Agenda and minutes

(Director of Communities) To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

It was noted that Councillor G Chambers was substituting for Councillor B Rolfe.

(Director of Governance) To agree the notes of the meeting of the Select Committee held on 17 January 2017.

RESOLVED:

That the notes of the last meeting of the Select Committee held on 17 January 2017, be agreed.

(Director of Governance). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a pecuniary or a non-pecuniary interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 9 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a non-pecuniary interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 9 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Member’s Code  of Conduct.

(Director of Communities) To receive a presentation and background report (attached) from members of the Youth Council on completed and proposed activities.

The Select Committee received their annual report from the Youth Council on their activities and achievements during the current year and plans for the next 12 months.

Four Youth Councillors made a presentation at this meeting; they were Zachary Foster an independent Youth Councillor, Lisa Nakimuli from King Harold Academy, Finlay Jordan from Davenant Foundation School and Annabelle Yamen representing Epping St Johns School.

They thanked the members for the Council’s loyalty and support for the Youth Council over the past nine years. The Committee noted that these were newly elected members and were looking forward to their two years of service.  In total about 25 Youth Councillors were elected in November 2016. They also thanked members for the grant of £8,000 project money that had enabled them to deliver the highly successful Emotional Health & Wellbeing project – ‘MiLife’ in seven secondary schools.

Their aim was to ensure that all their peers and the schools continued to have a voice and be involved in their work.

In October 2015, the previous members of the Youth Council held a Youth Conference at the Civic Offices to promote Local Democracy week and one of the stronger themes that resulted from consulting with the 90 strong delegates was the issue of mental health, deemed to be a major issue for young people; to this end they commissioned the Red Balloon Family, a local charity, to work with them and create the MiLife Roadshow.

The Roadshow aimed to raise awareness of positive mental health and help build resilience, enabling young people to help themselves and have better mental health. Over the year they would educate and support over 7000 pupils in the Epping Forest District in their initial year. With 7000 pupils experiencing this hour long roadshow, equating to £1.72 per pupil, it turned out to be very good value. In addition to the £8,000 from Epping Forest District Council, they were also able to secure £4,000 from the Epping Forest Youth Strategy group.

The North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT) and NHS England had expressed their approval of the MiLife Roadshows and would like to work with Epping Forest Youth Council (EFYC) to digitalise the programme so that it can be delivered to all schools, nationally, at no further cost. This project had exceeded the Youth Council’s expectations and they were very proud of their work.

The EFYC used social media as an important part off promoting their work and the profile of young people in the Epping Forest District. Giving young people a voice was what the Youth Council was all about. And, as Youth Councillors they have contributed to various consultations. They also have representations on the Epping Forest Youth Strategy Group and have been invited to work closely with the PCC and the Youth Engagement team at Essex Police, as well as the Young Essex Assembly, NELFT volunteers and the Jack Petchey Achievers Network, as well the local school councils.

They also have a busy training programme and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

(Director of Communities) to consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director (Housing Operations), Mr Wilson introduced the report on the Limes Centre. The centre itself provided a services ‘multi agency’ hub for local people  and the Limes Farm Centre has a large main hall and smaller activities  which are available for hire, for both regular bookings and  one-off events, including evenings and weekends, which include sports clubs, Children’s parties and large faith gatherings.

At its meeting on 9 March 2015, the Cabinet agreed the report on the Housing Improvements and Enhancements Fund.  One of the agreed Recommendations was that an additional temporary part-time (18 hours) Housing Officer post be created for a period of 18 months to enable the expansion of services and opening hours at the Limes Centre in Chigwell for a pilot period of 12 months.  It was further agreed that a review of the success of the pilot be undertaken by the Communities Select Committee following 12 months of operation to decide whether the temporary post should be made permanent.

Unfortunately, due to recruitment difficulties there were delays in appointing a person to the new temporary part-time post due to the original hours being offered.  As a result, it was necessary to re-organise working hours within the Housing Office at the Centre.  Therefore, the post was not filled until January 2016.  

The pilot period commenced in January 2016 and covered the calendar year and included the following achievements and activities:

• In advance of the pilot period commencing, the additional opening hours and services were publicised through the Council’s website, the tenants’ magazine ‘Housing News’; leaflets were delivered to all properties on the estate and posters placed in public areas.  Members were advised through the Council Bulletin
• Following a launch event, the office hours were extended from 9:00am to 12:30pm Monday to Friday to 9:00am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday
• A chip and pin facility was introduced in order to enable residents to pay their Council Tax, rent and other payments at the Centre for the first time
• A new local periodic Newsletter was introduced and is delivered to all local residents
• As part of a re-organisation of housing management services 400 additional properties are now managed from the Limes Centre covering Abridge and Theydon Bois.  As a result of the change a further existing part-time member of staff was transferred from the Area Housing Office (North) at the Civic Offices to the Limes Centre which further facilitated the extension of hours and services 
• The Housing Related Support provider “Family Mosaic” commenced a weekly “surgery” at the Centre from January 2017
• The Citizens Advice Bureau’s Debt Advisor extended their service from one half day to two half days each week
• London and Quadrant Housing Trust who own and manage over 100 properties on the estate have set up a monthly surgery for their tenants which may be extended subject to take-up

As a result of the extended opening hours and the provision of additional services, the number of residents accessing services had increased substantially from 933  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

(Director of Communities) At its meeting in September 2016, the Select Committee received a report on Disabled Facilities Grants for private owners and tenants. as a result, the Select Committee asked for a similar presentation on disabled adaptations to Council properties. A presentation will therefore be given by Paul Pledger, Assistant Director (Housing Property and Development), and Haydn Thorpe, Housing Assets Manager.

A short presentation on Disabled Adaptions to Council properties was given by the Assistant Director (Housing Property and Development) Paul Pledger, supported by the Haden Thorpe the Housing Asserts Manager. The meeting noted that about six months ago the Assistant Director Private Sector Housing and Communities Support gave a short presentation on adaptions carried out in the private sector. The Committee then asked for a similar review of Council properties.

The adaptations were divided into two types, Minor Adaptions (Revenue) and Major Adaptions (Capital). They had an annual budget of £450,000 a year and they all started with a referral from Essex County Council’s Social Care Occupational Therapy (OT) Service.

The adaptions help people remain in their homes and clears beds in hospitals. They also have an under occupancy test, if the property was under occupied by 2 or more bedrooms, they would not carry out the adaptations as they should really downsize. Also if tenants were in rent arrears they would not carry out any works. It was also noted that they did not means test Local Authority tenants.

All the adaptions done were assessed by the ECC OT Service who would also prioritise each application and they were actioned in that order.

About £50,000 pa was spent on minor adaptions such as installing hand rails, grip rails and half steps. An average of 170 minor adaptions are carried out in a year, with an average completion time of 23 days. They had a target of 28 days. At the end of Quarter 3 there were only 5 left outstanding. The service achieved a 98% score in the tenant satisfaction survey.

Major Adaptions accounted for the remainder of the budget (£400,000 pa.), there were about 190 of these per year, ranging from putting in extensions, to through floor lifts, stairlifts, level access showers, over bath showers, improving/adapting kitchens, installing ramps and hardstandings.

Except for the building of extensions, works took an average of 72 days. Their target was 56 days. They were above their target as Essex CC tended to ask for upfront payments for putting in Crossovers. The average number of outstanding jobs was 52, but they did have a 100% tenant satisfaction.

Extensions to properties were capped to a value of £35,000; if it were to cost more they would try to get the occupant to pay the difference or work out a different scheme with them. There were currently 8 waiting to be carried out.

The other major piece of work carried out was the installation of lifts especially through floor or stairlifts. Through - floor lifts were for people in wheelchairs and was not an easy adaption to do. Stairlifts were easier as they had a contract with Stannah. They were used across the Essex authorities and when no longer needed the lifts were dismantled and reused elsewhere. But this Essex wide contract would be ending in June 2017 and it would be left to EFDC to take this up. Officers were currently identifying alternatives.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report. The appendix to this report is to follow.

The Director of Communities, Mr Hall, introduced the progress report on the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan Key Action Plan for 2016/17. This set out the proposed actions the Council would be taking, primarily, over the following year.  Having included the Key Action Plan within the Business Plan, it was good practice that the progress made with the stated actions was monitored; one of the Select Committee’s Terms of Reference was to review progress during the year. 

Members were made aware that the Cabinet had agreed that, in future, shorter business plans should be produced to a standard template based on the four directorates.  It was noted that it had not yet been decided how progress with these new business plans will be monitored.

It was also noted, that the HRA Financial Plan would continue to be updated annually and reviewed by the Communities Select Committee prior to it being finalised, with half-yearly reviews undertaken by the Select Committee as it has done in the past.

The Committee reviewed the 6 Month Progress Report on the Key Action Plan on a page by page basis.

It was noted that the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee had recommended to the Cabinet to continue the Council House Building Programme and to revert from the Council’s Modern Home Standard back to the Government’s Decent Home Standard.

It was noted that under Action (6) (Council House Building Programme), the first two properties are to be handed over at the end of March 2017.

Under Action (13) Councillor Stavrou noted that Phases 4 to 6 of the Housebuilding Programme were still looking at brownfield sites, but this was not popular with the existing residents. She asked what would be the upper number for the number of properties that could be taken on for the Council Housebuilding Programme. Mr Hall said that there was no real number for this as Section 106 sites were not developed on our own land. He commented that purchasing S106 units was generally easier than building them ourselves.  

Councillor Chambers asked that for any housing land development that impacts residents, if all members be informed of this. Mr Hall said that they did inform the ward members on the larger schemes.

Looking at Action (23) Mr Marshall said that the Tenants and Leaseholders Federation were actively looking for associations to join their group.

Councillor Heap asked what had gone wrong with Action (33), (maintain housing stock to modern standards), as it was listed as not achieved. Mr Hall said that the Select Committee would be looking at this issue under the next item. He explained though, that one of our contractors had not been performing.

RESOLVED:

That, having considered the 12-Month Progress Report for the Key Action Plan contained within the HRA Business Plan 2016/17, the Housing Portfolio Holder and Director of Communities noted the comments of the Select Committee accordingly.

(Director of Governance) to consider the attached report.

The Director of Communities introduced the updating report on the Quarter 3 performance for the relevant Key Performance Indicators for the Communities Directorate along with the review of targets for 2017/18.

A range of thirty-seven (37) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2016/17 was adopted by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee in March 2016. The KPIs were important to the improvement of the Council’s services and the achievement of its key objectives, and comprise a combination of some former statutory indicators and locally determined performance measures. The aim of the KPIs was to direct improvement effort towards services and the national priorities and local challenges arising from the social, economic and environmental context of the district, that are the focus of thekey objectives.

The overall position for all thirty-seven KPIs at the end of the Quarter 3 was as follows:

(a)    26 (70%) indicators achieved third quarter target;

(b)    11 (30%) indicators did not achieve third quarter target, although 4 (11%) of KPIs performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator; and,

(c)  31 (84%) indicators are currently anticipated to achieve the cumulative year-end target, and a further 3 (8%) are uncertain whether they will achieve the cumulative year-end target.

10 of the Key Performance Indicators fell within the Communities Select Committee’s areas of responsibility. The overall position with regard to the achievement of target performance at Q3 for these 10 indicators was as follows:

(a)    8 (80%) indicators achieved target;

(b)    2 (20%) indicators did not achieve target, and

(c)    0 (0%) of these KPI’s performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator

(d)    9 (90%) indicators are currently anticipated to achieve year-end target and a further 1 (10%) is uncertain whether it will achieve year-end target.

It was anticipated that this one indicator not currently achieving the target would meet its target by the end of Quarter 4.

The Committee went on to review the proposed indicators and targets for next year. It was noted that whilst the recent annual review considered that the current indicator set was appropriate to provide challenge and improvement during 2017/18, a number of changes to targets have been identified for the coming year.

The review of the KPIs which fell within the areas of responsibility of the Communities Select Committee had resulted in 2 proposed changes to targets:

·         COM004 - Temporary accommodation – the target has been decreased

·         COM006 - Modern Home Standards – it was now recommended that this be deleted subject to agreement by the Cabinet.

Councillor Chambers complimented officers for achieving the target for COM010 – on the Council’s Careline Services. It was noted that the national targets were similar so it was suggested that we kept this target.

Councillor Chana noted the difficulties we had with contractors and asked if we had an approved list. He was told that the rules said that any contractors must be registered with “Construction Line”. Councillor Chana asked if we did any vetting of these companies. He  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

(Director of Governance) to consider the attached report.

The Select Committee reviewed the Quarter 3 progress on the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2016/17. The Key Objectives were delivered by an annual action plan, with each year building upon the progress against the achievement of the Key Objectives for previous years. The annual action plans contained a range of actions designed to achieve specific outcomes and were working documents and were therefore subject to change and development to ensure the actions remain relevant and appropriate.

There are 49 actions in total for which progress updates for Q3 are as follows:

·         Achieved or On-Target:                        26 (53%)

·         Under Control:                           13 (27%)

·         Behind Schedule:                        4 (8%) 

·         Pending:                                                  6 (12%)

Total    49 (100%)

16 actions fell within the areas of responsibility of the Communities Select Committee. At the end of Q3:

·         6 (38%) of these actions have been ‘Achieved’ or are ‘On-Target’

·         5 (31%) of these actions are ‘Under Control’

·         5 (31%) of these actions are ‘Pending’

·         0 (0%) of these actions are ‘Behind Schedule’

Mr Marshall asked about the relocation of the Housing Repairs Service from the Epping Depot to alternative accommodation, for which North Weald had originally been proposed. He was advised that the Cabinet had determined that the Housing Repairs Depot would now be co-located with other services at the Oakwood Hill Deport, Loughton.

RESOLVED:

That the third quarter progress of the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2016/17 in relation to its areas of responsibility be noted.

(Chairman / Lead Officer) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed the Terms of Reference of this Committee. This is attached along with an ongoing work

programme. Members are asked at each meeting to review both documents.

(a)    Terms of Reference

The Select Committee’s Terms of Reference were noted.

(b)   Work Programme

The Select Committee noted their Work Programme and that all but two items had been completed and three additional items.

They noted that item 37 – Housing Strategy 2017-2022 would be going to the June 2017 meeting; and that item 38 – review of the future use of sheltered/ grouped housing scheme sites had been deferred pending the outcome of the Stage 1 further HRA Financial Options report.

To consider which reports are ready to be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its next meeting.

The Committee noted that a report would be going to the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee asking permission that a representative of the youth councillor be co-opted onto this Committee for the new municipal year.

To note that this is the last meeting for this Municipal Year. Meetings scheduled for the new year are as follows:

20^th June 2017;

05^th September;

07^th November;

16^th January 2018;

13^th March.

The Committee noted the future dates for this meeting and that this was their last meeting for this municipal year.

Councillor Stavrou thanked the Chairman for her good chairmanship during the year saying that she had enjoyed attending the meetings and listening to the various presentations they had during the last 12 months.

The Chairman in turn, thanked the members, vice chairman and officers of the Committee for their hard work and support throughout the year.