Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P I Carter and S Hill.

There were no substitute members appointed.

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

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

To confirm the Minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 14 September 2016 (attached) and 12 October 2016 (to follow).

The Minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 14 September 2016 and 12 October 2016 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 only applies to agenda item 10.

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.

There were no items for consideration.

(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 for consideration.

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

Members requested that items 20 (Statutory Brownfield Register) and 21 (Review of Tenancy Strategy and Tenancy Policy) be included within the Work Programme.

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

                        (b)     That items 20 (Statutory Brownfield Register) and 21 (Review of Tenancy Strategy and Tenancy Policy) be included within the Work Programme.

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

Members were requested to provide key questions for Southern Water in advance of their attendance at the meeting to be held on 14 December 2016.

An update was requested on the date of the site visit to the Dover Town Investment Zone.

RESOLVED:   That the Work Programme be noted.

To receive answers to the Key Questions set by the Committee.

The Chief Executive (East Kent Housing) was present at the meeting to answer questions from the Committee. The Chairman welcomed her and asked her to introduce herself to Members.

The Chairman advised that 3 tenant representatives (Brenda Lyons, Roy Barlow and Samm Morris) were present and with the consent of the Committee it was agreed that they would be permitted to speak on the item.

Q1.    Please can you provide an update on the Estate Improvement Budget?

          Members were advised that the Estate Improvement Budget had been used for 20 projects in the Dover District. A total of 4 projects had been completed and the remaining 16 would be completed by the end of 2017. The budget was normally £100,000 per annum but due to projects that had slipped from the previous year the allocated budget was £224,000.

          The Tenant Scrutiny Panel would be examining the Estate Improvement Budget to identify areas in which its delivery could be improved.

Q2.    Can you update the committee on the implementation of the EK Housing IT system?

          East Kent Housing inherited four systems (one from each partner authority) and was implementing a single replacement system. This was originally expected to be in place in January 2017 but was now expected by May 2017.  However, as the inherited systems were still functioning there would be no impact on daily work by this delay.

Q3.    After hours maintenance response is an issue. Are after hours calls now being handled locally and does the person handling the calls have a good command of the English language?

          Members were advised that the Swale Heating call centre was in Sittingbourne and for Mears the initial contact was a national call centre before being referred to Kent.

          Members were advised that the numbers were available on the East Kent Housing website and also in paper form on the tenant newsletter.

          In respect of a specific case cited by Councillor T A Bond, the Chief Executive (East Kent Housing) requested that the details be provided to her and she would investigate it further.

Q4.    Does East Kent Housing inspect every property before it is let? Does it then have an annual inspection of each property every 12 months?

          All new tenants received three inspections in the first year. In addition, there was an annual gas inspection and Neighbourhood Managers did a rolling tenant audit that involved visiting every tenant over a five year period (20% of tenants per year).

          The annual gas inspection would also flag up other issues that required action.

Q5.    When major repairs are carried out does someone from East Kent Housing inspect the work?

          It was confirmed that an officer from East Kent Housing inspected repair work.

          Members emphasised the need for a system of monitoring tenant satisfaction with repairs that didn’t involve the tenant having to provide feedback directly to or in the presence of the person undertaking the repairs.

          The Chief Executive (East Kent Housing) acknowledged Members’ concerns over the existing methods of judging  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

It was proposed by Councillor T A Bond, duly seconded and

RESOLVED:     That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of Item No 12 within the report on the grounds that the item to be considered involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph 3 of Part 1 Schedule 12A of the 1972 Act.

To consider the attached report of the Chief Executive.

The Planning Delivery Manager presented the report on the Aylesham Village Expansion – Update and Deed of Variation.

Members discussed the report and it was proposed that an element of the capital receipt be ring-fenced for Aylesham facilities.

The Planning Delivery Manager agreed to provide a written answer to questions raised by Councillor L A Keen.

RESOLVED:  (a)   That it be recommended to the Cabinet that Decision CAB80 be endorsed as follows, subject to the addition of recommendation (b):

(i)         That progress on the Aylesham Development be noted.

(ii)        That the Heads of Terms for the Deed of Variation be approved, and the Planning Delivery Manager be authorised to approve the final document, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive.

(iii)       That the Planning Delivery Manager be authorised to negotiate the acquisition of the Market Square retail units and third-party land within the development site (to be funded from an element of the anticipated capital receipt), in consultation with the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets and the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources and Performance.

(b)   That an amount of the capital receipt be ring-fenced for Aylesham facilities.

(c)   That the Planning Delivery Manager be requested to provide further details in writing on the stamp duty arrangements for the landowner.

(d)   That the Planning Delivery Manager be requested to provide a written answer to Councillor L A Keen in respect of her questions.