Agenda item

Minutes of the last meeting:

Decent Homes

The Decent Homes procurement process for 2013/14 was discussed at the previous meeting (16^th April 2013).  The critical issue for the panel was the designation of confidential information that makes such information exempt.  The panel indicated that there should be greater clarity or guidelines in dealing with confidential information and this will be requested from legal services.

It was noted that a briefing had recently been distributed to all members of the Council outlining various aspects of the tendering process for Decent Homes 2013/14 including, what error had occurred in the tendering process and actions had been taken to mitigate the consequences of this, and, what works were planned for completion 2013/14 and how these varied under the new tendering process.  To further clarify what works were planned, the panel requested that a list of all the planned works for 2013/14 by ward should be circulated.  It was noted that delays to works were minimal and no funding was lost as a result.

Action: Planned works for Decent Homes 2013/14 by ward to be distributed to the panel.

Given the complexity of the issues involved, it was noted that the item has been referred to the main Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  It was noted that the Chair of the Environment and Housing Scrutiny Panel would meet with both the Chair and Vice Chair of Overview & Scrutiny Committee to agree how outstanding issues would be dealt with by scrutiny.  If a further meeting was to be held by Overview & Scrutiny Committee to discuss panel members would be informed and could attend accordingly.

          Action: That the Chair of OSC and the Chair of EHSP would write to Head of Legal Services on confidentiality rules for Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Panels.

          Previous panel reports

It was noted that both reports that were produced at the end of 2012/13 municipal year were being considered by Cabinet for approval on the 9^th July.  The panel noted that all the recommendations for both reports (Strategic Parking Issues for Tottenham and Recycling from Flats) had been provisionally agreed by Cabinet with the exception of two items:

·        Strategic Parking Issues for Tottenham: the recommendation to ring fence income from the special match day parking would contravene regulations and could not be implemented due to transport funding being agreed borough wide and not in specific schemes.

·        Recycling from Flats: the recommendation to commission Our Common Place pilot project through Waste Watch was not agreed as it was felt that this service could be provided by existing partners.

The panel noted that the reports contained recommendations that were both practical and evidence based, and agreed this approach should continue to guide future work of the panel. In addition, it was agreed that where appropriate, the panel should continue to seek external opinion in developing its recommendations through consulting with specialist agencies or other local authorities.

Action: That a template is developed for thanking external participants in the work of the Environment and Housing Scrutiny Panel.