Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from committee members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Andrew Fraser, Jose Hales, Roger Hall and Neil Scarr. Councillor Bunty Waters was in attendance as a substitute for Councillor Fraser.

There were no declarations of interest.

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2014 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2014, were AGREED as a correct record.

No questions from the public had been received.

The Director of Housing will be in attendance to provide an update on housing services.

Stephen Hills, Director of Housing, presented an update on the Council’s housing services and key areas of partnership working. Marianne Upton, Sub Regional Homelink Manager and Pat Strachan, Home Improvement Agency Manager, were also in attendance. An action plan from the Sub-Regional Housing Board was included in the agenda pack, which the Director of Housing offered to discuss with members individually if requested.

The committee was informed that due to procurement rules, the Homelink partnership was obliged to re-tender its IT service. Members were informed that the contract with the current IT provider Locata, had been well managed through constant engagement with the provider.

A review of the Mears contract started in 2014 and was ongoing. The Tenant Scrutiny Panel had been involved in this in order to examine tenant experience. This was a five year contract up to March 2017, with an option to extend for a further five years. The review would be reported on at the Housing Portfolio Holder meeting in March 2015, which any members of the Partnerships Review committee could attend.

Members were updated on the Cambridgeshire Home Improvement Agency (Cambs HIA) and were informed that for works of less than £10,000 the target timescale from referral to completion was 26 weeks. Current performance was 28 weeks. Members were informed that customer satisfaction levels with the service were 100% in South Cambridgeshire. The possibility of East Cambridgeshire District Council joining the partnership was being investigated and a full business case was being prepared for Cabinet decision in July 2015. This was highlighted as an area where the Partnerships Review Committee may be able to add value before Cabinet made the final decision in July 2015.

Discussion and questions:

·         Members requested a glossary of acronyms in the Sub-Regional Housing Board action plan.

·         Concern was raised over the flexibility of the Homelink service. The Homelink Manager assured members that the service was flexible enough to deal with cases on an individual basis whilst adhering to policy.

·         The Homelink Manager would add members to the distribution list for the Homelink electronic newsletter.

·         Access to services by those without internet access was raised. Members were assured that it was not assumed that all those needing to access the service could do so via the internet. Other forms of access were in place such as paper versions of forms being made available by the Council and could also be accessed by the telephone. Processes were also in place for people with sensory impairments to access the service. The service also kept a list of vulnerable people on whose behalf nominated individuals could bid for properties.

·         Members were informed that the Cambs HIA was dealing with many older people and it was anticipated that demand would increase. Customers’ needs were assessed in order to ensure they were provided with the equipment to meet their need. In addition to this, checks were carried out on home ownership status and the means to pay for home adaptations.

·         In addition to older  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider update reports from Members appointed to represent the Council on outside bodies.

The committee NOTED the update reports that had been received from members appointed to represent the Council on outside bodies, and thanked members for their contributions to this report.

To consider the Partnerships Review Committee’s work programme for 2014/15.

At its meeting on 10 July 2014, the Executive Management Team (EMT) proposed a number of potential items for future scrutiny by the Partnerships Review Committee,  a number of which the committee has since looked at. Further items suggested by EMT, which the committee may wish to consider are:

·         Review of the joint procurement of a Cambridgeshire Handy Person Scheme

·         Making Assets Count

The Council’s Forward Plan is also attached for the committee to consider the items contained in this for possible future scrutiny.

The Democratic Services Team Leader would discuss with the Housing Director whether the committee could add value and contribute to the work on the business case regarding the possibility of  East Cambridgeshire District Council joining the Cambs HIA partnership, before it was presented to Cabinet for decision.

The committee noted the suggestions the Executive Management Team had made regarding items for potential future consideration. Items were  the ‘Making Assets Count’ project and the review of joint procurement of a Cambridgeshire Handy Person Scheme.  Members felt that any work being undertaken by the Health and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder on the Handy Person Scheme should be looked at first, to ensure there was no duplication if the committee were to look at this in future.

The committee felt that it was important to engage with the City Deal and that this should be a focus of the next committee meeting. Monitoring of the City Deal was discussed and Councillor David Bard was appointed as monitor on behalf of the committee. Councillor Bard would attend the City Deal Assembly and Executive Board meetings and report back to the committee on a regular basis.

·         Thursday 19 March 2015, 2pm

·         Thursday 28 May 2015, 2pm (please note this proposed date has been changed from the originally scheduled 7 May 2015 meeting which  clashes with the elections)

The next meeting would take place on 19 March 2015 at 2pm. The May 2015 meeting would be rescheduled for June.