Issue - meetings

That the Committee support the Housing Management and Anti-Social Behaviour policies.

The Service Manager (Housing, Welfare and Communities) introduced a report to provide an overview of the changes that had been made to the Housing Management Policy and the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy.

The Service Manager reported that the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which came into effect from the 1^st December 2022 was the biggest change to housing law in Wales fordecades.  The new legislation had and would change the way all landlords inWales rent their properties.  The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 aims to simplify the process of renting a home in Wales and to provide parties with more information about their rights and obligations.  The Act was now partially in force, for the purpose of making regulations and issuing guidance.

In relation to the Housing Management Policy, a summary of the main changes were detailed within the report. 

The Service Manager also reported that the Council was committed to tackling anti-social behaviour as it had a devastating impact on the lives of the Council’s customers.  The policy needed to reflect best practice and protect the rights of contract holders as well as minimising risk to the Council for not complying with appropriate legislation.  The aim of the policy was to ensure that effective systems were adopted to prevent and minimise instances of anti-social behaviour and to resolve them as early as possible through timely and appropriate intervention.

Councillor Bernie Attridge requested that procedures for the storage of Scooters be included in the Housing Management Policy.  The Senior Manager advised that the Housing Management Policy could not cover everything, as separate policies that dealt with things such as scooters and pets sat under the Housing Management Policy.

Concern was raised around the strength of the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy in dealing with instances of dog attacks.  The Committee were advised that the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy and been developed in such a way that all aspects of Anti-Social Behaviour would be covered, and Members were reminded that such instances could fall into criminal charges.  It was suggested that a copy of the Pet Policy be circulated to all Members of the Council so that they were clear on the obligations of the Contract Holders in this regard.

Councillor David Evans welcomed the inclusion of Estate Walkabouts within the Policy but questioned how the outcome of actions/issues raised were communicated.  It was agreed that officers would pick this up as a procedural issue to improve communication.

It was agreed that the comments and recommendation made by the Committee be feedback to Cabinet. 

The recommendation, as outlined within the report, was moved by Councillor David Evans and seconded by Councillor Ted Palmer.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee support the Housing Management and Anti-Social Behaviour policies.