Issue - meetings

This item was chaired by Councillor Todd-Jones

 

Matter for Decision

     i.        A fundamental review of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and General Fund (GF) housing services was initiated in autumn 2014. At that time it was recognised that we were nearly 3 years into self-financing, and had an ambitious future programme to manage our existing stock and our broader housing management services well, and also to build new affordable housing. The review was designed to enable us to review spending profiles and priorities, and to rebalance the budget and activities to take account of both new opportunities and pressures.

 

    ii.        The analysis that we have undertaken in the review was designed to help us respond in our forward business planning to the changing priorities and major new pressures. We were expecting to rebalance budgets and redirect resources through identified savings. The most significant finding of the review was the impact of construction inflation on our repairs and planned works programme and on new build.

 

   iii.        More recently we have needed to plan for the new Government proposals for council housing, which will have a significant impact on future rental income, stock retention, and as a result, our capital investment programme. In bringing forward the conclusions of the review we have had to look more radically at the future of housing services than we initially anticipated. Strategic proposals are made for the service as a whole to respond to the extent of change and the level of savings facing the service, whilst specific proposals are made for individual service areas.

 

 

Decision of Executive Councillor for Housing

     i.        Agreed in principle to take savings for year one, and to agree the specific savings in the Mid-Year Financial Review which follows on this agenda.

 

    ii.        Agreed to bring back a strategy for achieving a balanced budget in future years, including further savings options, shared services and other potential options.

 

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

 

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Director of Customer and Community Services. She outlined the context of the report and reminded Members that the decision was to agree, in principle, the suggested savings. Further challenges were likely in the future.

 

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

     i.        Sought clarification regarding the recommendations which some Member’s suggested were vague.

    ii.        Expressed concerns about interest being paid on funds that were being held but were not unavailable for use.

   iii.        Expressed concerns about the ability to use Right to Buy receipts.

  iv.        Suggested the debt portfolio should be reviewed.

   v.        Requested a briefing as the situation was complex.

  vi.        Suggested that difficult decisions had to be made based on the reality of the situation.

 vii.        Raised concern about the impact on existing tenants and those on the waiting list.

viii.        Asked if tenants could choose not to take the rent reductions.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Director of Customer and Community Services said that there was a need to make decisions quickly. The previous budget had been set on assumptions that were common across the sector. The long-term debt and risk profile would be looked at.

 

Members suggested that public awareness of policies such as ‘Pay to Stay’ and ‘Right to Buy’ was low and suggested that more publicity was needed.

The Executive Councillor for Housing outlined the likely impact of the new Right to Buy strategy. The Council could be forced to sell up to 25% of existing stock and would not benefit from the receipts for house sales. Difficult decisions were being forced on Local Authorities.  

 

The Committee resolved by 6 votes to 0 and with 2 abstentions to endorse the recommendation.

 

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.