New Forest Borough Council Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel Meeting

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2020 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

No declarations of interest were made by members in connection with an agenda item.

No issues were raised in the public participation period.

It was reported that the Housing Service Managers would be going through a significant number of matters during the course of the agenda and the Portfolio Holder did not wish to replicate all that they would be covering, however any remaining questions could be asked at the end of the agenda.

A presentation was given to the Panel providing them with an operational update in relation to COVID-19, which covered the following areas (The slides from the presentation are attached to these minutes for reference):

·       Housing Maintenance – Operations

·       Housing Maintenance – Compliance and Asset Management

·       Housing Options, Rent, Support and Private Sector Housing

·       Housing Estates

·       Housing Strategy and Development

Members questioned whether members of staff wore PPE when entering Council properties, particularly for those who were shielding.  It was noted that Government guidance was followed.  Staff wore gloves and followed regular handwashing and washed down surfaces, however there was no requirement to wear a face covering.  Prior to any visit, residents would be asked whether they were shielding and staff would only enter a property with consent from the tenant.

Members questioned whether there had been any cases of COVID-19 in Council properties.  It was noted that there had been some cases, in the Council’s Extra Care facilities.  Officers had worked closely with Hampshire County Council and the care providers of these facilities in respect of this issue.  Additionally, work had been carried out with the residents and their families and measures had been put in place to ensure the safety of those who live and work there.  Contact had been made with family members, advising them to stay away in order to protect them and those in the care homes.  A high level of compliance was noted.

The Panel considered the Annual Performance and Provisional Budget Outturn report in respect of 2019/20.  The new Corporate Plan had been agreed in February 2020, therefore the report was in the transition period between the old and the new Corporate Plan.  The achievements for 2019-20 were detailed per portfolio, information was provided against key performance measures as well as the financial outturn for the general fund and the Housing Revenue Account.

RESOLVED:

(a)          That the updated position statement, including the highlights from 2019/20 be noted;

(b)          That the development of the new performance management framework be noted;

(c)           That the provisional outturn of the General Fund revenue and capital budgets for 2019/20 be noted; and

(d)          That the provisional outturn of the Housing Revenue Account for 2019/20 be noted.

The Panel considered the proposed Performance Management Framework, which was presented in the form of a performance dashboard detailing actions identified within the Corporate Plan and their progress.

The Panel had been due to consider the item at the previous meeting which had been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Members views were sought on whether they found the dashboard approach to be useful, whether additional information should be included and how often they would like to review the performance against the Corporate Plan.

The approach was supported by the Panel.

RESOLVED:

(a)          That the performance dashboard approach be supported; and

(b)          That an update on performance management of the Corporate Plan be presented at each meeting of the Panel.

The draft Asset Management Strategy had been scheduled to be considered by the Panel in March, however due to the coronavirus pandemic, the meeting had been cancelled.  In order to avoid delay in the implementation of the Strategy, the Portfolio Holder for Housing Services had approved the Asset Management Strategy for Housing in April.

The Strategy set out the District Council’s four strategic priorities; to achieve high standards in the maintenance and repair of Council stock, to achieve high levels of energy efficiency, to deliver value for money and to provide a self service facility for tenants.  It was noted within the Strategy that a Decent Homes PLUS Standard would be implemented, in order to continue to drive up the quality of all Council owned homes to take account of new technologies, improved material and changing lifestyles.

Members welcomed the Decent Homes PLUS Standard and reported they would like to receive an update on the Asset Management Strategy at each Panel meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the Asset Management Housing Strategy (Appendix 1) be noted.

The Panel received a presentation on rural and community housing.  The differences between rural affordable and community-led housing were detailed.  It was noted, for example that rural affordable housing was to provide housing in rural parishes, they were typically developed on rural exceptions sites and were developed strictly to meet a defined local affordable housing need.  Community-led housing however, was developed by the community for the benefit of the community, the community would play a central role in the development, management and ownership and there had been increased interest in this form of development in the last five years.   There was often crossover between the two forms of housing.

In recent years there had been a decline in the development of new rural affordable housing and community-led housing in the District, reasons for this could be due to there being availability and affordability of land, limited funding investment, complexities of the planning system and local opposition.

Four Strategic Objectives were presented to the Panel:

1.          Expand and enhance community-led and rural affordable housing enabling

2.          Develop and enrich evidence and understanding of rural and community based housing need.

3.          Expand delivery options for community-led and rural affordable housing

4.          Raise the profile of rural and community-led housing

Each of the strategic objectives detailed a number of actions in order encourage both forms of housing provision and this work was welcomed by the Panel.

A report on the revisions to the New Forest Community Housing Fund, had been circulated with the agenda and was noted by the Panel.  This reviewed the plans for the spending of the Community Housing Fund, refreshing the procedure and thresholds for award of grants under the Council’s scheme and to increase to scope of the scheme to enable both capital and revenue contributions.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed revisions to the New Forest Community Housing Fund as set out within sections 4 and 5 of the report be noted.

The Panel were presented with draft Terms of Reference for a Greener Housing Task and Finish Group.

A question was read out on behalf of Cllr Philip Dowd regarding the Terms of Reference of the Group, requesting consideration be given to all types of sustainable housing, including ‘off grid’ projects. The question also referred to the provision of sustainable and affordable housing to add to the Shared Ownership Portfolio to ensure that local people were not priced out of the housing market.

The Panel supported the points raised by Cllr Dowd and welcomed the opportunity to consider more sustainable options for housing provision. 

RESOLVED:

That the following Terms of Reference be supported:

1.     To explore and evaluate all forms of green housing initiatives in respect of the Council’s own housing stock, including new builds, and implement where appropriate.

(The evaluation will include a cost/benefit analysis and will consider sustainability and viability issues, including options around retrofitting. The review will also consider how new initiatives will minimise energy consumption to reduce costs to tenants and ensure that they are not penalised through inefficient metering or usage).

2.     To disseminate information to the wider community (including the private rented sector) about green housing generally and any initiatives that are implemented by the Council.

Note: A new development being undertaken by the Council could be used as a test case.

It was proposed that the Task and Finish Group would consist of 10 members to include representation from the Planning Committee and the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Panel.

An update was provided on progress of building and acquiring houses in support of the adopted Housing Strategy.

During the financial year 2019/20, the Council completed 90 new affordable housing properties. This included, 15 Council housing buy backs, 70 new council builds, 1 acquisition / lease reversion (to provide 3 properties) and one conversion (to provide 2 properties).

It was predicted that 55 council completions would take place in 2020/21.  Work on the Jones Lane property in Hythe was anticipated to be completed for occupation in July.  It was also noted that 15 properties at Crow Arch Lane had been completed and that a further 8 would be completed in June.  There was the potential for over 100 new properties to be provided in the next financial year.

In relation to the provision of Temporary Accommodation, 33 units were either in use or anticipated to be provided in the medium term.  These were located in Lymington, New Milton, Fawley and Ringwood.

Officers were continuing to work to identify suitable opportunities for housing, working with private developers, building contractors, as well as schemes currently being built.

The Panel received an update on homelessness.  The housing team had a pro-active approach before lockdown to assess all medical conditions and ensure that those vulnerable to COVID-19 were moved to locations where they could self isolate.  Officers had responded to the ‘Everyone in’ guidance and accommodated all but two rough sleepers (who had refused accommodation) as well as sofa surfers, prison and hospital discharges, etc.  Additional accommodation had been utilised at some hotels, including South Lawn Hotel, Milford-on-Sea.

The homelessness team had been split into three groups;

1.           Duty – new contact and response to urgent situations

2.           Prevention of homelessness

3.           Homelessness and move on: to move those out of temporary accommodation

New support workers had been appointed which increased the Housing Support Team to six, with funding from MHCLG.

The team were now focussing on moving people out of temporary accommodation into more appropriate longer term accommodation.

It was noted that 21 rough sleepers had been accommodated in a two week period (in total 31 rough sleepers had been accommodated last year).  97 households had been accommodated in three months and 57 households were still in temporary accommodation, which was the highest in two years.  The team were also supporting 113 complex needs cases.  The statistics demonstrated the additional demand that the coronavirus had placed on the housing support team.

The hard work of the Housing support team in accommodating rough sleepers was acknowledged.

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme be noted.