Agenda and minutes

To record the attendance of substitute members, if any, who have been authorised to attend in accordance with the provisions of standing order 17(1), with notification having been given to the proper officer before the start of the meeting and to receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from:

·         South Councillor David Dodds; substitute Bill Service

·         Vale Councillor Katie Finch

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the committee meeting held on 24 May 2016 (attached). 

To consider the outcomes of actions agreed at previous meetings.

To update on matters referred to Cabinet, district Scrutiny committees or other meetings or fora.

The committee agreed that the minutes of the meeting on 24 May 2016 were an accurate record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them as such.

Further to Minute 7. Performance review of Biffa Municipal Limited 2015, the committee was advised that the requested wider circulation of the leaflet for new residents would commence in the autumn.

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting; and of any other relevant interests.

None.

To receive notification of any matters, which the chair determines, should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances, which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair.

There was no urgent business.

The Chairman reported that:

·         Her aim was to increase the engagement of Scrutiny in the decision making process, thereby adding value and to increase the engagement of Cabinet members in Scrutiny.

·         If members noticed any typographical or grammatical errors in any of the committee documents, they should notify democratic services outside of the meeting.

Any statements and/or petitions from the public under standing order 32 will be made or presented at the meeting.

None.

To consider the draft strategy (attached).

Gerry Brough, interim head of development and regeneration, introduced this item. Also present to answer questions were David Buckle, chief executive and Phil Ealey, housing needs manager.  South and Vale Cabinet members also attended to hear the committee’s views.

The committee considered an early draft of the temporary accommodation strategy which set out the ways in which both councils would meet their statutory duties cost effectively and respond to the perceived likely increase in homelessness by providing additional temporary accommodation.

In response to questions and issues raised by the committee, it was reported that:

·         There was an increase in the number of assured shorthold tenancies being ended by landlords as they could charge higher rents on the open market. This was exacerbated by a shortage of private rented accommodation.

·         Although housing benefit was no longer paid directly to landlords, the councils could arrange for payments to be made directly for landlords who were letting through the councils.

·         Oxfordshire County Council was responsible for providing accommodation for young people/looked after children.

·         Rough sleepers could get access to hostels rather than temporary accommodation although this would become increasingly difficult following Oxfordshire County Council budget reductions.

·         The “limit” in the graphs on page 11 of the strategy was an internal target as the councils could not fetter their statutory duties.

·         When someone presented as homeless they would normally be placed in temporary accommodation pending further inquiries, subject to meeting the statutory requirements. Where possible, action would be taken to find private accommodation when someone was at risk of homelessness. If statutory homelessness could not be avoided then the most cost effective temporary accommodation would be sought.

·         The Strategic Options section of the draft strategy required more detail and further options for cost effective ways of providing temporary accommodation.

The committee suggested the following amendments to the draft strategy:

·         The first time that an acronym is used, the full wording should also be included.

·         Page 8, Introduction: a summary of the principles that local authorities need to apply when assessing vulnerability to be included.

·         Page 8, Temporary Accommodation: the numbers and percentages in this paragraph to be checked.

·         Page 9, Private Rented Sector: the graph to include local data.

·         Page 9, Private Rented Sector: the paragraph on the increase in the number of homeless households be rewritten to explain that the reasons include the shortage of affordable accommodation as well as the ending of assured shorthold tenancies.

·         Page 10, Rough Sleepers: the graph to include local data.

·         Page 11, The Local Picture, in both graphs delete “Limit” and insert “Target”.

·         Page 12, Dealing with people accepted as homeless: a summary of the councils’ legal duty to be included.

·         Page 12, Dealing with people accepted as homeless: figures for the number of families in bed and breakfast accommodation to be included.

·         Page 14, Welfare reform: insert “Housing Association” after “Sovereign”.

·         Page 14, Welfare reform: second paragraph to be rewritten to clarify that it is not clear what proportion of the 320 directly affected households  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

To receive the report of the head of legal and democratic services (attached)

The committee considered a report from the head of legal and democratic services setting out the current arrangements for call in.

The report stated that as South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils were distinct legal entities, when both councils made what appeared to be a joint decision e.g. approval of a joint policy, each council had to issue its own decision which could only be called in by that council’s members.

Both councils’ scrutiny procedure rules provided that, if a decision was called in, the chairman of the district scrutiny committee could refer the matter to the joint scrutiny committee for consideration. In this way the joint committee could consider a call in relating to a matter that would affect both councils jointly.

RESOLVED: to note the report.

To review the attached scrutiny work schedule. Please note, although the dates are confirmed, the items under consideration are subject to being withdrawn, added to or rearranged without further notice.

The committee considered its current work schedule which had been updated to reflect recent changes to Vale Cabinet membership and portfolios.

It was agreed to invite representatives of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) to attend a meeting in late October to give a presentation and answer questions on their Strategic Economic Plan.