Agenda item

The Chair to provide a verbal update on the work undertaken by the Housing Voids/Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group.

Councillor Pat Cumbers, Chair of the Scrutiny Committee, provided a verbal update on the work undertaken by the ‘Task and Finish Group - Housing Voids and Temporary Accommodation’ as follows:

 

“As you know, this Committee formed our first ‘Task and Finish Group’ to consider the Housing Voids Process.

 

A void being the gap between a council dwelling being vacated and then occupied by new tenants.

 

I shall give a short update this evening but you will, of course, receive a full report when we have finished, along with copies of all the evidence we have gathered.

 

The Committee saw the importance and relevance of undertaking this work and it was prioritised. We then agreed the scope and the ‘Terms of Reference’.

 

We were to consider the voids process, including current performance and costs and to propose improvements.

 

We were also to consider the Council’s provision of temporary accommodation, the current costs, performance and the impact of the ‘Homeless Reduction Act’.

 

The ‘Centre for Public Scrutiny’ states that “good scrutiny needs evidence”, evidence which is current and based on up-to-date statistics and performance measures.

 

And that is what we have been doing. We have been collating information and evidence upon which to base robust and relevant proposals for improvement which will form the basis of our report to Scrutiny Committee and, with your support, to Cabinet.

 

I will give you a brief summary of what we have been doing:

 

Firstly, the Group has met monthly and we have reviewed and provided feedback on:

 

·         Current review of housing services systems thinking and methodology

·         Current voids processes and performance analysis

·         Draft revised tenancy agreement

·         Feedback on show and tell sessions

·         Allocations Policy

·         Voids Standards Policy

 

Secondly, we have held a series of evidence sessions and have heard evidence from:

 

·         Tenant Forum Executive Committee (TFEC)

·         North West Leics (NWL) District Council’s Head of Housing and Asset Manager

·         MBC Customer Service Lead

·         MBC Housing Officer

 

And this week we have additional sessions to include:

 

·         Housing and Commercial Manager

·         Voids and Responsive Repairs Officer

·         Housing Options Team Leader

·         Contractors (Repairs and Gas Safety)

 

Thirdly, information has been circulated electronically to the Group – including information from other local authorities which we have  obtained from the internet, from Councillor Browne and including this Council’s ‘Tenancy Agreement’ and the ‘Tenants’ Handbook’.

 

We are very grateful for the support we have received from the Director for Growth and Regeneration, the Housing Communities Manager and officers from Democratic Services especially Natasha and Catherine.

 

We were also very grateful to those officers from NWL who travelled some distance to share with us their experiences re void properties and lessons learned.

 

We recognise that there is much work going on in this area and hopes that the work of the ‘Task and Finish Group’ will further enhance and assist in the improvement journey.

 

We are already beginning to get a clear picture of the current issues in relation to voids and temporary accommodation through consideration of existing policies and processes and with reference to best practice from other authorities/organisations. We have already provided feedback in relations to the revised Tenancy Agreement and Tenants’ Handbook and we will summarise this in our final report. In addition, we will be formulating further recommendations for your consideration. Once we have collated and evaluated our evidence base, we will begin to draft our report which is due to be presented to you in January 2020.

 

If Members have any questions on the review so far, or would like to contribute to the review, I would be more than happy to take comments now, or can be contacted by email should you wish to do so”.