Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Cinko-Oner, Graham and Gilgunn.

There were no declarations of substitute members.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)   Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2024 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

None

The Chair informed the meeting that as part of the review, Committee would invite residents and volunteers of the TRA of both Parkview Estate and Hathersage  to share their experiences on New Homes Build – see B1below

The order of business would be B2 and B1.

For members of the public to ask questions relating to any subject on the meeting agenda under Procedure Rule 70.5. Alternatively, the Chair may opt to accept questions from the public during the discussion on each agenda item.

In response to a question from a member of public who is a tenant of Hyde Housing who raised concerns about damp and mould and its detrimental impact on her well-being and health, the Executive Member Cllr O’Halloran stated that although RSL’s(  Registered Social Landlords) are independent of Council she will take the resident’s details with her after the meeting.

Chair informed the meeting that prior to consideration of the draft recommendations, residents and TRA representatives from Parkview Estate and Hathersage Estate will be making representations of their experience of the New build Homes in Islington.

·       Some of the issues are that schemes have resulted in immense disruption to their daily lives; loss of open spaces and play areas for children for over 10years; lack of leadership from council officers and importantly no communication on future plans for areas that have remained fenced off.

·       In response, the Acting Director informed that previously there was a scheme and team worked with TRA but unfortunately it was not possible to get it work, that going all efforts will be made to repair the relationship with the TRA which is reflected in one of the recommendations being considered later in the meeting.

·       On whether the scheme at Hathersage would still be going ahead, Officer advised that although he could not commit to any scheme officers are working  on bringing back the communal spaces/play areas.

·       Meeting was informed that going forward all attempts should be made to reinstate the communal open fields/play areas which had been fenced off and lots more work need to be done in terms of communication as it is obvious that residents were communicating with officers but were left in limbo.

·       Executive Member, Finance, Performance and Planning reiterated his commitment to scheduling a meeting with Hathersage TRA , apologised that he had visited other new schemes in the borough besides Hathersage, all attempts will be made to address their concerns.

·       Another resident said despite their willingness tenants on the onset , trust and respect to the council has been lost, that tenants are subject to cyclical works and capital works.

·       Another resident of Parkview reiterated her concerns about lack of consultation, that as a disabled person she experienced accessibility around the estate, no notice of announcement of diversions and importantly the contract liaison officer has been ineffective. Members were reminded that this project should have been a textbook example for resident engagement but unfortunately fell short.

·       In response, the Acting Director noted inconveniences the planned schemes had caused and the catalogue of issues raised by the residents. The Officer reiterated that the Council have completed some successful schemes, that going forward Council will look to keep residents updated at every stage of the building process.

·       It was noted that in light of the concerns raised by residents, it was suggested that maybe a check list was required which allows officers to work through bit by bit so that everyone has a clear understanding of where things are, a clear path of how to move forward.

·       Chair thanked residents and TRA representatives, apologising for the inconveniences it has caused, the disruption to their lives, noting that this is an issue that has come to the attention of this committee and that having now heard from residents, members will now be able to hold officers to account.

·       Another resident informed the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Meeting was reminded that report was deferred from previous meeting, that both Executive Member and Acting Corporate Director were available to respond to questions. The following points were noted:

·       Meeting was informed that formal notification had been received from the Housing Ombudsman that it had discharged its monitoring period as it was satisfied that Council had undertaken a number of actions that it had recommended.

·       On the issue of removal of car parking spaces and conversion of garages, the Acting Director acknowledged Council’s commitment to reducing car spaces and where garages are lent out it is under licence.

·       Service has installed over one hundred remote sensors related to damp and mould to help residents and alert the council to any of the issues. On the low take up by residents, Acting Corporate Director stated that more communications is required to promote the benefits and to allay any concerns as remote sensors are of low energy use. Meeting was informed that this is presently being piloted.

·       Meeting was advised that a pre maintenance team is in place to address damp and mould for example, the Council is embarking on its roofing programme, reinstated its guttering service which had paused and communication on the website around damp and mould for residents has been refreshed. It was noted that investment spent per dwelling has gone up , that over the last 2 years £2.7m investment has been spent and  permanent staff have been recruited. 

On the 350/per day fire call out especially around communal area, meeting was advised that details will be provided to committee members.

·       On issues of damp and mould experienced by RSL’s tenants, meeting was advised that Council has a partnership agreement with all of them, that RSL’s experience the same issues at the Councill, however Council officers, Executive Member meet regularly to share best practices.

·       With regards to private tenants, meeting was advised that Council has a licensing scheme in the borough which requires private landlords to register and that environmental officers are there to address any reported issues.

RESOLVED:
That the Housing Performance Annual Report be noted.