Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS PDF 68 KB
To note any declarations of
interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from
voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local
Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Monitoring
Officer.
Minutes:
There were no declarations of pecuniary
interests.
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2. |
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING(S) PDF 90 KB
To approve the minutes of the
meeting held on 26 September 2018.
Minutes:
The Vice-Chair Councillor Dan Tomlinson
Chaired the meeting due to the Chair’s apologies for absence.
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 26
September 2018 were approved as an accurate record and signed by
the Chair.
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3. |
ACTION LOG & WORK PROGRAMME
Minutes:
The Committee noted the action log and work
programme tabled at the meeting.
RESOLVED:
1.
To note the Work Programme and Action Log.
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4. |
UNDER OCCUPATION SCRUTINY REVIEW (TRACKING RECOMMENDATIONS) PDF 100 KB
Presenters: Rafiqul Hoque – Head of
Housing Options and John Harkin – Assistant Lettings
Manager.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received a report
from Rafiqul Hoque, Head of Housing Options, and John Harkin,
Assistant Lettings Manager on progress made in implementing
recommendations from the under occupation scrutiny review
which looked at Under Occupation in social housing:
promoting housing moves. .
In response to Member questions
officers provided the following:
- The methods
used to ascertain under occupation include visits by housing
officer, care workers, tenancy audits and data sharing. It was
acknowledged that if a tenant is paying rent on time and is not on
any benefits and therefore has limited interaction with the
Council, then it would be difficult to determine whether a property
was under occupied.
- The Housing
Options Team has worked to encourage moves by providing advice on
their webpage , mailshots to all tenants
and open days.
- Incentives
for tenants to move out included up to £2,000 in cash or help
with removals.
- There are
approximately 1,000 under occupiers on the housing waiting list. 41
under occupiers have been rehoused this financial year and this is
up from last year.
- Evidence
suggests that tenants would rather pay the bedroom tax than
downsize.
The Chair thanked the officers
for their report.
ACTION:
- Historical
data, for at least the previous 3 years, on the number of under
occupiers rehoused to be forwarded to the committee.
RESOLVED:
- To note the
report.
- To
recommendthat social housing landlords strengthen activities to
encourage moves in order to free up
homes for those in housing need.
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5. |
SOCIAL HOUSING FRAUD - ILLEGAL SUB-LETTING PDF 116 KB
Presented by: Stephen
Tinkler – Head of Audit and Risk,
Ann Otesanya – Director of Neighbourhoods.
Minutes:
The Committee received a
presentation from Steve Tinkler, Head
of Audit and Risk, and Ann Otesanya, Head of Neighbourhood Tower
Hamlets Homes, on social housing fraud.
In response to questions from
Members, officers provided the following:
- With regard
to point 3.5 of the report, the potential savings that could be
recovered in Tower Hamlets was estimated at £93,000 per
property, and c. £12m has been secured in savings across the
borough through social housing fraud.
- Right to
Buy applications are assessed according
to anti-money laundering policy and on financial assurances. The up
to £108k discount is only applied to the tenant who holds the
title deed. Children are permitted to assist with the deposit and
securing a mortgage. Typically right to buy fraud involves tenants
not living in the property, sub-letting or other illegal
activities.
- Tower
Hamlets Homes and RPs have their own initiatives to tackle fraud
which on the whole are effective. The figures in the report relate
to instances where court action involving the support of the
Council was required.
The Chair thanked the officers
for their report.
RESOLVED:
- To note the
report.
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6. |
FIRE SAFETY AND BUILDING REGULATIONS PDF 130 KB
Presented by Mark Baigent – Interim
Divisional Director Housing and Regeneration and John McGeary – Head of Building Control.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received a report
from Mark Baigent, Interim Divisional Director of Housing and
Regeneration, and John McGeary, Head of
Building Control, on fire safety and building
regulations.
In response to questions from
Members, Officers provided the following:
- There are
no council properties that use Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) M
cladding, however several private sector
blocks have been identified that use full or partial
cladding. The RP blocks affected have
wardens and evacuation plans in place. On the advice of the MHCLG,
the Council will not be publishing the names of the blocks due to
security concerns.
- GLA funding
to improve the fire safety of buildings was sourced from the
national ‘Affordable Housing Fund’. The council was not
seeking to apply to the fund.
- The Housing
Act 2004 enables councils to serve an improvement notice if they
believe a building to be a hazard. The Council has not taken action
on any properties but there may be a potential for this if building
owners do not seek to remediate.
- The
Government’s expectation is for building owners to pay for
AMC cladding removal and replacement, although this has not been
confirmed in legislation.
- Developers
could claim for costs via insurance. The government has asked RPs
to exhaust this option before applying for a portion of the
£400m government grant.
- Members
were reassured that the government grant was not competitive and
enough resource had been allocated to remedy the situation. There
would likely be funds left over.
- Tower
Hamlets Homes publish their fire risk assessments as part of their
policy regulations. RPs were not bound
by any regulations to publish theirs, though it was feedback that
improvement plans were in place.
- Social
housing providers will continue to comply with the London Fire
Brigade guidance of ‘staying put’. THH and RPs keep
records to identify vulnerable residents.
- Tower
Hamlets Council is working with the Local Government Association
and London Councils in creating a Joint Inspection Team. The
inspection team will support environmental health officers to
survey risks prior to serving improvement notices.
- The Council
has not seen an increase in people wanting to move out of high rise
blocks.
The Chair thanked officers for
their report.
ACTIONS:
- For a
briefing note to be sent to the Committee on the 9 RP blocks with
ACM cladding and the progress made on remedial action. Mark Baigent and Sandra Fawcett.
- For the
fire safety item to be discussed at the committee in six
months’ time.
RESOLVED:
- To note the
action plan in appendix 2 which sets out the
Council’s response to the recommendations of the Scrutiny
Review.
- To note the
fire safety update of residential stock in the borough (Council
Registered Provider and Private).
- To note the
Council’s responses in implementing recommendations from
Hackitt Review of Building Regulations
and the Governments proposals to amend Approved Document Part B.
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7. |
STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE MONITORING PDF 244 KB
The Committee will receive a presentation from
Councillor Sirajul Islam, Cabinet Member for Housing, outlining
strategic priorities for 2018/19 and progress made, including
challenges and risks and next steps.
Minutes:
The
Committee received a presentation from Councillor Sirajul Islam,
Cabinet Member for Housing, on the Council’s strategic
priorities for 2018/19, progress made, challenges and
risks.
In response to Member questions
Councillor Islam and housing Officers provided the
following:
- The rough
sleeper count for November and December is 21. Counting was
conducted by the Housing Options Rough Sleeper Team. In the past
year there were approximately 500 rough sleepers counted, this
included those who had slept at least one night on the street. The
Housing Options team had partnered with St Mungo’s to do
outreach work.
- Closure
orders have been useful in tackling anti-social behaviour. The
Council also utilises its park guards and 14 additional police
officers. This is within resource and will not incur additional
costs.
- The Mayors
manifesto commitment was to deliver 1,000 new homes and a further
1,000 in the pipeline. These 2,000 properties will be classified as
‘affordable’. Half of these will be ‘social
rent’. These targets are monitored separately; the Committee
will receive an update on them in April next year.
- The
decision on Landlord Licensing has passed through Cabinet and will
be rolled out next year.
The
Chair thanked Councillor Islam for his presentation.
ACTION:
·
Update against the manifesto commitments to be
included in the next performance update in April 2018.
RESOLVED:
- To note the
presentation.
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8. |
SOCIAL HOUSING PERFORMANCE REPORT Q2 PDF 95 KB
For the Chair to introduce.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee discussed the
report of Ann Sutcliffe - Interim Corporate Director of Place and
Tracey St Hill – RP Partnership & Development
Officer.
- Some
Members raised concerns regarding underperforming RPs, namely
Clarion. It was suggested underperformance figures may have been
skewed by different definitions and methodologies in measuring
satisfaction.
- It was
highlighted that smaller RPs should be given the opportunity to
attend the Housing Scrutiny Committee to discuss the performance
issues and challenges they face.
- There was a
discussion on the Housing Green Paper and the introduction of
performance based league tables.
ACTION:
Performance matters to be discussed at the THHF
benchmarking sub-group. Chair of the sub-group to be invited to
attend Housing Scrutiny Committee to discuss the group’s
work. Evictions due to universal credit and % increase in rents
arrears since roll out of UC performance indicators and provide
data for the next quarter report.
RESOLVED:
- To review
and note progress in the performance outturns achieved by
individual social landlords and the overall performance
trend.
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9. |
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Minutes:
There was no other business discussed.
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