Agenda item

That the final draft of the Community Services Directorate Plan be endorsed. 

The Director of Community Services introduced a report on the Community Services Directorate Plan to present the final draft to Members and to seek any final views and comments before approval by Cabinet. 

He provided a detailed presentation on the Improvement Plan and highlighted the four priorities and the sub priorities for Housing which included Extra Care Housing, achieving the Wales Housing Quality Standard and modern, efficient and adapted homes.  The Director then provided a detailed presentation on the Directorate Plan.  It was reported that a user friendly style to the format had been adopted by Community Services in 2012 and this had been retained for the update.  Section 3 of the Directorate Plan detailed the vision and values of the Directorate of Community Services and the performance highlights were reported in section 4.  The extra care facility at Llys Jasmine was on schedule to open in September 2013 and would be similar to the development at Llys Eleanor in Shotton. 

Councillor George Hardcastle thanked the Director for his presentation and report.  He asked whether there had been any significant impacts since the introduction of Welfare Reform.  The Head of Housing responded that as at the end June 2013 rent arrears had increased by £30,000 on the same period last year and even though this was a concern, about 80% of income due was still being collected.  She added that 21 tenants who were being charged for under occupancy charges had been moved to smaller properties.  Discretionary Housing Payments had been made to some tenants following claims and a key issue was ensuring that tenants were aware of the Welfare Benefits Service who could assist in identifying whether they were receiving the benefits that they were entitled to.  On the issue of homelessness, there had been an increase in the use of bed and breakfast accommodation but this was currently being contained within the budget and the impact was being managed.  Following a further question from Councillor Hardcastle on what would happen if tenants had a three bedroom property and there were insufficient one or two bedroom properties available for them to move into, the Head of Housing said that each case was looked at on its merits.  She detailed the approach taken for those who were in arrears before the introduction of the Welfare Reform and those who had not been in arrears prior to April 2013.  She advised that the Council were not yet at the position of taking tenants to court over the rent arrears which had accrued as a result of Welfare Reform but there would be a need to look at how this would be managed for the future. 

Councillor Peter Curtis said that there would be situations in the whole of the country where tenants wanted to move to smaller properties to avoid the extra charge, but the properties were not available for them to move to.  He spoke of the 30 empty properties which were being brought back into use for residential living and also commented on the increased use of foodbanks.  Councillor Curtis referred to the large number of empty properties in the Holywell and Greenfield areas and queried whether this was due to high rents being charged.  The Head of Housing said that ways were being considered of how to work with private landlords and suggested that this could be the subject of a report to a future meeting.  Councillor Curtis welcomed the reduction in the number of void properties. 

Councillor Alison Halford thanked the Director, the Head of Housing and officers for the report and the information provided.  She asked for further information on why the authority was in the bottom quartile for the average time taken to complete Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) and undertaking visits to looked after children within statutory timescales.  On the issue of DFGs, the Director said that improvements had been made in the last quarter but that Flintshire County Council was still below average for Councils in Wales.  Work had been undertaken to work more effectively and the position was improving but was still a challenge.  On the issue of visits within statutory timescales, he said that these were for individual cases and could result in a missed performance indicator if the visit was undertaken a day later than scheduled, however the situation was improving.  In response to a query from Councillor Halford about whether DFGs could be included as an item on the Forward Work Programme for discussion at a future meeting, the Director concurred and suggested that it be included as an item for discussion at a joint meeting with the Social and Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee. 

Councillor Halford referred to the Deeside Housing Renewal Area and asked whether there had been any slippage.  The Director confirmed that it was reported in the Directorate Plan that this issue remained a key priority.  The Head of Housing said that there were no significant issues and added that the renewal area budget was ringfenced but the funding at £300,000 had been significantly lower than the £1m expected.  Last year all of the commitments were achieved.

On the issue of vacant properties which were beyond repair, Councillor Mike Reece queried whether demolition could be forced to free up land to build new properties.  The Director suggested that this be included as an item on the Forward Work Programme for a future meeting.  Councillor David Cox raised concern about properties which had stood empty for over five years and the problems associated with identifying and contacting the owners.  The Director commented on the challenges but said that a target of bringing 30 empty homes back into use had been set.  The Head of Housing said that the empty homes activity had improved and she commented on work which was being undertaken on options available to Councils such as charging higher rates of Council Tax for empty properties.  She suggested that a report on empty properties be considered at a future meeting of the Committee and that the Housing Renewal Manager be invited to attend to answer questions from Members. 

The Chairman queried whether there was any funding available which could be used to build council houses on land owned by the authority.  The Head of Housing explained that Welsh Government (WG) had been able to secure agreement with Central Government to exit the HRA subsidy system but the implications of this for Flintshire were not yet known.    

In response to a question from Council Halford about whether the Council would buy back properties in good condition which had previously been council houses, the Head of Housing said that this had not happened yet but there was an option for the authority to do so.  Councillor Gareth Roberts did not feel that the Council were legally able to do this.

Councillor Jim Falshaw referred to the issue of Section 106 agreements for affordable housing and said that he felt that developers would not agree to comply with this requirement. 

The Head of Housing advised that just under 3000 people were on the housing register and, following a comment from Councillor Falshaw, confirmed that modern and different methods of construction were being explored to develop new homes.                                

In response to a question from Councillor Halford, the Head of Housing explained that the land review was underway but had not yet been completed.  The Director advised that he would provide further information on land owned by Flintshire County Council at a future meeting. 

RESOLVED:

That the final draft of the Community Services Directorate Plan be endorsed.