Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Rebecca Brough  Democratic Services Manager

Items
No. Item

165.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R J Frost, J M Heron and M Rose.

166.

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 Wallace had been appointed as substitute member for Councillor J M Heron.

167.

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.

168.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 62 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 March 2018 and 24 April 2018 (to follow).

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

169.

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 items 11 and 12.

 

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.

170.

Decisions of the Cabinet Relating to Recommendations from the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee

The following decisions were taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 14 May 2018 in respect of recommendations from the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee:

 

·         Review of On and Off Street Parking Charges

 

Minutes:

Members received the decisions of the Cabinet relating to recommendations made by the Committee.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet decisions relating to recommendations from the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee be noted.

171.

Issues referred to the Committee by Council, Cabinet, Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee or another Committee

There are no items for consideration.

Minutes:

There were no items of business.

172.

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 by providing Democratic Support with notice of the matter prior to the agenda being published.

 

       There are no items for consideration.

 

(b)    Items the subject of 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.

 

       There are no items for consideration.

 

(c)    Public Petition

 

       There are no items for consideration.

Minutes:

There were no items of business.

173.

Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 28 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.

 

174.

Scrutiny Work Programme pdf icon PDF 85 KB

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

Minutes:

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

 

RESOLVED:  That the Work Programme be noted.

175.

Universal Credit Update pdf icon PDF 70 KB

To consider the attached report of the Director of Customer Services (East Kent Housing) and the Director of Finance, Housing and Community.

Minutes:

The Director of Customer Services (East Kent Housing) presented the update on Universal Credit.

 

The roll out had started in February 2016 and approximately 500 council tenants were currently on Universal Credit. East Kent Housing were working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and other groups to ensure that affected tenants were signposted to the support they needed as part of this process.

 

While historically arrears in the Dover District were very low (<1%) compared to the average elsewhere of 5-6%, there were 7 new cases per day of arrears due to the switch to Universal Credit. In addition, the Council was no longer the first to receive repayments as DWP and Housing Benefit Arrears had first claim on repayments, so it was taking EKH longer to recover arrears.

 

EKH had a dedicated team to provide support to tenants on Universal Credit and help sustain their tenancies (i.e. budgeting advice) as well as support being provided through the Citizens Advice Bureau. This support was provided within existing resources and was used to target those switching to Universal Credit. EKH initiated contact with tenants after one week of arrears and visiting officers were able to provide a better sense of a tenant’s situation that on-line or telephone contact. As a result, the number of evictions had actually decreased.

 

It was expected by 2019/20 that all households would be on Universal Credit and there was expected to be an increase in arrears during the first two years following the switchover to Universal Credit.

 

Members expressed concern over the difficulties in navigating the system and concern that private landlords would be wary of offering accommodation to those in receipt of Universal Credit.

 

The Director of Finance, Housing and Community advised that the financial impact was minimal as long as the arrears were eventually recovered.

 

RESOLVED: That regular updates be provided on Universal Credit.

176.

Performance Report Quarter 4, 2017-18 pdf icon PDF 53 KB

To consider the attached report of the Director of Governance.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Legal Services presented the Performance Report, Quarter 4, 2017/18. There were 29 Green indicators, 2 Amber indicators and 4 Red indicators.

 

The 4 red performance indicators for Quarter 4, 2017/18 were as followed:

 

East Kent Services

EKS026d (Average call waiting time in minutes)

 

Members were advised that the call waiting time started from the moment a member of the public reached the switchboard. A review of Performance Indicators would be conducted by Civica but the overall aim was to connect members of the public to the right people who could assist them.

 

The issue of a long pause before being connected to the out-of-hours service was raised by Members and it was agreed that this would be investigated.  

 

East Kent Housing

EKHC2 (Rent arrears as % of annual debt)

EKHC3 (Former tenant arrears as % of annual debt)

 

Dover District Council

HOU010a (Number of households living in Temporary Accommodation including B&B)

 

The Director of Finance, Housing and Community advised that HOU010a includes the use of temporary accommodation owned by the Council and not just Bed and Breakfast accommodation which had significantly reduced. As a consequence, performance for indicator HOU010b (Number of households in bed and breakfast), had significantly improved.

 

RESOLVED: That the Performance Report Quarter 4, 2017-18 be noted.

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