Agenda and minutes

To consider any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Andrea Radice and Ifrax Mahamoud (co-opted members) and Glendine Shepherd (Director of Housing).

There were none.

Broadcasting of the meeting.

The Chair advised the meeting that due to technical issues the meeting was not able to be broadcast.

There were none.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th July 2023.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th July 2023.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th July 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Requests to speak at the Committee on a matter within its terms of reference must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 5pm two working days before the meeting.

There were none.

Report of the Director of Property Management

The Council is committed to the highest standards of resident safety and has carried out significant work to improve the safety of its homes. The Council approved its Fire and Building Safety Charter in July 2021 and is an early adopter in relation to regulatory change, playing an active role in Government working groups to develop the new regulations. Its work to improve resident safety spans all tenures and forms part of our ambition that Camden has decent, safe, warm, and family-friendly housing to support its communities. This report sets out how the Council has secured resources, has implemented change and is meeting the requirements of the Fire Safety Act 2021, Building Safety Act 2022 and the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 as they take effect. The report also describes the changes and investment the Council has already made in relation to fire and building safety and how the Council will be taking additional action to respond to the Regulatory Notice issued in July 2023.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management.

Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management, took the meeting through the report and he along with Councillor Georgia Gould, Leader of the Council, Gillian Marston, Executive Director Supporting Communities, Dominic Johnson, Head of Resident & Building Safety, and Ododo Dafe, Head of Innovation and Improvement, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Council had obtained resources to pay for the Chalcots capital works and some other capital works carried out on the Cromer Estate (approximately £87.6M), and through the court settlement relating to the Chalcots. However, the ancillary costs regarding the evacuation, and the costs attached to the implementation of the Fire Safety and Building Safety Acts had mainly to be borne by the Council’s own HRA, as additional Government resources had not been provided. This had meant that the Council has had to provide approximately £200M from its own resources to fund most of these requirements. The Council would continue to lobby the Government for local authorities to be given appropriate additional burden resources to fund these additional duties and responsibilities.

·       The procurement of contractors to undertake works was a challenging process due to market volatility, so the Council was taking an agile approach when possible so the works could be undertaken, delivered and monitored effectively.

·       Officers were working with the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) regarding the way forward for the Council following the regulatory notice, and they would share the action plan arising from the regulatory notice once it had been signed off by the Regulator of Social Housing.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management

·       The Council was proactively getting on and delivering the works outlined in the regulatory notice and when the RSH returns in the autumn, it was expected that the authority would be able to provide evidence that it was on the right pathway for the delivery of the required works.

·       The Council remained focussed on achieving the highest standards of resident safety and had been part of the Government’s early adopter group; put in place and delivered fire risk assessments for its Council homes; and set up a Fire Safety & Compliance Advisory Panel (FS& CAP) to contribute to ongoing developments in fire safety and monitor the Council’s delivery of its own fire safety works. Further thought was also being given regarding the membership of the FS&CAP so it could involve all the political groups on the Council, along with whether an independent co-chair should be brought in to work with the resident co-chair.

·       The Council had a good record of informing its own residents regarding the duties and responsibilities arising from the new regulatory framework. The Council also had been working with other providers who would also be required to take on some of these responsibilities to ensure that they shared information with their own tenants. Officers would provide members with a copy of the briefing information being provided to private rented sector landlords.

ACTION BY: Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Director of Housing and the Director of Property Management

The Housing Scrutiny Committee discussed the council’s strategy to tackle overcrowding and purchase family friendly homes on 12^th December 2022. The Cabinet then took the decision to approve the strategy on 14^th December 2022. This report provides an update on the overcrowding challenge facing the council and its residents and of the progress made enacting this strategy.

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

Ododo Dafe, Head of Innovation and Improvement, took the meeting through the report and she gave the following key responses to questions:

·      Officers would seek to ensure that the downsizing offer was widely known amongst tenants in the borough. The information would be more widely shared with other places within the borough that were well accessed by tenants (e.g., community centres, G.P surgeries, as well as family hubs).

·      Housing officers worked with colleagues in adult social care and children’s services to ensure that they were able to reach those tenants that needed assistance, because they were living in overcrowded homes or may wish to downsize.

·      The Council worked alongside the tenant to understand their experiences and needs, this in-turn would help the development of a bespoke approach to their needs. The approach being followed had been shaped by the learning achieved from the visits to the 22 severely overcrowded families that was undertaken in January 2023, and the subsequent workshops with staff. Increases in the number of tenants seeking to downsize required a multifaceted approach that could not be solely achieved through the offer of increased financial incentives. When appropriate overcrowded households could be offered, a storage shed at no extra cost if that would help ease their situation. This offer could also be used to help in other circumstances.

·      Officers were using the data from the choice based lettings system to see who was bidding for what types of properties, and through that checking which overcrowded households weren’t bidding to see if they could be encouraged to bid for homes in the scheme.

·      The aim of the Family Friendly Housing Purchase Programme was to purchase family size former right to buy properties. This would be entirely funded by capital receipts from the sale of several categories of housing that were uneconomical or of low social value or both. 

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Directors of Supporting People, Supporting Communities and Corporate Services.

This report focusses on Quarter 4 (Q4) 2022/23 and an overview of performance of the whole financial year, using a broad range of measures from each directorate and divisions across the organisation. Individual services have provided a narrative covering key performance challenges and areas of positive improvement in their service areas.

This report is divided into two main sections, namely:

-       A strategic summary which highlights challenges and anticipated pressures coming in 2023/24, as well as featuring any systemic issues and risks that are considered relevant to our organisational health.

-       A detailed summary of core service delivery for quarter 4 and the year 2022/23 as a whole across each of our three Directorates.

Taken together, these sections are intended to provide Camden Management Team (CMT) with a picture of performance across the Council and enable CMT to take decisions about any further remedial or improvement activity required over and above activity already underway in services. 

This report includes expanded data on a range of organisational health measures (staff turnover, sickness, complaints etc) by directorate (and division for some measures).

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Directors of Supporting People, Supporting Communities and Corporate Services.

Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management, took the meeting through the report and he along with Ododo Dafe, Head of Innovation and Improvement, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       Officers agreed to provide further information regarding the ‘Cost of Living’ support being provided by the Camden Advice Network (e.g. where the support was based, types of concerns being presented, number on waiting lists to access advice and how long on average were they on a waiting list for, and what happens to those on agency waiting lists). Also, further information to be provided regarding accessing the temporary accommodation homes the council has, the  support provided through that process, and storage available on estates.

ACTION BY: Head of Innovation and Improvement/Head of Neighbourhoods

·       Officers would also provide further information regarding rough sleeper support provision (e.g. numbers contacted, where they were located, what support they were provided with, and repeat person contact)

ACTION BY: Director of Public Safety/Director of Housing

·       Officers were working hard to speed up the gas certification process to ensure that the whole project was undertaken as quickly as possible.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Chair of the Housing Scrutiny Committee.

The paper sets out the proposed terms of reference for a potential Homelessness scrutiny panel as requested by the Chair of the Housing Scrutiny Committee. The purpose of the Panel will be to examine residentunderstanding and perceptions of homelessness and theexperiences of accessing joined up, holistic support for those who have been or are currently homeless.  

It is proposed that this examination is framed by a ‘whole system’ approach to homelessness, in line with the aims of the Homelessness System Transformation programme. A ‘whole system approach’ means looking at the issue of homelessness from a range of perspectives across health, social care, housing, justice and community sectors. This can be achieved by viewing the holistic strengths and needs of people experiencing homelessness from their perspective, rather than focusing on specific services.   

As such, an additional aim of the panel is proposed: to consider the role the council, currently and in the future,in convening the wider ‘homelessness system’ of different organisations and groups to deliver a more joined up response.  

Consideration was given to the report of the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee.

The scrutiny committee agreed to the establishment of a scrutiny panel to look at homelessness with the terms of reference as set out in the paper, with Councillor Richard Cotton as the panel chair, along with Councillors Kemi Atolagbe, Tommy Gale and Nancy Jirira as the other members. The panel would submit its final panel report to the scrutiny committee at its February meeting at the latest.

RESOLVED –

That the Homelessness Scrutiny Panel be established as identified above.

ACTION BY: Director of Housing (JH)/Director of Corporate Strategy and Policy Design (IDLC)

Report of the Director of Housing

This report suggests a possible work programme for the scrutiny committee

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management.

The meeting was advised that the work programme should be revised to add for the November meeting the Cabinet report on the Resident Safety Programme – Implementation of the Fire and Building Safety Acts (Cabinet Report) and the Decent Homes Standard and an update on the 2023 stock condition survey. Also, to revise the January meeting with the report of the Cabinet Adviser: Leaseholder Billing and Service Charges to be moved to the February meeting. The final report of the Homelessness Scrutiny Panel was to be considered at the February meeting at the latest, though it could come to an earlier meeting if the work was completed sooner. All remaining meetings for the municipal year would have an update on fire safety and regulatory standard.

The scrutiny committee also wished to see added to the programme reports on the Tenants Satisfaction Regulatory Survey, when it was available. Also, update reports should be provided regarding the Cabinet Adviser reports on Supporting Rough Sleepers, Estates Mission and Tenants Participation.

The scrutiny committee asked the Cabinet Member for Better Homes if his next report to the meeting could include information regarding rent arrears, repairs (including lifts and what the issues were along with proposals for improvement), and voids.

ACTION BY: Cabinet Member Better Homes

Members asked that officers ensure that they provide responses to actions in good time rather than waiting for the next meeting of the scrutiny committee to provide the update.

Officers agreed to set up visits to the Council’s temporary accommodation sites for members of the scrutiny committee to attend.

                                                              ACTION BY: Director of Housing

Programme of meetings (new items in bold)

Items:

·       Repairs and improvement

(This report to include information on planned maintenance and the retrofit programme; roll-out of CCTV across the borough, damp and mould)

·       Housing Association update report

(A report on the activity from Housing Associations in the borough – including the build of new homes; how they are tackling key issues such as damp and mould).

·       Housing Services Performance Update

·       Resident Safety Programme – Implementation of the Fire and Building Safety Acts (Cabinet Report)

·       Update on fire safety and regulatory standard.

·       Decent Homes Standard and an update on the 2023 stock condition survey

·       Cabinet Member better Homes – Update

·       Work programme

·       Housing needs and allocations

·       Housing Supply:

-       CIP delivery including small sites (Cabinet report)

-       Temporary Accommodation Purchasing Programme

-       Private rented sector

·       HRA Budget Update

·       Update on fire safety and regulatory standard.

·       Cabinet Member better Homes – Update

·       Work programme

JANUARY 2024

·       HRA rent setting (Cabinet report)

·       Tenancy arrears

·       Cost of Living issues

·       Update on fire safety and regulatory standard.

·       Cabinet Member Better Homes – Update

·       Work programme

FEBRUARY 2024

·       CIP annual report  

·       Cabinet Member Better Homes annual report

·       Update on fire safety and regulatory standard.

·       Report of Cabinet Adviser: Leaseholder billing and service charges

·       Homelessness Scrutiny  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

There were none.