Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

None  were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Panel held on 16 July 2007.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the last meeting of the Panel held on 16 July 2007 be approved and signed by the Chair and Executive Members as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Panel’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Friday 7 September 2007 at 5.00pm.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report advises the Executive Members of progress against the service plan targets for Housing and Adult Social Services and the projected financial outturns for 2007/08 based on first quarter results.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Members for Housing and Adult Social Services be advised to

i)          Note the content of this report and

ii)                  Agree the virements between £100k and £250k outlined in paragraph 13 and refer those over £250k to the Executive for approval.

Decision of the Executive Members for Housing and Adult Social Services

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  So that the Executive Members are briefed on the projected performance and financial outturns for housing and adult social services based on the first quarter of 2007/8.

Members considered a report which advised them of progress against the service plan targets for Housing and Adult Social Services and the projected financial outturns for 2007/08 based on first quarter results.

The annexes to the report showed progress in relation to the key objectives and the performance targets as well as a detailed breakdown of expenditure.

Officers reported a positive outcome, which included

·          An increase in the rent collected as a % of the debt and the turn round time on empty homes dropping below 21 days

·          18 referrals had already been received for the new York Security Grant

·          Work had commenced on the new Arc Light and Peasholme buildings

·          Phase I of the new computerised social care replacement system had gone live and due to excellent preparation the transition had gone smoothly.

·          There were signs of improvement in the Adult Social Services performance indicators

Members questioned the reference in Annex 1 to “a comprehensive review of the Allocations Policy”. They stated that they would be happy for minor changes but that they did not want to see major alterations when major alterations had only recently been made to this policy. Officers confirmed that following completion of the evaluation decisions would be made on any changes required.

Members thanked Officers for the visit to the demonstration room in Haxby Hall to view the support technology now available and the Executive Member for Housing congratulated the team for improvements made in services generally.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Members for Housing and Adult Social Services be advised to

i)          Note the content of this report and

ii)                  Agree the virements between £100k and £250k outlined in paragraph 13 and refer those over £250k to the Executive for approval.

Decision of the Executive Members for Housing and Adult Social Services

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  So that the Executive Members are briefed on the projected performance and financial outturns for housing and adult social services based on the first quarter of 2007/8.

This report presents the first quarter review of the 2007/08 Housing and Social Services Capital Programmes and the resources available to support them and ask the Executive Members to approve variations.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Members for Housing and Adult Social Services be advised to

i)            Note progress made on schemes

ii)         Approve the variations listed in Table 1 (Repairs to Local Authority Properties) and Table 2 (Modernisation of Local Authority Homes)

iii)        Refer the schemes in Table 3 (Social Services) and referred to in paragraph 19 to the Executive for approval

iv)        Note minor variations made under officers delegated authority and the officer specification recommendation in relation to combination central heating boilers referred to in paragraph 13

Decision of the Executive Members for Housing and Adult Social Services

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To update Members on the first quarter review of the Housing and Social Services Capital Programmes.

Consideration was given to a report, which presented the first quarter review of the 2007/08 Housing and Social Services Capital Programmes and the resources available to support them.

It was reported that the minor variations agreed within officer’s delegated authority and the variations outlined in the report resulted in a £322k increase in the Housing Programme and an increase of £20k in the Social Services Capital Programme. The revised Housing Capital Programme for 2007/08 stood at £9,453k with £4,656k funded from the Major Repairs Allowance Scheme. The revised Social Services Capital Programme for 2007/08 stood at £646k gross of which £94k was funded by Supported Capital Expenditure and £311k was funded by capital grant resulting in a net Capital Programme of £241k.

Officers referred to Table 1 in the report which gave details of a major variation resulting in a projected increase in expenditure for the installation and replacement of heating systems which was largely as a result of large numbers of old back boilers failing their annual gas service.  It was pointed out that these works was not additional to the programme but were simply being brought forward. There was also a recommendation to use high quality Combination boilers for all dwellings.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Members for Housing and Adult Social Services be advised to

i)            Note progress made on schemes

ii)         Approve the variations listed in Table 1 (Repairs to Local Authority Properties) and Table 2 (Modernisation of Local Authority Homes)

iii)        Refer the schemes in Table 3 (Social Services) and referred to in paragraph 19 to the Executive for approval

iv)        Note minor variations made under officers delegated authority and the officer specification recommendation in relation to combination central heating boilers referred to in paragraph 13

Decision of the Executive Members for Housing and Adult Social Services

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To update Members on the first quarter review of the Housing and Social Services Capital Programmes.

This report outlines the key ideas and proposals contained within the Government’s recently published Housing Green Paper and Eco-Towns Prospectus and provides initial thoughts on the implications and opportunities presented for York.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for Housing be advised to

i)                   Delegate responsibility for the submission of a formal response to the Green paper to officers in Housing, City Strategy and Economic Development, who will seek to formulate a response in consultation with lead members over the next few weeks.

ii)         Provide any initial views on the details of the Green Paper and the comments supplied within this report.

ii)                 Ask that any other comments on the Green Paper be submitted to the Head of Housing by 30 September 2007.

Decision of the Executive Member for Housing

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:      i) The next available EMAP meeting is on 29 October 2007, after the deadline submission date of 15 October.

ii)So that these comments can be considered and incorporated into the final response to government.

Consideration was given to an information report which outlined the key ideas and proposals contained within the Government’s recently published Housing Green Paper and Eco-towns Prospectus and which provided some initial thoughts on the implications and opportunities presented for York. It was reported that the Government wee seeking views on the Green Paper by 15 October 2007.

The Green Paper set out current government policy to increase the supply of housing, to provide well designed and greener homes supported by appropriate infrastructure and to provide more affordable homes to buy or rent.

Some members expressed disappointment that they would not have the opportunity to view and discuss this sizeable document prior to the Councils response. Officers confirmed that a copy of the initial response would be emailed to all members of the Panel and that any comments received would where appropriate be incorporated into the final response.

Officers confirmed that this was a great opportunity for members and officers to influence the future provision of homes to meet growing demand, homes which met people’s needs which were greener and more affordable. In answer to members questions Officers stated that a review was to be undertaken to identify all surplus public land in the authorities boundary.

 Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for Housing be advised to

i)                   Delegate responsibility for the submission of a formal response to the Green paper to officers in Housing, City Strategy and Economic Development, who will seek to formulate a response in consultation with lead members over the next few weeks.

ii)         Provide any initial views on the details of the Green Paper and the comments supplied within this report.

ii)                 Ask that any other comments on the Green Paper be submitted to the Head of Housing by 30 September 2007.

Decision of the Executive Member for Housing

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:      i) The next available EMAP meeting is on 29 October 2007, after the deadline submission date of 15 October.

ii)So that these comments can be considered and incorporated into the final response to government.

This report seeks agreement from the Executive Member for Housing to write off a number of former tenants arrears.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for Housing be advised to approve Option 2 which involves writing off former tenants arrears of £23,111.53 as detailed in Annex A of the report.

Decision of the Executive Member for Housing

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  In line with the recommendations of the audit report detailed in paragraph 2 and to help reduce the bad debt impact on the Housing Revenue Account.

Members considered a report which detailed former tenants arrears, which were recommended for, write off. It was reported that these cases were where Housing Services had attempted a number of traces but had been unable to obtain a forwarding address or any information on the whereabouts of the tenant or where the tenant had died leaving insufficient funds.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for Housing be advised to approve Option 2 which involves writing off former tenants arrears of £23,111.53 as detailed in Annex A of the report.

Decision of the Executive Member for Housing

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  In line with the recommendations of the audit report detailed in paragraph 2 and to help reduce the bad debt impact on the Housing Revenue Account.

This report provides the Executive Member with details of a petition presented at full Council on 28 June 2007 regarding the proposed affordable housing development at Morritt Close, York.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for Housing be advised to            note the petition requesting that bungalows rather than houses are built at Morritt Close, York.

Decision of the Executive Member for Housing

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To update Members on receipt of the petition and to inform them of consultation undertaken in relation to development of this site and details of the housing waiting list.

Members considered a report, which provided Members with details of a petition that had been presented to Council on 28 June regarding the proposed affordable housing development at Morritt Close, York.

The petition had requested that an equal or smaller number of bungalows should be provided for the same area. Officers confirmed that the majority of people on the housing waiting list required family housing rather than bungalows.

Members referred to an email received from Cllr Potter, Local Member, in which she stated the report did not address the request in the petition. She listed a summary of the comments made at the consultation meeting held in relation to the development, for member’s information. Officers confirmed that feedback on the comments had been sent to residents and they stated that a copy of this response would be sent to members.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for Housing be advised to            note the petition requesting that bungalows rather than houses are built at Morritt Close, York.

Decision of the Executive Member for Housing

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel as set out above be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To update Members on receipt of the petition and to inform them of consultation undertaken in relation to development of this site and details of the housing waiting list.