Agenda and draft minutes

Cllrs Christophides & Watson

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member's judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

None received.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgen business.  Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at item 7 below.

None received.

To receive an overview of the scrutiny review process.

An outline of the scrutiny review process was presented and discussed with members of the panel.  In particular, the review selection process was highlighted to the panel which described the origins of the review and how the Overview & Scrutiny arrived at this particular scrutiny proposal to look at registered housing providers.

The presentation highlighted the key stages of the scrutiny review process, these being

§         Scoping of review topic

§         Completion of review

oAccording to objectives set in the scope

oFinal report – review and recommendations

§         Conclusions and recommendations approved by Overview & Scrutiny

§         Presented to Cabinet (next)

§         Cabinet response (6 weeks)

§         12-18 month follow up by Overview & Scrutiny Committee

To receive a draft scoping report for the review.

To discuss the terms of reference for the planned review.

A draft of the scoping report for this review was presented to the panel for discussion.  A summary of the key points from this presentation and subsequent discussion are highlighted below.

The panel noted that there were over 28,000 social housing units in Haringey. Although a majority of these (16,000) were managed by the Arms Length Management Organisation (Homes for Haringey) the remainder were managed by as many as 60 different housing providers:

§         Only 6 providers managed more than 500 properties

§         47 manage fewer than 100  properties.

As a consequence of a large number of housing providers operating in the borough, the panel heard that this presented a number of issues:

§         Neighbourhoods / estates may have multiple landlords

§         Differences in the way housing stock is managed

§         Opportunities to improve the effectiveness of service provision

The panel heard that in the context of the above, the council’s relationship with local housing providers was important because for a number of reasons, these being:

§         The central role of housing providers in providing new social housing development within  the borough

§         It may provide opportunities to assist those residents most in need in the borough (as social housing tenants)

§         May help to develop common housing standards across providers in the locality

§         May help to facilitate greater partnership work among local housing providers which may help in the provision of more efficient and integrated services for local residents

§         Ensuring that the Council can apply its place shaping role through better communication of council priorities and objectives

The panel discussed the aims and objectives of the review.  These were divided in to three overall themes:

§         the council’s relationship with housing providers,

§         the development of common standards among local housing providers and,

§         facilitating partnership work among local providers to help improve the integration and efficiency and of local services.

There was some concern about the breadth of the scope and whether this was achievable in the planned timeframe for the review.  It was noted that the many of the objectives of the review would be achieved through the planned consultation with local housing providers.  This event would be planned in late February or early March and would focus on what structures can be put in place to facilitate greater partnership work in the sector.

It was noted that the scope would be distributed to key registered housing providers in the locality for comments and suggestions particularly in relation to the objectives of the review and the most appropriate process through which to consul local providers. 

Agreed: The feedback from local housing providers would be presented at the next panel meeting.

The panel noted that they would like to invite the Executive Member for Housing (Cllr Bevan) to attend a future panel  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To agree dates for future meetings as agreed in 5.

These were agreed as:

Wednesday 12^th January 2011 at 18.30

Monday 7^th February 2011 at 18.30

Monday 7^th March 2011 at 18.30 

None.