Agenda item

(a)       That the new allocations policy for Flintshire County Council be supported;

(b)       That the continued involvement in the regional project and the contribution of £10,000 in 2014-15 for the Regional Project Officer post be supported;

(c)        That the phased implementation of the new allocations policy and register in Flintshire as detailed in the project plan be supported;

(d)       That the Committee receive an update report in September 2014; and

(e)       That the comments made in relation to people who have left the armed forces under Discharge as of Right be conveyed to the Steering Group.  

The Community Support Services Manager introduced the report to update Members on the development of the Single Access Route to Housing (SARTH) Project across the North East Wales sub region and to seek support to continue with the project and implement the policy locally. 

She detailed the background to the report, explaining that in 2011, the Welsh Government supported a project to explore the options for a sub regional common housing register and policy.  In November 2012, Cabinet gave approval for Flintshire to put the policy out to public consultation.  Members were invited to attend a workshop in April 2013 as part of that consultation and an update report had been circulated to Members in July 2013 providing feedback on the consultation results.  The overall aim of the SARTH was to simplify access to a range of affordable housing options which was transparent, legal, efficient and accessible to all sections of the community.  From a customer perspective, the policy would result in a simpler scheme than the current points based scheme and applicants would be given reasonable preference determined by a banding scheme which listed people in date order of their application within each band; the categories for reasonable preference were detailed in the report.  The Community Support Services Manager explained that applicants who were not in the categories entitled to reasonable preference would not be given any priority in the banding scheme and would not be recorded on the housing register, however advice and assistance would be provided to assist those applicants in finding affordable housing that met their needs. 

On the issue of a regional policy and register, the Community Support Services Manager explained that the development of a regional register to support the policy was more complex and required an IT system to be purchased or developed.  Some work had been carried out to consider the most appropriate IT solution to support the policy but there had been no financial commitment from all partners to contribute to a regional system at this time.  Flintshire County Council was committed to continuing with the regional project but a local register would support local service delivery which was closely aligned to the existing housing options teams.  It had taken the step towards delivering the enhanced service by piloting a Central Housing Register Team.  The proposal was that the Central Housing Register Team and the Housing Options Team join to form a ‘Housing Solutions Model’ which would deal with all requests for housing by assessing an individual’s requirements and needs, and advising them on the most suitable option.  The Community Support Services Manager explained that from 2015, the Local Authority would have a duty to provide full advice and assistance to all those who approached the Council in housing need.  This early work would assist Flintshire County Council to manage the additional burden of the legislation change without needing to invest in additional staff resources. 

A review of the Medical Panel had suggested that lower level issues be assessed by the Housing Asset Officer and Housing Occupational Therapist and that better use be made of internal expertise including mental health services and Occupational Therapy.  These changes would be supported by a robust appeals process. 

The timeline for the implementation of the changes was detailed at appendix 2 where it was proposed that the change to the banding system be gradual but that the merging of the two teams start from January 2014, if the proposals were approved.

The Chairman suggested that an update be provided to a future meeting. 

Councillor Alison Halford congratulated the Community Support Services Manager for her report.  She referred to page 13 where the list of partners in the collaboration were reported and asked why this had not happened previously.  She also queried that if Flintshire County Council were responsible for Flintshire needs why was a collaboration needed.  The Community Support Services Manager said that all of the partners had signed up to a common policy of banding and a single access route for consistency.  She added that even though a regional approach was still being considered, this would take longer to implement.  Councillor Halford also referred to paragraph 3.13 and asked if Flintshire County Council was to provide the IT system for all partners.  The Community Support Services Manager explained that not all partners would share the same capita system.  She said that SARTH was more than just allocating properties; it was around giving options and advice. 

Councillor George Hardcastle asked about the criteria that would be used for determining if a person would need to attend a medical panel.  The Community Support Services Manager said that there were no proposals at present to change the medical points system but it was suggested that simpler cases be dealt with by the Housing Asset Officer and Occupational Therapist with only the more complex cases being referred to the Medical Panel.  

Councillor Mike Reece said that there was currently a policy in place where a letter was sent from Flintshire County Council to local Members informing them of tenants who had moved into their wards.  He asked if the other organisations in the collaboration would adopt the same policy.  The Head of Housing said that discussions could be undertaken with the Housing Associations.  Councillor Ron Davies said that local knowledge was important and that sensitivity when placing tenants also needed to be considered.  The Head of Housing said that it was appropriate for the local Member to contact the Housing Officer about sensitive allocation needs but reminded the Committee that local Members could not be involved in the allocation of properties.  Councillor David Cox felt that local knowledge provided by local Members was important in the consideration of where to house tenants.  The Cabinet Member for Housing said that legal advice had previously been sought on this matter and local Members were not able to influence property allocations.  The Head of Housing said that discussions between the Housing Team and local Members could be reviewed so that Councillors could give information to officers about their local knowledge without them being involved in making a decision as to who moved into their ward.   

Councillor Cox asked if there would be a single point of contact for all partners and whether they would be located together.  The Community Support Services Manager said that there would be a single contact number for Flintshire but that there would be different contact details for different organisations.  On a regional perspective, the Head of Housing said that it would be difficult for all organisations to know details of all areas of North East Wales but that the best practice for the region would be delivered locally. 

   In response to a question from Councillor Halford, the Community Support Services Manager detailed the criteria for each of the bandings.  Councillor Halford referred to paragraph 3(b) on page 31 about people who had left the armed forces under Discharge as of Right (DAOR) being excluded from this provision and would not be given band one status under category three; she raised concern about this issue.  The Community Support Services Manager said that there had been an overwhelming amount of support in the consultation for those from the armed forces to be given high priority and they were therefore included in Band one.  Councillor Halford referred to the difference between those who had left the armed forces under DAOR and those who had been made redundant from the armed forces without a pension.  The Community Support Services Manager explained that the phased approach to bring in the policy had been suggested so that it could be ensured that it worked; the suggestion to further consider the needs of those who had been in the armed forces would be passed on to the Steering Group. 

Councillor Amanda Bragg referred to the bullet point on page 16 and asked whether the new scheme would make it easier to determine timing for the likelihood of a property becoming available to tenants.  The Community Support Services Manager confirmed that the date order in the new proposals would improve the situation about the timeframe as it would be easier for people to understand where they were on the list.  She added that no-one currently on the register would be asked to come off it. 

Councillor Ian Dunbar referred to prisoners who were provided with housing on their discharge from prison and asked if consideration had been given in the policy to amend the criteria to stop this from occurring under the new policy.  The Community Support Services Manager explained that under the Homelessness Legislation, Local Authorities had a statutory requirement to house ex prisoners.  The Head of Housing said that there was a suggestion that this could change so that in future the ex offender would need to prove their vulnerability. 

In response to a question from Councillor Gareth Roberts, the Community Support Services Manager said that data cleansing work would be undertaken to ensure that those on the Housing register still needed to be on it.  

Councillor Halford asked whether a Single Access Route would allow easier identification of those tenants who damaged properties then moved on to other authorities or organisations.  On the issue of behaviour, the Community Support Services Manager said that there was a proposal in the policy to reduce a tenant’s priority for unreasonable behaviour.  The Head of Housing said that the shared information that SARTH would provide would improve the situation of tenants who did not look after their property.  Councillor Halford also queried whether there was still a need for the Local Housing Company if SARTH was approved.  The Head of Housing said that the Housing Company was proposed to meet a range of housing needs that the Council were not currently able to meet through current structures/arrangements.  This could include encouraging the private housing sector to rent their properties at a lower market rent, or developers gifting properties to the Council through the Planning system and major regeneration schemes. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the new allocations policy for Flintshire County Council be supported;

(b)       That the continued involvement in the regional project and the contribution of £10,000 in 2014-15 for the Regional Project Officer post be supported;

(c)        That the phased implementation of the new allocations policy and register in Flintshire as detailed in the project plan be supported;

(d)       That the Committee receive an update report in September 2014; and

(e)       That the comments made in relation to people who have left the armed forces under Discharge as of Right be conveyed to the Steering Group.