Agenda and minutes

Appendix A lists those Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations (TRAs), which have satisfactorily completed the registration process at the date of despatch of this agenda. It gives details of the representatives of those Associations to be co-opted onto the DMC, in accordance with the constitution, together with the names of the substitutes.

Appendix B lists those TRAs whose registrations have lapsed. If a TRA wishes to register it must hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM), open to all members, once a year (with an independent observer in attendance). The Minutes must be sent to the Tenant Participation Team together with a membership list and a completed registered form.

The DMC considered the list of registered tenant and resident associations (TRAs) provided by the Tenant Participation Service listed at Appendix A to the agenda and those TRAs whose registration had lapsed, which were listed at Appendix B.

No apologies were received.

The Chair made an announcement about the behaviour expected from members in order to have meetings that meetings were efficient and effective.

There were no declarations.

There was no such business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Gospel Oak DMC held on 20 October 2022 and to consider the progress report.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes and progress report be agreed.

To consider the report of the Directors of Housing and the Director of Property Management

Due to the importance of the HRA Budget and Service Charge information, on this occasion the consolidated paper has been split into discussion and information items for the December DMC round of meetings. Discussion items on HRA budget and service charges, the impact of the inflation and rent levels on the repairs service and plans to transform Housing Management services will have officers in attendance to present those papers and answer questions, whilst the ‘for information’ listed papers provide background context to the discussion items but will not have specific officers attending to cover each issue.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Housing and the Director of Property Services.

The Team Leader (HRA & Capital Projects) introduced HRA Budget 23/24 section of the report, who, along with the Cabinet Member for Better Homes, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       Camden had very few options for funding the HRA, the main way to do this was through raising charges for social housing residents. Camden had been pushing back on the Government to provide further options.

·       Rents do not go down due to the price index but had previously gone down due to housing welfare reforms.

·       It would be helpful for residents to make funding recommendations to the Council as there were only a small number of identified revenue streams.

·       Inflation this year had reached over 10%, however, the real inflation for the Housing Sector was much higher due to supply cost increases and cost of labour.

·       The Cabinet Member had written to the Government asking for a solution to plug the financial deficit. They agreed to share this letter with the Committee.

Action by: the Cabinet Member for Better Homes

·       Estates all paid the same amount for caretakers but was dependent on the number of full time caretaking staff the Estate had. Any individual issues about caretaking should be raised with the caretaking service.

The Head of Housing Repairs and Operations introduced the Repairs section of the report and then gave the following key responses to questions:

·       Camden did employ welders but did not have a full cohort. Work was underway to employ more specialised workers, but it was proving difficult due to labour shortages.

·       There had been some issues with the resident call back facilities and improvement to it was needed. The Head of Repairs and Operations would feed back to the Committee after speaking with the Head of Property Customer Services and Engagement about communication channels for residents who do not have smart phones.  

Action by: the Head of Repairs and Operations

The Director of Housing introduced the Housing Transformation section of the report and then gave the following key responses to questions:

·       There was no formal engagement planned around the housing visits to resident homes, instead the tenancy management team would arrange and structure the visits. If residents refused these visits, the team would get in touch with them.

·       The Director asked the DMC to get in touch with housing officers int eh first instance with any concerns around changes to services.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of Landlord Services.

In line with the DMC funding guidelines, TRAs will be asked to provide an update to the meeting regarding the progress of agreed bids, including an update on the associated spend. TRAs are invited to circulate any relevant information in advance through the clerk.

TRAs are encouraged to submit bids as soon as possible, so they can be properly assessed and prepared by officers, ready for submission to the DMC. TRAs are reminded that verbal bids cannot be accepted at DMC meetings as, in line with the guidelines, officers need to be able to assess bids before passing them to the DMC.

For more information on DMC bids, please see our webpages: www.camden.gov.uk/dmcbids.

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Landlord Services.

The Landlord Services Manager explained to the DMC that since the agenda had been published, there had been two bids submitted. Usually they would be heard at the meeting after the necessary paperwork had been submitted, however, as there was a time sensitive element to them, the Chair had agreed to take them.

Bacton Tower TRA, Ludham & Waxham TRA, Wendling TRA and St Martins Church and Cooperation Town – warm spaces

Information about the bid was circulated to members before the meeting and copies were available at the meeting (Appendix A).

The bid was introduced by representatives from Ludham & Waxham and Wendling TRAs.

Members of the committee asked questions of clarity from the representatives, there was concern over some of what was being asked for in the itemised breakdown of cost. The DMC decided to vote on each itemised cost and agreed the following with the final amount for each item to be agreed and signed off by officers:

RESOLVED –

THAT the DMC grant funding for the bid to cover heating, kitchen supplies, games and crafts, food and refreshments and cleaning.

Queens Crescent Community Association – foodbank

The bid was outlined by the Vice-Chairs for £13,000 as a one-off payment to the foodbank that runs out of Queens Crescent Community Association to support low income families over the winter period and Christmas.

RESOLVED –

THAT bid be agreed and the £13,000 given to the foodbank.

To consider any local issues raised by DMC representatives.

Bacton Tower TRA Bid

Bacton Tower TRA had submitted a bid separate to the warm spaces one for some furniture. The Landlord Services Manager explained that the bids from the three participating TRAs were joined together. She suggested that Bacton resubmit their separate bid for the next meeting.

Refreshment break

A DMC member raised that the time set aside for breaks, that often overran, could be used giving more consideration to the reports or allowing the meeting to finish earlier. Other members did not agree with shortening or getting rid of the refreshment break as it had always been a part of the DMC meetings. After a vote it was

RESOLVED –

THAT the 15 minute refreshment break remained in meetings.

DMC pre-meeting surgeries

The Chair outlined the proposal for a surgery to be held with officers ahead of DMC meetings for DMC representatives to raise individual issues so that issues were not raised during meetings. Notification of issues brought to a surgery would need to be given 7 days in advance This was agreed by the committee. The Chair explained that the details would be agreed with officers.

Clarence Way bid

The Tenant Participation Coordinator sought permission from the DMC to present a bid at the next meeting for funding to refurbish the TRA hall in Clarence Way. This was agreed by the Committee.

There was no such business.