Agenda and minutes

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

There were no substitutes present.

To agree the notes of the last meeting of the Panel meeting held on 31 May 2012 (attached).

RESOLVED:

That the notes of the last meeting of the Panel held on 31 May 2012 be agreed, subject to the following amendment to Minute 72 (Call-In Cabinet Decision on Fire Safety) which should read as follows:

(a)        “The Councillor suggested that flats in the district had easy escape routes and advised that fire safety experts had stated that no one could be held responsible for deaths and injuries caused in fire providing all conditions were met as stated in the Cabinet decision;” and

(b)        “The Housing Portfolio Holder re-affirmed that currently there was no money in the budget for replacing the carpets, but call-in members made it clear that they were asking for non-complying carpets to be removed free of charge, officers were aiming to complete this work within 4 months.”

(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.

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

(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.

The Terms of Reference were noted.

(Director of Housing) To consider the attached report.

The Panel received a report from Mrs L Swan, Assistant Director of Housing, regarding New Site Licence Conditions for Park Home Sites.

On 18 April 2011, the Cabinet agreed to the adoption of the “Standard Park Home Licence Conditions for Permanent Residential Sites in Epping Forest District Council.” The agreed conditions included some variations to the Model Standards 2008 and also allowed for certain contraventions to remain provided they were in existence on the date the new site licence was issued. Following the Cabinet decision, good progress had been made with officers completing inspections on all of the sites and identifying contraventions to the new site Licence Conditions. The officers’ inspection reports would be presented to the respective site owners explaining both the contraventions that needed rectifying and the contraventions that existed but would be allowed to remain by virtue of the Cabinet’s decision.

At its meeting on 19 July 2011, the Panel agreed to add an additional item to its Work Programme to receive a progress report on the implementation of the new licence conditions for park homes. It was expected that this would be reported to the Panel in January 2012. However, certain issues had come to light since the Cabinet meeting in April 2011, which were not specifically covered in the conditions. Officers needed determination from members on the interpretation to be adopted for these matters.

Officers had held a meeting with Park Home Site Owners and representatives of each of the site residents associations to gauge their views on the issues. At the meeting, representatives were informed that their comments would be included in the officers’ report to the Panel.

(a)        Porches and Smoke Detectors

The 2008 Model Standards allowed one door to either the porch or the home. Many existing park homes had two doors, between the home and the porch and between the porch and the outside. This was preferred by many residents as it improved thermal efficiency and provided extra storage. The Cabinet had agreed that two doors could be allowed, provided that mains-linked smoke detectors were installed in the porch and the living space of the home. It was found that many homes only had battery-operated smoke detectors or hard-wired smoke detectors that were not interlinked to the porch and living space as such, they did not meet the agreed specification.

Whilst the Essex Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) remained strongly opposed to closed porches, they advised that interlinked smoke detectors would offer a degree of compensation for the risk of deviating from the Model Standards. It was advised that the Council’s Home Improvement Agency (CARE), had been provided with £20,000 of funding by the Essex Supporting People Team to provide help for older and/or otherwise vulnerable people on Park Home Sites to meet certain site licence requirements. Some of this funding could be used for providing smoke detection systems, however, not all residents qualified for this financial support.

Although ECFRS installed battery-operated smoke detectors free of charge, these formed a part  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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

The Chairman advised that he would give a verbal update to the forthcoming Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The next programmed meeting of the Panel will be on Tuesday 24 July at 5.30p.m. in Committee Room 1.

The next scheduled meeting of the Panel would be Tuesday 24 July at 5.30p.m. It was announced that there would be an extra-ordinary Panel meeting on Tuesday 7 August at 5.30p.m. as well.