Issue - meetings

To enable the Cabinet to consider the recommendations made by the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee following that Committee’s scrutiny of the housing issues in the District involving external partners.

RESOLVED that the recommendations made by the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee be noted and that the responses of the Housing Portfolio Holder thereto be endorsed.

Cabinet was aware that, at its meeting held on 10 January 2022 (Minute 33 referred), the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee (“the Committee”) had undertaken an enquiry (within the Corporate Plan Theme of Community Leadership) into how joined up public services were to address the housing needs in the District.

As part of the Committee’s enquiry, the Committee was provided with a written report from the Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing. The report referenced the Council’s Housing Strategy (approved in October 2020) and how the Council was working with statutory and non-statutory partners to deliver homes to local people, tackle homelessness, to make best use of the Council’s housing stock and to support residents in their homes and communities. The Committee was given information on the how the strategy focussed on external partnership working to achieve its priorities. The Committee heard oral submissions from three external partners, namely Anglia Care Trust, Priest Property Consultants and Peabody Floating Support.

After a discussion the Committee had RECOMMENDED to Cabinet that it should:-

a.   encourage real estate investment trust investment in purchasing low quality HMO’s and investing in them to produce good quality self-contained affordable units.

b.   sign posting those who apply to join the housing register to organisations to support debt management, maximising benefits, over-coming isolation and other issues they may struggle with.

c.   securing additional accommodation for those with vulnerabilities who are rough sleeping, to continue and develop early intervention with Landlords to resolve issue rather than moving to evictions.

The Cabinet had before it the responses of the Housing Portfolio Holder thereto as follows:-

"The meeting served as a useful reminder of all the work that goes on in our housing service and the wide range of partner organisations who we work with to support residents of our District. The recommendations to Cabinet all tie back to commitments already made in our Housing Strategy and in the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategies and as such I have no further comments to make."

Having considered the recommendations of the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee, together with the responses of the Housing Portfolio Holder thereto:-

It was moved by Councillor Paul Honeywood, seconded by Councillor Neil Stock OBE and:-

RESOLVED that the recommendations made by the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee be noted and that the responses of the Housing Portfolio Holder thereto be endorsed.