Live broadcast to start at 7pm and available for repeat viewing.  

There were no apologies received.

Members RESOLVED that the minutes of the Environment, Enforcement and

Housing Committee held on 8^th December 2020 were a true record.

This presentation was deferred to a future committee when more information will be available. 

A presentation from officers Greg Campbell, Daniel Cannon and Angela Abbott was given to the committee to highlight all that has been achieved from this committee during the last municipal year. 

The Chair, echoed by committee members, thanked the work of officers for all that was achieved in an exceptional year. 

Members were able to ask Officers questions based on the presentation.   

The report provided an update on the roll out recycling communal bins.

Members were able to ask questions via the Chair to Greg Campbell. 

Cllr Naylor MOVED and Cllr Laplain SECONDED an AMENDMENT to the recommendation to:

Members are asked to note the contents of the report with part of the review to find a solution on bring options to those communal sites. 

A vote was taken on the amendment and the motion was LOST.

As the substantive recommendation was information only, no further voting was required. 

This report sought approval to adopt changes to the Council’s Housing Allocations Policy, which sets out the eligibility criteria for joining the Housing Register and how social housing in the Borough would be allocated through this method.

The Council’s Allocations Policy is a document that is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that good practice and learning can be incorporated into the document and provide clarity on how the policy is implemented. The current policy had been updated to reflect this and had been consulted on with key stakeholders.

In addition, a new policy had been created to support the Council’s discharge of homelessness duty into the private sector. This clarified the approach and sets out how the Council would respond to these cases.

The intention is for the updated Allocation Policy and the Discharge of Homelessness Duty into the Private Sector Policy to be reviewed following agreement of the Allocation Policy.

This paper presented the outcomes of the Allocations Policy review and proposed a number of changes and clarifications. The main include the following:

• Disqualifying applicants who do not meet the new residency criteria set out in the Policy.

• Using different financial amount to disqualify applicants from the Housing Register who have sufficient financial resources.

• Disqualifying applicants with a history of unacceptable behaviour or serious rent arrears, and clarifying the detail of this.

• Changes to the points system to reflect the priorities within the Borough.

In order to implement the new Allocations system there would be a re-assessment of the residency criteria and the financial resources of applicants. It is currently estimated that of the c1,000 households registered on the housing register and transfer list that around 250 applicants will be removed.

A presentation providing detail of the policy was provided to the committee by Jon Maxwell.

A motion was MOVED by Cllr Mrs Pearson and SECONDED by Cllr Hossack

to agree the recommendations in the report.

Following a discussion a vote was taken and it was RESOLVED that:

Members are asked to:

R1. To approve the Allocations Policy.

R2. To give delegated authority to the Director of Housing and

Community Safety in consultation with the Chair of Enforcement,

Environment and Housing Committee to make any final minor or legislative amendments of the final version following consultation.

Reasons for Recommendation

To ensure that the Housing Department has an updated Allocations Policy to support the delivery of homes for residents in the most efficient and effective way, reflecting good practice and the learning from the application of the existing policy.

Following the consultation for the final version to be signed off by the Chair of

the Environment, Enforcement and Housing (EEH) Committee and the Director of Housing and Community Safety under delegated powers from the EEH Committee.

In March 2019, Brentwood Borough Council were subject to a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) review into all compliance areas.

As part of this review, we were found to be effectively managing the risk across all areas of compliance but had areas requiring improvement in relation to Gas Safety and Servicing.

The Housing Department began working alongside the HSE to improve our compliance, taking advice and guidance from them on what was required to improve our compliance management.

One main area of focus was the request to implement a Gas Safety and Servicing policy which would be available to the whole housing department.

A motion was MOVED by Cllr Mrs Pearson and SECONDED by Cllr Hossack

to agree the recommendations in the report.

Following a discussion a vote was taken and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

Members are asked to:

R1. To approve the Housing Gas Safety and Servicing Policy

Reasons for Recommendation

To ensure that the Housing Department has documentation to support the

delivery of their Gas Safety and Servicing processes and procedures and to

comply with HSE guidelines.

A vote was taken on Standing Orders and it was UNANIMOUSLY AGREED to extend the meeting for half an hour.

Whilst local authorities are not required to have a formal housing strategy, Brentwood Borough Council expects to adopt a strategic approach to housing in local areas and deliver a thriving housing market to address local needs.

To set out the aims of the Council for housing in the borough and the services provided directly by the Council, an updated Housing Strategy is needed. Appendix A of the report is the new Housing Strategy for the period 2021 to

2025, along with the performance measures and delivery plan as Appendix B of the report.

A motion was MOVED by Cllr Mrs Pearson and SECONDED by Cllr Hossack

to agree the recommendations in the report.

Following a discussion a vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

Members were asked to:

R1. To approve the draft Housing Strategy and Delivery Plan 2021-2025

as attached at Appendix A and B.

R2. That delegated authority is given to the Corporate Director

(Housing and Community Safety) in consultation with the Chair of the

Environment, Enforcement and Housing and Committee to make any

final minor or legislative amendments to the strategy and delivery plan.

Reasons for Recommendation

To ensure that the Council and the Housing Department in particular has a strategy that oversees the work on enabling housing to be provided and the management of housing directly by the Council.

The Chair varied the agenda to take Urgent Business prior to Strategic Housing Development Update as this would be taken in private session due to the exempt appendix.

There were no items of urgent business. 

That the public and press be excluded and the following item be considered in private session on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that

information).

The appendix is confidential by virtue of the likely disclosure of information exempt under para. 1 and 3 of Part 1 to Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely information relating to any individual and information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Council).

The report summarised progress since the last report to Committee on 8^th December 2020 on the development of a pipeline of new affordable homes through the development and regeneration of various Housing Revenue Account (HRA) owned sites. As a reminder, this Strategic Housing Delivery Programme (SHDP) is currently made up of two elements, 1) the regeneration of Brookfield Close, Hutton resulting in a planned 61 zero carbon homes and 2) the development of a range of smaller HRA sites to deliver new homes. All of these new homes would contribute to, and be managed within, the Council’s HRA. In addition, the report also laid out a recommendation for the future use of 17 Crescent Road, a currently vacant double fronted Victorian villa style house in some disrepair and also held within the HRA.

The Council’s Corporate Strategy ‘Brentwood 2025’ commits to Introducing “innovative Carbon reduction and absorption schemes”, “identify opportunities for low emission and green developments” and using ‘brownfield sites efficiently, such as council ownedgarage sites, to provide affordable homes…”.

An update was provided by Ian Winslet and gave time for members to ask questions.  The report was for information only. 

The meeting concluded at 9.30pm.