Venue: THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, PATHFINDER HOUSE, ST MARY'S STREET, HUNTINGDON PE29 3TN
Contact: Mr A Roberts Democratic Services, Tel 01480 388009 / email Anthony.Roberts@huntsdc.gov.uk
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To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 4th July 2006.
2 minutes. Contact: A Roberts 388009 Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 4th July 2006 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. |
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MEMBERS' INTERESTS To receive from Members declarations as to personal and/or prejudicial interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any Agenda item. Please see Notes 1 and 2 below.
2 minutes. Minutes: Councillors Mrs M Banerjee and K J Churchill declared personal interests in Minute No. 27 by virtue of their membership of the Board of Luminus. |
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2000 - FORWARD PLAN A copy of the current Forward Plan, which was published on 18th August 2006, is attached. Members are invited to note the Plan and to comment as appropriate on any items contained therein.
15 minutes. Contact: R Reeves 388003 Minutes: The Panel considered the current Forward Plan of Key Decisions (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) which had been prepared by the Leader for the period 1st September to 31st December 2006. Following a question by Councillor Mrs M Banerjee, the Central Services Manager undertook to ascertain the purpose of an item entitled Waste PFI County-wide Partnering Agreement. |
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SALE OF DISTRICT COUNCIL LAND FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT Further to Minute No. 68 of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Service Delivery and Resources) held on 3rd January 2006, to consider a joint report by the Heads of Legal and Estates and of Housing Services on the outcome of investigations into the possibility of introducing a policy requiring a minimum level of land sold by the Council to be devoted to affordable housing.
20 minutes. Contact: K Phillips 388260 S Plant 388240 Minutes: (In attendance for consideration of this Item, were Councillor A Hansard, Executive Councillor for Resources and Policy, Councillor Mrs D Reynolds, Executive Councillor for Housing and Public Health and Councillor K Reynolds).
Pursuant to Minute No. 68 of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Service Delivery and Resources) held on 3rd January 2006, the Panel gave consideration to a joint report by the Head of Legal and Estates and of Housing Services (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) on the outcome of investigations into the Council’s landholdings and the financial implications of introducing a policy requiring a condition to be placed on all future sales of land requiring a proportion to be used for the provision of affordable housing. In introducing the report, the Head of Housing Services drew Members’ attention to the fact that the Council no longer had any substantial sites suitable for residential development and to a proposal to introduce a procedure to request the Cabinet to attach a covenant to a site which had been declared surplus to requirements if he thought that the provision for social dwellings was insufficient for the site in order to secure a greater amount of affordable housing.
Councillor A Hansard informed Members that the Council had to balance the need for housing in the District with the value of the land involved. As most Council owned plots of land that might be sold for housing were small, he endorsed the proposed new procedure. Councillor Mrs D Reynolds expressed the view that the procedure would help alleviate “hot spots” of housing need.
Councillor K Reynolds, who had been invited to the meeting as the originator of the study, informed Members that in his opinion, as a housing authority, the Council should set an example in the provision of affordable housing, especially as others were expected to do likewise. He felt that the Council had a moral obligation to require affordable housing to be built on land in it’s ownership and sites were available, which would be suitable for this purpose. In that respect he recommended that a policy be introduced requiring half of land sold to be used to provide affordable housing, with the Cabinet’s agreement being required to remove or change this condition.
Having discussed different types of affordable housing and the difficulties associated with funding, it was
RESOLVED
(i) that the established arrangements at Divisional level within the District Council to facilitate liaison on the future use and release of surplus land be noted; (ii) that if land use is determined as residential, it will be marketed with outline planning permission for that purpose, be noted; (iii) that the intention to continue to sell District Council land in accordance with planning policies appertaining at the time of disposal be noted; (iv) that the introduction of a procedure whereby the Head of Housing Services, after consultation with the Executive Councillor for Housing and Public Health, if he considers the provision of social ... view the full minutes text for item 27. |
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CHOICE BASED LETTINGS To receive a presentation by the Head of Housing Services on Choice Based Lettings.
45 minutes Contact: S Plant 388240 Minutes: (The following urgent item was admitted in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972 given the need for the Panel to consider the report prior to its submission to the Cabinet.
In attendance for consideration of this item was Councillor Mrs D Reynolds, Executive Councillor for Housing and Public Health).
Pursuant to Minute No. 21, the Panel received a presentation by Mr S Plant, Head of Housing Services, on Choice Based Lettings. Mr Plant began by informing Members that the Government had placed a requirement on all councils with housing responsibilities to introduce Choice Based Lettings by 2010. He also referred to the success of a bid for funding for the introduction of a sub-regional scheme, which had realised £181,000 and represented 40% of the associated costs of establishment. Mr Plant went on to outline the principles involved, how schemes would operate and the benefits of Choice Based Lettings for the Council and for vulnerable clients.
Councillor Mrs Reynolds informed Members that Choice Based Lettings would not obviate the need for the Council to use bed and breakfast accommodation and expressed concern at residents from outside the District moving to Huntingdonshire for accommodation.
In response to a question by Councillor J E Garner, Members were informed that tenants tended to stay in the area in which they resided and that only 10% of accommodation would be subject to cross boundary movement. In addition, Housing Corporation rules meant that there would be more scope for Huntingdonshire residents to move to other districts. Following a further question, Mr Plant outlined the arrangements for administering the system. More use would be made of technology and employees would tend to have a greater role assisting clients. Members concluded by expressing concern that Choice Based Lettings represented a step towards regional government. |
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CONTINUATION WITH CHANGES TO CALL CENTRE HANDLING ARRANGEMENTS Minutes: (In attendance for consideration of this item was Councillor L M Simpson, Executive Councillor for Headquarters and Information Technology).
Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Information Management (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) seeking the approval of the Cabinet to make permanent trials of improvements to the call handling arrangements at the call centre. Having been reminded of the background to the trial, the Panel went on to discuss its previous recommendation that measures should be put in place to enable the transfer of calls between the District and the County Council to be made. Members were informed that there were, at present, technical difficulties preventing this from happening and that a solution was some way off. Councillor Simpson informed Members that this facility had not been included in the original specification and that there was a need to rectify the situation as soon as possible, a view which the Panel endorsed.
The Panel discussed the call centre disaster recovery system. Two telephony servers were in place and, in an emergency, calls could be directed to the switchboard at Pathfinder House. The plan recently had been called into use and a report would be prepared on lessons learned.
In response to a question by Councillor K J Churchill, Mr Hall agreed to provide him with an explanation of an increase in lost calls. Whereupon, it was
RESOLVED
(i) that the report be endorsed for submission to the Cabinet; (ii) that the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Service Support) be informed of the substance of the Panel’s deliberations on this matter.
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OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL (SERVICE DELIVERY) - PROGRESS To consider a report by the Head of Administration on decisions taken by the Panel.
15 minutes. Contact: A Roberts 388009 Minutes: The Panel received and noted a report by the Head of Administration (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) detailing actions taken in response to recent discussions and decisions by the Panel and reviewing the programme of studies. |
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SCRUTINY To scrutinise decisions taken since the last meeting as set out in the Decision Digest (TO FOLLOW) and to raise any other matters for scrutiny that fall within the remit of the Panel.
15 minutes. Contact: A Roberts 388009 Minutes: The Panel received and noted the 65th Edition of the Decision Digest. |