Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED –

THAT the ‘A’ and ‘B’ lists be noted.

Apologies for absence were received from Lynda Stuart (Webheath), and Bill Granger (Arkwright Mansions).

There were no announcements.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no notifications of urgent business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Hampstead DMC held on 21^st September 2023.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 21^st September 2023 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Executive Director Communities

The DMC is asked to note the progress of the action points arising from the previous round of DMC meetings.

The action points were noted.

Report of the Team Leader (HRA and Capital Projects).

This report provides an update on Housing Revenue Account (HRA) 2024/25 Budget Setting progress ahead of the January Joint DMC meeting at which DMC representatives will be asked to provide feedback on proposals.

Consideration was given to a report of the Team Leader (HRA and Capital Projects).

The Head of Finance (Supporting Communities), Michael Webb, introduced the report. He explained that full proposals would be presented to the joint DMC meeting on 10 January 2024.

The key pressures on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) were:

·       Inflation

·       Interest rates

·       The need to invest in stock

·       Disrepair cases

·       Damp and mould cases

·       Extra requirements from the social housing regulator

The Head of Finance explained that the maximum legally permitted increase for social housing rents was CPI + 1%. Given the inflation rate in the relevant month for the calculation (September) was 6.7% this meant that rent increases could be 7.7%. This would amount to about £10.12 per week for a 2-bedroom property. Service charges would also be increasing, in line with the increased costs of those services.

Members were informed that heating scales for energy from the LASER consortium were not yet available and this meant that it was not known what heating pool charges would be. There would be a Zoom meeting on 14^th December to discuss the heating pool.

The Head of Finance said that the Council was seeking additional revenue from its commercial property portfolio, from garage rents, from voids improvements and to make savings in terms of greater repairs efficiencies. If these could be delivered, these would help to close the budget gap.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report and presentation be noted.

Report of the Head of Leaseholder Services & Housing Income.

This report is to update the DMC on the Council’s rent arrears.

Report of the Head of Leaseholder Services and Housing Income.

Jonathan Windsor, Neighbourhood Manager, spoke to the report. He said that the Council was taking a holistic approach to rent arears and was aiming to visit new tenants within one week so that they were aware of the process for paying rent and the financial support available if they could not.

He added that, over the past two months, rent arrears had reduced by about £300,000. The rent collection rate was 97.06%.

Following the presentation, there were questions on Agenda Items 8 and 9. Members noted that, although arrears had fallen recently, there had been a £3.5m increase from September 2022 to September 2023. There were also concerns expressed about the long waiting times people had when trying to call the Council, such as when they received a letter about arrears and wanted to resolve the matter.

Questions were also asked about the HRA reserve. Michael Webb said in reply that the reserve was needed to deal with situations such as covid (or a new similar disease), any new regulatory requirements that might be imposed, and any unexpected expenditure.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report and comments above be noted.

Report of the Director of Housing.

This report provides performance information on areas of the Housing Service provided to council tenants.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Housing.

Celestine Fairhall, Neighbourhood Manager, introduced the report. She said that a tenant satisfaction survey under the new regulatory regime would be completed by April 2024.

She reported that the void turnaround time had been reduced, thus enabling more properties to come back into use.

Members were also informed that an anti-social behaviour task force was being created to improve processes in this area. The Council was also working on securing Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance accreditation.

The Neighbourhood Manager added that the Council was taking action to improve how complaints were handled by routing them through one team for co-ordination.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report and presentation be noted.

To note a flyer on Neighbourhood Housing Officers’ roles.

The document on Neighbourhood Officers’ role and function was noted.

Report of the Director of Community Safety.

This report provides an overview of the work of the Community Safety Service throughout 2023.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Public Safety.

Sonia Mason, the Community Safety Team Leader, introduced the report. She acknowledged that anti-social behaviour (ASB) was a concern for many tenants. She said the Council was arranging joint walkabouts with housing staff and the Police in some ASB ‘hot spots’. There was also a new combatting drugs partnership in Camden.

There had been 40,000 patrols carried out by the Responsive Security Patrol service so far this year.

With regard to CCTV, there had been a technical survey of 49 of the 54 identified estates. The aim was to complete work on the bulk of estates by the end of the financial year.

She said that violence against women and girls was a key concern of the Council and Police. Money from the Late Night Levy was being used to fund a domestic abuse utility vehicle.

Following the presentation, members were asked for questions and comments on this agenda item, Item 10 and on wider issues.

The representative from 50 Fitzjohns’ TRA voiced concern that there had been no major works on his block since it had been built. There was no secondary glazing and windows were not lockable, and thus a security risk. He said that he had been told by the former Head of Repairs that major works would be done in 2027 or 2029 but wanted them to be done sooner.

A Vice-Chair, Annie Ward, mentioned that there was retrofitting work on her block for energy-saving purposes.

A concern was raised that the Responsive Security Patrol could not be reached by WhatsApp and that there was no direct option on the phone menu to get through to them out-of-hours.

Residents said that they wanted to be part of the conversation on technical surveys and visits for CCTV installation, as they could point out to officers where incidents had happened and where people congregated.

Members asked that the timetable for CCTV work be circulated.

                                        ACTION: Graeme Dyson (Head of Security)

A Vice-Chair, Arun Kumar, expressed concern that the Abbey Estate CCTV walkabout had been done without involving the TRA and that there had not been a response to the request for a report on the walkabout. He asked that a new meeting be scheduled which would involve a walkabout with CCTV officers, the Police and TRA members and where a plan for where to install cameras on the site could be agreed.

The representative from CASP, Jeremy Yankey, raised concerns about Council services to Deaf people. He pointed out the difficulty that some Deaf people had in reading material in English as BSL was their first language, not English. He also said the Council was too reliant on phone communications in some circumstances.

Additionally, Mr Yankey highlighted the difficulty in getting suitable fire alarms fitted for Deaf residents.

Officers said that there would be a meeting on 15^th December with Disability Action which Mr Yankey could attend where the Council would be discussing ways  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Report of the Director of Property Services.

This report provides an update on the Council’s programme to tackle damp and mould.

Members noted the report from the Director of Property Services.

The Chair commented that the Council had failed to make a number of visits to people’s homes and residents were being wrongly blamed for failing to provide access; or had made repeated visits but works were not being progressed. This was impacting on residents and causing them inconvenience as appointments were not being kept and works not being progressed.

The Head of Repairs and Operations said that a problem previously had been that the 45 minutes set aside for each appointment was not enough and they had moved to scheduling one-hour appointments.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report and the comments above be noted.

To consider the report from the Cabinet Member for Better Homes.

The report was noted.

Report of the Head of Innovation and Improvement.

This report provides information on the proposed Residents Conference, the initial idea and plans to fruition co-produced with residents.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Innovation and Improvement.

The Chair urged people to contact her if they were interested in getting involved with the tenant conference.

The Head of Innovation and Improvement, Ododo Dafe, said the Council was keen to involve residents who were not ordinarily involved in the conference.

Members were advised that the time commitment in terms of preparing for the conference was likely to be about 4 meetings of around 90 minutes each.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report and the comments above be noted.

Report of the Head of Neighbourhoods.

The DMC is asked to note the report and approve any new bids it considers appropriate.

This report also outlines the spend relating to the revenue budget for 2023/24.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Neighbourhoods.

The Neighbourhood Manager, Nilva Thompson, introduced the report. There were 3 new bids: one from Sidney Boyd Court, one from Westcroft Close and one officer-led bid for sheltered housing.

A resident from Sidney Boyd Court spoke to their bid. He explained that the allotments project had proved popular with residents, and they were keen to see it develop. The bid was agreed by the DMC.

A resident from Wescroft Close TRA spoke to their bid and said that the bid should be £200 higher as the cost of benches was not included in the total. The bid would therefore be £1679 for equipment for the TRA hall. The bid was agreed by the DMC.

Ms Thompson spoke to the officer-led bid. The bid was to fund art exhibitions in sheltered housing blocks for Black History season. The bid was agreed by the meeting.

RESOLVED –

THAT the following bids be agreed:

To consider any local issues raised by DMC representatives.

Representatives from Alexandra & Ainsworth TRA raised concerns about incorrect signage on their estate which wrongly labelled floors. A Sidney Boyd resident said there had been a similar issue on his estate and the signage had been changed.

Members were reminded of the joint DMC meeting on rents on 10^th January. The Chair said she would be holding a surgery the Monday before (8^th January).

To note the minutes of the following group meetings:-

i)             Leaseholders’ Forum (available at: http://tinyurl.com/camdenlf)

ii)            Camden Association of Street Properties (available at http://www.camdencasp.org.uk/casp-meeting-minutes/)

iii)           Fire Safety Advisory Panel (available at https://tinyurl.com/camdenfsap)

Hard copies available on request.

These were noted.

There were no items of urgent business.

The dates of future meetings are:

·       Wednesday, 10^th January 2024 (Joint DMCs)

·       Thursday, 14^th March 2024

The dates of future meetings will be:

·       Wednesday, 10^th January 2024 (Joint DMCs)

·       Thursday, 14^th March 2024