Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies received and no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Community Select Committee held on 3 April 2024.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meetings of the Community Select Committee held on 3 April 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

To note the Committee’s Terms of Reference that were agreed at Annual Council on 22 May 2024.

The Terms of Reference for the Community Select Committee, as approved at the Annual Council meeting held on 22^nd May, were noted. It was noted that unfortunately the wrong Terms of Reference had been attached to the agenda, the Scrutiny Officer agreed to circulate the correct version to the Committee members.

To receive an officer presentation and report on the new Housing Allocations Communications Plan.

The Committee received the Presentation from the Officer and Members had raised questions:

-            The Chair queried how confident officers were if residents were being evicted from their home and could potentially be made homeless how easy would it be to find information regarding where to get help on the SBC website. The Head of Community Advice and Support, Sarah Pateman explained that the website was currently being updated to add all relevant information that residents may need, such as links to the department that would assist with these types of housing enquiries. The Officer stated the department were aiming for the work to be completed by the end of July.

-            It was noted that tenant and resident engagement were two separate things.

-            The Committee queried whether when the new system goes live, would residents have problems logging into their profile or would all the information be transferred over and whether they had all been informed? The Officer explained that all information will transfer over. Residents were informed via letters that they were able to update their details via a QR code in the letter or via a paper response.

It was RESOLVED that the Committee noted the Housing Allocations Communications Plan.

To receive a presentation from the Assistant Director Housing and Neighbourhoods, Kerry Clifford, on the Resident Engagement Strategy outlining the Council’s approach and key principles ahead of the revised strategy being considered by Cabinet in July 2024.

Presentation to follow.

The Committee received a presentation from the Assistant Director, Housing & Neighbourhoods, Kerry Clifford and Members raised a number of questions:

It was stated by Members that the policy needed to be clear about what the council can do and what to expect, as in some cases residents expect that the council can do more than it can.

-            Members queried how SBC would demostrate that they were complying with the new Housing Regulation Act 2023 standards with no extra funding? The Assistant Director Housing & Neighbourhoods explained that it would be difficulty for the Council to do this but officers would be focusing on demonstrating reasonable adjustments and show that the decision making process is fair and transparent.

-            It was questioned by Members how far the Council were from the strategy proposed today. It was stated that there is further work to do which is why the strategy is being brought forward.

-            Members queried how expectations would be managed. The Assistant Director Housing & Neighbourhoods, explained that the most effective way to manage expectations regarding housing was to make service standards, procedures and policies as accessible as possible and easy to understand. It was stated one of the most important objectives is to train staff to deal with and verbalise the decision making process, therefore those officers who have the most contact with residents, such as the repairs team or the Customer Service Centre, would need to fully understand the new legislative standards as well as service standards.

-            Members stated that notice boards could be used to communicate with residents and a new customer scrutiny panel could be created. Recruitment of people to a customer scrutiny panel with specific skills would be needed. If a panel was created the suggestion was that the chair changes for each meeting of the panel or to recruit a strong chair to keep the panel on topic and it would be important to stop the loudest voices dominating the discussions. Members suggested that a customer scrutiny panel could be recruited to conduct task and finish style meetings with 2 or 3 reviews a year. The Assistant Director Housing & Neighbourhoods stated that officers would look to build a link between the Members Community Select Committee and any resident customer scrutiny panel.

-            The Chair asked if the Council could build on its co-operative neighbourhoods approach by using neighbourhood wardens to reach out to those residents who don’t use online methods of communication. The Assistant Director Housing & Neighbourhoods agreed that this would happen with various models of regular face to face as well as online engagement.

It was RESOLVED that the Committee noted the Resident Engagement Strategy.

To note and comment on the Committee’s Work Programme for 2024-25 that was agreed by the Committee at the meeting on 29 February 2024.

The Select Committee considered its proposed Work Programme for 2024/25 and noted the following items:

-            The Chair stated that with regards to the Equality and Diversity work programme item this will now be handled as two separate topics, one focusing on equalities and diversity in the workforce and the other on what’s happening in the community, and they would be engaging with the new Cabinet Portfolio Holder, Cllr Conor McGrath.

-            A one-off update on neighbourhood wardens.

-            A one-off update on the performance of the new leisure contract.

-            A statutory crime and disorder committee which is an annual item.

-            A one-off focus on public health

-            A series of pre-scrutiny policy development items throughout the year

It was RESOLVED that the Select Committee’s Work Programme for 2024/25, as set out in the agenda, be noted.

To consider any Part I business accepted by the Chair as urgent

There were none.

To consider the following motions:

1. That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the ground that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in paragraphs 1 – 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended by Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

2. That Members consider the reasons for the following reports being in Part II and determine whether or not maintaining the exemption from disclosure of the information contained therein outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

It was RESOLVED:

-        That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in Paragraphs 1 – 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended by Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

-        That the reasons for the following reports being in Part II were accepted, and that the exemption from disclosure of the information contained therein outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

To approve as a correct record the Part II Confidential Minutes of the Community Select Committee held on 3 April 2024.

It was RESOLVED the Part II Minutes of Previous Meeting held on the 3^rd April 2024 were noted.

To consider any Part II business accepted by the Chair as urgent

There were none.