Agenda item

The Executive Member for Housing & Safer Neighbourhoods will be in attendance to discuss priorities and challenges for the forthcoming year.

The Executive Member for Housing & Safer Neighbourhoods was in attendance to discuss priorities and challenges for the forthcoming year, along with the Corporate Director for Health, Housing and Adult Social Care. The Executive Member highlighted the following:

·        A key priority, and challenge, was affordable housing for key workers.

·        A CYC housing development company was being considered, with expectation of a paper being presented in September.

·        CYC had recently achieved homelessness gold standard, one of only three in the country at this time.

·        A new Community Safety Plan was currently being drafted to reflect Safer York Partnership’s strategic priorities for the next three years.

·        The roll out of Universal Credit in July would be a challenge and may cause some issues. In pilot areas there had been a rise in rent arrears so this would need to be carefully managed.

The Chair commented, for the record, on his concerns around this committee absorbing the Housing & Safer Neighbourhoods portfolio, given the demands of Health and Adult Social Care alone.

In response to questions from Members the Executive Member stated:

·        The CYC Housing Development Company was still in the early stages with a business case to be done. It would take a leadership role in providing affordable housing.

·        In relation to housing allocation, the budget had been allocated for a new IT system and it was expected this would be in place by 2019.

·        Formal consultation on Woolnough House would take place as part of the Older Persons accommodation plan.

·        There was recognition that the housing market in York was tough, partly due to its desirability as a place to live. Mixed tenure across the city was an important part of a wide offer to those on lower incomes and key workers.

·        In relation to the ‘Prevent’ agenda the Executive Member agreed that Councillors should never have to submit an FOI for information from CYC. Information circulated by police had included ‘anti-fracking’ groups as a category. There would be a locally agreed peer review taking place on Prevent in September.

·        Substance misuse would be covered under the Community Safety Plan.

·        There had been a recent decision session on the Private Sector Assistance Policy and category 1 hazards were now being considered by occupational therapists using increased funding from the Disability Facilities Grant, alongside usual adaptations.

·        In terms of Category1 hazards the Executive Member agreed to circulate further details to the committee following the meeting.

The Executive Member went on to give an update to the committee on Fire Safety, with the Head of Building Services in attendance to answer Member questions. He confirmed that as well as the information which had been circulated to members a letter was being sent to residents in all CYC housing as soon as possible. It was stated that:

·        CYC’s own housing stock had no cladding of the kind which had been used elsewhere.

·        Fire Safety Risk Assessments were completed on a cycle, with 350 communal areas to be completed in the 2017/18 municipal year.

·        Vulnerable tenants would all have ‘personal emergency evacuation plans’ in sheltered housing

·        Sprinklers were not necessary in York given that we had no tower blocks. Sprinklers were only considered necessary for buildings where higher floors were out of reach for fire service equipment.

·        The Executive member for Children, Education and Young People was checking with all schools in relation to fire risk assessments and cladding.

It was agreed that there would be a further update on this in due course.

Resolved:  That Members note the comments of the Executive Member for Housing & Safer Neighbourhoods.

Reason:     To update the committee on the Executive Member’s priorities and challenges for the forthcoming year.