Agenda and minutes

To agree the minutes of the meetings of the Panel held on 22 and 26 April 2010 (attached).

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2010 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record; and

(2)        That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 April 2010 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.

The Panel noted that Councillor Mrs J Hart was substituting for Councillor Mrs C Pond.

To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

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 item of business set out below as it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act indicated and the exemption is considered to outweigh the potential public interest in disclosing the information:

Agenda                                                                                   Exempt Information

Item No           Subject                                                           Paragraph Number

    6                  Application No. 5/2010                                                   1

To consider the attached additional restricted reports following receipt of the requested documents from the Applicant.

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 with a relative for support, the Assistant Housing Options Manager (Homelessness) attended the meeting to present the Council’s case, whilst the Director of Housing was in attendance to advise the Panel if required on details of the national and local Housing Policy applicable to the case. The Chairman introduced the Members of the Panel and Officers present to the Applicant, before outlining the procedure to be followed in order to ensure that proper consideration was given to the case.

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

(i)         a summary of the case, including the facts of the case, and an outline of the homelessness legislation;

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

(iii)       copies of documents submitted by the Assistant Housing Options Manager (Homelessness):

·                     a letter from the Letting Agent to the Council indicating that the Applicant had incurred rent arrears in excess of two months and requesting that the Applicant’s Housing Benefit be paid direct to the Letting Agent;

·                     the notice served on the Applicant to quit the property dated 25 September 2009;

·                     an email from the Letting Agent confirming the reasons why the Applicant was served notice to quit the property;

·                     the Interview Report with the Applicant by a Housing Officer dated 26 March 2010;

·                     an email from the Letting Agent indicating the rent arrears outstanding when the Applicant vacated the property;

·                     a letter from the Assistant Housing Options Manager (Homelessness) dated 30 March 2010 to the Applicant outlining the Council’s initial decision upon the Applicant’s homelessness; and

·                     a copy of the Applicant’s Appeal Application form dated 5 May 2010.

Presentation of the Applicant’s Case

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

(i)         the Applicant admitted that she had occasionally been late in paying her rent but had not incurred the arrears alleged by the Letting Agent;

(ii)        no rent book had been provided by the Letting Agent to the Applicant;

(iii)       the Applicant had acquiesced with the Landlord to get her Housing Benefit paid direct to the Letting Agent, despite not being the eight weeks in rent arrears alleged in the letter to the Council dated 14 January 2009 (Appendix I of the report);

(iv)       the Letting Agent had informed the Council that the Applicant’s rent was being increased in order to obtain more Housing Benefit from the Council in May 2009, although the actual rent for the Applicant was not increased;

(v)        the Applicant highlighted that her tenancy had been renewed for a further six-month period in May 2009, which surely would not have happened if she had accrued the rent arrears claimed by the Letting Agent;

(vi)       the Applicant stated that the condition of the property when she moved in was very poor with a promise from the Letting Agent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.