Agenda and minutes

To agree the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 17 December 2009 (attached).

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 17 December 2009 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive) To report the attendance of any substitute members for the meeting.

It was noted that there were no substitute members at this meeting.

To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest by Members of the Panel under this item.

Exclusion: To consider whether, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press should be excluded from the meeting for the items of business set out below on grounds that they will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) or are confidential under Section 100(A)(2):

The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, which came into effect on 1 March 2006, requires the Council to consider whether maintaining the exemption listed above outweighs the potential public interest in disclosing the information. Any member who considers that this test should be applied to any currently exempted matter on this agenda should contact the proper officer at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.

Confidential Items Commencement: Paragraph 9 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require:

(1)        All business of the Council requiring to be transacted in the presence of the press and public to be completed by 10.00 p.m. at the latest.

(2)        At the time appointed under (1) above, the Chairman shall permit the completion of debate on any item still under consideration, and at his or her discretion, any other remaining business whereupon the Council shall proceed to exclude the public and press.

(3)        Any public business remaining to be dealt with shall be deferred until after the completion of the private part of the meeting, including items submitted for report rather than decision.

Background Papers:  Paragraph 8 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution define background papers as being documents relating to the subject matter of the report which in the Proper Officer's opinion:

(a)        disclose any facts or matters on which the report or an important part of the report is based;  and

(b)        have been relied on to a material extent in preparing the report and does not include published works or those which disclose exempt or confidential information (as defined in Rule 10) and in respect of executive reports, the advice of any political advisor.

Inspection of background papers may be arranged by contacting the officer responsible for the item.

            RESOLVED:

That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the items of business set out below as it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act indicated and the exemption is considered to outweigh the potential public interest in disclosing the information.

Agenda           Subject                                               Exempt Information

Item No.                                                                      Paragraph No.

6                      Application No. 1/2010                        1

To consider the attached restricted report.

The Panel considered a request for a review of a decision made by officers under delegated authority regarding the applicant’s Homelessness Application.  The applicant attended the meeting to present her case.  Mr J Hunt, Assistant Housing Options Manager (Homelessness), attended the meeting to present his case.  Mr A Hall, Director of Housing, attended the meeting to advise the Panel as required on details of the national and local housing policies relative to the application.  The Chairman introduced members of the Panel and officers present to the applicant.

The Chairman outlined the procedure to be followed in order to ensure that proper consideration was given to the application.

The Panel had before them the following documents which were taken into consideration:

(a)        copies of documents submitted by the applicant, namely her application to the Housing Appeals and Review Panel dated 22 February 2010;

(b)        a summary of the case including the facts of the case and an outline of the Homelessness legislation;

(c)        the case of the Assistant Housing Options Manager (Homelessness);

(d)        copies of documents submitted by the Assistant Housing Options Manager (Homelessness), namely:

(i)         the applicant’s rent transaction history;

(ii)        a copy of a Possession Order made on 8 October 2009 requiring the applicant to vacant her rented property as she was in arrears with her rent;

(iii)       Housing Officer file note dated 22 October 2009 following an interview with the applicant;

(iv)       Housing Officer file note dated 7 December 2009 following a further interview with the applicant;

(v)        Affordability Statement completed retrospectively by the applicant for January 2009;

(vi)       Affordability Statement completed retrospectively by the applicant for February 2009;

(vii)      summary of periods of sickness of the applicant’s husband;

(viii)      copy of letter dated 11 February 2010 from the Assistant Housing Options Manager (Homelessness) to the applicant.

The Panel considered the following submissions in support of the applicant’s case:

(a)        the applicant had tried hard to clear her rent arrears prior to the matter going to Court; by that time she had managed to reduce the arrears to £570;

(b)        after the Court hearing the applicant had further reduced her rent arrears to £146 but in order to correct an error the Council Tax Section had taken back two payments from her rent account which had increased her rent arrears by £320;

(c)        the applicant had kept the Council’s Housing Management Section informed about her husband’s sickness and had been in regular contact with them about her arrears of rent; she had always made them aware of her situation;

(d)        the applicant had paid her rent at times when she was able to do so;

(e)        the applicant had not realised initially that she could claim Housing Benefit when her husband was not working due to sickness;

(f)         the Council’s Homeless Prevention Team had not advised the applicant about applying to Court for an N244 Form (Court Order Suspension); the applicant would have been able to offer to the Court a repayment plan to pay off her arrears;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.