny but it had been omitted from its work programme in error.

7.             To make the Panel aware of the current position with its Work Programme.