Issue - meetings

This report advises on recent developments designed to enhance joint working on strategic housing issues across the sub-region and asks the Executive to recommend that the City of York participate in the proposed sub-regional partnership and governance framework and that the Executive Member for Housing represent the Council on the partnership.

Members considered a report which advised on recent developments designed to enhance joint working on strategic housing issues across the sub-region and proposed that the City of York should participate in the sub-regional partnership and governance framework.

Following their affordable housing review of the district authorities in North Yorkshire, the Audit Commission had produced a report setting out a number of interim recommendations for improving joint working.  This identified the strategic housing role as one of the areas where joint working could be beneficial.  Subsequently, a special meeting of the North Yorkshire Chief Housing Officers Group had agreed that York and Richmondshire would be joint leaders in taking forward work in this area.  The Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber (GOYH) had also been encouraging local authorities to work more sub-regionally, in order better to meet housing needs and access regional funding.  To date, however, decisions made at a sub-regional had lacked a proper political mandate.

To improve governance arrangements, it was proposed that the North Yorkshire Housing Forum should form a Strategic Housing Board.  This would comprise one elected member, supported by the lead officer, from each of the eight local authorities, one from the county council and one from each of the national park authorities.  The Board would sit as a sub group of the Association of North Yorkshire Councils and would agree its terms of reference in conjunction with the Association.  Although it was not a strategic requirement to develop a sub-regional housing partnership of this nature, it was recommended that this option be agreed, in view of GOYH’s strong encouragement for a sub-regional approach.  Failure to take part could hold back the sub-regional agenda and would leave York outside any sub-regional developments.

A broad remit for the board was set out in paragraph 14 of the report and draft terms of reference in paragraph 15.  The Executive Member for Housing suggested that the following be added to the terms of reference:

“That all papers are to be given two weeks in advance of the meetings.”