Agenda and minutes

The Chair made reference to the Council’s new protocol relating to third party recording of Committees, Boards and Panels, including both video and audio recording.  Copies of this protocol were made available at the meeting.

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

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

In accordance with his powers under Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chair agreed to accept the following late information:

·  Agenda item 11, Progress in delivering housing on Council brownfield land – Council brownfield land update schedule. (Minute No. 103 refers)

The above document was not available at the time of agenda despatch, but was subsequently made available on the Council’s website.

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests declared to the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

An apology for absence was submitted by Councillor B Atha.  Notification had been received that Councillor M Harland was to substitute for Councillor B Atha.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2014

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2014 be approved as a correct record.

To consider an update report on developing a scheme that would provide cookers to tenants in need

The Director of Environment and Housing submitted a report which provided an update on developing a scheme that would provide cookers to tenants in need.

The following were in attendance for this item:

-  John Statham, Head of Housing Partnerships, Environment and Housing.

-  Lorraine Wright, Housing Services Manager (Relationship Management), Environment and Housing

-  Janice Frost, Waste Policy Officer, Environment and Housing

-  Ali Ward, Emmaus Leeds

-  Annette Haigh, St Jude’s Furniture Store, Leeds.

The key areas of discussion were:

·  Concern that re-use organisations lacked sufficient supply of appliances to meet individual needs.

·  Exploring opportunities to provide re-use organisations with loans and appropriate Council storage to enable them to bulk buy unwanted appliances.

·  Cost and maintenance issues associated with re-using gas cookers.

·  Generating greater publicity of re-use schemes in Leeds, particularly through the Council’s website and social media.

·  Exploring opportunities aimed at improving links between Council contractors and re-use organisations.

·  Developing a more co-ordinated approach to accessing void properties.

·  The new role of Area Committees in relation to bulky waste services.

RESOLVED – That the contents of the report be noted and that a further report be brought back to the Scrutiny Board developing the above issues.

To consider a report on the impact of local lettings policies and housing swap schemes

The Chief Officer (Strategic Housing) submitted a report which provided the Scrutiny Board with an overview of the types of local lettings policies (LLPs) in operation in Leeds and an evaluation of their effectiveness.

The following were in attendance for this item:

-  Liz Cook, Chief Housing Officer, Environment and Housing.

RESOLVED –

(a)   That the contents of the report be noted

(b)   That the Chief Officer (Housing Management) reviews the current local lettings policies by October 2014 to ensure they meeting their stated objectives, following the proposed review process outlined in section 3.25 to the report.

(c)  That the Scrutiny Board be formally consulted as part of the review.

(Councillor G Wilkinson left the meeting at 11.30am during the consideration of this item.)

To consider a report on the impact and policy implications for Leeds of the changes in permitted development rights

The Chief Planning Officer submitted a report which provided an update on the impact and policy implications for Leeds of the changes in permitted development rights.

The following information was appended to the report:

-  An extract from the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2013

-  A list of office to residential schemes.

The following were in attendance for this item:

-  Martin Sellens, Head of Planning Services, City Development.

RESOLVED – That the contents of the report be noted.

To consider a report on quarter 3 performance for services within the Board’s portfolio

The Director of Environment and Housing and the Director of City Development submitted a joint report which provided a summary of performance against the strategic priorities for the council and city relevant to the Scrutiny Board.

The following information was appended to the report:

-  A summary of performance at Quarter 3 across both City Priority Plan (CPP) and Best Council Plan (BCP) priorities.

The following were in attendance for this item:

-  Simon Costigan, Chief Officer (Housing Management)

-  Paul Maney, Head of Strategic Planning, Policy and Performance, City Development

-  Debra Scott, Head of Performance and Service Review, Environment and Housing.

The main areas of discussion were:

·  Clarification sought regarding the level of tenant arrears.  It was agreed to provide Members with a further report about this.

·  Concern about the percentage of repairs not completed within target.  It was advised that this could be due to the nature of the work being undertaken.  There were 3 types of repairs; emergency, general and priority repairs.

RESOLVED – That the contents of the report be noted and that a further report be brought back to the Scrutiny Board on tenant arrears.

(Councillor D Nagle left at 12 noon and Councillor M Iqbal at 12.05pm, during the consideration of this item.)

To consider a monitoring report updated to show progress since the last meeting

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report which presented an update on progress in delivering housing on Council brownfield land.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the Scrutiny Board notes the updated position.

(b)  That the Council brownfield land update schedule be reported back to a future meeting of the Scrutiny Board.

To consider the Board’s work schedule for the remainder of the municipal year

The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presented the Board’s latest work schedule for the 2013/14 municipal year.

Members were advised that the next meeting would be used to undertake site visits that the Scrutiny Board requested, to view “developments which included the provision of affordable homes to review the quality and location of these within the site”.  Members expressed a preference to visit the following sites:

1)  Royal Gardens, Cemetry Road, Pudsey

2)  Netherfield Road, Guiseley.

RESOLVED – That the updated work schedule be approved and that the other items currently scheduled for April be deferred to the June meeting of the Scrutiny Board.

Tuesday 29 April at 10.00am (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 9.30am)

Tuesday, 29 April 2014 at 10.00am (Site visits)

(The meeting concluded at 12.18pm)