Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor David Morton.

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 item presents the minutes of the previous meeting for approval and responses to actions raised at the previous meeting.

Actions and officer responses

Councillor Paul Alexander appreciated the officers’ response to outstanding issues raised at the last meeting. On item 1.1 relating to damp and mould, Councillor Alexander referred to the revised social housing regulation published in February 2023 which had over time lost connection to the Decent Homes standard originally drawn up in 2006. Expressing concerns about the different standards adopted for disrepair and damp & mould, and none of them was based on the aforesaid Decent Homes standard, he considered it necessary to have a clear set of standards used for all the related works.

As regards item 4 on carbon emissions, Councillor Alexander noted that Council housing had emitted a total of 40,498 tonnes CO₂, with 12,161 tonnes emitted for electricity and 28,337 tonnes for gas.  He considered it more realistic to measure the amount of CO₂ emitted on-site. Noting the heating target of 165 kWh/m²/year among 6 property types, Councillor Alexander queried the types of property involved as immediate actions might need to be taken for older property types in order to meet the target.  

In response, Richard Shwe (Interim Director of Housing) undertook to take on board concerns expressed by Councillor Alexander and include these issues in the next Forward Plan. His office would also double-check with the Climate Change team to ensure the information and hence corresponding actions were conducive in meeting the net zero target of carbon emissions by 2030.

ACTION: Richard Shwe

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 January were agreed to be accurate.

Richard Shwe (Interim Housing Director) will provide a verbal introduction to the Committee.

Before inviting Richard Shwe to speak, the Chair stated the purpose, principal functions, and the role of the Committee.

NOTE: The Chair’s statement is attached as Appendix 1

Richard Shwe (Interim Director of Housing) delivered his introductory remark. He highlighted the top priorities and associated tasks, with a strong focus on fixing repairs as the number one priority.

NOTE: Richard Shwe’s introductory remark is attached as Appendix 2

Councillor Adronie Alford was concerned that the Committee had not received regular updates on repairs and associated improvements as agreed at the beginning of the year and her related questions on the subject were not addressed.  As opposition, she considered it justified for her to hold the Administration to account and to scrutinise related issues, including regular updates on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), a more detailed update on voids, and regular updates on repairs.

The Chair reiterated that the principal functions of the Committee were, inter alia, to make recommendations to the Cabinet, review the impact of decisions, scrutinise policies in the interest of residents and monitor spending rather than reviewing the operational tasks.  The role of the Committee was to monitor the policies and review their implementation. For instance, the Committee would review the void and repair strategies to see how they could be improved. She added that while committing to review the HRA every January, the Committee could always scrutinise the costing behind a housing policy and its impact on the HRA.

Councillor Alford said she intended to find more savings by reviewing the HRA on a regular basis.  She found it disappointing that her requests had not been actioned to by senior officers. Richard Shwe assured members that the Housing team would strive to deliver what he had promised in his introduction. 

Councillor Paul Alexander appreciated that the issue of repairs was given top priority.  He requested awareness be raised to better coordinate between leaseholders and tenants to prevent their conflicting needs from escalating to becoming legal issues. He supported prioritising maintenance, including maintaining the standards for repairs. Councillor Alexander hoped to see that the improvement measures proposed by the senior management would be executed.  He further urged that efforts should be made to resolve the problematic disrepair cases to obviate questioning by the Ombudsman.

Councillor Asif Siddique expressed concern about the circumstances of repairs faced by residents amidst the cost-of-living crisis. He asked whether special strategies/priorities or track system were in place to deal with complaints on the delay of repairs.

Richard Shwe said that the Housing team had looked at the data and were addressing issues directly.  For casework in the pipeline, the best approach was to work with  contractors and fix them before they became a bigger problem. 

Councillor Frances Umeh thanked members for sharing their reflections as well as Richard Shwe for his overview of housing work priorities, specifically the improvements of repairs work. She noted that in addition to improving works, there was a need for making investment in the housing stock which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This report provides an update on the Council’s development programme and how it contributes to the commitment to see 3,000 new energy efficient homes constructed or underway in the borough over the next four years.

The report also outlines how the development programme embeds co-production with local residents at the heart of development activities, as well as the role the new council-led developments play in supporting the Council’s ambitious net-zero carbon targets.

At the meeting there will be an accompanying presentation, including an overview of the programme and an update on the Hartopp and Lannoy development project. The committee will hear from the scheme architects BPTW and the sustainability consultants Calford Seaden.

Matt Rumble (Strategic Head of Regeneration and Development) updated members on the following:

• The Building Homes and Community Strategy and its underpinning principles;
• the Development Programme overview, including the direct delivery programmes and partnership delivery projects;
• the housing tenures in H&F, including genuinely affordable homes, intermediate homes and market sales homes;
• funding and financial performance, including negotiating affordable housing obligations in private development (Section 106); and
• partnership delivery of the Education City: the Ark Swift Primary Academy site and its phases of development.

Peter Cook (Head of Development) outlined the following:

• the principles of co-production: doing things with residents, not to them;
• the Defend Council Homes Policy;
• co-producing White City Central and the White City Estate Resident Advisory Panel;
• co-production with the community in numbers;
• response to Climate and Ecology Strategy; and
• the redevelopment of Hartopp and Lannoy site.

Neil Campbell (Partner, Architecture, BPTW) gave a detailed account of the Hartopp and Lannoy Point Project, including co-production with the Resident’s Steering Group.

Emily Mansfield (Sustainability Consultant, Calford Seaden) introduced the Sustainability Strategy of the Hartopp and Lannoy Point Project, including the H&F’s target under the Climate & Ecology Strategy, the benefits and values of net zero, and the reduction of running costs through passive design under the Sustainability Framework.

Andrew Yates (Partner, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Calford Seaden) briefed members on the low energy design under the Passivhaus Principles, including energy efficient design via fabric enhancement, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery), the use of air source heat pumps for heating and hot water and the adoption of solar photovoltaic array to generate renewable energy.

Onur Osman (Senior Associate, Architecture, BPTW) outlined the Sustainability & Passivhaus Design Principles.  He also noted the project summary and the next steps.

The Chair said she was interested to see how the constrictions and challenges presented by residents could be overcome by co-production.  She requested for the sets of presentation slides be circulated to members after the meeting. (Appendices 3a and 3b)

NOTE: The presentations are attached as Appendices 3a and 3b

Councillor Paul Alexander asked if the residents had expressed any views during the consultation on the size of internal and communal living space, the window size and ceiling height, and the maintenance of heating installations.

Peter Cook noted that all the new builds were developed according to the national standards to accommodate modern living. The accessible units, co-produced with the accessible working groups, were bigger in size with larger furniture layouts.  Matt Rumble added that the provision and size of the balcony and outdoor space were also set out in the national space standards.

Councillor Alexander understood that the national standards allowed a range, and he was concerned whether the minimum was adopted by councils in London which might not meet residents’ expectation.  

Councillor Adronie Alford asked about the distribution of beds in the development. Peter Cook said there were 67 genuinely affordable homes made up of 28 one-beds, 27 two-beds, and 12 three-beds. There were 45 intermediate homes made  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the dates of future meetings:

·       25 July 2023

·       14 November 2023

·       30 January 2024

·       26 March 2024

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings:

• 25 July 2023
• 14 November 2023
• 30 January 2024
• 26 March 2024