Winchester City Borough Council Cabinet Committee: Housing Meeting

There were no apologies given.

There were no disclosures of interest made.

Ian Tait spoke during public participation as summarised briefly below.

He welcomed the reintroduction of a specific Cabinet Committee to consider housing matters and the inclusion of TACT representatives.  He acknowledged the work of the new homes programme to date but suggested that it would be preferable to allocate one larger site for a new council housing estate close to Winchester.  This would ensure the provision of related infrastructure.

Councillor Ferguson thanked Mr Tait for his comments which would be addressed under the new homes programme update item below.

Councillor Ferguson announced that this would be a standing item on all future agendas.

The Service Lead - New Homes Delivery gave a presentation providing an update on the new homes programme.  The presentation had been published on the Council’s website and available here.

In response to the points raised by Mr Tait in the public participation session, the Service Lead agreed that it would be more efficient to build housing on a larger scale and would also ensure infrastructure was provided.  However it did pose challenges in terms of acquiring the required land.  He confirmed that officers would continue to investigate this option.

The Service Lead, Strategic Director and Corporate Head of Housing responded to questions and comments raised by members and TACT representatives on the following:

• The Passivhaus standard compared to AECB (Association of Environment Conscious Building);
• Valuation of Passivhaus new builds;
• How decisions on the mix of new homes build were made, including the role of the local plan and consultation on a new Housing Strategy;
• How decisions were made on the standards new homes were built to with particular regard to the limited resources available;
• The advantages and disadvantages of buying new homes “off the shelf”;
• The role of building energy efficient new homes in meeting the council’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030.

RESOLVED:

            That the presentation be noted.

The Service Lead - New Homes Delivery highlighted a correction to paragraph 7.6 of the report to note that it was estimated that for a one bedroom flat, energy costs would be on average £170 lower per month.  The Housing Development Project Manager introduced the report which set out the final business case for the new properties.

At the invitation of the Chairperson, Councillor Wallace addressed the committee as summarised briefly below.

He highlighted the importance of minimising the carbon impact of building new homes in terms of the build itself and ongoing energy usage and he supported the proposals for Southbrook Cottages as a step in the right direction.  He requested further clarification of the reasons for the budget increase and also emphasised that the market valuation should be appropriate to the building process and take account of the future savings in energy costs.

The Service Lead responded to the points raised and emphasised that the scheme was a pilot project which would be very closely monitored in terms of future costs.  He also answered questions and comments raised by other members and TACT representatives on the following:

• The use of ground source heat pumps;
• Providing information for tenants about living in a Passivhaus;
• How the new housing would be allocated;
• The use of KPIs to monitor the operation of the pilot scheme;
• The selection process for contractors to ensure their capability to build to Passivhaus standards;
• The need for new affordable homes in the area.

The Committee (including invited TACT representatives and members) moved into exempt session to consider the contents of the exempt appendices in more detail before returning to open session to consider the report’s recommendations.

During debate, members noted the general requirement for affordable homes in the area and supported the pilot project to assess the feasibility of building homes to such a high energy efficiency standard

The Cabinet Committee: Housing agreed to the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the Corporate Head of Asset Management be authorised to award and enter into a JCT Intermediate Building Contract with Contractor’s Design, 2016 Edition (ICD 2016) to construct 6  properties at Southbrook Cottages, Micheldever for the sum as detailed in Exempt Appendix 2 of report CAB3364(H) with Ascia Construction Ltd.

2.         That an additional increase in the current capital budget and expenditure of £719,000  be vired from the Unallocated New Build budget of £3m be authorised, to bring the approved budget and expenditure up to the amount required of £1,990,513.

3.         That the Corporate Head of Asset Management (CHAM) be authorised to negotiate and agree terms for easements, wayleaves and related agreements with utility suppliers, telecom/media providers and neighbours and relevant associated legal agreements in order to facilitate the development.

4.         That the appropriation of open space be approved following the consultation exercise undertaken in May 2022 in accordance with the requirements of Section 122 (2A) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and the appropriation of the land for planning purposes in order to create additional parking at Southbrook Cottages for local residents.

5.         That the CHAM be authorised to agree and arrange for a scheme to mitigate nutrients in perpetuity as required in order to discharge the relevant planning condition either on sites owned by the council, and/or the purchase of nutrient credits from a 3^rd party prior to the occupation of the new homes located at the Southbrook Cottages site.

6.         That the virement of £85,000 from the Estate Improvement budget be approved for the construction of the offsite additional car parking at Southbrook Cottages.

The Service Lead - Housing Operations & Community Safety gave a presentation providing an outline of the programme.  The presentation had been published on the Council’s website and available here.

The Service Lead, Strategic Director and Corporate Head of Housing responded to questions and comments raised by members and TACT representatives on the following:

:

• The increase in both the number and complexity of cases coming forward;
• The impact on the officers dealing with the increasing enquiries;
• The different ways tenants could be referred to the programme and the importance of ensuring all councilors were aware to enable them to signpost as required;
• The work being done in mapping services and stakeholders and identifying potential gaps;
• The forthcoming cost of living summit and the potential to reestablish a social inclusion partnership;
• The availability of similar assistance for private rented tenants from a different officer within the housing team (not funded through the Housing Revenue Account).

RESOLVED:

            That the presentation be noted.

The Service Lead - Housing Operations & Community Safety introduced the report which set out proposals for the procurement of the cleaning contract.

The Service Lead and the Procurement Manager responded to questions and comments raised by members and TACT representatives on the following:

:

• The rationale behind the 60% cost and 40% quality split;
• The rationale for proposing a contract length of three years;
• Whether the proposed split  would adequately balance the request from tenants not to pay any more against the requirement to improve the quality of service provided;
• The contract monitoring that would be undertaken and the measures available to the council if the service failed to meet the required standard;
• Whether it would be appropriate to include a break clause in the contract;
• Whether the contract could specify the use of phosphate and bleach free cleaning products.

The Cabinet Committee: Housing considered that the answers given to the questions above resolved concerns and agreed to the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

1.            That it be agreed that the current cleaning contract to YBC Cleaning Services should not be extended for a further 1 year period.

2.            That the procurement of a cleaning service using an open tender procedure be authorised in accordance with the council’s Contract Procedure rules and the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015).

3.            That to ensure best value for residents, tenders are to be evaluated based on a criteria of 60% cost and 40% quality and 10% of the quality criteria, will be allocated to environmental and social value matters.

4.            That the Strategic Director be authorised to award the contract to the preferred bidder. This being the applicant with the most economically advantageous tender for a term of 3 years with an option to renew for up to a further 2 years based on performance of service provision.

5.            That the Strategic Director be authorised to enter into all necessary agreements with the preferred contractor to provide a building cleaning service within the common and communal areas of the councils housing stock.

6.            That delegated authority be granted to the Service Lead: Legal to execute and enter into all necessary contractual agreements.

RESOLVED:

1.         That in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

2.         That the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business because it is likely that, if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100I and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Councillor Ferguson provided an update on flood defence works at Claylands Road and Blanchard  Road, Bishops Waltham.