Agenda and minutes

With the agreement of the Panel, Councillor Mrs Rush was appointed Vice Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

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

The Panel noted that there were no substitute members.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a personal or a prejudicial interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 11 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a personal and prejudicial interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 11 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

The Panel noted that there were no declarations of interest.

1.         (Chairman/Lead Officer) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed the Terms of Reference of this Panel and associated Work Programme. This is attached. The Panel are asked at each meeting to review both documents.

2.         The Panel is also asked to consider the attached report from Cabinet requesting that this Panel consider taking on an extra item of work.

The Terms of Reference and the Work Programme were noted.

It was noted that:

• a report  was to be prepared on item 3 of the work programme on the progress on meeting PSA7 target on Decent Homes for a future meeting;  and
• a report on item 17, the Review of Careline Services has been drafted and is to be brought to the next meeting of this Panel following consultation with ECC, staff and UNISON.

The meeting received a report from the Assistant Head of Housing Services on Unauthorised Parking on Housing Estates. The Housing Portfolio Holder has  identified problems with parking and increased congestion on Housing Estates and recommended to the Cabinet at their meeting on 10 March 2008 that the Housing Scrutiny Panel review the options available to the Council on issues of parking enforcement and the option of increasing the budget for the off-street parking programme.

Many of the Housing Estates were built during the late 1940s and 1950s. With the subsequent growth in car ownership, residents are experiencing severe parking problems on estates where parking both on and off road is at a premium. In addition, due to the introduction of permit parking, many side roads are becoming further congested (possibly by commuters) particularly in the Debden and Epping areas with vehicles being forced onto grassed verges.

Complaints received by Housing from the public are very much on the increase. The complaints are about two main issues.  Firstly, residents are unhappy that more vehicles are being parked on grass verges causing damage to the open green spaces, which are costly to repair and can be dangerous to pedestrians and children playing.  When, in response, enforcement action is taken by the Council, in the form of installing bollards, jockey rails or shrub planting, other residents complain about having nowhere to park with cars being displaced into already heavily congested side streets.  Secondly, residents complain about the lack of off-street parking and put forward suggestions for schemes that could be constructed where they live. 

The Council is currently undertaking consultation exercises on a number of off-street parking schemes, which have been given priority under the agreed scoring system. 

The budget for off-street parking for 2008/2009 is £288,000 which includes amounts carried forward from previous years.  Of this amount £161,000 is Housing Revenue Account (HRA) funding with £127,000 general fund.  There is currently budget provision of £80,000 per annum in future years, £43,000 funded from the HRA and £37,000 from the general fund.  As off-street parking schemes are very costly, it is anticipated that this year’s budget will only fund around three schemes depending upon the costs of designs and re-locating any utilities.

The Panel was asked to consider three main issues surrounding this topic. They were:

(i)                  Should the Council take enforcement action and force residents to park elsewhere increasing congestion in side streets;

(ii)                Should the Council consider spending more on off street parking schemes, bearing in mind an additional £300,000 will be available in the HRA from 2009/10, which, if spent on off-street parking would need to be match funded from the General Funds Capital Programme;

(iii)               Under the Council’s current policy, the maximum permitted amount of grass verge to be removed in order to construct a vehicular crossover to allow residents to park their vehicles in their front garden is 6 metres in length. Should the 6 metre rule be extended, to enable up to two vehicles to be parked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

(Director of Housing) to consider the attached report and appendices.

The Director of Housing introduced the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan for 2008/09. The Panel noted that it was a requirement of the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) that all local authorities produce annual Business Plans for their Housing Revenue Accounts (HRAs). The DCLG intention was to ensure that local authority housing is used and maintained to maximum effect. The HRA Business Plan deals with the Council’s plans and performance for the delivery and quality of its housing services to tenants.

In past years, the Business Plan had been produced around April and had updated statistical information relating to the previous financial year.  However, this had not been possible this year, since the Council’s new Audit and Governance Committee had required that all the Council’s Business Plans are completed and published by 31 March - before the end of the financial year.  Therefore, all the statistics and information relates to 2006/7, which is the last year that full year statistics are available.

Comments on the Business Plan from the Tenants and Leaseholder’s Federation were tabled at the meeting. They were generally pleased with the format of the Plan and with the fact that once again the Housing Directorate had been awarded the Chartermark for Customer Service Excellence. They were please that the Council was on target to meet the Decent Homes Standard by 2010 and recognised from the financial plan that programmes of work are focused on this target.

The Panel then went through the report section by section. They noted that:

• On page 23, item 11 ‘Setting Tenant’s Rents’, that the third paragraph referred to ¾ and ?  it should have been ¾ and  ¼.
• On page 27, the Director of Housing advised that the views of the Tenants and Leaseholder’s Federation needed updating.
• Page 77 refers to 10 Portfolio Holders, there are now only 8.

            RESOLVED:

That the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan 2008/09 incorporating the Repairs and Maintenance Business Plan 2008/09 be recommended to the Housing Portfolio Holder for adoption.

(Director of Housing) to consider the attached report.

The Panel considered the Tenants Participation Progress Report 2007. They noted that over the last 10 to 12 years a complex network of tenant participation had evolved. At the top of this network sits the Epping Forest Tenants and Leaseholders Association, where the council seeks the views of from their tenants on every major policy issue.

Each of the residents groups has signed a Local Tenant Participation Agreement with the Council, which sets out the approach each group and the Council will adopt in relation to tenant participation. These agreements are renewed on a yearly basis.

In its Key Lines of Enquiry the Government had identified a number of ‘hard to reach groups’; rural communities, younger people, minority groups and families; that landlords are expected to include in the tenant participation process. The Tenant Participation Officer has been working with a number of these groups in a variety of ways.

The Tenant Participation Officer holds monthly progress meetings with the Housing Resources Manager and Principal Housing Officer (Information and Strategy) and quarterly progress meetings with the Assistant Director of Housing (Operations).

The Tenant Participation Officer maintains an Action Plan which monitors progress of all aspects of tenant participation. Progress of the Action Plan is discussed at both the monthly and quarterly meetings.

This type of consultation is proving to be very useful to the Council and they are very proud of it.

            RESOLVED:

That the progress made on the implementation of Tenant Participation during the period 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2007 be noted.

To consider which reports are ready to be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its next meeting.

The Chairman agreed to report briefly to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee all the reports considered at this meeting.

This is the last scheduled meeting of this Panel for this municipal year.

The Panel noted that this was the last meeting for this municipal year.