Issue - decisions

Recommendation 2a (decision i) was chaired by Diana Minns (Vice Chair / Tenant Representative) and recommendations 2b (decision ii) was chaired by Councillor Todd-Jones.

Matter for Decision

The report presented a summary of the 2016/17 outturn position (actual income and expenditure) for services within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), compared to the current budget for the year.

Decision of Executive Councillor for Housing

       i.          Approved the carry forward requests totalling £544,550 in revenue funding from 2016/17 to 2017/18, as detailed in Appendix C of the officer’s report.

     ii.          Approved of carry forward requests of £2,896,000 in HRA and General Fund Housing capital resources from 2016/17 to 2017/18 to fund rephased net capital spending, as detailed in Appendix D and the associated notes to the appendix of the Officer’s report is recommended to Council.

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 Business Manager / Principal Accountant (Housing) regarding the 2016/17 Revenue and Capital Outturn, Carry Forwards and Significant Variances – Housing Revenue Account

The Committee sought clarification regarding the delays in allocating, apparently completed, new build properties and the associated loss of rental income. The Managing Director, Housing Development Agency stated that there had been a number of delays in the hand-over of properties from Keepmoat. The properties had not been finished to the required standard in some cases and also some of the standard health and safety information had not been provided in others. The Council would not accept the properties until these issues were resolved. The original contract with the developer contained a clause which allowed for the recovery of lost rental income. Recovery of the lost revenue would be vigorously pursued.

The Head of Estates and Facilities said the following in response to Members’ questions:

       i.          Variances in the training budget were related to a change in delivery methods. Previously, training had been delivered in an ad hoc method. Over the last year a full programme of training had been rolled out to facilitate staff development.

     ii.          Planned maintenance cost had been brought down by securing extra value via the procurement processes.

   iii.          Responsive repairs and void spends, by their unpredictable nature, would always be susceptible to greater variances.

Tenant Representatives suggested that there was some tenant dissatisfaction with repairs. Officers asked for more detail and would investigate outside the meeting.

The Committee expressed support and thanks to the staff for the work they had completed over the last year.

The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse the recommendations.

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendation.