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 Service 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.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Pat Callaghan.

The death of Her Majesty The Queen.

The Chair to announce holding a one-minute silence to mark the death of the Queen.

Any other announcements

The death of Her Majesty the Queen

The Chair announced and led a one-minute silence following the passing the Queen.

Relevant discussions

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

Visit to the repairs centre

The Chair visited the Repairs Centre and was given a tour by the Head of Property Customer Services and Engagement. He was shown how the new repairs system would work and found the visit very helpful and informative.

The Housing Forum National Conference 2022

The Chair attended the conference and would circulate and update on the discussions that were held and was happy to share the information in the conference literature that he collected.

No declarations were made.

There was no such business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Gospel Oak DMC held on 11 July 2022 and to note the consolidated DMC Actions Report.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2022.

Members were happy to agree the minutes, however, they noted that some members had been not included in the list of attendees, these were:

Alex Grant – DMC Member,  Cayford House TRA

Sarah Jensen – DMC Sub, Mansfield Road TRA

Nicola Stephens – DMC Sub, Bacton Tower TRA

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes be agreed subject to the attendance of the above members being noted.

Report of the Director of Housing and the Director of Property Services.

This report brings together an update on Housing and Property service areas of performance since the June DMC round.  In addition to the performance updates, that now includes complaints there is also information on the Council’s Small Site Programme, information about Parking Enforcement and an update on the proposed Housing Residents Performance Panel that DMCs are invited to comment on.

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

In his introduction of the report, the Head of Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement drew attention to the importance of building up the Housing Revenue Account and the questions the Committee may have on heating charges. He said that due to the volatility in energy markets he would be unable to be precise or specific in his answers. He commented that there was financial support available to resident, information of which could be found in the appendices of the report.

The Head of Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement concluded the report introduction by saying that ideas on what more could be done to support residents would be welcomed.

In their discussion of the report, the Committee Members made the following key comments:

A question was asked around traffic management orders, which department deals with them and whether they would be available to view by the public on the website. The Head of Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement responded to say that traffic management orders fell under the Estates Management Team, he would seek an update to be given to the Committee.

Action by: the Head of Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement

A Councillor Observer told the committee that she was collating a list of residents who had felt they had not been treated satisfactorily by the call centre. She asked if there were any residents who had experienced issues with the call centre that they get in touch with her.

The Head of Property Customer Services and Engagement responded that it was important to take into account that the call centre can take up to 1000 a calls a day and it would be unrealistic to expect residents to feel satisfied with the outcome every time.

The service carried out telephone surveys every month and in the past three months over 400 residents had responded. Some key results of this were that 95% of residents found the call centre to be helpful and 70% had found the process easy to navigate.

In the past year there had been a 43% increase to repairs requests and so it was to be expected that certain jobs had to be prioritised over others in terms of emergency response. All calls were recorded, and any compliant raised about the service received would be investigated.

In response to comments made by Committee Members the Head of Property Customer Services and Engagement recognised the need for improvement around continued communication regarding ongoing repairs cases. Work was being undertaken to improve the information available to those in the back-office system to enable residents to see the progress of their cases. He said the aim was to have this new system operational in May 2023.

The Chair then asked for a brief explanation of the Residents Panel, which was given by the Head of Property Customer Services and Engagement and the Tenant Participation Co-ordinator. They then asked the Committee for nominations of DMC representatives who  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Head of Tenancy 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 Landlord Services.

The Neighbourhood Manager introduced the report and said that there had been no new bids and there were some that were still pending.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted

Report of the Cabinet Member for Better Homes on housing issues in the Borough.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Better Homes.

In his introduction of the report, the Cabinet Member that the Council was facing challenges from the cost of living and inflation. He spoke of Camden’s response to the government consultation on rent caps. Camden had responded to the consultation asking that the government reinstate, as a one off, the subsidy for non-profit social housing providers.

The Cabinet Member told the Committee that the consultation had asked providers whether the increase to rent should be 3%, 5% or 7%. Camden’s response to this was that no increase to rent would meet the challenges in funding that they faced and that the reinstation of the subsidy would be needed so that Camden could meet the responsibility they had to tenants.

The Cabinet Member agreed with concerns from Members on the impact that any increase to rent would have as costs were increasing for other things, like groceries. In response to questions from the committee, the Cabinet Member noted that information and signposting to support that was available to tenants could be found in the report and on Camden’s website. Information had also been sent to tenants through the post.

Members then asked questions about the caretaking grading system, the Principal Caretaking Manager explained the system and how the grading worked. A Councillor Observer asked if the 9% of Grade C sites were localised. The Principal Caretaking Manager commented that he would take this away to respond, he agreed to share a report to show the location of the Grade C sites.

Action by: the Principal Caretaking Manager

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Housing Ombudsman guidance notes

The Chair raised that the Housing Ombudsman had updated guidance notes available on their website about processes and expectations. When a resident had exhausted the complaints system within Camden, they could go directly to the Housing Ombudsman.

Phasing out of analogue telephony

A Member asked of progress made in regard to the end of analogue telephony in 2025 and any renovation works that would be required. Officers agreed to take this away and provide a response in due course.

Action by: the Head of Property Customer Services and Engagement

Report of the Chair of Holborn DMC.

An update for the September Round as at 19^th August.

There was no such business.