Agenda and minutes

To note the appointment of Councillor Stanley Sheinwald at the Special Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 14 May 2007 as Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the Municipal Year 2007/08.

RESOLVED:  To note the appointment at the Special Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 14 May 2007 of Councillor Stanley Sheinwald as Chairman of the Sub?Committee for the Municipal Year 2007/08.

To note the appointment of Councillor Jerry Miles at the Special Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 14 May 2007 as Vice-Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the Municipal Year 2007/08.

RESOLVED:  To note the appointment at the Special Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 14 May 2007 of Councillor Jerry Miles as Vice-Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the Municipal Year 2007/08.

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 the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

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

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

RESOLVED:  That all items be considered with the press and public present.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2007 be deferred until bound in the Council Minute Volume.

[Note:  The 28 March 2007 minutes are published on the Council's intranet and website].

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2007 be deferred until printed in the Council Bound Minute Volume.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8.

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 9.

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 9.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

To receive any references from Council and/or other Committees or Panels.

RESOLVED: To note that no reports were received.

Report of the Corporate Director of Adults and Housing.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Adults and Housing, which set out a draft of the Council’s new Housing Strategy and a draft Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan.  An officer explained that the Council’s previous Housing Strategy, when submitted to the Government Office for London (GOL) in 2002, was deemed ‘not fit for purpose’ in line with GOL’s criteria.    The new Strategy was intended to meet the GOL’s fit for purpose criteria, and Members were asked to comment on the new draft Strategy before it went to Cabinet in July 2007.

Officers gave a presentation which highlighted the key issues raised in the new Housing Strategy and HRA Business Plan, and asked the Sub-Committee for their feedback on the documents.  In the discussion that followed, the following points were raised:

·                     GOL had set ‘fit for purpose’ criteria.  Officers had met with GOL representatives to ensure their criteria were being met.  Housing Service staff had been working with Tribal Consulting (housing professionals) with a view to ensuring that GOL’s criteria were met.

·                     The Strategy was for the whole Borough regardless of whether the housing was privately owned or social.  The HRA Business Plan was directed solely at the maintenance of Council housing.

·                     The Housing Strategy document was linked to the Council’s corporate priorities and the final version would include statistical data.

·                     With regards to how the Strategy responded to demographic change in Harrow, separate work was being undertaken which would look at the provision of housing for the elderly.  A preliminary report on this work had made direct recommendations about sheltered housing, as it was understood that the provision made for sheltered housing did not meet the diverse needs of the community in Harrow.

·                     The issue of under-occupancy should be addressed as elderly people needed to be encouraged to move out of larger properties.  The longest waiting time for social housing was for larger properties and that the Housing Service was working towards providing five, six and seven bedroom properties in Harrow.

·                     With regards to community involvement, Harrow Council had lost a lot of housing stock when the ‘Right to Buy’ Scheme was introduced.  Tenants had the right to self?manage and, as a landlord, Harrow Council needed to explore the possibility of giving people the right to self-manage.

·                     Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs), which gave management of estates to tenant groups, included leaseholders.

·                     Members would need to look at existing policies to ensure that they delivered affordable housing.

·                     Social landlords were funded to produce new housing, and the Strategy would look to work with social landlords as partners.

·                     Schemes which the Housing Service offered such as the Finders Fee Scheme, needed to make business sense for landlords.  The Chairman suggested that more support should be given to landlords to encourage them to house more people.

·                     The Housing Service relocated people to other London Boroughs where requested/necessary.

·                     A licensing scheme had raised the standard of HMOs (Homes in Multiple Occupancy).

·                     Schemes were needed to support people who  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.