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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED – That the work programme as attached at Appendix 1 to the report COGC/65/24s be agreed.
AGREED:- • That the Committee appreciates the difficulties experienced by housing estate and housing enforcement staff. • That the Officers be thanked for bringing a comprehensive report on progress in implementing the Welsh Government legislation. • To recommend that PCSOs and relevant Officers from the Environment Department attend housing estate ‘walk abouts’ and that views of this Committee regarding the importance of these be emphasised. • That a further progress report be considered, to include details of management of temporary accommodation
AGREED:- • That the Committee thank Officers for the report and congratulate the housing repairs team on the progress made to date in reducing the backlog of active repairs. • That a further progress report be submitted in 12 months.
AGREED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 June, 2024 be signed as a correct record.
Members were reminded of their responsibility, under Paragraph 11 of the Members’ Code of Conduct, to declare any interests in relation to any of the business to be transacted at this meeting. The following declarations were made:- Item 5 – Estate Management & Housing Enforcement Councillor Claire Lovett – Personal - The Councillor was involved with Wrexham Engage and had a family member employed in the Housing Department. The Councillor remained in the meeting taking part in the discussion and voting thereon. Item 6 – Housing Repairs Councillors Steve Joe Jones, Claire Lovett, Paul Pemberton, John C Phillips and Paul Rogers – Personal - The Councillor had a family member employed in Housing Department. The Councillor remained in the meeting taking part in the discussion and voting thereon.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – That the work programme as attached at Appendix 1 to the report COGC/65/24s be agreed.
The Chief Officer Governance and Customer submitted a report COGC/65/24s which allowed Members to consider the draft work programme of the Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee attached at Appendix 1 to the report. The Scrutiny Facilitator presented the work programme and highlighted the following: · The WHQS2 Implementation Plan will be scheduled for June 2025 · Grass cutting/Weed Control Update to be reported in October 2024. Depending on outcome from the meeting, consideration be given to setting up a Task & Finish Group. · Allocations Policy to be reported in October 2024 · Decarbonisation Plan 2021–30 to be circulated as an Information Report. The Annual Report to be scheduled for December 2024. · Hafod Landfill Site will be scheduled for October 2024. NRW representative, Planning representatives, Public Health Wales, Enovert and Flintshire County Council representatives will also be invited to attend the meeting. AGREED – That the work programme as attached at Appendix 1 to the report COGC/65/24s be agreed.
Decision as recorded
AGREED:- • That the Committee appreciates the difficulties experienced by housing estate and housing enforcement staff. • That the Officers be thanked for bringing a comprehensive report on progress in implementing the Welsh Government legislation. • To recommend that PCSOs and relevant Officers from the Environment Department attend housing estate ‘walk abouts’ and that views of this Committee regarding the importance of these be emphasised. • That a further progress report be considered, to include details of management of temporary accommodation
(Members declarations of interest in relation to this item are set out in Minute 9 above) The Lead Member for Housing submitted a report (COH/24/24) to provide Members with updated information regarding the Council’s Estate Management and how this fed into the Housing Enforcement Team function. The Interim Housing Tenancies Lead gave a presentation to the committee and in doing so briefly outlined the details of the day to day work carried out at the Estate Offices to identify and address estate management issues as they arose and to provide details of the challenges that were being faced. The key priorities were: · Clean estates – Clear Up days · Visibility of the team – Walk Abouts by the team · Safe communities – working with North Wales Police · Support other teams – the Housing Option Team and the Enforcement team · Community cohesion – Bringing communities together with Action Days, Walk Abouts, Gardening Competitions · Tenancy sustainment – to sustain tenancies can involve all of the above priorities Recognition that the work of the Financial Inclusion Officers in supporting contract holders was invaluable, particularly those households facing financial pressures as a result of the economic crisis. The Housing Enforcement Team, became involved in severe/serious cases or when a contract holder had failed to engage with the estate team. The Housing Enforcement Team’s role was also to support contract holders to comply with their occupational contracts, ensuring all contract holders and residents felt safe and secure and free from nuisance, annoyance or distress. A discussion ensued and the following points were highlighted: · Clarification sought on the Tenancy Enforcement Officers being located within Estate Management Offices. This was currently being trialled and was partly due to changing legislation for the workforce · Clarification sought on the process prior to eviction of a contract holder · Confirmation given that there were a number of actions taken by the Estate Office Team prior to the Enforcement team becoming involved · Recognition was given to the importance of the Action Days and ‘Walk Abouts’, and to the presence of Streetscene staff and PCSOs at these events. · RAG rating system was used to prioritise frequency of visits to contract holders. · Throughout any visit the team constantly assess the areas they pass through. · Annual visits to contract holders formed a large proportion of visits with each contract holder receiving one visit per year, the aim of the visit was to offer support if required as well as property checks. · Clarification was sought on the responsibilities and funding regarding the Housing Department SLA with Environmental Services · Assurances given by the Lead Member that discussions had taken place to ensure that the SLA would be complied with and standards maintained. This was being monitored with the Chief Executive. · Clarification was sought on the standard of properties used for temporary accommodation, concerns raised that these properties should be maintained to the same standard as that of existing contract holders. · Confirmation that the homelessness budget was separate to the Housing Revenue Account, but did impact the housing service. · Members thanked officers for the presentation and recognised the challenges faced by the department · Assurances given that the Enforcement Team aim to encourage people to comply with their tenancies, they are not an eviction team. AGREED:- • That the Committee appreciates the difficulties experienced by housing estate and housing enforcement staff. • That the Officers be thanked for bringing a comprehensive report on progress in implementing the Welsh Government legislation. • To recommend that PCSOs and relevant Officers from the Environment Department attend housing estate ‘walk abouts’ and that views of this Committee regarding the importance of these be emphasised. • That a further progress report be considered, to include details of management of temporary accommodation
Decision as recorded
AGREED:- • That the Committee thank Officers for the report and congratulate the housing repairs team on the progress made to date in reducing the backlog of active repairs. • That a further progress report be submitted in 12 months.
(Members declarations of interest in relation to this item are set out in Minute 9 above) The Lead Member for Housing submitted a report (COH/34/24s) to update Members on the current position with Housing Repairs, including the active and ongoing repairs numbers. A previous report had been presented to the Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee (COH/17/23s) on 19 July 2023, and more recently an Information Report (COH/21/24) which had been sent to all members in May this year. In introducing the report the Lead Member referred to the following: · There were plans to reduce the backlog to the number of repairs, some were booked in with Contract Holders. Following review, further analysis had highlighted that some repairs remain within their specified target date, therefore, they were not considered to be within the backlog of repairs. · The Rented Homes Act and its implications had impacted on progress with addressing the backlog of repairs. · Work with the DLO team was taking place to ensure best use of resources · Budget - The revenue allocation for this element of the HRA has increased slightly to £2.8m (planned works). The Head of Service - Property delivered a presentation to the Committee and in doing so covered the following points: · During 2023 – 2024, there were 46,623 repairs reported to the in house call centre and passed to either the in house DLO teams or an external contractor. · The figure above was for all repairs and included specialist repairs, such as heating and drainage repairs. For this reporting period, 23,360 calls were issued to the in house DLO. The Head of Service agreed to circulate a breakdown of the active repairs by DLO and in house to Members of the Committee. · Staffing and resources - currently operating with a reduction of 21% of DLO staff. · There will be a recruitment drive to trade operator posts which had previously been put on hold, particularly joiners and plasterers. · The strike action had severely impacted on housing repair figures, resulting in delays at the end of last year. · The list of repair figures could change seasonally, eg, bad weather could impact the figures · Plans to reduce the list of repairs include the continued use of trade operatives between empty property work allocation and the allocation of work in contract holders properties A discussion ensued and a number of questions were raised including: · Gaining access to a property - In the event of a non-co-operative contract holder, the enforcement team may assist with gaining access to a property, particularly in the case of essential visits to carry out gas checks · Recognition and thanks to the Head of Service – Property and the team for their performance in their roles · Confirmation that five apprentices had been taken on last year · Assurances sought that a team would continue to focus on a specific area to minimise travel time · Confirmation that there is a recharge policy to contract holders who cause damage to their property · The recent Annual Complaints and Compliments Report which had been circulated to all Members showed a reduction in the housing repair complaint figures. AGREED:- • That the Committee thank Officers for the report and congratulate the housing repairs team on the progress made to date in reducing the backlog of active repairs. • That a further progress report be submitted in 12 months.
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