Agenda and minutes

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

There were no substitutions made for the meeting.

(Director of Governance) To agree the notes of the meeting of the Select Committee held on 7^th November 2017.

RESOLVED:

That the notes of the last meeting of the Select Committee held on 7 November 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.

(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.

The Committee noted their terms of reference and work programme.

With the agreement of the Committee item 11, Fires Safety Report and item 12, the Rationalisation of Sheltered Housing Assets were taken next.

(Director of Communities) to consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director (Housing Property & Development) Mr Pledger, introduced the report on the Council’s Fire Safety procedures in council owned accommodation. This was asked for subsequent to the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London. Initially after the fire an item was placed in the Members Bulletin explaining the Council’s approach to fire safety and associated issues. Officers were still awaiting the outcome of the inquiry and the changes in law or regulations or advice that may affect our procedures.

It was noted that:

·         High rise was defined by the Government as being 18m or taller;

·         The highest blocks of flats the Council has were five-storey high; however none of these are enclosed blocks. All residents front doors were accessed from open-deck access walkways;

·         The Council also has a number of blocks of flats that were four-stories high. They are of sufficient height that they can be accessed by the Fire Service to rescue people if required;

·         The Council Fire Risks Assessments were categorised as High, Medium or Low risks buildings. The high risks being the sheltered housing schemes, Norway House Homeless Persons Hostel, North Weald and Hemnall House, Epping;

·         Fire Risk Assessments had to be carried out by law and the Council had to contract a specialist fire safety company to carry these out on its behalf;

·         They had only recently completed the Fire Safety Risk Assessments for all of the Council’s high and medium risk buildings, and their subsequent reports therefore give a very up to date assessment;

·         They had also been asked to undertake a random sample of the low risk Fire Risk Assessments completed by Officers to provide reassurance about their quality and accuracy. It was reassuring to note that these have found to be fit for purpose, with no concerns raised;

·         Recently the Government had asked for a fire risk assessment for the Council’s blocks of flats, which it did and the relevant fire officer was satisfied, giving the Council a written assessment that our buildings were considered safe;

·         Co-incidentally, a planned Internal Audit Study of Fire Safety Risk Assessments was included as part of the Council’s Audit Plan for 2017/18.  The outcome of that audit resulted in a “Moderate” Assurance opinion, with a small number of recommendations added to the Internal Audit’s “Audit Recommendation Tracker”;

·         The Council has just completed a programme of installing hard-wired linked smoke and heat detectors in all of its Council properties;

·         The Council has also recently completed a programme of installing 30-minute fire resistant front doors to Council flats in blocks;

·         The Council can only install these front doors to the Council’s own properties; it was the responsibility of leaseholders to install doors to their own properties.  However, in order to encourage and assist leaseholders to install such doors – and to improve the overall fire safety in blocks of flats - members agreed an initiative a number of years ago to offer leaseholders a discount of 75% from the cost of installing these doors;

·         Many leaseholders had taken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

(Director of Communities) to consider the attached report.

The Director of Communities, Mr A Hall introduced the report on the proposed rationalisation of the Council’s sheltered housing assets. He explained that the Council had a number of sheltered and grouped housing schemes to accommodate older people.  In both cases, residents currently received a daily well-being check from their Scheme Manager, usually through a home visit, and were also monitored by the Council’s Careline Service 24 hours a day.

Over many years, sheltered housing had provided a safe and enjoyable environment for older people to live independently together, until their care and support needs were such that they needed to move into more intense extra-care accommodation (now often referred to as independent living) or residential/nursing accommodation.

However, in recent years, there had been a sharp decline in the popularity of sheltered housing (which was reflected across the country), with older people tending to prefer to remain in their own homes for much longer, until they needed to move directly into independent living, residential or nursing accommodation.  This had resulted in many vacancies in sheltered housing becoming difficult-to-let, particularly bedsits and some first floor flats, resulting in allocations being made to applicants registered on the Council’s Supplementary Housing Waiting List (comprising applicants who are ineligible for the main Housing Register), particularly older people currently living outside the District.

At the same time, the Council had increasing numbers of local people registered on its Housing Register in need of general needs housing who were having to wait long periods of time to be accommodated, usually years, and in the meantime living in deficient existing accommodation. Furthermore, demand for temporary accommodation for homeless households had increased too.

Officers believed that the number of low demand sheltered properties now needed to be reduced through decanting the existing residents at some sheltered housing schemes to other suitable accommodation and then developing the resultant vacant land or buildings to provide accommodation to help meet the housing needs of local people registered on the Housing Register, or homeless households, through the Council’s Housebuilding Programme.

Committee members were asked to consider and give their comments on this proposal, but keeping in mind that there was still a need for sheltered housing and that it would still be retained into the foreseeable future. The Committee was asked to report their views to the next Cabinet meeting.

Mr Hall was asked which schemes were likely to be chosen; he indicated that officers had not got as far as identifying any specific schemes as yet.

The Committee considered the first recommendation, making the following points:

·         It was considered understandable that people did not want to go into sheltered accommodation  nowadays as they could stay at home for far longer than they used to;

·         Essex had an ‘extra care’ complex in Brentwood which was nicer and catered for independent living;

·         EFDC had Jessopp Court where residents initially received on-site care by Essex CC. However, Essex CC did not continue with the on-site support and it had to be turned into sheltered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

(Director of Communities) to consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director Housing Operations, Mr Wilson introduced the annual report reviewing the protected characteristics of home seekers and lettings. He noted that following the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, and the Public Sector Equality Duty in 2011, public bodies had to consider all individuals when carrying out their day-to-day work, shaping policy, and delivering services.  Under the Act there were nine “Protected Characteristics” which must be considered as follows:

Age

Disability

Gender reassignment

Marriage and Civil Partnership

Pregnancy and Maternity

Race

Religion and Belief

Sex

Sexual Orientation

Due to the requirements of the Act, the Communities Select Committee undertook an annual review of the Protected Characteristics of homeseekers on the Housing Register compared to the Protected Characteristics of those allocated accommodation.  This was to consider if there had been any disparity, and to identify whether or not there were any indications to suggest the Council may be discriminating against any one group and if as a result, any changes should be made to the Housing Allocations Scheme. 

The Committee were presented with a number of tables, monitoring the protected characteristics. Generally the statistics confirmed that the Protected Characteristics of homeseekers housed in Council accommodation was similar to those on the Housing Register. It was therefore recommended that no amendments were made to the Council’s Housing Allocations Scheme, due to the Review of the Protected Characteristics of housing applicants and lettings.

Mr Marshall of the Tenants and Leaseholders Panel confirmed that they were satisfied with the reports conclusions.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee reviewed and agreed that no further recommendations be made concerning amendments to the Council’s Housing Allocations Scheme, due to the Review of the Protected Characteristics of home seekers on the Housing Register and lettings as current figures did not show a significant disparity between the Protected Characteristics of home seekers on the Housing Register, and those allocated accommodation through the Housing Register.

(Chief Executive) to consider the attached report.

The Director of Communities took the meeting through the quarter 2 performance of the relevant Key Performance Indicators for 2017/18.

A range of thirty-two Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2017/18 was adopted by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee in March 2017. The KPIs were important to the improvement of the Council’s services and the achievement of its key objectives, and comprised a combination of some former statutory indicators and locally determined performance measures. The aim of the KPIs was to direct improvement efforts towards services and the national priorities and local challenges arising from the social, economic and environmental context of the district, that were the focus of thekey objectives.

The overall position for all 32 KPIs at the end of the Quarter 2, was as follows:

(a)       25 (78%) indicators achieved target;

(b)       3   (9%) indicators did not achieve target,

(c)       4   (13%) indicators performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator, and

(d)       26 (82%) of indicators are currently anticipated to achieve year-end target, 3 (9%) are uncertain whether they will achieve year-end target and a further 3 (9%) are anticipated not to achieve year-end target.

Communities Select Committee indicators - 9 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 Q2 for these 9 indicators, was as follows:

(a)    9 (100%) indicators achieved target;

(b)    0 (0%) indicators did not achieve target, and

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

(d)    9 (100%) of indicators are currently anticipated to achieve year-end target.

He noted that this was a good news story as they had now achieved all targets set for both quarter 1 and quarter 2.

RESOLVED:

That the Select Committee noted the Quarter 2 performance in relation to the key performance indicators within its areas of responsibility.

(Chief Executive) to consider the attached report.

The Director of Communities, Mr Hall introduced the report on quarter 2 progress on Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2017/18.

The Corporate Plan was the Council’s key strategic planning document, setting out its priorities over the five-year period from 2015/16 to 2019/20. The priorities or Corporate Aims are supported by Key Objectives, which provided a clear statement of the Council’s overall intentions for these five years.

The Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2017/18 was adopted by Council at its meeting on 27 September 2016. Progress in relation to all actions and deliverables is reviewedby the Cabinet, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and the appropriate Select Committee, on a quarterly basis.

There were 50 actions in total for which progress updates for Quarter 2 were as follows:

·         41 (82%) of these actions have been ‘Achieved’ or were ‘On Target’

·         2   (4%) of these actions were ‘Under Control’

·         7   (14%) were ‘Behind Schedule’

·         0   (0%) were ‘Pending’

20 actions fell within the areas of responsibility of the Communities Select Committee. At the end of Quarter 2:

·         14 (70%) of these actions have been ‘Achieved’ or were ‘On-Target’

·         0 (0%) of these actions were ‘Under Control’

·         0 (0%) of these actions were ‘Pending’

·         6 (30%) of these actions were ‘Behind Schedule’

Councillor Surtees noted that the phased Council Housebuilding Programme were all behind schedule, but conceded that this would be largely outside the Council’s control. Mr Hall agreed, adding that it was a difficult programme to deliver.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee reviewed and noted the second quarter progress of the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2017/18 in relation to its areas of responsibility.

(Director of Communities) to consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director Housing Operations, Mr Wilson introduced the annual report on the “HomeOption” Choice Based Letting Scheme.

The Committee noted that the scheme was administered by the external Choice Based Lettings Agency Locata Housing Services (LHS). Under the scheme, all vacant social rented properties were advertised to applicants on the website and weekly ‘Property List’ giving details of location, type, rent, service charge, council tax band and landlord of the available accommodation. Applicants applied for a property by “expressing an interest” in up to a maximum of three properties for which they had an assessed need, either in person, by Internet, telephone, text, or email.  

At the end of the weekly cycle, the Council analysed the “expressions of interests” received and allocates each property following a prioritisation and selection process in accordance with its own Housing Allocations Scheme.

The Council is a member of the Herts and Essex Housing Options Consortium (HEHOC) which jointly operated the Choice Based Lettings Scheme and consisted of the following six authorities:

·    Brentwood Borough Council

·    Chelmsford City Council

·    Broxbourne District Council

·    Epping Forest District Council

·    Uttlesford District Council

·    East Herts District Council

The Committee noted the ‘HomeOption’ Choice Based Lettings Information Bulletin for the period 27 July 2016 to 27 July 2017 that was attached as an appendix to the report.      

Around 88% of all applicants registered on the Housing Register had participated in the scheme during the last year. LHS confirm that, nationally, this was a high participation rate.  Some applicants may not participate for a variety of reasons including:

• Joining the Register to accumulate time on the Register, should they want Council accommodation in the future.     

• Applicants who wish to move to smaller accommodation and may be biding their time until a property becomes available that met all of their aspirations.

As at 27 July 2017 there were 1,377 Home seekers on the Housing Register.  Under the  Scheme, there was a Supplementary Waiting List which enabled applicants over 60 years of age who do not meet with the Residency Criteria, or have a housing need, to bid on properties in sheltered accommodation and to receive an offer (if no home seekers on the Register are interested) as such properties are often difficult-to-let.  As at 27 July 2017, there were 123 applicants on the Supplementary Waiting List.   

The Committee noted that as this was an annual report just for information, it would be a good idea to put it in the Council Bulletin from now on and not have it come to a Committee meeting. Also if this was the case, it should also be circulated separately to the Tenants and Leaseholders Federation for their information.

RESOLVED:

(1)  That the Communities Select Committee reviewed and noted the Information Bulletin setting out progress made on Housing Allocations and the 'HomeOption' Choice Based Lettings Scheme for the period 27 July 2016 to 27 July 2017; and

(2)  That from next year this informative annual report be put in the Council Bulletin for members information and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

(Director of Communities) to consider the attached report.

Mr Hall introduced the report on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Financial Plan for 2017/18 – six month review.

The HRA Financial Plan set out the anticipated HRA income and expenditure over the next 30 years.

The Cabinet had asked the Communities Select Committee to review updates to the HRA Financial Plan twice each year.  In addition, senior Housing and Finance officers also formally review the Financial Plan in July and January each year too.

The Committee was assured that the HRA continued to be in good health; it was a 30 year plan and although it would be necessary to borrow more money to meet the Council’s aspirations, this could be paid back within that 30 year period.

Simon Smith from SD Smith Consultancy has acted as the Council’s HRA Business Planning Consultants for many years. Simon Smith SDS had undertaken a Six-Month Review of the current HRA Financial Plan, taking into account the Council’s current financial position and national and local policies.  His Six-Month Review Report, setting out the changes and current financial position, was attached as an Appendix to the report.

The HRA projections based on the assumptions within the report demonstrated that, in the long term, the HRA was viable in that:

·         The HRA remains above the minimum £2million (inflated) balance throughout the period of the Plan;

·         The HRA will be debt free and return to its prior position of a negative balance on the HRA CFR of £31.888million; and

·         There were no unfunded capital works.

The HRA in the latter years could also afford to make provision for service enhancements and improvements, in addition to the required levels of investment in the stock and new build, of £73million at today’s prices.

There were, however, policy changes which were in the recent Housing and Planning Act 2016 that will have implications to the HRA, not least the expectation that vacant Council homes are sold to fund the required annual levy payment to the Government – although it was understood that the Government would not be seeking such a payment in 2018/19.

Councillor J H Whitehouse asked when would the Council be debt free; she was told not until around year 27.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee noted and commented on the Six-Month Review of the HRA Financial Plan 2017/18 from SD Smith Consultancy, the Council’s HRA Business Planning Consultants.

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

The reports on Fire Safety in Council owned accommodation and park homes and on the rationalisation of sheltered housing assets be reported on at the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting in February 2018.

To note the future meeting dates for this Committee:

13^th March 2018.

It was noted that the next meeting of this Committee would be held on 13^th March 2018.