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Council and Democracy

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber Area B, Rushcliffe Arena, Rugby Road, West Bridgford. View directions

Contact: Laura Webb  0115 9148481

Items
No. Item

8.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

9.

Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 July 2018 pdf icon PDF 237 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 3 July 2018 were approved a true record and were signed by the Chairman.

10.

Building Control Agreement with South Kesteven District Council pdf icon PDF 269 KB

The report of the Executive Manager – Communities.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Manager – Communities presented a report to provide the Group with an opportunity to review the performance of the Building Control partnership with South Kesteven District Council that delivered Rushcliffe Borough Council’s and Newark and Sherwood District Council’s Building Control services through the East Midlands Building Consultancy. The Executive Manager noted that the partnership had been formed in 2014 between the three Councils in order to improve resilience and reduce costs and advised that the three chief executives of the Council’s held meetings every six months in order to monitor the partnership and its performance.

 

A presentation was delivered by the Office Administration Team Leader and the two Lead Officers from the East Midlands Building Consultancy which covered the partnerships performance to date and an outline of future plans and initiatives. The presentation covered:

 

·         The historical cost of building control

·         The journey of East Midlands Building Control

·         Fee earning services

·         Non-fee earning services

·         Discretionary services

·         Our vision

·         Market Share

·         Customer feedback

·         Staff

·         How we work

·         LABC Awards 2018

 

Members of the Group asked if there were possibilities of additional local authorities joining the partnership. The Executive Manager noted that if other local authorities were to join it would make the partnership more complex. The Assistant Director – Commercial and Operational stated that since the partnership was formed in 2014 the team had increased its resilience despite competition from private sector building control providers. With regard to the performance of the partnership it was noted that for larger buildings and developments, drawings would reach East Midlands Building Control in stages and so it was hard for the team to monitor the speed in which applications were processed. 

 

Members of the Group were advised that the East Midlands Building Consultancy relied on the public to report concerns and that it was usually the police, neighbours or the fire service who would do this. It was noted that building control was a competitive service and that it was exclusively down to the owner or applicant of a property to contact them, the Executive Manager did however advise that an email link to the East Midlands Building Consultancy was provided in correspondence with residents who applied for planning permission through Rushcliffe Borough Council. The Group were pleased to note that electronic application forms and online methods of payment were available for residents.

 

The Chairman thanked the officers from the East Midlands Building Consultancy and the Assistant Director – Commercial and Operations from South Kesteven District Council for delivering their presentation and for answering their questions.

 

It was RESOLVED that the report of the Executive Manager – Communities be noted.

11.

Review of Metropolitan Housing Partnership pdf icon PDF 241 KB

The report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Strategic Housing Manager presented the report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods that provided the Group with an update regarding the Council’s partnership with Metropolitan Housing, the main provider of social housing in Rushcliffe. The Strategic Housing Manager advised that the highlights and activities in the last year had included the development of new affordable homes, participation in the Choice Based Lettings Scheme that prevented homelessness within the Borough and attendance at joint partnership meetings to tackle anti-social behaviour. It was also noted that Metropolitan Housing had recently merged with Thames Valley Housing to form ‘Metropolitan Thames Valley’ who would be responsible for managing and administering more than a total of 57,000 homes in London, the South East, the East Midlands and the East of England.

 

The Group received a presentation from Beth Watson – Head of Housing (Midlands), Ruth Jennings – Head of Care and Support (Midlands) and Nicola Raffell – Housing Services Manager (Nottinghamshire). The presentation covered:

 

·         People Powered Living

·         Rushcliffe year at a glance

·         New Homes in 2017/18

·         Garage sites

·         Maintenance

·         Anti-social behaviour

·         Rent arrears

·         Partnerships

·         Superkitchens

·         Universal Credit

·         The Future

 

Members of the Group asked several specific questions regarding the development of garage sites and suggested that even if they could not be developed they could be turned into parking bays. The Strategic Housing Manager noted that there were 600 garages and garage sites included in the review of garage provision and advised that the Group would be advised of the outcomes of the review, when available. Following a question by a Councillor the Housing Services Manager noted that no concerns had been raised by Nottinghamshire County Council as the Local Highways Authority concerning residents parking on the roads in the East Leake area. Members of the Group were also pleased to note that Metropolitan Thames Valley were working in partnership with the University of Nottingham to become more dementia friendly by setting up dementia cafes.

 

Members of the Group raised concerns about the length of time that residents were put on hold on the phone when contacting Metropolitan to report repairs or speak to them about other matters. The Housing Manager advised that there were peak times of demand which meant that call handling staff were not able to answer all calls straight away. It was noted however that there were ‘community walkabouts’ which enabled staff to log repairs on their iPads. The Group asked if the dates for community walkabouts could be circulated to Councillors along with the dates of future “superkitchen” events, and job clubs as well as data on Metropolitans call handling performance. The Head of Housing noted that Metropolitan Thames Valley would be providing up to two homes for modern slavery victims this year. Members of the Group also praised Metropolitan Thames Valley for the development of new affordable homes during the year and were pleased to note that wifi was being installed in communal areas so that training and job clubs could be delivered effectively.

 

The Chairman  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 218 KB

The report of the Executive Manager – Finance and Corporate Services.

Minutes:

The Group considered its Work Programme

 

It was RESOLVED that the Work Programme, as detailed below be approved.

 

8 January 2018

 

·         Review of Waterloo Housing Partnership

·         Review of Positive Futures/YouNG

·         Work Programme

 

19 March 2018

 

·         South Notts Community Safety Partnership

·         Grantham Canal Partnership with the Canal River Trust

·         Work Programme

 

 

 

Action Sheet   Partnership Delivery Group –  16 October 2018

 

Minute No.

Action

Officer Responsible

11.

a) The Group be provided with information on how many garages Metropolitan had, how many will be redeveloped and how many will be left over.

 

b) Councillors be provided with the dates and times scheduled for superkitchens, estate inspections and job clubs.

 

c) The Group be provided with information regarding Metropolitan Thames Valley’s call handing performance

Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods