Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee,;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room.

Agenda Item 7 – Information Report – Asset Management Update; Agenda Item 8 – Information Report – Housing Business Plan Update; Agenda Item 9 – Information Report – Housing Changes Review Update; Agenda Item 10 – Information Report – Garage Strategy; Agenda Item 11 – Housing Ambition Plan No. 3 (2012/13); Agenda Item 12 – Resident Services Manager’s Report and Feedback from Other Council Led Resident Involvement Activities.

Councillors Bob Currie and Mano Dharmarajah declared personal interests on the above items in that they attended monthly meetings of the Eastcote Lane Tenants’ and Residents’ Association.  They would remain in the room whilst the matters were considered and voted upon.

Councillor Kairul Marikar declared a personal interest in the above items in that she was a tenant of the Council.  She would remain in the room whilst the Forum considered and voted on the matters before them.

Agenda Item 12 – Resident Services Manager’s Report and Feedback from Other Council Led Resident Involvement Activities

Paddy Lyne declared a personal interest.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2012 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2012 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 51 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED: To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting.

Report of the Divisional Director of Housing Services.

An officer introduced a report which updated the Forum on progress made in relation to Asset Management.  The officer reported the following issues:

·                     response repairs contracts had been awarded to the relevant contractors within the Harrow East, Harrow Central and Harrow West areas.  There had been a smooth transition during the switchover process from the previous contractors to the new contractors;

·                     the procurement of the framework contracts to deliver planned investment works was nearly completed and would be presented to Cabinet on 19 July 2012 for approval;

·                     robust plans would be put in place to monitor the contractors’ performance;

·                     the Forum wished to thank Paul Mullins, the previous Interim Project Manager for the work he had conducted on the procurement of the new repairs contractors;

·                     with the change of contractors, the Council was required to strengthen its client side personnel.  A new structure for the Asset Management Team had been agreed and a number of roles within the new structure had been filled by existing staff.  The remainder of the roles had been advertised internally and any unfilled posts would be advertised externally;

·                     the Repairs Charter had been implemented on 1 July 2012.  The drive for this Charter had been to reflect those areas which were of most importance and to provide value for money.  In addition the Chartered Institute of Housing had launched their own repairs charter which set out 6 core requirements.  Having studied this document, the Council’s own Repairs Charter met most of their requirements;

·                     in relation to the performance of the Asset Management service, it had been expected that there would be a significant dip in performance as a result of changing contractors for response repairs.  However this had not been experienced;

·                     customer satisfaction had not dropped as anticipated in relation to the change of contractors for response repairs.  Customer satisfaction surveys would now be conducted by the Council and scoring would now take place on a score between 0 -10 (10 being excellent).  Any score below 6 would be followed up to identify any lessons that could be learnt;

·                     consultation on the Capital Investment Plan 2012/13 had concluded in June 2012.  The Asset Management Team hoped to produce a 3 year investment programme as a longer time frame would provide more certainty and allow decisions to be based on actual data collected;

·                     in order to raise the quality of the Asset Management service, a sub-group had been created comprising of 7 to 8 Leaseholders to consider various issues.  The fundamental issues related to communications, charging, billing and service delivery by caretakers and contractors.  An action plan had been agreed;

·                     the views of the Forum, in relation to the ongoing issues of leaves blocking the gutters at properties in Milmans Close, had been discussed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive.  There were currently no plans to prune the trees.  The Council had requested quotes on placing leaf grills over the relevant gutters to help prevent blockages.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 125.

Report of the Divisional Director of Housing Services.

The Forum received a report which provided an update in respect of the Housing Business Plan.

An officer introduced the report and highlighted the following issues:

·                     the Council had agreed to make a payment of £88.461million to the Government.  The loan to fund this payment was taken out with the Public Works Loan Board on 28 March 2012 and was a 50 year maturity loan (repayable at the end of the 50 year term) at a fixed interest rate of 3.48%.  The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plan model had now been updated to reflect the amount borrowed at the actual rate achieved;

·                     the HRA had now been remodelled to take account of the revised opening revenue position and the Major Repairs Reserve balance of £4.148 million able to be brought forward as a result of capital funding decisions in 2011/12;

·                     right to buy sales were previously included at a notional 3 sales per year, but for the purposes of producing an updated model, the sales numbers had been assumed using the model used by the Department of Communities and Local Government when calculating the amount of debt Harrow had taken under self financing;

·                     the revised projections had been included within the report and showed a healthy revenue position with revenue balances of £242 million accruing over 30 years as well as a fully funded capital programme;

·                     £7.7 million had been identified for investment in services, residential and response repairs and in change management;

·                     it was hoped that the arrangements would allow the Business Plan to have a significant influence on the budget setting process;

·                     there were still some areas that needed addressing.  This included the rental strategy for which proposals were still under development;

·                     the Garage Strategy also needed addressing.  This was a key consideration which needed to be developed;

·                     options for reducing homelessness also needed to be addressed.  This involved looking at the private rental sector and services for home owners;

·                     it was important to note that the Business Plan was not set in stone and was constantly being developed and refined.

During the discussion on this item an officer responded to a query raised by a Member of the Forum by stating that concerns regarding the Right to Buy scheme taking property out of those eligible to be rented were noted.  However Central Government regulations on Right to Buy schemes had to be followed.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Report of the Divisional Director of Housing Services.

An officer introduced a report which set out an update on the Housing Changes Review which involved a full review of and completion of a range of housing strategy and policies as required by the Localism Act 2011.

The officer reported the following issues:

·                     there were 2 main policies being presented to the Forum, one on the Tenancy Strategy and one on the Housing Allocation Scheme;

·                     the Tenancy Strategy set out the Council’s guidance on the introduction of flexible fixed term tenancies in Harrow.  The Strategy was deliberately long term in its nature to allow the best use of the Council’s housing stock and would provide advice for all social landlords to follow;

·                     consultation had taken place on the Tenancy Strategy since May 2012.  Since the consultation had commenced, approximately 70% of the respondents were supportive of the Strategy and the need to make better use of the Council’s housing stock;

·                     the Tenancy Strategy set out how it would be introduced and how it would be reviewed at the end of a fixed term period;

·                     the Strategy proposed income and savings limits at which a household would be deemed to be able to find suitable affordable housing.  This had been an area where a range of views had been expressed and was an area for further discussion;

·                     several responders to the consultation had expressed a view that all new tenancies should be for a fixed period of time but should be automatically renewed in certain circumstances;

·                     the Housing Allocation Scheme’s main objective was to reduce the amount of time people waited for social housing;

·                     some people had to wait for 5 – 8 years which was unacceptable as they had been identified as having a social housing need.  Therefore in the current national economic climate, the only way to reduce this was to reduce the number of people eligible for social housing;

·                     within the report the number of bands and category of people eligible for social housing was proposed to increase from 4 to 5 bands.  This would allow for a greater degree of flexibility.  There would be a reduced priority for older children with a greater concentration on younger children.  Medical priority criteria would also be made more robust;

·                     two main areas which required further discussion related to whether or not to provide a priority for those on low incomes or those who provide a contribution to the community;

·                     it was proposed to exclude people who did not live in Harrow, those who were owner occupiers, those who owed Council rents from those eligible for social housing;

·                     two key areas to address if the new Housing Allocations Scheme was adopted was consideration of how the move from the existing to the new scheme was managed.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Forum raised a number of queries which officers responded to as follows:

·                     the Tenancy Strategy set out key points of a child’s education and the consideration provided to this factor when renewing tenancies.  If  ...  view the full minutes text for item 127.

Report of the Divisional Director of Housing Services.

An officer introduced a report which provided an update on the current position of garages owned on Council owned housing estates and the aims and objectives of the emerging Garage Strategy.

The officer reported the following key points:

·                     the council owned 957 garages and carports located on housing estates across the borough;

·                     there were currently two scales of charges for garages, with a slightly higher charge for private lettings than for those let to the Council’s tenants and resident leaseholders;

·                     demand for the rental of garages varied considerably on different sites and depended on their condition.  Some garages were in a reasonable state of repair whilst others remained void due to disrepair, vandalism and antisocial behaviour;

·                     some garage sites had the potential to be developed for affordable housing to contribute towards meeting the housing need in the borough;

·                     a garage strategy was being progressed to deal with the issues associated with garages and to make best use of the sites;

·                     there were currently approximately 480 void garages.  Only 100 of these were of a standard that would allow them to be let.  Unfortunately there was not sufficient demand on these sites to let the garages;

·                     there were currently 33 people on waiting lists for various garages, although the Council had prevented letting some of the garages because of disrepair;

·                     in recent years both the maintenance and management of garages had not been given sufficient resources or priority to optimise their use and the resultant income.  Towards the end of the last financial year, the Council had invested £20000 in renovating 20 garages at Shaftesbury Circle.  Following the works the garages are all ready to be let and only 3 remain void;

·                     if all 957 garages and carports were let, this could generate a gross annual income of £683,911.  However only around 44% of this gross annual income was being realised.  If nothing was done the current income received was likely to reduce year by year;

·                     it would not be possible to generate income from garage rents further without investing more revenue into improving the existing stock and improving the management of garages;

·                     a previous Garage Strategy had been presented to the Forum in 2010.  However the introduction of the Housing Revenue Account Reform had brought about new opportunities to develop new affordable housing contributing to meeting the housing needs of priority households;

·                     the objectives of the Garage Strategy included determining which garage sites had development potential, to consider what future investment was needed to maximise income generation and to review garage rent levels and determine a rental strategy for the HRA Business Plan;

·                     the Council were currently in the 4^th stage of the Strategy and had accumulated information on the stock condition of the garages.  An initial review of the sites had divided the sites into 3 groups: those sites that have development potential; those sites that have constrained development potential and those sites that have no development potential;

·                     the Council were now considering how to make best  ...  view the full minutes text for item 128.

Report of the Divisional Director of Housing Services.

The Forum received a report on the Housing Ambition Plan (HAP) which was the service plan for Housing Services. An officer introduced the report and made the following points:

·                     the first HAP had been produced in 2012 and comprised of an action plan to address areas of weakness.  The second HAP looked at addressing changes required by Central Government in relation to Housing.  This third HAP was the most comprehensive and ambitious housing service plan.  Its aim was to deliver excellent services shaped and valued by the Council’s communities;

·                     the HAP included team commitments around a number of different areas.  It also had an objective for staff of getting closer to the customer;

·                     the HAP also contained a spreadsheet listing the projects which they would deliver and the relevant timescales.  There was also a scorecard of key performance indicators;

·                     monitoring of the objectives contained with the HAP would be carried out internally via the housing management team, the Council’s improvement board and the quarterly HFTRA Challenge Panel.

In referring the HAP itself the officer made the following points:

·                     the HAP contained an initial section which detailed the vision of the Plan.  There was a greater onus on staff to understand and get closer to their customers;

·                     in the current national economic difficulties it was important to have a strong strategic core and make accurate projections;

·                     the HAP linked into the Council’s Community, Health and Well-being Directorate’s vision;

·                     the HAP contained the relevant engagement structure for the HAP, of which the Forum was a key component;

·                     the plan referenced the Housing Leadership Group which would engage all housing managers and perform a number of roles including developing new initiatives and tracking performance.  This would play a key role in learning and development;

·                     the HAP contained a series of commitments from the Housing Management Team.  This ensured that these commitments were clear and that everyone in the service understood what was trying to be achieved;

·                     the HAP recognised the recent achievement of the Housing Services obtaining a gold standard in their recent Investors in People Inspection.  The HAP also identified key action points to maintain this award;

·                     the remaining sections of the HAP identified individual team commitments.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Forum raised a number of issues which officers responded to as follows:

·                     Bed and Breakfast accommodation was required at times for those requiring social housing.  This was always done reluctantly and any stay was always kept to a minimum;

·                     any complaints regarding housing services were dealt with under the Council’s corporate complaints procedure.  If there were still concerns after this process, complaints could be made to the Local Government Ombudsman. Under the Localism Act it was anticipated that complaints relating to housing issues would be dealt with locally with a democratic filter and then a Housing Ombudsman.  There was not much information available yet about how this operation would work in practice.

Members of the Forum commented that officers within Housing Service had provided excellent customer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129.

Report of the Divisional Director of Housing Services.

The Forum received a report which set out a range of information providing feedback on a range of Council led service specific and service wide resident involvement activities.

An officer introduced the report and explained that due to the timing of the meeting performance information was still being processed and would be provided in grater detail at the next meeting.

The officer also reported the following points:

·                     the Council had received some benchmarking information in relation to other Councils which had demonstrated that the Council were performing well in relation to rent collection.  Two statistics that were monitored were the percentage of current tenant arrears expressed as a percentage of the overall annual amount charged to tenants in rent.  The second was the amount of rent debt that was written off.  The Council had been identified as being the best performing Council in London in these aspects;

·                     work had commenced in relation to universal credit.  The main impact of this was that the Council may have to physically collect about 60?70% of the rent which was a significant change to the current collection process.  A steering group had been established to look as what steps were required to address this change and awareness also needed to be raised in relation to the changes and whether direct debits could be utilised more frequently.  The Council were working closely with the Citizens Advice Bureau to increase this awareness;

·                     work was continuing on the Council’s commitment to tackling tenancy fraud.  Almost on third of tenants had been visited.  Extra resources had been allocated to this project because when conducting visits, other unrelated issues were being advised of providing valuable learning experiences;

·                     a Council officer had met recently with Housing Associations to outline the support provided by the Council in relation to tackling fraud.  This involved providing training and support on investigations;

·                     a new way of working in relation to estate services was being piloted.  This involved a mix of static and mobile caretakers and the introduction of wet cleaning in communal areas of the flatted blocks;

·                     this year’s round of tenant inspection of housing estates in partnership with Hillingdon had taken place.  This involved a small group of tenants inspecting estates at random within Hillingdon and grading them.  Tenants from Hillingdon also then inspected and graded an estate visited at random within Harrow.  This had produced a positive outcome for the Council in that the estate within Harrow had been scored at 84%.

During the discussion on this section of the report, Members of the Forum raised a number of issues which the officer responded to as follows:

·                     a request for volunteers from TRAS to become involved as Tenant Inspectors had been made through the HFTRA;

·                     the Council had noted that there had been challenges in relation to caretaking services generally.  These issues would be addressed and it was envisaged that changes to the operations of caretakers would assist in this process.  Caretakers would now be required to do whatever was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 130.

To note that the next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Wednesday, 31^st October 2012.

RESOLVED:  To note that the next meeting would be held at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 31 October 2012.