Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 17 October 2017 were accepted as a true record.

The report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods is attached.

The Strategic Housing Manager presented the report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods which requested that members of the Group reviewed the performance of the Council’s partnership with Waterloo Housing, the second largest housing provider in Rushcliffe. It was noted that Waterloo Housing, Midlands Rural Housing and the Council have a successful record of partnership working to bring forward rural exception sites within the Borough. In addition, De Montfort Housing Association (one of the three local housing associations across Waterloo Housing Group) participates in the Choice Based Lettings scheme.

The Strategic Housing Manager advised that in order to address the need for new affordable housing in rural areas, a rural exceptions site programme had been developed and that rural housing needs surveys had been finalised for Cropwell Bishop, East Bridgford, Shelford and Willoughby on the Wolds, however despite surveys being received and housing need identified none of these areas had ultimately progressed to develop viable schemes. This was in part due to the progression of the Local Plan Part 2 which may assist in meeting local housing needs without the need for an exception site. It was also noted that there had been a negative response for rural exceptions site programmes from Hickling, Upper Broughton and Colston Bassett Parish Councils. The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods assured the Group that they would continue to work with these Parish Councils in the future to see if they would agree to deliver a survey regarding rural exception sites.

Sarah Sutton – Head of Lettings at Waterloo Housing attended the meeting and delivered a presentation to the Group regarding performance across key service areas since the partnership had last been scrutinised in January 2017. It was noted that Waterloo Housing currently managed 377 general needs properties (95 shared ownerships) across Rushcliffe. It was also noted that Waterloo Housing were currently in talks regarding merging with Fortis Living in Worcestershire which would take their total housing stock to 45,000 which as a consequence would provide greater capacity for development. The Head of Lettings advised that Waterloo Housing’s current challenges were the roll out of Universal Credit and the uncertainty about future funding for supported housing. It was noted to the Group that there would be a voluntary Right to Buy scheme piloted in the West Midlands to test processes in advance of the launch of the national scheme.

The Head of Lettings advised the last completed housing site was at Cropwell Bishop in 2015 with two other sites currently under consideration in Gotham and Barnstone-cum-Langar and that Waterloo Housing were willing to attend Parish Council meetings in order to discuss the allocation of sites, marketing and promotion. Members of the Group asked about the use of any capital receipts received from properties sold under the Right to Buy scheme and were advised that any proceeds made under the Right to Buy scheme would be used to fund future affordable housing projects. Members of the Group also asked about the next steps regarding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The report of the Executive Manager - Communities is attached.

The Principal Community Development Officer presented the report of the Executive Manager – Communities to provide a progress report on the work undertaken by Rural Community Action Nottinghamshire (RCAN) as part of the Service Level Agreement with the Borough Council for 2016/17 and the first nine months of 2017/18.

The Principal Community Development Officer advised that the Service Level Agreement stated RCAN should provide a service to organisations and individuals engaged in voluntary work in Rushcliffe, and also provide services to Rushcliffe rural community groups as well as to Town and Parish Councils on behalf of the Council, in order to assist them in meeting the objectives set out in the Council’s Corporate Strategy, 2016-2020.

Jennifer Kirkwood, Delivery and Development Manager at RCAN attended the meeting and made a presentation to provide the Group with information on the recent services that it had delivered in Rushcliffe. It was noted that RCAN primarily operated in the more rural areas of Nottinghamshire such as Newark and Sherwood, Bassetlaw and Rushcliffe, with funding being derived from those Councils, a three year grant from DEFRA and from Nottinghamshire County Council through their Nottinghamshire Together Infrastructure Partnership.

The Delivery and Development Manager advised that RCAN had supported the development of four Community Led Plans in Bingham, East Bridgford, Ruddington and Radcliffe on Trent. It was noted however that the uptake of community led plans had declined with the introduction of Neighbourhood Plans in 2011. In order to adapt to these change, RCAN held a neighbourhood planning event in March 2017 where 13 Rushcliffe parishes were represented and had resulted in six parish councils asking for follow up appointments in order to take the development of Neighbourhood Plans further.

Members of the Group asked how Community Led Plans and Neighbourhood Plans differed. The Delivery and Development Manager advised that Community Led Plans were first introduced in 2000 to enable Parish Councils to consult with the wider community to discuss what services and facilities they would like to see in their parish, and to form an action plan for a period of 10 years. A Neighbourhood Plan however was more focused on the built environment, development and open spaces and was a statutory document which integrated with the Borough Council’s Local Plan. The Principal Community Development Officer informed the Group that they were not mutually exclusive.

The Delivery and Development Manager noted that during the financial year of 2016/17 support and guidance had been given to 40 different groups, with 11 funding applications submitted and 8 successful applications. The funding for these groups overall was £122,289 which was a £31,289 increase from 2015/16. Examples of successful funding applications included the refurbishment of Sutton Bonington Village Hall at £41,920 and the completion of a drainage project on Flintham cricket pitch at £22,000.

The Delivery and Development Manager noted that RCAN had delivered two successful Town and Parish forums and an annual conference during 2016/17, and was pleased to report that they had received very positive feedback from delegates.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The report of the Executive Manager - Neighbourhoods is attached.

The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods presented a report providing information on all the partnerships that the Council currently maintained, and requested that members of the Group reviewed the procedures for scrutinising the work and performance of these partnerships in order for the Group to further develop their work programme in highlighting areas for deeper scrutiny.

The Executive Manager noted that non-contractual partnerships, where the Council had more of an influencing role should be scrutinised by the Partnership Delivery Group, whereas partnerships of a contractual nature, where the focus would be on performance issues should be scrutinised by the Performance Management Board. The Executive Manager noted that the role of the Partnership Delivery Group was to scrutinise the developments of partnerships and to identify any concerns regarding the way in which the partnerships were working. It was also noted that the Partnership Delivery Group should focus on high profile partnerships as determined by a range of factors such as financial contribution made by the Council or the scale and breadth of outcomes for the community.

The Executive Manager highlighted three new partnerships for potential consideration for scrutiny by the group which were the Communities Nature Conservation partnership with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, the Building Control Partnership with South Kesteven District Council and the Grantham Canal Partnership with the Canal and Rivers Trust. The Executive Manager also noted that due to a reduction in the financial input made by the Council that the scrutiny of the Rural Community Action Nottinghamshire (RCAN) and Rushcliffe Community Voluntary Service (RCVS) Partnerships could potentially be carried out on a biennial basis in order to allow more time for the Group to scrutinise other partnerships.

It was RESOLVED that:

a) The report of The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods be noted.

b) the Communities Nature Conservation Partnership, the Building Control Partnership and the Grantham Canal Partnership be added to the Work Programme for 2018/19.

c) the partnerships with RCAN and RCVS to be scrutinised biennially.

d) the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods, work with Constitutional Services to develop a new work programme for 2018/19 incorporating the agreed changes.

The Report of the Executive Manager – Finance and Corporate Services is attached.

The Group considered their Work Programme.

It was RESOLVED that the Group’s Work Programme, as set out below, be approved.