Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

At this point Members must declare whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest, or other interest, in any of the items on the agenda, unless it is already entered in the register of members’ interests or is a “pending notification “ that has been disclosed to the Solicitor to the Council.

Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.

Portfolio Progress Report from Cabinet Member for Housing and Neighbourhoods

            Councillor Fox declared that he was chairman of the working group for Care and Repair.

The minutes of the Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 12 September 2012 were approved as an accurate record.

The decision notice for each decision will bear the date on which it is published and will specify that the decision may then be implemented on the expiry of 3 working days after the publication of the decision (not including the date of publication), unless a request for call-in of the decision is received from any two Members of a Scrutiny Committee or Scrutiny Commissions..  If a request for call-in of a decision is received, implementation of the decision remains suspended for consideration by the relevant Scrutiny Committee or Commission.

There were no requests for Call-in to consider

The purpose of this report was to provide members with a progress report from the Cabinet Member for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Planning in relation to matters relevant to the Strong and Supportive Communities Scrutiny Committee.

The following areas were highlighted within the report:

• Neighbourhood Management
• Housing and Homelessness Prevention
• Environmental Health
• Licensing
• Trading Standards
• Enforcement and Housing Enforcement
• Pollution Control
• Civil Enforcement
• Enforcement against Environmental Crime
• Social Inclusion
• Strategic Planning
• Building Control and Planning Compliance
• Planning Development Management
• Transport and Engineering
• Forthcoming Priorities which included:

v      From April 2013 the council would become responsible for the Public Health function that currently fell under the remit of the NHS. The function and staff would be integrated in to the existing Neighbourhoods division.

v      National reforms in the welfare system were to be welcomed, but it was recognised that there would be local impacts that needed to be carefully planned.

v      Achieving the right balance between needing to find savings and enhancing the approach to working with and supporting communities and businesses was critical, especially as the council began to prepare its budget for the coming years.

v      The integration of the four main transport and engineering contracts in to one new core contract, which would further strengthen Peterborough’s ability to deliver all aspects of the service in an efficient and effective manner.

v      The major challenges to the transport group would stem from continued budgetary pressures that were inevitable in the current economic climate and reduced funding from central Government.

v      A vibrant, thriving, safe, attractive and sustainable city centre was key to Peterborough’s future bringing economic prosperity, inward investment and a greater sense of pride. With the regeneration work already completed in the city centre, broader delivery of city centre regeneration through the process was already underway.

Members were asked to scrutinise the progress made on the Cabinet Member’s Portfolio by providing challenge where necessary and to suggest ideas and initiatives to support improvements in performance.

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

• Members commented that a lot of people benefited from the Care and Repair Scheme and queried if the funding for things such as lighting outside the doors of elderly people would still be available next year. The Cabinet Member for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Planning advised Members that he was a great supporter of the Care and Repair Scheme and that there would be funding next year but it may be delivered in a different way to the previous year.
• Members were concerned that alcohol licenses were still being issued within the Millfield area where there had been an increase in antisocial behaviour. The Cabinet Member for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Planning advised the Committee that the members of the Licensing Committee always listened to the representations of the qualified advisors before approving a licence and if there was no representation and no objection to licensing hours being increased or new licenses being issued then the Licensing Committee would have difficulty in refusing a license  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

This report was presented to the Committee asking them to scrutinise the effectiveness of the 2012/13 Cohesion Strategy in tackling the current cohesion action plan priorities and make any recommendations for the Cohesion Strategy/action plan for 2013/14.

Community Cohesion featured as part of the Empowering People and Creating Cohesive Communities Priority within the Sustainable Community Strategy. Within the Community Cohesion Action Plan there were three main themes:

• Improving community harmony
• Engaging young people
• Engaging and empowering communities

Consultation with the Community Cohesion Board and wider partners took place during summer 2012 in order to identify and agree projects for the year. The Community Cohesion team regularly engaged with community partners and networks to understand issues from a community perspective and intelligence was shared amongst relevant partners to enable a targeted response.

Key projects from the action plan were as follows:

• Building better mutual understanding between communities through ESOL and family
• Inspire Peterborough – aiming for the games
• Events to bring communities together
• International family fun day

It was recommended that the Committee noted the progress on delivery of the Cohesion Strategy and provided a steer on future delivery.

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

• Members queried whether the recent event that had been held in the city relating to the Paralympics had been organised by Peterborough City Council. The Cohesion Manager advised members that the event was linked to Peterborough City Council but was set up by Vivacity and it involved bringing in athletes that had won medals during the London 2012 Paralympics.
• Members commented that they felt that a lot of people would benefit from the Inspire Peterborough project.
• Members commented on part 3.2 of the report ‘Supporting the work of the Disability Forum to give disabled people a voice in the city’ and queried how the message was going to be given to all 57 Councillors as no one person was an expert on disability as it was such a vast area. Members felt that people needed to be made aware that the only experts in this field were the people with the disabilities. The Cohesion Manager informed the Committee that the Cohesion Team was working closely with Neighbourhood Committees and other partnerships to try and get the message across to Councillors and local people.
• Members commented that stakeholders were using expensive consultants with little experience instead of local disabled people who were part of the Disability Forum who would do the work for free and were the experts. The Cohesion Manager confirmed to the Committee that no consultants had been used in relation to work of the Cohesion Team.
• Members queried how groups of disabled and able bodied people were going to be brought together for the Paralympics event. The Assistant Community Cohesion Manager advised members that to start with the focus would be on disabled people because there were less opportunities around the city for them to engage in sport activities. Over time this could easily expand to all members of the community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

This report was presented to the Committee to provide members with the opportunity to scrutinise the Council’s new draft Empty Homes Strategy.

The Strategy aimed to:

• Bring empty homes in the private sector back in to use, utilising both voluntary means and statutory enforcement powers, which would increase the housing supply, alleviate the numbers of people in need of housing on the Housing Register, improve neighbourhood and community confidence and contribute to tackling homelessness in Peterborough
• Offer a comprehensive advice and assistance service to the existing owners of empty property, those who were looking to purchase or develop empty property and those who were experiencing problems arising by living near to empty properties
• Maximise income from the New Homes Bonus and to utilise it effectively by delivering initiatives to tackle empty homes
• Improve the evidence base by assembling relevant, accurate and current information
• Raise awareness of the Empty Homes issue and to promote the service and strategy to owners, neighbours and those affected by empty homes
• Retain dedicated staffing resources to tackle the problems of empty homes and to effectively bring them back into use thus preventing the waste of valuable housing resource across the city

Progress to date was:

·         Problematic or long term empty properties, which were empty for more than six months, were targeted under the Empty Homes Strategy

·         In July 2011 the council recruited a dedicated Empty Homes Officer. At the time of his appointment there were 2,099 empty properties in the city, including

v      523 long term empty, of which

v      396 had been empty between 6 and 23 months and

v      127 had been empty for more than two years

·         As at 1 October 2012 there were a total of 1,915 empty properties in the city, including:

v      453 long term empty, of which

v      338 had been empty between 6 and 23 months and

v      115 had been empty for more than 2 years

Members were asked to scrutinise the draft strategy and the current incentives, initiatives and enforcement options that were available to assist or enforce owners of empty property to bring their properties back in to use. Members were asked to provide challenge where necessary and to suggest ideas and initiatives to support further activity.

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

·         Members commented that they were happy with the strategy overall and that empty homes were now being occupied.

·         Members queried as to why the council had an arrangement only with Cross Keys and not the other Housing Associations. The Strategic Housing Manager advised the Committee that there was no specific arrangement with Cross Keys.  Cross Keys had approached the Homes and Community Agency for funding which the other Housing Associations did not therefore it was about working with the Housing Associations that were interested in dealing with empty homes.

·         Members queried whether any consideration was given to private landlords as well as Housing Associations. The Strategic Housing Manager advised members that there were other projects that were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee received the latest version of the Council’s Notice of Intention to Take Key Decisions, containing key decisions that the Leader of the Council anticipated the Cabinet or individual Cabinet Members would make during the course of the following four months.  Members were invited to comment on the Plan and, where appropriate, identify any relevant areas for inclusion in the Committee’s work programme.

ACTION AGREED

The Committee noted the Forward Plan and agreed that there were no items for further consideration

Members considered the Committee’s Work Programme for 2012/13 and discussed possible items for inclusion.

ACTION AGREED

To confirm the work programme for 2012/13.

16 January 2013

16 January 2013.