Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

Councillor Ted Palmer declared a personal interest as a Council tenant.

Councillor Ted Palmer declared a personal interest as a Council tenant.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 11 September, 2024.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The minutes were approved.

RESOLVED:

That subject to the amendment, the minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2024 be approved as a correct record.

(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 Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator presented a report (agenda item number 4) to consider the current Forward Work Programme and Action Tracking progress.

The Facilitator advised that Food Poverty update would be moved to the January meeting, and also the Garage Site review would be moved to the December meeting to free up time for the November meeting.

Councillor Helen Brown referred to her request made at the last meeting, for a report on options on the re-designation of Sheltered Housing properties, which had been included on the FWP as part of the Sheltered Housing Review Update report scheduled for June 2025 and asked if this information could be presented at an earlier date.

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 progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.

(a) That the Committee note the findings and recommendations from Neil Morland &

Co. and support the report progressing through the Committee cycle with regular updates to be shared with Members in terms of progress against

recommendations; and

(b) That the Committee note the principle of cost avoidance and spend to save

efficiencies to fund additional staffing capacity within the Housing & Prevention Service through diversifying the homeless accommodation portfolio, to maximise opportunity for successfully reducing spend on homeless accommodation.

The Housing & Prevention Service Manager introduced the report (agenda item 5) on the Independent Review of Flintshire Homelessness Services which detailed work that was underway in response to service capacity to meet growing demand.   

Councillor Helen Brown suggested that a letter of thanks be sent, on behalf of the Committee, to the Housing & Prevention Service to thank them for their continued work within the Service and the positive findings of the support they provide, as outlined within the report.

When considered, the Committee did not support the third recommendation, as outlined within the report.  Recommendations one and two were supported.   

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee note the findings and recommendations from Neil Morland & Co. and support the report progressing through the Committee cycle with regular updates to be shared with Members in terms of progress against recommendations; and

(b)       That the Committee note the principle of cost avoidance and spend to save

efficiencies to fund additional staffing capacity within the Housing & Prevention Service through diversifying the homeless accommodation portfolio, to maximise opportunity for successfully reducing spend on homeless accommodation

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 (agenda item 6).

It was suggested that Members of the Committee be invited to see a void property prior to works being carried out a void property once work had been completed.

Following comments made by Councillor Ted Palmer, the Service Manager suggested that the new void properties, properties ready for allocation and total fields be moved to the top of the briefing note.

In response to a question from Councillor Bernie Attridge on how much additional funding had been transferred from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) to Voids, the Service Manager agreed to provide this information following the meeting.

In response to a request from Councillor Kevin Rush, the Service Manager suggested bringing information on the Voids Lettable Standards and disrepair costs to the Committee at a future meeting. 

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

None.