Agenda and minutes

The Chairman congratulated Deputy Billy Dove, past Chairman of the Housing Management & Almshouses Sub Committee, on his election as Chief Commoner.

Apologies were received from the Deputy Chairman the Revd Dr Martin Dudley, Deputy Henry Jones, Adam Richardson and Elizabeth Rogula.

Mr Gareth Moore declared an interest in housing matters as a tenant of Golden Lane Estate.

To approve the public minutes and summary of the meeting on 12 January 2015.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 12 January 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Horace Jones House

The Chairman advised that the formal opening had taken place on 25^th March, and all tenants had accepted their places.

Welfare Benefits Update & Financial Inclusion Programme

Members noted that despite the expectation for rental arrears to increase, rental collections were better by £2,000 than the previous financial year. In response to a Member’s question, officers confirmed that the ‘bedroom tax’ had affected a number of residents, but the work to support tenants through money and budget management had helped mitigate the effects.

Asset Management – Golden Lane Estate

The Assistant Director – Barbican & Property Services reported that there had been two incidents at the Golden Lane Estate: a collapse of external cladding at Stanley Cohen House, and a fire in the basement of Crescent House.

(a)        Stanley Cohen House

The Assistant Director – Barbican & Property Services advised that, although there was a wider review of building fabric testing underway, Stanley Cohen House was being reviewed urgently, with fabric testing scheduled for later in the week.

(b)        Crescent House

The Assistant Director – Barbican & Property Services advised that the fire had originated in the basement, where a single meter had caught fire and spread to others, affecting 36 households. Members noted that, although it was the responsibility of residents to contact their suppliers to get meters replaced, blank meters had been installed to ensure residents had electricity again. Officers confirmed that currently three households were still without power as access could not be gained to the flats.

Members expressed their concern, and queried the level of inspection that could be undertaken to prevent reoccurrence. Officers confirmed that, although checks were carried out

Report of the Director of Community & Children's Services.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Director of Community & Children’s Services concerning a boiler replacement project. Officers advised that this had been completed within the agreed budget and on schedule, though the lessons to be learned included better communication, including comprehensive record-keeping. Members queried the financial assessment for the boiler costs, and the Chamberlain confirmed that rigorous City Procurement processes had been followed and consequently the costs represented value for money at that time.

RESOLVED ­– That the lessons learnt be noted and the project be closed.

Report of the Director of Community & Children's Services.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Director of Community & Children’s Services providing an overview and evaluation of the Good Neighbour Scheme, which had been operating on Middlesex Street and Golden Lane Estate for almost two years to match volunteers with vulnerable people or newcomers to the estate. Officers outlined the strengths and areas for improvement and Members noted that the Scheme was being refined and re-launched, although further evaluation would be required before it could be rolled out across all of the City of London estates.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted

Report of the Director of Community & Children's Services.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Director of Community & Children’s Services which sought approval for the draft Tenancy and Rents Policy. This followed on from the Tenancy Strategy previously agreed by Members, and set out the City’s policies in relation to tenancy and rent with regard to its stock of social rented homes, both within the Square Mile and outside. Members noted key changes included:

·         the addition of “flexible tenancies” as type of tenancy available for use by the City;

·         the City’s willingness to apply to the Court to “demote” tenancies in response to anti-social behaviour and threats to staff; and

·         reduced entitlement to succession for new tenants.

In response to a Member’s query, officers confirmed that the City of London Corporation’s policy for increasing social rents is set in line with government policy. This sets increases at the level of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation plus 1% for the next ten years from April 2015. Members noted that the service charges for properties would rise in line with the cost of providing services.

RESOLVED – That the draft Tenancy and Rents Policy be approved.

Report of the Director of Community & Children's Services.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Director of Community & Children’s Services regarding the City of London’s successful bid to the Right to Buy Social Mobility Fund. The City of London was one of 42 successful bidders, and has been allocated £600k to support twenty grants of £30k to Right to Buy eligible tenants to enable them to purchase a property on the open market.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the Town Clerk – Assistant Director Safer City Partnership

This item had been withdrawn from the agenda as it had been discussed at the Grand Committee meeting held on 17^th April 2015 and Members had no further questions.

A serious of written questions had been received and were answered as follows:

1.    What is being done to progress the proposal to have a single contact number for emergencies and out of hours provision?  When will this be in place?

We currently provide two numbers for residents to call out of office hours.  One is the Repairs Reporting Line, which is answered by our contractors, Wates during evenings and weekends.  All emergencies relating to property issues should be reported to this line. 

The other number allows residents to contact a duty Estate Officer at these times.  Estate Officers from a group of estates located within easy reach share this duty on a rota basis.  The number should only be used for reporting urgent issues, which cannot wait until the office opens and are either non-property related, or not blue-light emergencies.  In reality, this number is rarely used, and calls to it are nearly always either non-urgent matters, or issues, which should have been reported by either calling the Repairs Line, by dialling 999 or calling the police or other services on the 101 non-emergency number.

However, as we do publicise the Estate Officer number, it is only right that residents expect it to be answered.  This has failed on two recent occasions – once due to a technical fault, and the second due to a human error.  We apologise for this.

We agree that it is confusing for residents to be offered two different numbers, and are committed to having one number only.  This should be the Repairs Reporting Line, as the vast majority of calls are concerning property.  We need to work with our contractors to ensure that they are able to deal appropriately with non-emergency calls and to correctly refer non-property issues.  This will require some training

The Chairman advised of a change in guidance to vacant building credit.

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item                                                                                         Paragraph

12-14                                                                                                   3

15                                                                                                        -

To approve the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2015.

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Community & Children's Services.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Director of Community & Children’s Services.

There was one non-public question.

There was no other business.