Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 01 October 2019.

The minutes of the meeting held on 01 October 2019 were agreed as an accurate record.

Apologies for absence were provided by Councillor Andrew Jones.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

This report sets out the budget proposals for the services covered by this Policy and Accountability Committee (PAC). An update is also provided on any proposed changes in fees and charges.

Emily Hill (Assistant Director of Finance), provided a presentation outlining the Council’s budget proposals and also set out the challenges facing local government in recent years.

It was noted that the gross General Fund budget was £525m, of which the net budget requirement of £154.3mwas funded from Council resources (such as council tax and business rates) and general Government grant. It was noted the Government grant funding would increase by £3.6m from 2019/20 to 2020/21 as a result of the Government’s pre-election spending round in September 2019.

Emily explained that the Council faced further pressures to manage any additional costs that might arise outside of the budget forecast. The budget recommended a 1.99% increase in Council Tax and 2% adult social care precept levy. Each would raise £4.8m over 4 years and £1.2m in the first year. This would support investment in key services for residents and improve future financial resilience. Additionally, it was noted that the business rates system was changing for a fourth successive year.

It was assumed that the budget gap would increase in each of the next three years if no action was taken to reduce overall expenditure. It was  noted the Government would undertake a ‘fair funding review’ in 2020/21. This would reconsider how the Grant was distributed between authorities.

Concluding Corporate Finance’s initial remarks, Hitesh Jolapara (Strategic Director, Finance and Governance) explained that in accordance with the administration’s policy, the Authority sought to keep the council tax low while protecting and improving services.

Departmental Budget

Danny Rochford (Head of Finance, The Economy Department) provided a presentation of the Economy general fund budget for 2020/21, highlighting the following key points:

•       The main challenge was the constraints on the Department’s ability to collect income (pressures of Welfare reform, the Homelessness Reduction Act and the general state of the wider economy i.e. difficulties in generating Planning income)

•       The proposed budget for the specific sectors within the Economy Department  were Building and Property Management, Economic Development, Learning and Skills, Growth, Housing Solutions, Operations, Planning and Property Service and Compliance

•       £800k savings had been identified through: Placing homeless residents in to better, longer-term private rented sector housing to reduce the use of Temporary Accommodation (£196,000), Reduction in Temporary Accommodation voids (£115,000),Improved debt management (£286,000), Consolidation of management & workforce and reduction in the use of agency staff (£100,000),Review and restructure of Economic Development (£61,000)

•       An overview of the risks as set out in Appendix 2

•       An overview of the Fees and Charges as set out in Appendix 4

The Chair thanked officers for the strong overview of the Corporate and Housing budgets, as well as the savings proposals. Cllr Lisa Homan was invited to speak before questions were taken from the Committee.

Cllr Lisa Homan explained that the budget had sought to avoid affecting front line services and considerable efforts had been made to find efficiencies. The Housing Solutions budget had been particularly challenging, given the Council’s track record of not having  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This presentation sets out the HRA Financial Plan 2020/21.

Danny Rochford (Head of Finance, The Economy Department), introduced the presentation that covered the proposed Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget and the Financial Plan for Council Homes (including the proposal to increase rents).

Providing an overview, Danny stated that every year, the council reviewed the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget which enabled officers to draw up a fresh 40-year financial plan for the HRA to ensure that a long term, sustainable plan was in place. Details were provided on a series of challenges and pressures to the HRA which were summarised as follows:

§  Loss of rent for four years

§  Increased spending on Fire Safety

§  Increase in accommodation costs

§  Housing Development Programme

§  Repairs and maintenance contract costs

§  Asset Management Strategy (a considerable proportion of the housing stock was nearing the end of its life expectancy)

With these pressures in mind, Danny explained that this year’s refresh sought to deliver and fund improved housing services to residents and invest for the future. However, to achieve this, a rent increase of 2.7% was necessary based on CPI (Consumer Price Index) +1%, in line with the Council’s commitment made in 2015 to make rent increases affordable. It was noted that it was also necessary to make savings in ongoing costs over four years, which would lead to an annual cost saving of £4m per annum.

Danny explained that failure to take either of these actions would result in either; a reduction in essential services to residents, or significantly increasing the savings target to over £4m. He explained that in real terms, the rental increase amounted to an average rent increase of £3.12 / week.

Discussing the pressures further, Cllr Lisa Homan highlighted that the rent rise which had been considered in the past, was actually lower than what had been suggested back in 2015. The importance of the Fire Safety Plus scheme was underlined, as was the need for the Council to respond to the emerging (central government) guidance (at no additional expense to leaseholders). It was also noted that more money was being spent on repairs as this area had been previously underfunded.

Mark Meehan explained that before any recommendation to increase rents had been made, officers had surveyed all the other 32 London Boroughs. He confirmed that the Officer proposal to increase rents was identical to what all the other London Boroughs were doing. In relation to fire safety, he reiterated the need to ensure the Council was in a strong position to react and implement legislative change.

Cllr Ann Rosenberg asked who had the ultimate responsibility when a building was being constructed, to ensure they were compliant (with fire safety legislation) and residents were not left with worthless properties. She explained she was aware there were around 400 properties which been identified where the construction materials meant that householders were unable to move or secure further funding from lenders. Mark Meehan explained this topic could be brought back as a future item or he could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

This report provides an update for review and comment by the Policy and Accountability Committee on the following areas: Rough Sleeping,

Implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018,Temporary Accommodation and Private Rented Sector and Sheltered Housing, doing things with residents, not to them – Resident Led Decision Making

Glendine Shepherd (Assistant Director, Housing Management) gave an overview of the report which provided updates on Rough Sleeping, Implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018, Temporary Accommodation and Sheltered Housing. The individual report authors then provided a brief summary of the reports and the following points were noted:

Rough Sleeping

Julia Copeland, Head of Strategic Commissioning and Rough Sleeping Lead explained that rough sleeping was the most visible and extreme form of homelessness. Details were provided on the causes and scale of the problem, as well as what steps the Council was currently taking to address the issue.

In line with the Council’s commitment to do things with residents, rather than to them, Officers interviewed 108 rough sleepers. This data was used to inform the Council’s response, and stemming from the Rough Sleeping Commissions’ 29 recommendations, it was  noted that the Council’s strategy would focus on improving prevention and early intervention through better information, signposting and partnership working.  Details were provided  on several of the new initiatives for rough sleepers. Actions included:

• The expansion of Housing First;
• Emergency night support service;
• Rough sleeper navigator posts;
• Homeless hospital discharge co-ordinator;
• Cold Weather Fund;
• More joined up services;
• Alternative Giving Scheme campaign; and
• Small Tap Big Change(with nearly £5K raised so far).

Concluding her remarks, Julia explained that in 2020/21 the majority of rough sleeper services (accommodation and out-reach services), would be recommissioned and Officers would continue to deliver better value for money, better outcomes and improved services to residents.

Homelessness

Simone Melia, Head of Homelessness Prevention and Assessment, provided details on the Council’s statutory duties to help residents before they became homeless i.e. they had nowhere to live, but where not rough sleeping.

The Committee heard The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (‘The Act’) which came into force in April 2018, had made significant changes to the way in which local authorities delivered homelessness services and put a greater emphasis on providing advice and guidance to those persons living with the threat of homelessness.

Details were provided on the number of people seeking homelessness assistance, the preventative work which officers were doing, as well as the new duty to refer (which put the onus on public sector organisations to let the Local Authority know if anyone was at risk of becoming homeless.)

Officers explained that the Economy Department had been recently restructured which had influenced how homeless services were delivered. Simone also highlighted the improvements which had been brought about by the new customer contact centre based at 145 King Street, the introduction of a new online self-assessment tool, upskilling and an improved customer service experience.

Temporary Accommodation

Gerry Crowley, Head of Allocations and Lettings explained the Council provided temporary accommodation as it had a legal duty to do so to those households which were homeless or threatened with homelessness. Setting the national context, it was noted that since 2010, there had been a 77% increase the number of families in temporary accommodation and a 250% increase in the number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.