Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.  

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

Yvonne Arrowsmith               - Jason Houston substituted

Lee Bojtor                              - Leigh Saunders substituted

Neil Mawson

Susan Otiti

To consider any items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be considered under Item 14 below).

No items of Urgent Business were admitted.

Members of the Board must declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not take part in any decision made with respect to those items.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2010 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.  

To appoint a Chair for 2010/11.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor John Bevan be appointed as Chair of the Integrated Housing Board for 2010/11.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for 2010/11.

RESOLVED:

That this item should be deferred to the next meeting.

To appoint the Board’s representative to the HSP Standing Leadership Conference for 2010/11.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor John Bevan be appointed as the Board’s representative on the Haringey Strategic Partnership Standing Leadership Conference for 2010/11.

The Board received a report that sought confirmation of Membership and Terms of Reference for 2010/11.

Terms of Reference

During discussion the following points were raised with respect to the Term of Reference:

• The Anti Social Behaviour Strategy and Community Safety Strategy were separate documents and should be referred to as such
• The Rough Sleepers and Older Persons Strategies should be listed as sub strategies of the Homelessness Strategy

There was agreement that they should be amended to reflect the points above.

Membership

The membership of the Board, as set out in the report, was confirmed. It was noted that at present one of the three Community Link Forum (CLF) places was unfilled at present; the CLF intended to identify and co-opt another representative to fill this position.

That Circle Anglia should be contacted to confirm whether Madeleine Foster was still their nominated representative.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the points raise above being address, the Membership and Terms of Reference be confirmed for 2010/11.

A presentation will be provided.

The Board received a verbal update on the Council’s new Housing Allocations Policy and a report that would be considered by the Council’s Cabinet on July was also tabled.

Subject to Cabinet’s approval a three month consultation period would commence on ? with a view to formally adopting the strategy in January/February 2011.

The Board was advised that there were approximately twenty thousand households on the register at present and it was unlikely that around 85% of these would ever be re housed. Therefore the work required to form the new Allocations Policy was extensive.

The present Allocations Policy operated on a points based system with forty-eight different categories, which was complicated and difficult for people to understand. In addition, under the current policy, the highest priority cases were often not properly prioritised. The new policy would be fairer and more transparent with the flexibility to allow the Council to assist people find cross tenure solutions rather than relying solely on Local Authority housing.

In terms of the methodology used to assess cases the new policy would use a  banding system consisting of five bandings rated A to E.

Cases eligible for Band A would be prioritised according to the length of time they had waited and in order to be categorised as a Band A case a Director or Assistant Director would need to sign them off. There would be certain circumstances in which a case could be moved up into Band A; where people living under occupied properties were prepared to move into smaller accommodation there would be provision to move them into Band A in order to create capacity in the system. Similarly, this approach would be taken with respect to Supported Housing in order to help the Council make best use of the properties available.

Band B would include those in serious medical need or people classified as living in overcrowded accommodation. Again cases in this banding would be prioritised according to the length of time they had been on the waiting list.

To put this in context the Board was advised that approximately five thousand households would be placed in Band A and B. The remainder of the of the cases on the waiting list would be categorised into Bands C, D and E.  

One of the key drivers behind establishing a new policy was to make it clearer that there was a limited level of social housing available and how this would be allocated. Housing Services staff would work with people, where appropriate, to help them find other forms of housing and it was anticipated the this approach would free up housing in the sector that could be more appropriately used.

It was noted that Councillors had been supportive of the new bandings approach as it made the system simpler to explain.

In response to a query the Board was advised that it was anticipated that households placed in Band A would be re housed in six to twelve months. It was hoped that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 169.

The Board received a report that set out end of performance against Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets within its responsibility.

It was noted that NI 154, which related to the net number of additional new homes provided during the year, was showing as Red at present; this was due to the way information was reported. At present the total number of new additional new homes delivered during 2009/10 would not be formally measured until the early August; however, it was anticipated that the target for 2009/10 would be met. 

Performance against NI 155, which related to the number of affordable homes delivered during 2009/10, had been affected on by the economic downturn and the impact upon the building industry and given this it was unlikely that this target would be met.

The Board was advised that NI 187 (i), which related to the percentage of people receiving income based Benefits living in homes with low energy efficiency, was incorrectly listed as being Green and that this target had not been missed by ? at the end of 2009/10. 

The remainder of the LAA targets within the Board’s responsibility had been met.

The Board discussed communications between the Local Authority and Housing Associations with respect to nominations and lettings and it was noted that the Housing Associations Lettings Forum provided had played a key role in resolving issues that had previously caused delays in information being passed on. It was agreed that Family Mosaic and the Strategic Housing Service should discuss specific cases in more detail outside the meeting and that Family Mosaic would ensure that a representative was present at future meetings of the Housing Associations Lettings Forum.

There was discussion around how information with respect to lettings was recorded and it was noted that the external body, TSA, operated on a national level and recorded a range of information regarding lettings. Housing Associations were required to submit certain ‘Core’ data sets to the TSA on a continuous basis in order to provide central Government and Local Authorities with information to monitor performance and inform policy.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board considered a report that presented and sought approval of the Move-On Strategy 2010-15 and the Rough Sleepers Strategy 2010-15. It was noted that both strategies sat beneath the over arching Homelessness Strategy.  

Move-On Strategy 2010-15

The Board was advised the strategy contained five key objectives:

·        Increasing move-one through the development of effective partnerships

·        Developing accommodation and support pathways

·        Provision of targeted advice and accommodation options for clients in short-term supported housing

·        Developing a range of new initiatives to increase access to housing solutions

·        Sustaining move-on by encouraging independence 

Rough Sleepers Strategy 2010-15

The Board was advised that the strategy contained six key objectives:

·        Partnership development

·        Early Intervention

·        Prevention and emergency accommodation services

·        Contact and assessment through outreach

·        Accommodation and support pathways

·        Specialist interventions and pathways to independence

In response to a query as to how the number of rough sleepers on the Borough was recorded and what the approximate number was, the Board was advised that it was estimated that there were approximately twenty rough sleepers in the Borough at any given time. The official count, which was undertaken by ? every sixth months, recorded a lower number; however, the figures recorded by the outreach teams, which worked with homeless people on a day to day basis showed that the figure of twenty was likely to be more accurate.

It was noted that as part of the strategy a ‘Task and Targeting’ group would be established to case manage rough sleepers. This would provide a higher level of targeted support on a one to one basis to assist individuals address the issues that were causing them to be homeless.

The Board was advised the Council’s Corporate Strategy and Supporting People teams had reviewed the Action Plan attached to the Move-On Strategy and as a result of their recommendations specific teams had been allocated responsibility for delivering the actions it contained.

In conclusion the Board was advised that both strategies were also subject to approval by the Council’s Cabinet on 13 July 2010.

The Board discussed the strategies and concern was raised that moving people with complex backgrounds out of Temporary Accommodation (TA) too quickly may damage the stability of their environment.  This would need to be taken into account and reflected within the strategy.

Concern was raised that Housing Associations were often not given the necessary information by the Local Authority to inform the way in which people with complex backgrounds were handled. This lack of information meant that there were often problems attached to moving people from long term TA into permanent accommodation. 

The Board was advised that the Council recognised the importance of sharing information with Housing Associations. In consultation with the Housing Associations, via the Housing Associations Letting Forum, procedures around moving people on had been revised in order to assist Housing Associations make their assessments and a new protocol had been formed. There was agreement that the details of any specific cases where partners felt that information had not been shared properly should be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 171.

A verbal update will be provided.

The Board received a verbal update with respect to consultation on the new Borough Investment Plan (BIP).

It was noted that the Investment Plan was a product of the Single Conversation process with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and outlined the future priorities for the Housing Service. Within the BIP would focus on addressing the disparity seen across the Borough in terms of wealth and opportunities and there would be six themed priority areas:

?

In terms of the governance arrangements around the BIP a group called Transforming Haringey brought together to oversee the development of the BIP and this would also ensure that the Mayor’s Strategy and national policy issues were also reflected.

There would be a consultation event on 26 June and partners were also to advise their colleagues that this was taking place.

The Chair noted that the Cabinet was keen to address the disparity between the east and west of the Borough particularly in terms of the opportunities available to children and young people. It was hoped that project could be established with Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club to give young people work experience on match days.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update provided be noted.

The Board received a report that provided an update with respect to the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme for 2010/11.

It was noted that one of the key functions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was to review Council performance and this included performance against LAA targets. In order to assist the Council and its partners achieve LAA targets Councillors sitting on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been aligned to the HSP Thematic Boards and it was anticipated that this would foster a close working relationship between Overview and Scrutiny and the Thematic Boards.

The Work Programme for 2010/11 was still to be confirmed; however two topics had been short listed:

·        Housing Association Working in Haringey: Performance of Estate Management and Cleanliness

·        Routes of Exit and Flow of Residents from Temporary Housing

The final programme would be agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 5 July 2010.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To consider any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 2 above.

There were no new items of Urgent Business.

To raise any items of AOB.

There were items of AOB.

To note that confirmed dates of future meetings set out below:

• 11 October 2010, 6.30pm, Rooms 1&2, Civic Centre
• 31 January 2011, 6.30pm, Rooms 1&2, Civic Centre
• 5 April 2011, 6.30pm, Rooms 1&2, Civic Centre

The dates of future meetings, set out below, were noted: