Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

Councillor Bernie Attridge declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 5 – Disabled Adaptations Policy.

Councillor Bernie Attridge declared a personal interest in Agenda item 5 – Disabled Adaptations Policy.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 3 and 12 July, 2023. 

That the minutes of the meetings held on 3^rd July and 12^th July, 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The minutes of the meetings held on 3^rd and 12^th July, 2023 were approved as a correct record, as moved and seconded by Councillor Rosetta Dolphin and Councillor Dale Selvester.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 3^rd and 12^th July be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

(a) That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(b) That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c) That the Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding actions.

The Facilitator presented the current Forward Work Programme for consideration and advised that the Temporary Accommodation Audit report had been moved and would be reported to the Committee at its meeting scheduled for 11^th October 2023.

The Facilitator informed the Committee that a meeting between the Chair, Vice-Chair and Senior Officers within the Housing & Communities Portfolio had been arranged ahead of the next Committee meeting, to discuss items for the Forward Work Programme.  An updated Forward Work Programme would be presented to the Committee at the next meeting.

In relation to the action tracking document, shown at Appendix 2 of the report, the Facilitator reported that she had received a response from Mark Tami MP, who had contacted the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) on the Committees’ behalf.  Once a response had been received, this would be circulated to the Committee.

The recommendations, as outlined within the report, were moved by Councillor Rosetta Dolphin and seconded by Councillor Dennis Hutchinson.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)        That the Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding actions.

That the Committee support the updated Disabled Adaptations policy which covers both private homes and council stock properties.

The Senior Manager (Housing, Welfare & Communities) introduced the report which detailed the amendments to the policy that had been necessary to align adaptations for the private sector or with those for Local Authority Council housing.

The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 placed a mandatory duty on Local Authorities to provide disabled facilities grants (DFG’s) which was available for adapting or providing facilities for a disabled person in a dwelling.  The statutory limit for a DFG was set by the Welsh Government (WG) and was currently £36,000 per application within a five year period.

The Senior Manager outlined the numbers of medium and large adaptations for the private sector, along with a review of each year to explain the increases and decreases in the figures, as outlined in the report.

Councillor Dale Selvester in referring to the report asked if there was only one Occupational Therapist (OT) working within the Housing & Communities Portfolio.  Senior Manager (Housing, Welfare & Communities) explained that there was one OT within the portfolio but there was the possibility of engaging with OT’s within the Social Services portfolio.  She advised that this did not cause a delay in the delivery of adaptations.

Councillor Rosetta Dolphin asked if the Council re-claimed costs for adaptations in private properties if the person requiring the adaptation passed away.  She also asked how many OT’s worked within the Social Services portfolio.  The Senior Manager advised that the Council did not reclaim the costs but put a charge on the property, so that if a property was disposed of within a 10 year period, the Council would claim back costs to a limit on the sale of a property.  The Senior Manager said that she would confirm the number of OT’s within the Social Services portfolio with the Committee following the meeting. 

            Councillor Hilary McGuill commented on the improvements made to the service and the reduction in the number of days taken for adaptations, as outlined within the report.  She asked whether adaptations in Local Authority properties were means tested if a tenant moved from a property with an adaptation to a sheltered housing property and would the property be utilised by a tenants with a need for that particular adaptation.  The Senior Manager advised that there was no financial reclaim from Local Authority tenants as there would be no financial benefit to the tenant for the adaptation.  The Council would also look to re-allocate the property to someone who had the same adaptation requirement. 

            Councillor McGuill also asked if the service had close links with the North East Wales store based in Hawarden.  The Senior Manager explained that the store held minor adaptation equipment and that the adaptations service carried out medium and major adaptation works.  She explained that improvements had been made to reconditioning and reusing stock, such as stairlifts and advised that they were robustly tested before being reused to ensure their safety.  

The recommendation, as outlined within the report, was moved by Councillor Hilary McGuill and seconded by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To provide a verbal update to the Committee on budget pressures around homelessness.

That the Chair write to the Welsh Government, on behalf of the Committee, to express its concern around the financial implications to the Local Authority following changes to the Housing Wales Act 2014 (HWA 2014) and the need for appropriate levels of resource and support to be provided to the Local Authority.

The Service Manager – Housing & Prevention provided an update on emergency accommodation budget pressures.  A briefing note had been circulated to the Committee ahead of the meeting, which provided further detail.

In referring to the briefing note, the Service Manager advised that within the Housing Solutions Service, there were a number of specific budgets for homeless accommodation settings for ‘interim housing’.  In addition, there was a further specific budget for emergency accommodation which needed to be used when there was no remaining capacity in other budgeted temporary accommodation.  The emergency accommodation used was mostly hotel rooms within and beyond the boundaries of Flintshire, together with some use of other forms of holiday lets, such as caravans and apartments.  A summary of in year spend to date was outlined within the briefing note. 

The Committee was advised that the projected total spend for the year was based on the spend to date with adjustments for prepaid accommodation and also for outstanding commitments.  Further allowance was then made for the expected spend for the remainder of the year using the spend to date as the initial base point, but also taking account of the full year impacts of growth in numbers in the year to date and further expected growth in numbers in the remainder of the year.

The Service Manager reported that since October 2022 there had been significant and sustained growth in the numbers of homeless people needing to be accommodated in emergency accommodation due to homelessness.  As had been referenced in previous reports to Committee on homelessness, the challenging market conditions, instability in the private rented sector, tensions at home, increases in people’s complexity of needs and changes to homelessness legislation were all key drivers for ongoing and sustained demand for homeless services and emergency accommodation.  The lack of appropriate social housing to meet the needs of those who experience homelessness, along with affordability and availability issues within the private rented sector, continued to present significant barriers to assisting people to exit homelessness in a timely manner.

In response to a question from Councillor Gladys Healey around rough sleepers, the Service Manager reported that there were currently four rough sleepers in Flintshire and advised that these were not included within the figures presented to the Committee within the briefing note.  Support was provided to the rough sleepers to ensure that they were aware of the support available to them.

In response to a question from Councillor Pam Banks on the Homeless unit within her ward, the Service Manager agreed to speak to Councillor Banks following the meeting.

In response to a question from Councillor Rosetta Dolphin on whether the homeless units at Park Lane and Duke Street had been completed, the Service Manager advised that completion was imminent.

Councillor Bernie Attridge thanked the Service Manager for the briefing note.  He said that the budget pressures were very concerning and would only get worse over the next 12 months.  He asked the Chief Officer and Cabinet Member what representation they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

That the Committee note the following changes outlined in the report:-

·         The Planned Development Delivery Programme (PDP) process and the move to an online portal;

·         The removal of the 20% limitation on the budget for acquisitions; and

·         The alignment of standards and intervention rate for acquisitions under Social Housing Grant (SHG) with those from Transitional Accommodation Capital Programme (TACP).

The Strategic Housing & Programme Delivery Manager introduced the report to provide an update on the delivery of the Housing Strategy Delivery Plan 2019-2024 with particular emphasis on financial year 2022/23.  The Housing Strategy had a delivery plan which set out 3 strategic priorities and related activity to achieve those priorities.

An internal Audit was undertaken in 2022/23 – Right Types of Home in the Right Location – Housing and Communities.  The final report dates March 2022/23 was rated amber/green: key controls generally operating effectively but with recommendations in relation to some fine tuning which had been implemented, including the creation of a risk register.  Schemes were appraised on a regular basis to ensure that where possible, risks were identified at an early stage and mitigating actions were taken to ensure the timely delivery of the schemes within the Delivery Plan. 

The Strategic Housing & Programme Delivery Manager reported that the cost of living pressures and the impacts of the War in Ukraine were continuing to place significant cost and availability pressures placed on labour and materials.  There was also a continued risk of increased demand on homeless prevention services as termination notices had risen.

The recommendation, as outlined within the report, was moved by Councillor Dennis Hutchinson and seconded by Councillor Ray Hughes.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note the following changes outlined in the report:-

·         The Planned Development Delivery Programme (PDP) process and the move to an online portal;

·         The removal of the 20% limitation on the budget for acquisitions; and

·         The alignment of standards and intervention rate for acquisitions under Social Housing Grant (SHG) with those from Transitional Accommodation Capital Programme (TACP)

(a) That the Committee support the content of the draft Flintshire Housing Need

Prospectus; and

(b) That the Committee note the Local Housing Strategy 2019-24 was due for

review next year.

The Strategic Housing & Programme Delivery Manager introduced the updated draft Housing Needs Prospectus. 

The Welsh Government (WG) required that each Local Authority develop a Housing Needs Prospectus to be updated on an annual basis.  The format and contact of the prospectus had not changed significantly to alter the director of travel set out in last year’s prospectus.  The changes identified in the report reflected the increasing demand for social housing from the housing register and homelessness duties, including significant demand for temporary accommodation, which was impacting on the homeless prevention team and the Council’s revenue budget.

The Strategic Housing & Programme Delivery Manager advised that the prospectus would be used by WG to approve the Programme Delivery/Development Plan and to ensure that schemes were meeting the identified need and properties, including progress towards meeting the priorities set out in the Local Housing Strategy 2019-24.

The Chair referred to the Canton Depot site at Bagillt and asked whether the proposed development on this site would take place.  The Strategic Housing & Programme Delivery Manager advised that Natural Resources Wales (NRW) had produced a redesignation of flood mapping a number of year ago which gave the site a designation where it would not be possible to develop.  The formal implementation of the flood mapping had been pushed back, therefore in the meantime, the Council had engaged consultants to carry out feasibility work to provide evidence to NRW that the designation was incorrect and that it was technically possible to overcome the flooding issues on the site.  Work continued on assessing whether technically the issues could be overcome in order to bring an application forward.

In response to a further question from the Chair around the cost for the use of consultants, the Strategic Housing & Programme Delivery Manager advised that the proposal was staggered in a stepped approach so that if they demonstrated that it was not technically possible to proceed with developing the site at Canton Depot or that it would be too costly, then the Council could stop engaging with the consultants before going further. 

Councillor Linda Thew referred to the Transitional Accommodation Capital Programme (TACP) being re-opened and the WG inviting application for funding.  She asked how much the Council had applied for.  The Strategic Housing & Programme Delivery Manager advised that the Council had bid in excess of £2m to bring back empty voids across the County and in excess of £3m to acquire empty dwellings or to acquire homes where a landlord had sitting tenants who the Council would have a duty to house, but they could remain in the property.  In total the Council had bid just under £10m funding from the TACP programme, but the indicative allocation was £1.6m.  The priority was bringing back the void properties and the acquisition of ex right to buy properties.  Further information on the final allocation would be available from 30 September 2023.

Councillor Pam Banks asked if ex right to buy properties were purchased at market rate.  The Strategic Housing & Programme Delivery  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

That the update be noted.

The Service Manager – Housing Assets presented the key figures and key activities against the void action plan, as outlined in the briefing note.

He outlined the number of new voids and those which had been completed and reported that 33 properties had been completed ready for allocation.  He also outlined the following, as presented in the briefing note:-

·         The number of major voids

·         Total overall number of void properties which had reduced to 234

·         The performance of the current contractors

·         Top reasons for terminations

The Chair commented on positive feedback that had been provided on the condition of the void properties being returned.

Councillor Dale Selvester commented on the low and high demand properties outlined in the briefing note and asked why low demand properties were being returned sooner.  He commented on the 1-bed properties and felt that they should be returned sooner to assist with the pressure on the homelessness budget and also was concerned that there had not been an improvement in the number of voids within the Deeside area in comparison to other district areas across the County.  He was also concerned about the high number of major voids given the work being undertaken as part of the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) and questioned why so many properties required major improvement.

The Service Manager explained that the total figures where the number of properties at the current time and were not necessarily the same properties and said that he was happy to provide further information on the breakdown of the figures to Councillor Selvester following the meeting.  In relation to the poor condition of some properties, he advised that the team were working closely with housing management and that they were carrying out 100% pre-termination visits to ascertain the condition of properties.  Unfortunately, the WHQS works had not included plastering work which was the major work required on the void properties. 

In response to a question from Councillor Selvester around how many void properties had been empty for longer than six months, meaning a Council Tax cost to the Council, the Service Manager agreed to speak to the Service Manager – Revenues and Procurement and provide a response following the meeting. 

The Chair asked who determined whether a property was low demand or high demand.  The Service Manager explained that a property was classed as high demand where there was already an allocation for a tenant.  A property was classed as low demand if there wasn’t a tenant allocated which could be due to access issues.  Once a tenant had been allocated or improvements made to accessibility, the property would be moved to be classed as high demand.

Councillor David Evans supported the comments made by Councillor Selvester around the number of properties by district area and whilst acknowledging the response provided by the Service Manager, he felt that over the last six months the Committee would see a reduction in the number of void properties in the Deeside district area, but this was not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

There were no members of the press in attendance.