Please ask for: Louise Hawkins Telephone: 01482 613410 Fax: 01482 613110 Email: [email protected] Text phone: 01482 300349 Date: Tuesday, 24 December 2013 Dear Councillor, People and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Commission The next meeting of the People and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Commission will be held at 10:00 on Thursday, 09 January 2014 in Room 77. The Agenda for the meeting is attached and reports are enclosed where relevant. Please Note: It is likely that the public, (including the Press) will be excluded from the meeting during discussions of exempt items since they involve the possible disclosure of exempt information as describe in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. Yours faithfully, Democratic Services Officer for the Chief Executive Page 1 of 116 People and Communities OSC To: Membership: Councillors S Armstrong, J Conner, D Craker, A Dorton, J Fareham, A Gardiner, A Harrison, K Mathieson, R Pantelakis, L Petrini, C Quinn, and C Thomas Officers: Tracy Harsley, City Safe and Early Intervention Manager Laura Carr, City Neighbourhoods and Housing Manager Andy Brown, City Customer Services Manager Andy Burton, City Streetscene Manager Nicky Visser, Partnership Manager CitySafe and Early Intervention Service Cherie Wiles, Scrutiny Officer Louise Hawkins, Democratic Services Officer (x5) Portfolio Holders: Councillor H Spencer, Portfolio Holder for Prevention and Safeguarding Councillor T Geraghty, Portfolio Holder for Public Health Councillor J Black, Portfolio Holder for Council Infrastructure Councillor J Hewitt, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Communities Councillor M Mancey, Portfolio Holder for Energy City For Information: Councillor T McVie (Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee) Councillor J Korczak Fields, (Deputy Chair Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee) Julie Franklin, PA to City Safe and Early Intervention Manager Christine Fairbank, PA to City Neighbourhoods and Housing Manager Michelle Wray, PA to City Customer Services Manager Julie Ellis, PA to City Streetscene Manager Chief Inspector Rawding (Public Set) Neil Kingston, Office of Police & Crime Commissioner (Public Set) Members’ Information Office (Public Set) Reference Library (Public Set) Alerts: Chief Executives Office, Kingston upon Hull City Council John Readman, Corporate Director for Adult, Children and Family Services Trish Dalby, Corporate Director for City Services Councillor M Ross, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Group Malcolm Stather, Operations Manager Guildhall Reception Garry Taylor Press Office Scrutiny Office Group Secretariats Political Assistant Viking Radio – [email protected] Yorkshire Post – [email protected] & [email protected] & [email protected] Radio Humberside – [email protected] Hull Daily Mail – [email protected] & [email protected] KCFM Radio – [email protected] Page 2 of 116 All Other Elected Members People and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Commission 10:00 on Thursday, 09 January 2014 Room 77 A G E N D A PROCEDURAL ITEMS 1 Apologies To receive apologies for those Members who are unable to attend the meeting. 2 Declarations of Interest To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any Personal and Discolseable Pecuniary interest in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Members Code of Conduct - Part D1 of the Constitution) 3 Minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2013 5 - 12 To approve the minutes as a true and correct record. NON-EXEMPT ITEMS 4 City Manager Presentation - Streetscene To ensure the Commission is up to date in relation to key and current issues. 5 Other Violent Crime Update 13 - 16 To provide the Commission with detail of 'other' violent crime in the city. 6 Department for Work and Pensions Verbal Update To provide an update on the information requested by the Commission in relation to benefit sanctions. Page 3 of 116 7 City Plan Anti Poverty Projects 17 - 40 To have an oversight of the current status and outcomes of the recommendations of the Anti-Poverty Task and Finish Panel and to allow officers to bring any issues to Members attention. 8 Housing Benefit Performance 41 - 54 To consider the reasons for the current level of performance, the increase in processing times and how this performance can be improved. 9 Outstanding Action List - January 2014 55 - 56 To review the action outstanding list. 10 City Plan: ‘Making Money Go Further’ – City Farm Feasibility 57 - 116 Study Presentation To allow the Commission to be involved in the practicalities of the proposed plan for a City Farm. EXEMPT ITEMS Page 4 of 116 People and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Commission 12 December 2013 PRESENT: - Councillor D.A. Craker (Chair), Councillor C. Quinn (Deputy Chair), Councillor Armstrong, Councillor J. Conner, Councillor A. Dorton, Councillor A.D. Gardiner, Councillor K. Mathieson, Councillor L. Petrini and Councillor C. Thomas, Councillor R. Pantelakis, Councillor J. Abbot (substituting for Councillor J. Fareham), Councillor Kirk (substituting for Councillor Harrison) IN ATTENDANCE: - C. Wiles (Scrutiny Officer) L. Hawkins (Democratic Services Officer) L. Carr (City Neighbourhoods and Housing Manager) minutes 46 and 48 A. Brown (City Customer Services Manager) and Lisa Bovill (Welfare Rights Service Manager) minute 47 D. Sharp (Assistant Head of Service – Waste and Open Spaces) minute 50 APOLOGIES: - Councillors Fareham and Harrison Minute Description/Decision Action No. By/Deadline PROCEDURAL ITEMS 44 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Member’s Information Councillor Pantelakis declared a personal interest in minute Officer 47 insofar as she worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau and Councillor Kirk declared a personal interest in minute 47 insofar as he was a board member of an organisation that supported the homeless. 45 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 10 OCTOBER 2013 Agreed – that the minutes of the meeting of this Commission held on Thursday 14 November 2013, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the Chair. NON-EXEMPT ITEMS 46 CITY MANAGER PRESENTATION – NEIGHBOURHOOD (a-c)City AND HOUSING SERVICES Neighbourhoods and Housing The City Neighbourhoods and Housing Manager attended Manager the meeting to give a presentation on current and key issues within Neighbourhood and Housing Services. The Commission was informed that the Government would Page 5 of 116 be undertaking a review of the National Rent Policy; that currently the formula for calculating local authority owned properties was Retail Price Index plus 0.5%; that it had been proposed that future rents would be capped at the previous year plus the Consumer Price Index plus 1%; that the proposed changes would reduce the income for housing associations of which they would have based their business plans on; that the Government was looking at whether tenants who earned over £60,000 should have to pay more rent than tenants on lower incomes; that this financial year would be the last opportunity that local authorities would have to match the rents of Registered Social Landlords; that the Council was preparing a response to the National Rent Policy review and members were welcome to provide their comments; that the budget for the 2014/15 Capital Programme was £50 million; that the funding would be used to maintain the decent homes standard in council owned stock; that solid wall insulation work would be undertaken to properties were required; that the Council was currently in the tendering process to appoint a partner to deliver the long term ECO programme; that the ECO programme had been extended from 2015 to 2017; that the Empty Home Phase 2 Scheme had provided an additional 102 smaller properties by turning former commercial properties into council owned residential properties; that the Council was looking at low cost loans for owner occupiers of Right to Buy properties so that they could be included within improvement schemes being undertaken, and that the new build on Orchard Park and the relocation of tenants from Preston Road would commence in 2014. A discussion took place around the Empty Home Phase 2 Scheme and whether former council owned properties in Pearson Park could have been included in the programme and whether there were many of the link bedsits that remained as long term voids. The City Neighbourhoods and Housing Manager explained that the Council had worked with Norfolk Property Services to identify long term empty buildings that could be converted into residential properties; that the properties in Pearson Park had been marketed before the Empty Homes funding had been received; that the improvements to the link bedsits had been successful as there were only 3 of 85 that had not been included within the scheme; that the bedsits were popular with tenants and were receiving 60 bids when being advertised; that there was a demand for smaller properties since the introduction of the social sector size criteria; that the privately owned properties that would be managed and let by the council for ten years using Government funding were very popular and had been receiving 80 bids when being advertised. Page 6 of 116 A discussion took place around evictions and whether any council tenants had been evicted due to the none payment of the social sector size criteria; what was being done to support tenants who were in arrears, and whether court costs were added to the arrears balance if court proceedings were undertaken. The City Neighbourhoods and Housing Manager explained that the Council’s Eviction Policy had been considered by Council and Cabinet and no changes had been made; that the number of evictions from council owned properties was rising but no tenant had been evicted solely because of rent arrears due to the social sector size criteria; that Council staff could provide advice to tenants and would assist with completing forms; that tenants could apply for Discretionary Housing Payments; that court costs were added to rent arrears, and that there would be review of court costs with a view to an increase following the reduction of Government funding.