Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

The Chair welcomed the new Members of the Committee.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Davis, Hoskin, Jockel, Miles and Wilsher.

To receive declarations of interest.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2023.

RESOLVED   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 March were approved as a correct record.

The Chair of the Committee will answer questions from members of the public submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

There were none.

See Agenda Item 4 for deadlines for submission.

There were none.

To consider and note the Onion Collective’s ‘Common Ground in Stonehouse’ consultation report and recommended next steps.

The Strategic Director of Resources introduced the report and explained that this report was formulated as a result of a Motion that went to Full Council in July 2022. He proceeded to highlight the following key points:

• The Council had appointed consultants to engage with the community and any stakeholders and to look at the strategic design options for the site.
• The anticipated cost for the consultation and additional work from the consultants would be £74k which would be paid from the General Fund Regeneration Fund.
• The report acknowledged the community interest in the site and its neighbouring sites along the canal corridor which had undergone improvements.
• The report asked the Committee to remove the site from the new build programme however the Strategy and Resources Committee would need to make the decision to appropriate the site and reinvest the value into affordable housing in the local area.

Councillor Davies questioned whether the sites current value in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) would differ from its market value. The Strategic Director of Resources explained that they were required to transfer the site at its full market value which  would be calculated by external valuers. He also confirmed to Councillor Davies that this report was the first piece of work the consultants had completed and that the £74k budget would cover not only the consultation work but also the design options for the site.

In response to Councillor Green, it was confirmed that the last valuation of the site, taken place last year, was roughly £500k and would have taken into account all factors including the refused planning permission.

Councillor Fryer questioned whether the investment back into the area would include social housing. The Strategic Director of Resources explained that would be a decision for the Committee to make at the next Budget setting meeting provided that the Strategy and Resources Committee agreed to appropriate the site from the HRA and earmark the funding for affordable housing in the local area.

Ms Adams questioned whether there would be an opportunity for the site to be used for both the community and social housing. The Strategic Director of Resources explained that the Working Group would be considering different designs for the site.

Councillor Luff questioned how many housing units the site could accommodate and whether the reinvestment into the local area meant the district as a whole. The Chair confirmed that the last application was for 9 housing units and that the reinvestment in the local area would be for the Town of Stonehouse.

Councillor Schoemaker proposed, and Councillor Fryer seconded.

Councillor Schoemaker commended the report and echoed that Stonehouse needed more affordable housing. He further stated that this site would be an opportunity for Stonehouse to gain the benefits of the Canal.

Councillor Davies commended the report and questioned when it would be going to Strategy and Resources Committee. The Strategic Director of Resources confirmed they were aiming for it to go to the October Committee.

The Chair highlighted the  ...  view the full minutes text for item HC.006

To present members with the  Independent Living Strategy in relation to Independent Living for people aged 55+.

The Service Delivery Manager introduced the report and explained that this Strategy would supersede the Older Persons Housing Strategy. She highlighted the main changes which included:

·         The strategy had been linked to the Council Plan 2021-2026

·         The strategy addressed the housing need as well as health and wellbeing.

·         There had been many additions made to the strategy which were listed on page 50 of the reports pack.

·         An action plan had been included which would be a live document that could be continually added to in response to changes.

The Service Delivery Manager gave the following answers in response to questions asked from Councillors:

·         The Survey at appendix D was sent out to all tenants between the ages 40-55 as they were previously identified to be potential new Independent Living Tenants. However, this was not entirely inclusive and was planned to be addressed as part of the action plan. They would like to target all tenants as well as tenants from other housing providers.

·         They had a small team of Enabling Officers who worked closely with Adult Social Care with tenants when required.

In response to Councillor Davies, the Service Deliver Manager explained that there were a few Independent Living Schemes that had expressed an interest to remove the communal area in order to reduce service cost however there was a larger piece of work to be completed to consult on other factors before that decision could be made.

In response to Councillor Schoemaker it was:

·         Agreed to provide the percentage of Independent Living residents who were originally Council Tenants outside of the meeting.

·         It was confirmed that approximately 10% of tenants that had been referred through Adult Social Care were not receiving the support they needed. This led to many multiagency meetings and the Enabling Officers often picking up a more supportive role.

·         It was hoped that going forward an assessment would be completed after the initial viewing of accommodation to ensure that the correct support was in place in order to sustain a tenancy.

Councillor Luff questioned the response rate from the survey and its accessibility. The Service Delivery Manager confirmed it had a very low response rate and they would be looking into other options for the survey in the future.

Councillor Green questioned the benchmarking figures on page 74 of the reports pack and whether they should be more aligned. The Strategic Head of Housing confirmed that the benchmarking data was comparable with other authorities with similar housing stock.

The Chair suggested the following friendly amendment:

c) Delegate to the Strategic Head of Housing to make minor amendments to the action plan in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair.

Councillors agreed to the friendly amendment.

Councillor Luff proposed and Councillor Fryer seconded.

Councillor Davies offered his assistance as a County Councillor to support Officers with any communication with Adult Social Care.

The Chair and Councillor Fryer commended the Officers for the report.

After being put to a vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED To:  ...  view the full minutes text for item HC.007

To present to the Committee the outturn position against the revenue budget and Capital programme for the Housing Revenue Account for 2022/23.

The Principal Accountant introduced the report and highlighted the following areas:

Housing Revenue Account

Underspend of £330k which was transferred reserves, earmarked to support the damp and mould strategy, compliance, admin support and training.

HRA Capital Programme

Underspend or Slippage of £4,695k which was outlined in table 5 on page 166 of the reports pack.

Councillor Davies asked whether the deadline (30 June 2023) listed on page 168 under the decarbonisation Project would be met. The Head of Assets & Investment (Council Housing) confirmed that they were on target for the grant funding to be spent by 30 June 2023 and the match funding from Stroud District Council had until the end of September to be used.

Councillor Green queried the overspend on Repairs and Maintenance and whether the overspend would have been close to £1m had the council been fully staffed. The Principal Accountant explained that, had the council been fully staffed then they would not have required the same number of contractors and therefore savings would have been made elsewhere.

In response to Councillor Green, the Principal Accountant confirmed that he would look into the figures of acquisitions from previous years outside the meeting.

The Chair, in response to Councillor Green, reminded the Committee that opportunities for the community land trust budget should be sought from the community with the assistance of the Council.

Councillor Schoemaker proposed, and Councillor Fryer seconded.

Councillor Davies debated whether the Council was ambitious enough with its acquisitions.

The Chair commended the report.

After being put to a vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED To note the Housing Revenue Account revenue and capital outturn position for 2022/23.

To update members on the service charges for Independent Living Scheme tenants with district heating systems.

The Principal Accountant introduced the report and explained that there were 5 Independent Living Schemes which utilised the district heating systems. These were listed on page 175 of the reports pack. He further explained that this report detailed the decision to reduce the service charges for tenants in these schemes for the following reasons:

·         The Government announced that the Energy Price Guarantee would be set at £2,500 until June 2023, rather than the £3,000 that was expected.

·         On 25 May 2023 Ofgem, the energy regulator, announced that the energy price cap for the period 1 July to 30 September 2023 would equate to a typical annual bill of £2,074. This was an indicator that gas prices would be reduced.

·         Those announcements were used to predict the costs for the coming period and therefore a reduction was recommended.

·         It was not possible to determine if the gas usage was lower (or higher) than the estimates however it would be monitored throughout the year.

Ms Adams, Tenant Representative, commended the breakdown of the cost and asked if the information was available for tenants to see. The Service Delivery Manager explained that a letter would be sent out imminently to the affected tenants however it could not predetermine the decision of the Committee.

In response to Councillor Luff, it was confirmed that the amount the tenants were being charged was roughly equivalent to what a typical customer would pay for their gas bills, this had been worked out by the finance team using the floorspace area.

Councillor Schoemaker proposed, and Councillor Fryer seconded.

Councillor Davies commended the report for the good news and thanked the Officers for acting rapidly.

Ms Adams, Tenant Representative, echoed Councillor Davies comments and thanked the Officers for their support with understanding how the charges were applied.

After being put to a vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED To reduce service charges for district heating systems by 21% from 7 August 2023, from an average of £23.41 per week to £18.49 per week.

This report presents the Council’s damp and mould self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman’s 26 recommendations taken from their spotlight report into damp and mould.

The Strategic Head of Housing introduced the report and explained that the report was to complete a damp and mould self-assessment for our own social housing stock. Damp and mould wasn’t a new issue but there was an increased focus following the tragic death of a child in Rochdale in 2020. The Social Housing Ombudsman had released a report which required all social housing providers to complete a self-assessment against their 26 Point Plan. Stroud District Council had seen an increase of damp and mould reports since November 2022 when the coroner’s report of the child’s death was released, and the cause of death confirmed. The self-assessment was one of the precautions that the council had introduced to ensure the approach was fit for purpose and that it safeguarded the wellbeing of residents. The Strategic Head of Housing explained that the different steps taken would feed into a new policy for damp and mould which would be brought back to Committee later this year. 

In response to Councillor Green, the Strategic Head of Housing highlighted that the initial working group had been Officer focused, following this he stated that he was happy for Members to be involved and would welcome any nominations. Councillor Green offered her support.

Ms Adams, one of the Tenant Representatives, stated that the Strategic Head of Housing had taken the time to speak to the Tenant Representatives and had listened to their views. It was felt that the onus had previously been placed on the tenants and it was refreshing to be included in the production of the new strategy.

In response to Councillor Patrick, the Strategic Head of Housing stated that damp and mould was one of several types of repairs. Officers would utilise a triage approach to identify urgent reports with immediate risk to health and anything lower priority would be scheduled in at an appropriate time. The working group had been looking at the different types of properties owned by Stroud District Council and identified which properties hadn’t had a repair in the last 2 years to enable staff to visit those properties to identify any issues.

Councillor Davies received the following answers in response to their questions:

·         The original damp and mould policy was signed off by the housing committee in 2017.

·         There were further changes to regulations coming, not just damp and mould, and there was a proactive plan to ensure homes were safe and habitable.

·         The action plan had been worked on for several months and any changes that could’ve been implemented had been. This included training for operatives and new and enhanced systems to record damp and mould.

Councillor Davies further questioned whether the Strategic Head of Housing was confident that staff could report urgent cases of damp and mould to him. The Strategic Head of Housing confirmed that staff had attended training on how to identify signs of mould and had already approached him regarding a few cases.

Following Councillor Green’s question regarding an individual case, the Strategic  ...  view the full minutes text for item HC.010

To appoint two performance monitors for Civic Year 2023-24.

Performance monitors carry out a scrutiny role and are typically a member of the opposition political group or an independent Councillor. These appointed Members will examine the work of the Council and report back to Committee on the progress made against the Council plan. 

Councillors Lindsey Green, Stephen Davies and Trina Davis were appointed as performance monitors.

Mr Ritcher, Tenant Representative, echoed the earlier comments from Ms Adams that they had met with the Strategic Head of Housing regarding the Damp and Mould Strategy. He further informed the Committee that they were booked to attend a course with the Tenant Participation Advisory Service TPAS in mid-July and would be reporting back on this at the next committee.

A report was circulated prior to the Committee as part of the reports pack.

The following responses were given:

·         The Officers were planning to put a report together which detailed all the achievements over the previous years as a result of the strategy.

·         There wouldn’t be a huge loss to residents from the Services that were recommended to be removed from the strategy as due to capacity issues they were currently not offered. The garden waste collections had been addressed by the Community Services Team, this was no longer an issue.

·         They would be working to address alternative bike storage options.

A report was circulated prior to the Committee as part of the reports pack there were no comments.

To consider the draft work programme.

There were no questions or comments on the Work Programme.