Agenda and minutes

To receive a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development outlining arrangements to agree the appointment of Chair for the remainder of the 2014/15 municipal year.

RESOLVED – That John Gittos be appointed Chair of Tenant Scrutiny Board for the remainder of the 2014/15 municipal year.

1  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:

   No exempt items have been identified.

There were no exempt items.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.)

The Chair agreed to accept the following late information:

·  Agenda item 7, Performance information – responses to questions raised by Board Members at the October meeting.

The above information was subsequently made available on the Council’s website.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted by Sandra Bland and Philip Rone.

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 16 October 2014.

One Board Member suggested that an additional bullet point be added in relation to minute no. 27, entitled ‘Scrutiny Inquiry – Annual Tenancy Visits’ to read as follows:

·  The question as to whether all housing staff had been formally told to positively respond to Tenant Scrutiny Board questions was raised by a Board Member.  Officers responded that whilst a formal instruction had not gone out to all housing staff, it was explicit in the Board’s Procedure Rules.

RESOLVED – That subject to the inclusion of the bullet point above, the minutes of the meeting held on 16 October 2014, be approved as a correct record.

To receive a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presenting information in relation to arrangements around gathering information, the management of inquiries and the attendance of officers at meetings.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report which presented information in relation to the management of tenant scrutiny inquiries and the attendance of officers at meetings.

The following information was appended to the report:

·  Tenant Scrutiny Board Procedure Rules

Members discussed the importance of ensuring that requests for information were submitted directly to the Chair of the Board or through the Scrutiny Support Team.  It was suggested that the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development be authorised to forward information submitted by Board Members to the rest of the Board.

Members also discussed the importance of ensuring that appropriate support arrangements were in place for tenants to undertake tenant scrutiny work, e.g. availability of suitable training events and help with typing up notes. 

RESOLVED –

(a)  That requests for information in relation to tenant scrutiny be submitted directly to the Chair of Tenant Scrutiny Board or through the Scrutiny Support Team.

(b)  That the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development be authorised to forward information submitted by Board Members to the rest of the Board.

To receive a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presenting responses to a series of questions and requests for information requested at the October Board meeting.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report which presented responses to a series of questions and requests for information requested at the October Board meeting.

The following information was appended to the report:

·  Annual Tenancy Visit Performance – Ward Summary.

The following were in attendance for this item:

·  Anna Tansley, Service Manager (Intelligence and Improvement), Environment and Housing

·  Sharon Guy, Housing Manager (Scrutiny and Customer Relations), Environment and Housing.

The main areas of discussion were:

·  Changes to patch sizes and the impact of this on the provision of performance information to the Board.

·  Confirmation that key performance indicators were currently under review and a finalised version will be presented to the Board when available.

·  Clarification sought about the decency standard and how this was being developed.  The Head of Scrutiny and Member undertook to provide an update to Board Members.

·  Confirmation that the Board had influenced the development of a target for independent living.

·  Drawing a distinction between complaints and service requests and the need for further analysis of this.  The Board was advised that a new framework was being developed to provide a breakdown of the type of complaint.

RESOLVED – That the Board notes the content of the report and the responses provided.

Thursday, 18 December 2014 at 1.30pm in the Civic Hall, Leeds.

Thursday, 18 December 2014 at 1.30pm in the Civic Hall, Leeds.

(The meeting concluded at 2.30pm)