Issue - meetings

That the progress being made to deliver the promises in the Choices Document be noted.

The Head of Housing introduced a report detailing progress in delivering an improved service to Council tenants, in line with the commitment given as part of the Choices Document, following the majority vote by tenants in 2012 for the Council to retain its housing stock.  An annual progress report would be received by the Committee.

The Head of Housing explained that proposals for the budget in 2014/15 would include the allocation of funding for the development of a handy person service together with additional posts relating to financial inclusion support.  She referred to the commitment given for £49m of investment over five years in the capital programme and for previous expectations to be surpassed, resulting in full achievement of the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) by 2020.

The Chairman congratulated Mrs Mavis Crofts (Chair of the Flintshire Tenants’ Federation) who had been awarded an MBE for voluntary services in the community and invited her to address the Committee.

Mrs Crofts reflected on the significant progress which had been made since the housing ballot and particularly welcomed the opportunity for involvement by the Tenants’ Federation in the process.  She thanked the Head of Housing for keeping the Federation informed of progress by sharing accurate up-to-date information and spoke of the improved approach to working on void properties.

In praising the work undertaken, Councillor Paul Shotton hoped that the Welsh Government had recognised the achievements by the Council in exceeding expectations for the delivery of improvements during the previous year.  He welcomed the indication for achievement of the WHQS by 2020, which was many years earlier than originally anticipated.

Councillor Ian Dunbar expressed his appreciation to the Housing team for their assistance and flexibility in carrying out improvements at the properties of elderly tenants in line with their needs.

RESOLVED:

That the progress being made to deliver the promises in the Choices Document be noted.