Issue - decisions

Approval for Council Nominated Officer to Vote at AGM on proposal for BBCHA to Merge with Liverpool Housing Trust

07/07/2015 - Approval for Council Nominated Officer to Vote at AGM on proposal for BBCHA to Merge with Liverpool Housing Trust

Councillor George Davies  introduced a report by the Strategic Director – Regeneration and Environment that informed that the Council, as a member of Beechwood and Ballantyne Housing Association (BBCHA), of proposed changes to undertake a Transfer of Engagements (ToE) of BBCHA to the Liverpool Housing Trust (LHT).  The report also set out the ongoing dialogue which had been undertaken with tenants and the lead petitioners following a petition being presented to the Cabinet Member at a meeting with lead petitioners on 18 June 2015.  Appended to the Strategic Director’s report was

 

·  Appendix 1 – BBCHA Board Consultation Final Paper; and

·  Appendix 2 – Key Issues Raised at the Meetings held concerning the proposed BBCHA Transfer of Engagement to LHT.

 

The Cabinet noted that BBCHA had been undertaking a review of its current arrangements since May 2014.  In particular BBCHA had been considering how best to mitigate the key risks it was exposed to, and ensure the long term protection of services and investment in the Beechwood and Ballantyne neighbourhoods in an increasingly hostile environment.

 

The BBCHA Board had considered a range of possible options for its future and agreed in October 2014 that the best option was to enter into formal negotiations with LHT for a possible transfer.  The BBCHA Board presented a detailed ‘ask’ to LHT, focussed on improving services and homes in Beechwood and Ballantyne, and during negotiations a detailed business case was developed.

 

Formal consultation was undertaken with BBCHA tenants from 26 March 2015 for a period of six weeks.  The resulting feedback showed that the majority of tenants were supportive of the ToE on the understanding that services they receive were not compromised.

 

Consultation with other key stakeholders including the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and funders had been completed with no barriers to progressing the transfer being raised.  The BBCHA Board had undertaken a due diligence exercised and no areas of concern in terms of LHT had been reported.  The BBCHA Board had also received independent legal advice and support from Trowers and Hamlins and they had confirmed that due process had been followed. 

 

After on-going discussions with Officers, BBCHA and LHT, a report had been provided for the Cabinet meeting held on 4 June 2015 setting out the rationale of why BBCHA had proposed to undertake a ToE to LHT, a business case which had set out the potential benefits of BBCHA transferring to LHT compared to staying as it was now, along with a report on the consultation undertaken, responses received by local tenants affected and the response to these issues raised. 

 

Immediately prior to the Cabinet Meeting, the Cabinet Member had been presented with a petition of 271 signatories from tenants and residents from Beechwood and Ballantyne.  The petition had been dated 23 February 2015. 

In the light of this petition the Cabinet had agreed to defer the decision on the report until the Council had been given the opportunity to review the petition further and undertake discussions with tenants and BBCHA and report those discussions back to this meeting of the Cabinet to inform any decisions to be made.

 

At a subsequent meeting with the lead petitioners, another petition had been presented which was different to the first and had 428 signatories. 

 

A meeting had also arranged by BBCHA in the Community to discuss concerns in response to both the petitions. 

 

The report dealt with both petitions presented and set out the questions raised at the Community meeting.

 

Councillor Ann McLachlan reminded the Cabinet that she represented the area in question as she was a ward Councillor for Bidston and St James and that she had sat on the BBCHA Board previously for a period of nine years.  She had been on the Board in 2005 when the Estate had voted no re Wirral Partnership Homes. Councillor Ann McLachlan reported that the Beechwood Estate had in recent years seen significant redevelopment and was now totally transformed.

 

Councillor Ann McLachlan reported that she had attended a meeting on the Estate on 2 June 2015 where concerns had been raised about the public buildings, no guarantees had been received and the residents considered that they had not been engaged or consulted on the proposals.

 

Since that meeting the Leader had received written guarantees and it was noted that the public buildings would be transferred with peppercorn rents.

 

RESOLVED: That:

 

(1)  the Transfer of Engagements of the  Beechwood and Ballantyne Housing Association to the Liverpool Housing Trust be supported;

 

(2)  the relevant Council officers be authorised to vote on the proposal (and associated matters) proposed and detailed in the report at the forthcoming Beechwood and Ballantyne Housing Association Special General Meeting; and

 

(3)  the report be referred to the meeting of the Council scheduled for 6 July 2015. 


08/06/2015 - Beechwood and Ballantyne Community Housing Association Transfer of Engagements to Liverpool Housing Trust

A report by the Strategic Director – Regeneration and Environment informed the Cabinet, of a proposal to undertake a Transfer of Engagements (ToE) of Ballantyne Community Housing Association (BBCHA) to Liverpool Housing Trust (LHT).  The report sought support at a Special General Meeting to agree to a ToE.

 

BBCHA had been undertaking a review of its current arrangements since May 2014 and had considered how best to mitigate the key risks it was exposed to and ensure the long term protection of services and investment in the Beechwood and Ballantyne neighbourhoods in an increasingly hostile environment. 

 

The BBCHA Board had considered a range of possible options for its future and had agreed in October 2014 that the best option was to enter into formal negotiations with LHT for a possible transfer. 

 

Formal six week consultation process had been undertaken with BBCHA tenants.  The resulting feedback showed that the majority of tenants were supportive of the ToE on the understanding that services they received were not compromised.

 

Consultation with other key stakeholders including the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and funders had been completed with no barriers to progressing the transfer having been raised.  The BBCHA Board had undertaken a due diligence exercise and no areas of concern in terms of LHT had been reported.  The BBCHA Board had also received independent legal advice and support from Trowers and Hamlins and had confirmed that due process had been followed.

 

The Cabinet noted that In order to progress the ToE BBCHA shareholders would consider the ToE at a Special General Meeting (SGM).  Shareholders included Wirral Borough Council, Symphony Housing Group and a number of tenant and independent individuals.  The SGM would only be called once the Council had made a decision about supporting the ToE. 

 

The BBCHA/LHT Transfer Consultation Outcome Report was attached to the Strategic Director’s report as an appendix.

 

Councillor George Davies informed the Cabinet that he had received a petition (250 names) that day from Board Members who did not want the assets transferred to LHT and requesting that a transparent method be used to identify some other body to who the assets could be transferred.

 

Consequently, Councillor George Davies informed the Cabinet that he had discussed this matter with the Leader and the Head of Legal and Member Services and was now proposing to defer the report in order to give the BBCHA Board time to reflect on the petition and agree a solution.

 

Councillor Ann McLachlan informed that she had previously sat on the Board for nine years and was aware that negotiations had been ongoing for 18 months to two years.  In her capacity as a ward Councillor (Bidston and St James) she was aware that consultations were still taking place with the community up to mid-afternoon today, to address issues of concern.  She considered a further short period of consultation to address concerns raised would be time well spent.

 

Councillor Phil Davies view was that, given the petition had just been received, deferring the report would be appropriate so that there was an opportunity to get to the bottom of the issues the signatories were concerned about and hopefully reach a solution.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That consideration of the report be deferred to a future meeting of the Cabinet to allow for further discussions within the local community and a report of those discussions be also brought to the meeting for the Cabinet’s information.

 

Councillor Stuart Whittingham returned to the meeting.