Agenda and minutes

That the Chair be authorised to hold the DMC meeting as a remote meeting.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Chair be authorised to hold the DMC meeting as a remote meeting.

RESOLVED –

THAT the ‘A’ and ‘B’ lists be noted.

Apologies for absence were received from Eddie Hanson (Chair), Elena Besussi (Alexandra and Ainsworth TRA), Shah Khan (Templar House TRA), and Jeremy Woolcock (50 Fitzjohns TRA).

There were no announcements.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no notifications of any items of urgent business.

To approve the minutes of the DMC meetings held on 9^th December 2021 and 12^th January 2022.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meetings held on 9^th December 2021 and 12^th January 2022.

A query was raised about the refund of heating charges to residents of the Chalcots. Officers said that additional energy use caused by the removal of cladding would be refunded, but that residents would still have to pay increased charges if the charges for the remainder of their energy use went up. Officers said that residents were informed in the newsletter about how to claim excess usage back, but Hasan Shah said that there were a significant number of residents who were unaware of the process.

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th December 2021 be agreed as a correct record.

(ii)          THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th January 2022 be agreed as a correct record.

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

Consideration was given to the list of action points arising from the December round of DMC meetings.

Members asked that information on the walkabouts on Alexandra & Ainsworth, Mary Green and Sidney Boyd Court be fed back to the TRAs.

ACTION: Neighbourhood Housing Managers

RESOLVED –

THAT the action points list and responses be noted.

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

This report brings together an update on Housing and Property service areas performance.  As requested by some DMC members the report also provides a full update on the Capital Works programme and an explanation of how tenants’ service charges are set. 

There are also reports attached as appendices to this item from the Housing Security Monitoring Panel on Anti-Social Behaviour and the Annual Complaints Report.

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

Graeme Beedham, Head of Tenant Participation and Sheltered Housing, introduced the report and highlighted the following points in his presentation:

·         Investment in estates, such as new windows and heating systems, was taking place;

·         The number of active voids had reduced by 17%;

·         The number of new lettings was increasing and there were fewer long-term voids;

·         The Council was falling slightly short of the £1m savings target for voids due to the HS2 decant;

·         There was an increased demand for repairs and the Council was encouraging people to log repairs online;

·         There had been a 50% decrease in call volume from the September peak as more residents logged repairs online;

·         There was an increased number of webchat conversations taking place per month between residents and repairs staff;

·         The Council had a backlog of repairs, which had built up further during the pandemic;

·         The Council was recruiting new trades staff;

·         Progress was being made towards the new social housing regulatory framework, and there was resident involvement in this.

·         Caretaking walkabouts could take place if TRAs wished to request them. The contact details of the relevant manager should be displayed on estate noticeboards.

·         A Traffic Management Order had been introduced for the Maiden Lane estate and the Council was thinking of rolling them out elsewhere.

·         There had been a levelling off in the overall amount of rent arrears, but an increase in the number of tenants who were 7 weeks or more in arrears.

·         The Council was looking after around 28,000 trees and 3,000 open spaces as part of its grounds maintenance service.

Residents raised a number of points in discussion. Annie Ward from 5-7 Belsize Grove was concerned about tree removals and asked whether the Council was removing a significant number of trees and, if so, what the rationale was.

Graeme Beedham said he would raise this issue with Oliver Jones, who was the Head of Green Spaces.

ACTION: Oliver Jones (Head of Green Spaces)

Sarah Bell, from Alexandra and Ainsworth TRA, raised a number of concerns including the lack of consultation on Rowley Way works and the lack of a response to queries about how the Council’s plans for retrofitting fitted with the requirements in the PAS2035 regulations.

Michael Killeen said he would follow the retrofitting query up with his colleague Susanne Afra (Head of Capital Works).

                                                            ACTION: Michael Killeen/Susanne Afra

In response to queries about parking on the Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate, officers said that they would raise this with parking colleagues.

A number of residents had queries about the rollout of the new CCTV system, and officers said they would seek information from Graeme Dyson (Head of Security) about the consultation which would be taking place and when estates were likely to get new cameras.

ACTION: Graeme Dyson (Head of Security)

Hasan Shah raised concerns about the mould and the damp on his estate and said that operatives had not been able to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Head of Tenancy Services.

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/district-management-committees.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Tenancy Services.

Nilva Thompson, Neighbourhood Housing Manager, introduced the report. There was one new bid, from Mary Green TRA, and Arun Kumar spoke to the bid.

The DMC agreed the bid for the lower quote of £1285.

Ms Thompson informed members of the bids that had been provisionally agreed at the special meeting in January.

Concern was voiced by Sydney Boyd Court representatives about the fact that their bid was subject to leaseholder consultation. Officers informed members that, as the work might involve charges to leaseholders, it was a legal requirement to consult them in a prescribed way and there was a specialist team within the council that can assist in doing this. DMC funds not currently committed cannot be carried over into the new financial year. As the bid was provisionally agreed in January, this provision will not impact on the ability to follow through on these works, subject to leaseholder consultation. However, should objections be received as part of this consultation process, the project will not proceed.   

Hasan Shah expressed disagreement with the bid for new signage on the Chalcots estate, as he said that Burnham TRA had not been consulted on this. Officers said that the bid had emerged from a walkabout on the estate, when those residents participating had pointed out problems with the signage. It had been felt to be more efficient to re-do the signage for the whole estate in one go, rather than only for particular blocks.

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT the following bid be agreed:

(ii)          THAT the following bids provisionally agreed at the special meeting be noted:

To consider any local issues raised by DMC representatives.

Robert Quaye, Senior Tenant Participation Officer, informed members that there were external organisations that could provide funding if TRAs were interested in holding a street party or another event in honour of the Queen’s platinum jubilee. He also said the Council offered special projects grants of up to £750 for TRAs and this could possibly be used to help support such events.

Hasan Shah expressed concern about the windows proposed by the Council for the Chalcots. Mr Shah said that they did not reflect what residents wanted and that the windows programme ought to be paused.

Astrid Kjellberg-Obst, the Project Director, said that the new windows reflect residents’ requirements and were an improvement on the current ones in terms of safety as well as ventilation, and that the new windows reduce overheating.  She would provide information for DMC members about the new windows, which was provided to residents on the Chalcots estate.

                                                            ACTION: Astrid Kjellberg-Obst

A query was raised about the Council’s support for housing Ukrainian refugees. Mr Beedham said that the Council’s approach was evolving as the circumstances and government policy changed, but it appeared likely that many Ukrainian refugees in the UK would be in host families’ homes. To support households hosting them, the Council would allow them to retain any Council Tax discount they already had.

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.

The minutes were noted.

There were no other business.

The dates of future meetings of Hampstead DMC will be:

·         Thursday, 23^rd June 2022

·         Thursday, 22^nd September 2022

·         Thursday, 8^th December 2022

·         Wednesday, 11^th January 2023 (joint meeting)

·         Thursday, 8^th March 2023

It was noted that the dates of future meetings of Hampstead DMC would be:

·         Thursday, 23^rd June 2022

·         Thursday, 22^nd September 2022

·         Thursday, 8^th December 2022

·         Wednesday, 11^th January 2023 (joint meeting)

·         Thursday, 8^th March 2023