Agenda item

To agree that the strategy is fit for purpose and that a detailed action plan is to be presented to Housing Committee in June 2021.

The Head of Housing Services introduced the report. It constituted a new piece of work reflecting a commitment to improve the quality and cleanliness of the Council’s estates. Consultation took place in December 2020 and January 2021 and tenant feedback has been incorporated into the Strategy. Successful delivery of the strategy required collaborative consultation and development of specific standards around levels of cleanliness, and a review to ensure the standards were being met.

Reporting on performance would be a critical part of the transparency of service delivery and a clear indicator of resident satisfaction which had been poor to date. The aspirations of the strategy reflected the need for improvements, through a careful balance of support, education and enforcement. Work had been commissioned to help better understand and strengthen tenant involvement which would be developed and incorporated into future policies and strategies.

The strategy set out the Council’s expectations and aspirations to become an exemplar authority in its delivery of service, by putting communities at the heart of what it does.

The Head of Housing Services highlighted the four key principles and four delivery objectives the strategy was based on. He advised that an action plan was being developed and would be submitted to the Committee in June 2021. This would be more detailed and would outline when consultation and feedback took place, where the service touch points were, and the named person who would own each element.

Councillor Braun asked what the implications of the strategy would be for working with Ubico, and cited paragraph 1.9 of the report which referenced work undertaken by the Environment Committee in relation to the Waste Management Policy. The Head of Housing Services indicated the collaborative work undertaken with Ubico, but highlighted the importance of ensuring Ubico perform to expected Council standards as well as through contractual arrangements. He also emphasised the collaborative work that had already been undertaken between Tenant Services and Community Services within the Council to deliver an improved service across the district.

Councillor Powell asked whether it would be possible to speed up the response to incidents like fly-tipping from now on. The Head of Housing Services indicated that there was an urgency across the district to manage fly-tipping, and that with the right processes and people in place, work would be done to improve response times. This would form part of the action plan and include collaborative work with Community Services.

Councillor Davies suggested that, as the strategy had clear financial implications, it would have been useful to have detailed those in the report as justification for some of the work that was being progressed. The Head of Housing Services agreed to circulate this to the committee.

Councillor Dewey asked about the size of the estate and whether the strategy was likely to be applied more widely. The Head of Housing Services clarified that whilst initially the focus for the strategy would be on Council tenancies, the intention was to expand the work at a later date.

Councillor Fryer asked whether the Council charges that now applied for the removal of bulky waste could have increased the incidence of fly-tipping. The Head of Housing Services emphasised that fly-tipping could take many forms, and that whilst the Council charge could have had a small impact, the problem would not be solved by regular collections. The issue needed to be addressed through communication and education, with some punitive action taken when necessary. If affordability was a hinderance then more discussion with residents was required to resolve that.

Councillor Fryer proposed and Councillor Dewey seconded the motion.

a) To adopt the Cleaner Estates Strategy, and

b) To agree that a detailed action plan to deliver the strategy is presented to Housing Committee in June 2021.

Councillor Kay proposed an amendment as follows:

The Committee RESOLVES to:

a)    Adopt the Cleaner Estates Strategy, with the addition of “A commitment to ensure that specific needs are met with regard to any tenant or resident with protected characteristics category under the Equality Act 2010” into the key principles (3.3), and

b) Agree that a detailed action plan to deliver the strategy is presented to Housing Committee in June 2021.

The amendment was seconded by Councillor Braun and the wording was agreed by the Chair.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried unanimously.

The substantive Motion was then debated. On being put to the vote, it was carried unanimously.