Issue - meetings

To consider a report by the Heads of Housing Services, Environmental Management, and Environmental and Community Health Services on the award of capital grant from the East of England Regional Assembly’s Housing and Sustainable Communities Panel.

  Agreed to use the 2008/09 grant of £162,400 in the current year for decent homes for vulnerable people – to rectify Category 1 hazards, and to provide thermal efficiency improvements; and that prior year grants be rephased as set out in paragraph 4.6 of the report now submitted for the same purposes; requested the review of the programme for future years once the basis and likelihood of the allocation of grant in future years is known and agreed that £75,000 of the previous year’s grant be used in the current year to fund the Sustainable Homes Retro-Fit Scheme.

Further to Minute No. 07/76 and by way of a report by the Heads of Housing Services, Environmental Management and Environmental and Community Health Services, (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Cabinet were advised that the Council had been awarded a capital grant of £162,400 from the East of England Regional Assembly’s Housing and Sustainable Communities Panel to help improve non-decent homes in the private sector.

In discussing how the grant should be used, Members were reminded that a previous award had been reserved for thermal efficiency improvement.  Despite targeted publicity the take-up of this grant had been lower than anticipated.  Nevertheless, Members were advised that the demand for these grants was expected to increase due to rises in fuel cost and the expansion of the scope of the grants.  Having considered also the release of £75,000 to enable the Sustainable Homes Retro-fit scheme within the Medium Term Plan to proceed, the Cabinet

RESOLVED

  (a)  that the 2008/09 grant of £162,400 be used in the current year for decent homes for vulnerable people – to rectify Category 1 hazards, and to provide thermal efficiency improvements; and that prior year grants be rephased as set out in paragraph 4.6 of the report now submitted for the same purposes;

  (b)  that the programme for future years be reviewed once the basis and likelihood of the allocation of grant in future years is known; and

  (c)  that £75,000 of the previous year’s grant be used in the current year to fund the Sustainable Homes Retro-Fit Scheme.