Meeting documents
Housing and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Monday, 11th June 2007
Present
Chair
A Taylor
Councillors
RL Abbey, Brian Kenny, Ann McLachlan, A Pritchard
Deputy
PTC Reisdorf (for Cllr MG Redfern)
SL Rowlands (for Cllr L Fraser)
Cabinet member
George Davies
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
- Minute 2 - MINUTES
- Minute 3 - APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR
- Minute 4 - APPOINTMENT OF CO-OPTED MEMBERS
- Minute 5 - COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2007-2008
- Minute 6 - AUDIT COMMISSION INSPECTION (MAY 2007) - STRATEGIC APPROACH TO HOUSING
- Minute 7 - HMRI - NEWHEARTLANDS PERFORMANCE REVIEW (APRIL 2007)
- Minute 8 - WIRRAL'S HOUSING MARKET RENEWAL PROGRAMME 2006-2008 END OF YEAR PROGRESS REPORT 2006/2007
- Minute 9 - STOCK TRANSFER MONITORING UPDATE (SEPT 06 - MAR 07)
- Minute 10 - SECTION 17 REVIEW - IMPLICATIONS FOR PLANNING (DEVELOPMENT CONTROL) AND CORPORATE INDUCTION PROCESSES
- Minute 11 - ANNUAL REVIEW OF USE OF SECTION 30 DISPERSAL ORDERS IN WIRRAL - 2006/2007
- Minute 12 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT YEAR END REPORT 2006/2007
Minute 1 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
Minute Text :
Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were. No such declarations were made.
Minute 2 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2007, having been received or approved by the Council, be received.
Minute 3 - APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR
Minute Text :
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That Councillor M Redfern be appointed Vice-Chair for the ensuing municipal year.
Minute 4 - APPOINTMENT OF CO-OPTED MEMBERS
Minute Text :
The Head of Legal and Member Services requested the Committee to give consideration to the appointment of co-opted members for the ensuing municipal year.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That subject to the approval of the Council, Ann Holme and Peter Smith be appointed as co-opted members of the Housing and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee, with Charles Kennedy as their named deputy, for the ensuing municipal year.
Minute 5 - COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2007-2008
Minute Text :
The Head of Legal and Member Services submitted the CfPS document 'Prioritising Topics for Scrutiny' and requested the Committee to give consideration to topics to be included in this years scrutiny programme.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the following topics form the basis of the Housing and Community Safety scrutiny work programme during 2007/2008 -
- increasing the use of s.106 Agreements. This was proposed to be delivered through joint working with the Regeneration and Planning Strategy Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- encouraging the greater prevention of crime and disorder using s.17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998
- the sustainability of Dispersal Orders, made under s.30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.
- homelessness and ousing allocations
Minute 6 - AUDIT COMMISSION INSPECTION (MAY 2007) - STRATEGIC APPROACH TO HOUSING
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported that Wirral's Strategic Housing Service was included in the Audit Commission's Housing Inspection Programme for 2006/2007 and inspected in February 2007. He submitted a copy of the final report, published in May 2007, which rated the service as a good two stars service with promising prospects for improvement, and he commented that the assessment placed Wirral's Strategic Housing Service among the top 10% nationally and one of the highest rated in the North West of England based on Audit Commission scoring.
The Director summarised the findings of the report, which set out the strengths of the service and the areas that required improvement. Although the report highlighted a number of barriers to improvement, it concluded that prospects for improvement were promising and the Audit Commission had made six recommendations for the service to rise to the challenge of continuous improvement. He indicated that in response to those recommendations a service improvement action plan was being prepared to ensure the service continued to improve, which would be presented to a future meeting of the Committee.
He referred to the significant work that had been undertaken by officers in preparation for the inspection, and commented that the report highlighted the following areas of good practice and innovation, which the Audit Commission intended to promote -
• Home Movers support and advice
• BME Support Team
• Using NRF to bring empty properties back in to use
• Approach to dealing with Empty Properties/the Empty Property Team
• HELP Scheme
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the outcome and resultant actions of the recent Audit Commission Inspection of Strategic Housing Services be noted.
(2) That the thanks of the Committee, and of the Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety be accorded to those officers involved in preparations for the Audit Commission inspection.
Minute 7 - HMRI - NEWHEARTLANDS PERFORMANCE REVIEW (APRIL 2007)
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported that as part of its scrutiny role, the Audit Commission inspected the performance of all nine HMRI Pathfinders across England in their delivery of Housing Market Renewal. The Director set out the key findings from the September 2006 Performance Review of the Newheartlands Pathfinder, and reported upon the outcome of the most recent assessment, in April 2007, of the delivery of Housing Market Renewal in Merseyside, with particular attention given to how Wirral had been delivering renewal in Tranmere. The report concluded that good progress had been made since the September 2006 review in developing the Pathfinder’s Sustainability Index and it also advised that Wirral was at the forefront of the development of a new tool called the Neighbourhood Options Appraisal (NOA) to plan its HMRI programme. The report presented a generally positive view of how Wirral was performing in its delivery of housing market renewal and the Director indicated that recommendations made in the Review were being addressed. He commented also that positive feedback received from the Audit Commission was important in order to add strength to Wirral's and Merseyside's case for future funding of HMRI.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the content of the Newheartlands Performance Review report (April 2007), be noted.
Minute 8 - WIRRAL'S HOUSING MARKET RENEWAL PROGRAMME 2006-2008 END OF YEAR PROGRESS REPORT 2006/2007
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported that the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had allocated £97.7m to Newheartlands (the Merseyside Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder) from its Pathfinder Programme for the years 2006 – 2008, and that Wirral’s share of the allocation amounted to £19m. HMRI funding was being matched by £12m Regeneration Capital Programme funding and in addition, it was anticipated that some £22m would be invested in New Build development by the Private Sector, Housing Corporation and Registered Social Landlords. Over £1.2m would be invested in 2006 – 2008 from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, North West Development Agency, Warm Front and other private sector sources such as energy companies, to support Housing Market Renewal, and the Director commented that the funding had allowed Wirral to continue its successful HMRI programme.
He reported that by the end of 2006 - 2007, more than 790 homes had been acquired, 440 homes had been cleared and a number of key strategic sites had been assembled. 606 homes had been renovated through the use of grant funding or via the Group Repair Scheme and the “Living Through Change” programme had helped residents to live through large scale change brought about by the Housing Market Renewal programme. It had enabled the maintenance of neighbourhood stability, community safety and environmental standards in areas of acquisition and clearance. Whereas Housing Market Renewal in 2006 - 2007 had continued previous activity, the Director indicated that in 2007 - 2008 there would be a specific focus on marketing activities to promote Housing Market Renewal locations in advance of the completion of new build properties. The Strategy would also ensure that key messages were communicated in a positive manner to promote the key attibutes of Wirral, as an area in which to live and to encourage commercial investment.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the progress of the Housing Market Renewal Initiative in Wirral in the period April 2006 – March 2007 be noted.
Minute 9 - STOCK TRANSFER MONITORING UPDATE (SEPT 06 - MAR 07)
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration provided a six monthly update on the progress made by Wirral Partnership Homes (WPH) and Beechwood and Ballantyne Community Housing Association (BBCHA) in meeting the promises made in the original ‘Promise Offer’ consultation documents, which formed part of the housing stock transfer on 7 February 2005. He commented that both WPH and BBCHA were committed to achieving all the promises, and recognised the importance of working closely with the Council to ensure that all promises were met. Both transfer companies were Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and although they had similar promise themes, there was considerable variation with regard to specific promises within the offer documents and considerable differences in the organisations size and structure. Both WPH and BBCHA were achieving targets in line with the agreed timescales, and the Director presented as appendices to his report, copies of full and detailed monitoring returns submitted by each organisation.
The Director reported that the government (DCLG) had written to all RSLs asking if there were any extenuating circumstances which they wanted to present to DCLG as to why they would not meet the Government’s decent homes target of all social housing being decent by 2010. In response to this, WPH had made an application to the DCLG for a timescale extension to the 2010 target, to take account of the original investment programme, which was over seven years to 2012. This had been partly driven by the aim of the improvement programme agreed with tenants that as many homes as possible would see some improvements in the initial stages of the programme rather than tackling individual properties as a whole, and partly by long term feasibility studies being undertaken into some property types. The Director indicated that the Government target for the decent homes standard for social housing was 100% by 2010, and Promise 10 demonstrated that WPH were aiming for a year on year improvement and 95% decency by 2010, with 100% decency being achieved in a timescale to be agreed with the Housing Corporation during summer 2007. The year end 2006/2007 figure for decent homes was still being calculated, and the Director proposed that further details on progress would be reported to the next meeting of the Committee.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report and the progress made in meeting the promises made in the original “Promise Offer” consultation documents by both Wirral Partnership Homes and Beechwood and Ballantyne Community Housing Association, be noted.
Footnote :
Councillor Ann McLachlan declared her interest in this item by virtue of her being a Board member of the Beechwood and Ballantyne Community Housing Association (BBCHA)
Minute 10 - SECTION 17 REVIEW - IMPLICATIONS FOR PLANNING (DEVELOPMENT CONTROL) AND CORPORATE INDUCTION PROCESSES
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported upon the obligations placed on Responsible Authorities by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 in relation to crime and disorder, anti-social behaviour and the misuse of alcohol, drugs and other substances. He commented that Wirral's Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) existed to reduce levels of crime and disorder in Wirral, which it achieved through the production and delivery of an agreed strategy and series of performance targets. As part of its review of performance, the CDRP had initiated a review of all Responsible Authorities compliance with Section 17 of the Act and its impact upon some processes within Wirral Council.
The review was completed by an independent Wirral based organisation, Expanding Futures, who had experience in conducting such work in other parts of the North West. The Director outlined the recommendations of the study, which were specifically in relation to training of new staff and the consideration of crime and disorder matters within the Planning (Development Control) process by the involvement of Police Licensing Department Architectural Liaison Officers at the Forward Planning stage of relevant planning applications.
In response to comments from members, the Director indicated that two Police Architectural Liaison Officers were part of the Community Safety Team and had the capacity to undertake the required work. The Development Control Manager indicated that in order to improve liaison with the Police he proposed that a briefing would be held for planning officers to ensure that they were fully aware of the requirements of the Act. He commented also that it was important to have Police involvement in the early stages of section 106 agreements and he indicated that a section 106 Strategy for the authority was currently being developed for presentation to members.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 11 - ANNUAL REVIEW OF USE OF SECTION 30 DISPERSAL ORDERS IN WIRRAL - 2006/2007
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported and gave a presentation on a review of Dispersal Orders made under Section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. Section 30 allowed the Police, following consultation and agreement with the Council, to designate communities, suffering from significant levels of anti-social behaviour (ASB), as Dispersal Zones. He set out the criteria for designation and commented that the powers were enforceable by Police Officers within the identified area for a maximum period of six months only. In response to a comment from a member, he indicated that some would end sooner if success had been achieved. The Orders were ineffectual without proper resourcing and policing, and the larger the community area designated, the greater the number of resources that would be required to police it. However, their use could lead to considerable reductions in levels of ASB in an area whilst in force.
Sixteen designations had been made in the past two years and he provided details of the nine designations that had been made during 2006 – 2007 with mixed levels of success. Evidence suggested that reductions were not sustained beyond three months after the designation ended and ASB levels recorded post designation could also be higher than levels recorded pre or during the existence of the Section 30 Order. Analysis had illustrated ways in which their use could be improved and lead to greater reductions in levels of ASB and he indicated that this could be resolved by a change to existing processes to require an exit strategy to be included as part of the application, which would detail post Order interventions. In addition, more targeted and strategic use of Section 30 Orders into areas of greatest need and in which historical trends in ASB levels were also considered could deliver greater reductions.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the review of the use of Section 30 Orders throughout Wirral in 2006/2007 be noted.
Minute 12 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT YEAR END REPORT 2006/2007
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported upon progress made, and the key objectives achieved, by the Housing and Community Safety Divisions of the Regeneration Department over the last year. He set out also the key objectives that would be focused upon over the next quarter and outlined the resource implications for the future.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the performance of the Regeneration Department during 2006/2007 be noted.
(Minutes Published: 15 June 2007)