Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

70.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillor N A G Richards.

71.

Appointment of Substitute Members

To note appointments of Substitute Members.

Minutes:

It was noted that, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, Councillor P M Brivio was appointed as substitute for Councillor N A G Richards.

72.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 37 KB

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

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

73.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 61 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 13 September 2017 (to follow), 19 September 2017 (to follow) and 11 October 2017 (attached).

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 October 2017 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

74.

Public Speaking

Please note that in accordance with the agreed Protocol for Public Speaking at Overview and Scrutiny, the right to speak only applies to agenda item 11.

 

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.

 

Members of the public wishing to speak must register to do so by no later than 2.00 pm on the second working day before the meeting.

Minutes:

The Democratic Services Manager advised that no members of the public had registered to speak on items on the agenda to which the public speaking protocol applied.

75.

Decisions of the Cabinet Relating to Recommendations from the Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee

The following decisions were taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 6 November 2017in respect of recommendations from the Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee:

 

·         Camelot Europe Presentation

·         Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy

Minutes:

That the decision of Cabinet relating to recommendations from the Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee be noted.

76.

Issues referred to the Committee by Council, Cabinet, Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee or another Committee

There are no items for consideration.

Minutes:

There were no items for consideration.

77.

Items called-in for Scrutiny or placed on the agenda by a Member of the Committee, any individual Non-Executive Members or Public Petition

(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.     

Minutes:

There were no items for consideration.

78.

Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 38 KB

It is intended that Members should use the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions to identify topics within the remit of the Committee for future scrutiny.

Minutes:

The Democratic Services Manager presented the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions to the Committee for its consideration.

 

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

79.

Scrutiny Work Programme pdf icon PDF 57 KB

It is intended that the Committee monitor and prioritise its rolling work programme.

Minutes:

The Democratic Services Manager presented the rolling Work Programme to the Committee for its consideration.

 

Members were asked to provide the Democratic Services Manager with questions for Stagecoach and Kent County Council  in advance of the meeting in December when the recent changes in bus provision would be discussed. Members requested that an invitation be extended to parish councils to provide questions to put to the relevant authorities regarding the recent changes.

 

Members requested that an update be provided to the committee on the current situation of Gypsy and Traveller sites being identified within the district.

 

RESOLVED:   (a)        That the Work Programme be noted.

 

                        (b)       That the Policy and Projects Manager be invited to a meeting of the committee to update members on the current position with regard to Gypsy and Traveller sites.

80.

EAST KENT HOUSING - PROPOSED NEW FORMAL RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT STRUCTURE pdf icon PDF 72 KB

To consider the attached report of the Director of Customer Services (East Kent Housing).

 

The following tenant representatives have confirmed that they will be attending the meeting:

 

Brenda Lyons (Chair of the Dover Districts Tenants Group)

June Bailey (Member of the Dover District Tenants Group)

Samm Morris (Chair of the EKH Tenant Scrutiny Panel)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Customer Services and the Resident Engagement Manager of East Kent Housing (EKH) provided members with details of the proposed new Formal Resident Involvement Structure for East Kent Housing. Dover tenant representatives were also in attendance.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Members discussed the various ways residents had been involved in the re-structure process which included surveys, workshops, ‘Task and Finish’ project groups as well as involvement from Tenant Representatives, to seek their views on the re-structure. They were pleased with residents’ level of involvement and the appointment of an independent tenant advisor to help co-ordinate the proposals.

 

Members noted that the new structure had removed the Tenant Representative role and had been replaced with Engaged Tenants. The role of an Engaged Tenant was to provide an overview of the community and to scrutinise EKH. Engaged Tenants would comprise the Dover Local Group and in addition, three Engaged Tenants would sit on the Residents’ Panel on behalf of Dover. Members of the Residents’ Panel would serve a 3 year term with a maximum of 3 terms. There were twelve positions available on the Local Groups for Engaged Tenants with no limit on the amount of time they would be appointed. The recruitment process for Engaged Tenant was unclear and Members sought a more transparent recruitment process.

 

Members were concerned that Engaged Tenants were no longer required to have the same degree of involvement with residents as the Tenant Representatives had previously had. The old structure allowed for residents to approach the representatives with concerns and to take up issues on their behalf. Residents were now encouraged to approach EKH directly with their concerns or complaints. In addition officers and representatives in attendance advised of the difficulty encouraging residents to get involved as volunteers and to fill the positions. Many residents did not have time to commit however there would be the opportunity to be involved in various ‘Task and Finish’ project groups and carry out short tasks.

 

Members discussed the methods of communication East Kent Housing chose to have with their residents. The tenants’ newsletter was no longer being posted to residents and would be available electronically and on the EKH website. It was an ongoing concern with Members that some residents would remain un-engaged. Not all residents had access to the internet or email and would not receive the same level of information as those that did however, residents were able to request a paper copy of the newsletter if required.

 

Officers advised Members that they were looking at tasking a specific team of officers to identify vulnerable groups within the community and to proactively contact those individuals. In addition they would contact residents throughout the year for various other reasons and any important updates could be included on the reverse of letters sent to residents as an alternative method of communication. It was noted that whilst it was important to offer different methods of contact and communication to residents, that not all wanted to be contacted and should have the option  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

81.

Update on East Kent Housing

To receive an update on the changes to East Kent Housing.

Minutes:

The Director of Customer Services and the Resident Engagement Manager of East Kent Housing gave a verbal update to Members on East Kent Housing (EKH).

 

Having managed the housing services on behalf of the local councils in Dover, Canterbury, Shepway and Thanet since 2011, a recent restructure of EKH had been carried out to create a more streamlined service of all four authority’s practices and procedures for dealing with enquiries from their tenants. The restructure would result in a more consistent quality of service across the four authorities. As a result of the restructure three manager roles had been removed.

 

In terms of contacting EKH there had been no change. Telephone numbers and email addresses remained the same however the way the enquiry was dealt with had changed. There was a dedicated complaints officer who reported directly to the Chief Executive and designated officers to deal with customer contacts. A dedicated email address for Members had also been created to ensure Members received a more timely response to their queries.

 

Members welcomed the restructure and providing resilience to the service.

 

RESOLVED:      That East Kent Housing be thanked for attending the meeting.

 

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