Minutes:
23.1 Councillor Simon Barrett introduced the report to the committee outlining that HRA account had been in a deficit due to additional spending in building services. This had been due to an increased cost of resources and labour resource had been competitive which lead to an increased use of subcontractors. It had also recommended that there be a rent increase of CPI+1.
23.2 Councillor Melanie Barrett questioned the cause of the overspend in building services. The Assistant Director – Housing responded that the overspend had occurred for a variety of reasons such as the increased cost of materials over the past year. In addition to this there had been additional training for staff in order to decrease the reliance on outside contractors. There had also been costs to replace vehicles and to change the fleet to HVO.
23.3 Councillor Adrian Osborne queried whether anti-social behaviour had any impact on the cost of any additional work. The Assistant Director – Housing responded that as it had been dealt with internally by the housing team.
23.4 Councillor Adrian Osborne queried other income in terms of recovering legal cost. The Assistant Director – Housing responded that if there had been damage to a property the council may take legal action to get reimbursed for this damage however the council would use insurance provision to fund this.
23.5 Councillor Adrian Osborne queried what renewable heat had been installed in line with the renewable heat incentive. The Assistant Director – Housing responded that the incentive had been installing air source heat pumps and had been seeking grants to install these where possible.
23.6 Councillor Adrian Osborne questioned the social housing resources that the council to lessen the costs of using hotels. The Assistant Director – Housing responded that there had been areas of the housing stock that were able to be used as temporary accommodation, and the council also had units for domestic abuse and are able to lease properties to the county council in order to help care leavers in order to lessen use of hotels as temporary accommodation.
23.7 Councillor Jane Gould questioned whether there were sufficient funds to insulate and retrofit existing properties. The Assistant Director – Housing responded that the council and the energy saving trust had a stock profile of all properties that had enabled the council to prioritize where work is needed. Councillor Jan Osborne added that the Council’s design guide would go to Cabinet in spring to set out the aspirations in terms of retrofitting existing properties.
23.8 Councillor Mary McLaren questioned how realistic a central system that kept record of money owed by individual residents. The Assistant Director – Corporate Resources responded that this was an ongoing major project however, there had been issues in terms of software. The Assistant Director – Housing added that tenancy officers work with the shared revenue partnership in order see all of what is owed by an individual. Councillor Jan Osborne added that the rent source system had also been in place in order to identify arrears and help residents get support in this area.
23.9 Councillor Melanie Barrett raised that she would like to see a reduction in use of sub-contractors in the future and allow more work to be delivered in house.
23.10 Councillor Jane Gould praised the additional training for surveyors in order to allow for more in house services, however, money spent on retrofitting should be prioritized to insulation.
23.11 Councillor Melanie Barrett proposed the recommendation as follows:
· That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee notes the Housing Revenue Account 2022/23 and Four-year Outlook.
· That the Overview and Scrutiny recommends that the Information about the use of sub-contractors be included in the quarterly performance monitoring report.
23.12 Councillor Adrian Osborne seconded this motion.
By a unanimous vote
It was RESOLVED:-
1.1 That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee notes the Housing Revenue Account 2022/23 and Four-year Outlook.
1.2 That the Overview and Scrutiny recommends that the Information about the use of sub-contractors be included in the quarterly performance monitoring report.
Supporting documents: