Apologies for absence were received from Councillors N Dixon and R J Frost.

There were no substitute members appointed.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in respect of business to be transacted on the agenda.

Councillor N A G Richards declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) in Minute No. 22 by reason of his being a tenant of Town and Country Housing and gave notice of his intention to withdraw from the meeting for the consideration of that item of business.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 March 2017 (attached), 19 April 2017 (attached) and 24 May 2017 (to follow).

The Minutes of the meetings held on 15 March 2017 and 19 April 2017 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Please note that in accordance with the agreed Protocol for Public Speaking at Overview and Scrutiny, the right to speak does not apply to any items on the agenda.

The right of the public to speak does not apply to the following agenda items: Apologies, Appointment of Substitute Members, Declarations of Interest, Minutes, the Forward Plan, the Scrutiny Work Programme, any agenda item that is not accompanied by a written report and items that are exempt business.

The following decisions were taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 12 June 2017 in respect of recommendations from the Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee:

·         Local Plan Engagement Strategy

·         'Banksy' Artwork

The Team Leader – Democratic Support advised Members of the decisions of the last meeting of the Cabinet relating to recommendations previously made by the Committee.

RESOLVED:     That the decisions be noted.

There were no items of business.

(a)    Items placed on the agenda by a Member of the Committee or any individual Non-Executive Member

       Any individual Councillor may request that a matter is placed on the agenda of one of the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

       There are no items for consideration.

(b)    Call-In

       Executive Decisions may be called-in by the Chairman or Spokesperson of the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee or any three non-executive members. Call-Ins are heard by the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee unless it decides to refer the matter to the Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee.

       There are no items for consideration.

(c)    Public Petitions

       There are no items for consideration.     

There were no items of business.

The Team Leader – Democratic Support presented the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions to the Committee for its consideration.

RESOLVED:     That the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions be noted.

The Team Leader – Democratic Support presented the Scrutiny Work Programme to the Committee for its consideration.

Members agreed that in addition to the items previously identified for the Work Programme that the issue of exploring the utilisation of long term commercial empty properties in Dover for residential use be included within the work programme. Councillor N A G Richards cited Camelot Europe as an example of this.

RESOLVED:     That the Work Programme be noted subject to the inclusion of an additional item on the use of commercial properties for residential purposes.

To scrutinise Registered Providers of Social Housing.

The Chairman welcomed the representatives of Registered Providers of Social Housing (RPs) to the meeting who were present to answer key questions set by members of the Committee. The following RPs were in attendance:

Attendee                                  Representing

Deborah White                        West Kent Housing

Paul Tewkesbury                    Housing and Care 21

Jo Ellis                                     Town and Country Housing Group

Keith Cane                              Town and Country Housing Group

Q1.    What role is there for Dover District Councillors in raising concerns on behalf of tenants and where can the information on your organisations points of contact be found?

Members were advised that each Registered Provider had its own complaints process set out in leaflets and on their websites.

Town and Country Housing Group

There was a three stage process at Town and Country Housing Group for handling complaints and at every stage they liaised with the tenants. The three stages were (1) a manager review of the complaint; (2) a review by another manager; and (3) a board review.

Complaints were acknowledged within 24 hours and the customer contacted with a view to try to resolve the situation 48 hours.  If this was not possible a resolution was sought at the first stage of the process within 10 days. If a complaint progressed to the second stage it would be responded to within a further 10 days and complaints that reached the third stage had a target of 30 days for a board review.

Complaints could be made face-to-face, by email, by letter or by telephone and the details of the complaint would be captured in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to provide an audit trail.

There was a role for councillors in supporting tenants through both the Town and Country Housing Group complaints process and in referring complaints to the Housing Ombudsman. When the Housing Ombudsman received a referral it looked for the involvement of a third party, known as a ‘designated person’. A designated person was considered to be a local Member of Parliament, local councillor or recognised tenant panel and where a designated person was involved in referring a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman it was dealt with more quickly than the complaints not involving a designated person.

Town and Country Housing Group owned and managed c.700 units in the Dover District. In respect of the five complaints received since 1 April 2016 and all but one had been resolved at the first stage and none had reached the third stage.

West Kent Housing

West Kent Housing operated a 3 stage complaint system as followed: (1) tenant to approach on-site scheme manager; (2) review by a manager; and (3) a board panel review. If a tenant wanted a councillor to assist them in the complaints process they could as long as the tenant advised West Kent Housing in writing.

Under the ‘Make it Right’ system operated by West Kent Housing the intention was to ensure that the most appropriate person dealt with the complaint and tenants received a response within 10 days, although a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.