Agenda item

John Kolm-Murray, Seasonal Health and Affordable Warmth Co-ordinator presented the report back.

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         Over 98% of directly managed properties were now rated at Band D or above.

·         A current barrier to using environmental health powers to address problems of private landlords not meeting standards was that fines were small and it was not a priority for trading standards. The council was working with landlords to improve standards.

·         A lot of time was spent trying to engage with the health sector. It was hoped the health service would realise the impact housing could have on health. Given that Islington had one of the highest rates of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and one in nine children in Islington had asthma, IT was not considered that there were enough referrals from the health service. There were referrals from the UCH paediatric respiratory department but very few from GPs even though all GPs were aware of the service. Many GPs had stated they did not get time to discuss living conditions with patients and others claimed the evidence was not clear enough and were instead focused on the medical approach rather than considering wider determinants such as housing, poverty and social isolation.

·         Community nurses visited patients in their homes but there were very few referrals from them.

·         Public Health England had engaged more than NHS England had.

·         The Health and Wellbeing Board were encouraged to take more leadership on leading a culture change.

·         From 2017/18 the Warm Home Discount would be paid directly from the government to eligible households.

·         It was hoped that the Digital Economy Bill would increase the opportunities for more data sharing to take place between energy companies and the council.

·         The new Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy had recently been appointed. The council would continue to work with the Deputy Mayor to deliver the best deal for London boroughs. The council would continue to lobby for 15% of Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding to be given to London schemes based on population size. As suppliers could choose where they delivered their obligation, they had a reluctance to work in London due to parking concerns, the congestion charge, planning restrictions, the nature of housing stock with 80% of residents living in flats, 50% of homes in a conservation area, many in listed buildings and 60% of housing stock being built before 1919.

·         The council continued to share best practice with partners and other authorities. Smart meters were being rolled out.

·         The number of debt cases handled by the council energy advisors rose by almost 40% between 2014/15 and 2015/16. There was an 85% success rate in writing off debts.

·         The housing voids team contractors now carried out draught proofing to front doors on all properties, unless they were composite uPVC.

·         Water bill debt was becoming an increasing problem. The council had an arrangement with Thames Water whereby people on low incomes could apply for a reduction. Small households were encouraged to get a water meter whereas for larger households not having a water meter was generally recommended.

·         John Kolm-Murray and his team were thanked for their work.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the report be noted.

2)    That the Director of Public Health be invited to a future meeting.