Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors James Slater and Will Prince.

There were no declarations. 

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and could be viewed on the website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts were archived and could be made available upon request. Those who had asked to address the meeting were deemed to be consenting to having their contributions recorded and broadcast and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.

Item 9: Annual Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living had given apologies and was unable to attend the meeting. In light of this, the Chair asked that it be agreed to defer Item 9 to the next meeting so that the Cabinet member could be present to answer questions.

There were no deputations.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living.

This report considers the options for a Council Tax Support (CTS) for the year 2023/24.

The report is coming to the Cabinet because The Local Government Finance Act 2012 amends the Local Government Finance Act 1992 which sets out the requirement for the Council to agree a local council tax reduction scheme on an annual basis.

Camden’s current scheme, launched in 2020/21, remains one of the most generous Council Tax Support schemes in the country with income bands based on London Living Wage, ensuring that 15,999 households (including pensioners) in Camden currently receive 100% support and do not pay any Council Tax. 

The coronavirus pandemic saw the number of claimants increase substantially due to changes in income and circumstances.  However, since restrictions lifted, caseload numbers have not returned to pre pandemic numbers as the number of households getting 100% CTS support has only fallen by 353 cases since October 2021. 

The current cost-of-living crisis adds further risk of significant changes to people’s employment and financial situations as residents struggle to afford the cost of food, energy and housing.  As a result, it is proposed that the current scheme remains in place for 2023/24, with minor updates only in line with legislative changes over the past year which have no negative impacts on our residents, so that the Council can provide certainty for residents.  Income bands will also be uplifted in line with the new levels for London Living Wage, meaning those with disabilities or children can earn up to £537.75 a week and still receive support.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living. The report was introduced by the Director of Customer services and the Head of Council Tax, Business Rates and Benefits.

In their consideration of the report, Members asked for a breakdown of the council tax reduction figures by ward. The Head of Council Tax, Business Rates and Benefits agreed to circulate this information to Members.

Action by: The Head of Council Tax, Business Rates and Benefits

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted

Report of the Borough Solicitor.

This is the London Borough of Camden’s annual complaints report for the period 1^st April 2021 to 31^st March 2022.

It is a single report that includes information on complaints across all directorates. The report also provides information for decisions issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and the Housing Ombudsman (HO) in the same period.

The report also includes information on other types of formal enquiries which are often linked to complaints:

-       Member Enquiries and MP Enquiries.

-       Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests.

-       Judicial Reviews

The Council’s Constitution states that the Ombudsman decisions on cases where there have been mistakes or failings (called “maladministration”) should be presented to Cabinet on an annual basis for their information only. Therefore, the report provides the decisions issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and the Housing Ombudsman (HO) in the same period and this report will be presented to Cabinet on 14^th December 2022.

The report, how it is presented and what it contains, continues to develop and evolve and as in previous years suggestions for improvements are sought from Members.

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor who, along with the Service Manager – Business Support, introduced the report.

Members commented that there had been an increase in complaints around the quality of service and asked whether this was mainly housing related complaints. The Service Manager – Business Support, said that generally, most complaints fell under the same handful of categories. Quality was one area of these high complaint categories, though it did vary year to year. Most of these complaints were around housing repairs and property management.

The Head of Property Customer Services and Engagement, responded to Members that there had been a 40% increase in repairs requests so the increase in complaints was proportional. They went on to break down the main reasons behind complaints was repairs work taking multiple visits to fix an issue. The repairs team was in conversation with contractors to help them understand the frustration felt by residents and seek an improvement. The number of visits and time taken to complete a repair is getting better, based on the number of repairs carried out, but there were still areas that needed improving.

A Member asked what work was being carried out to improve systems where there were multiple elements to a complaint or members enquiry that involved more than one team. The Service Manager – Business Support that it would be too logistically difficult to split a complaint into the individual components for a response which is why in these instances there is a lead service who take responsibility for liaising with different departments and responding to the resident.

Members discussed the automated responses with the use of no-reply emails. Residents found the system difficult to navigate as there was no contact information provided to follow up their complaint or query. The Service Manager – Business Support responded that they were having conversations with colleagues in IT and system developers. The intention was for contact details of a named officer to be sent out with the reply email, however, some of the reply messages had not been clear about who the resident would need to contact. IT were looking into making the necessary improvements to the system. The Service Manager – Business Support agreed to provide information around the IT process of no-reply emails being sent to residents.

Action by: Service Manager – Business Support

In response to a member question on the increase in Stage 2 complaints being upheld, the Service Manager – Business Support said that Camden were investigating the cause of this. There had been more Stage 1 complaints and proportionally more Stage 2, however they needed to understand whether the increase in upheld Stage 2 complaints was due to complaints not adequately being handled at Stage 1.

Members were interested in the ambition for Tenancy Management to carry out a home visit to every single tenant and whether this was achievable. The Head of Landlord Services responded that this was an achievable goal and that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living.

RESOLVED -

THAT the report be deferred to the next meeting of the Committee.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services.

This paper provides an outline of the 2022/23 work programme and provides an update on actions requested at previous meetings of the Committee in the Action Tracker.

RESOLVED -

THAT the report be noted.

There was no such business.