Agenda and minutes

To receive any declaration of interest from any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

No declaration of interest was received.

To present the minutes of the previous meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on 21 November, 2023.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on 21 November, 2023 were presented and were confirmed as correct.

To present the report of the Head of Housing Services.

The report of the Head of Housing incorporating the Tenant Participation Strategic Plan for 2024-29 was presented for the Committee’s consideration and scrutiny. The Plan was developed to ensure that Housing Services works in partnership with tenants to develop and deliver first rate housing services for the people of Anglesey and is the successor to the 2018-2023 Local Tenants Participation Strategy. The Housing Wales Act (2014) requires all Social Landlords in Wales to have a tenant participation strategy with the long-term goal of achieving continuous improvement in landlords’ performance in supporting and enabling tenants to participate so they can influence decisions and contribute towards improving service delivery.

The report was presented by Councillor Gary Pritchard, Portfolio Member for Children, Youth and Housing Services who emphasised the importance of involving tenants in the way decisions about their homes are made and of obtaining their views and ideas about how the Council’s housing services, homes and estates can be further improved and the challenges of WHQS Phase II met. The Tenant Participation Strategic Plan sets out how the Council will continue to develop tenant participation and increase participation levels during the life of the Plan.

The Community Housing Services Manager outlined the legislative background and principles behind the Plan and she provided an overview of the Plan including the priority areas as agreed with current participating tenants. Those related to ensuring effective engagement and information sharing, empowering tenants to influence and shape services, continually improving services to meet customer needs, and ensuring tenants have the skills and confidence to become involved in tenant participation opportunities. In delivering the Plan, Housing Services will develop a range of participation and engagement methods that will allow people to participate flexibly and as little or as often as they wish; continue to develop appropriate and innovative means of communicating with tenants and keeping them informed of progress; support tenants to build their skills and knowledge so they have the capacity and confidence to participate, and take a proactive approach to developing services utilising good practice from others. The Housing Service’s approach will be regularly reviewed over the course of the five-year plan and a twelve-month Action Plan will be co-developed and monitored quarterly by the Tenant Participation monitoring group.

The Head of Housing Services said that the Strategic Plan builds on the achievements already made in tenant participation. The views of Housing Services users are important as levels of tenant satisfaction are reflected in the STAR survey conducted annually and benchmarked against other authorities in Wales.

In scrutinising the Tenant Participation Strategic Plan the Committee discussed a range of issues including the robustness of the process for putting the Plan in place and the challenges involved in ensuring that there are no barriers to participation arising from age or location and that everyone has the opportunity to contribute recognising also that some people may be more reticent than others in putting their views across. The approach to complaints was raised including how those and the Service’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To present the report of the Head of Housing Services.

The report of the Head of Housing Services incorporating the Asset Management Strategic Plan for 2022-29 was presented for the Committee’s consideration and scrutiny. The Plan sets out how the Council will manage, maintain, and invest in its housing stock over the Plan period.

The report and Strategic Plan were presented by Councillor Gary Pritchard, Portfolio Member for Children, Youth and Housing Services who referred to the Plan’s purpose as ensuring that the Council makes informed decisions about the investment in individual properties based on an understanding of their performance on a social, economic and environmental basis and that the Council’s housing stock provides safe and suitable homes for its tenants, complies with Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS) 2023 and wherever possible, meets decarbonisation targets.

The Housing Technical Services Manager summarised the priority areas of the Asset Management Strategic Plan which includes meeting new challenges in relation to decarbonisation and energy efficiency improvements contained in WHQS 2023. The Service completed a housing stock condition survey in 2022/23 which provides the basis for future planning including meeting the investment requirements of the service’s 30-year business plan and achieving WHQS 2023. Among the areas of investment will be the replacement of key components such as boilers and kitchens in accordance with the expected life cycles as well as the installation of renewable energy measures such as Solar PV and Battery Storage. 

The main points of discussion arising from the Committee’s scrutiny of the Asset Management Strategic Plan were as follows –

·      The effectiveness of asset management software applications and systems and the impact which technical issues could have on the realisation of the Strategic Plan.

·      The financial implications of the Plan as well as the certainty of funding sources to enable its implementation.

·      The monitoring, governance, and evaluation arrangements to ensure the plan is realised.

·      The ways in which the plan aligns with and contributes to achieving the objectives of the Council Plan 2023-28

·      The risks to the achievement of the Plan and how it is proposed those risks are mitigated.

The Portfolio Member and Officers responded as follows –

·      Provided assurances regarding the information held by the Service and the effectiveness of the systems used to manage it. Stock condition data is key in in ensuring that future costs are robust and provide a sound base for planning. The recently independently completed stock condition survey provides new baseline data which is supplemented by historical information about the housing estate.

·      Confirmed the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) as the principal source of funding where the income from tenants’ weekly rents on homes and garages is ring-fenced for expenditure and investment in the Council’s housing stock. As such the HRA provides a robust financial foundation for the next 5 years and the life of the Plan. Where there is an element of uncertainty is in relation to the overall cost of meeting the requirements of WHQS including completing Targeted Energy Pathways for each Council owned property, once those costs are known they can be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To present the report of the Head of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager outlining progress to date with regard to the actions agreed by the Committee at its November 2023 meeting in relation to Housing Services Performance Indicators 28 and 29 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

Councillor Gary Prichard and the Head of Housing Services reported on progress in respect of the Housing Service review of Performance Indicator 28 (the average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant).

With regard to the Scrutiny review of Performance Indicator 29 (the time taken to let lettable units of accommodation excluding DTLs) the Committee was presented with proposed terms of reference, scope and governance arrangements for the Scrutiny Task and Finish group which it was agreed be established at the last meeting to undertake the review and was invited to nominate members to represent the Committee on the group.

The following points were made during the subsequent discussion –

·      That the Task and Finish group should comprise of six members of the Committee

·      That it is a matter for the Task and Finish group to invite the Portfolio Member for Housing to its discussions as it deems appropriate.

·      In relation to the Terms of Reference, -

·           To replace the reference to “Head of Service” in the second bullet point under section 2 (Role, Purpose, and Scope) with “Task and Finish group”

·           To replace the first line under Desired Outcomes with “To implement the actions”

It was resolved –

·      To note progress to date with the Housing Services review of Performance Indicator 28 (Disabled Facilities Grants)

·      To note the intention to submit the review findings and recommendations for consideration by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee in March, 2024.

·      To approve the terms of reference and scope for the Scrutiny review of Performance Indicator 29 (letting of units of accommodation) as presented with the two amendments as outlined.

·      To approve the governance arrangements in support of the scrutiny process and timeline for reporting on the review findings and recommendations to the Corporate Scrutiny Committee.

·      To nominate Councillors Geraint Bebb, Dyfed Wyn Jones, Keith Roberts, Ieuan Williams, Sonia Williams and Arfon Wyn to serve on the Task and Finish group.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager incorporating the Committee’s Forward Work Programme to April, 2024 was presented for consideration.

It was resolved –

·      To agree the current version of the Forward Work Programme for 2023/24.

·      To note the progress thus far in implementing the Forward Work Programme.