To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 23 July 2014 (Minute Nos. 153 - 163) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 23 July 2014 (Minute Nos. 153 – 163) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for  themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Head of Housing, Housing Options Manager and Cabinet Member for Housing have been invited to the meeting to provide a presentation on Housing services.

The Chairman welcomed the Head of Housing, Housing Options Manager and the Cabinet Member for Housing to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Housing thanked the Committee for the invitation to brief Members, and considered that it was important to share information on the services and high level of performance delivered by the Housing Team.

The Housing Options Manager gave a presentation outlining the national picture of Housing Services, the picture in Swale, the key challenges, temporary accommodation, complex cases and homeless prevention.  A copy of the presentation was circulated to the Committee and is available to view on the on-line agenda.

The Head of Housing provided an overview of the work of the Private Sector Housing Team, Staying Put – the Council’s Home Improvement Agency, and Strategic Housing. 

The Cabinet Member for Housing emphasised the importance of partnership working with Kent County Council, Registered Social Landlords, Housing Associations and health services and the need for Swale to be pro-active in undertaking new projects.

A Member made the following comments: need to look separately at tactics and strategy; the Housing Team offer excellent assistance but there is an issue with the strategy; housing availability in Faversham was appalling; not just about homelessness but also about unsuitable accommodation; need to look innovatively at ways to create more accommodation; how could the Council work collaboratively with Housing Associations to encourage building?; could the Council secure more Section 106 funding?; how could the Council improve our engagement with private sector landlords to provide more rental properties for residents claiming benefits; what messages should the Council be sending to central Government?; Council needs to review its overall strategic position and create a stronger policy position; need to consider borrowing to build housing; residents want to stay within the area they currently live in; moving residents out of the Borough was detrimental; there was a risk that the Council was failing residents by not providing suitable temporary accommodation in the locality.

The Head of Housing advised that the Housing Team were working with the Planning Department to secure as many affordable homes as possible on new developments.  The Team had a good relationship with a number of landlords in Swale but it was important to recognise that market forces made it difficult to encourage landlords to rent to benefit claimants, especially given there was a shortage of rental properties, and Faversham was the least affordable area in the Borough for private rental. 

The Cabinet Member for Housing considered that it was important to support residents in gaining employment,  which would then enable them to access private rented accommodation.  He referred to the benefit of Life Time Homes and the Council’s policy of investment, rather than borrowing.

A Member welcomed the reduction in the number of residents on the housing list, but raised concern that there was not enough smaller accommodation in the Borough and the condition of some properties was very poor.

The Chairman thanked the Head of Housing, Housing Options Manager and the Cabinet  ...  view the full minutes text for item 202.

The Committee is asked to review the updated log of recommendations (attached).

The Committee noted the log of recommendations.

The Committee is asked to consider updates on other reviews.

Councillor Ben Stokes, Lead Member for the Contracts and Procurement Review, and Councillor Peter Marchington, Lead Member for the Asset Transfers Review, both advised that their respective review groups needed to meet with officers to progress the two reviews, and they would report back further at the next meeting.

The Policy and Performance Officer undertook to arrange a meeting with officers on behalf of both Lead Members.

·         Policy and Performance Officer

The Chairman advised that a meeting had been arranged for 10 September 2014, to progress the joint scrutiny review of the Mid Kent Improvement Partnership with Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Councils.  A number of further meetings had been scheduled and it was proposed that the review would be finalised by December 2014, culminating in a joint meeting of all members of the Swale, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Scrutiny Committees.  As the Chairman was unable to attend the meeting, it was hoped that the Vice-Chairman would represent the Committee with Councillor Henderson, and they would report back on progress at the next meeting.

The Committee is asked to consider any requests from Committee Members to commence a review.

There were no urgent business requests.

The Committee is asked to consider the Cabinet Forward Plan (attached) with a view to identifying possible items for pre-decision scrutiny.

The Committee reviewed the Cabinet Forward Plan for September – December 2014 and made the following comments:

Beach Huts Report – welcome the proposal for additional beach huts but concern that the existing huts were not being used by the owners and were being purchased solely for investment; poor response to the consultation; lack of toilet facilities at the beach huts which needed to be addressed before further huts were built; and could all the huts be offered on a rental basis to remove the issue with purchases being made solely for investment.

A Member commented on the asset transfers reports being proposed, and considered that it was important that the Council was able to take back the asset if the community group were no longer able to manage it.

Fees and Charges – to be scheduled into the Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for review in advance of the November Cabinet Meeting.

The Committee is asked to review and discuss the Committee’s Work Programme (attached) for the remainder of the year.

The Committee noted the Work Programme.