Council and Democracy

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3, Town Hall, Rose Hill, Chesterfield

Contact: Amanda Clayton  01246 34 5273

Items
No. Item

25.

Declarations of Members' And Officers' Interests Relating To Items On The Agenda

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

26.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Caulfield and Councillor Hollingworth.

27.

Cabinet Member for Housing - Allocations Policy pdf icon PDF 49 KB

5.00pm

Minutes:

The Housing Options Manager gave a brief overview of the circumstances that had led to the decision to review the Allocations Policy and source new allocations software. It was explained that both the new ICT system and the policy had been due to be implemented in May 2019, with the expectation that a six-month update be given to the committee at the December meeting.

 

The new allocations policy included the council joining the Derbyshire Home Options Partnership which consists of five local authorities with Derbyshire Dales District Council as the lead. Significant delays occurred due to the legal documentation formalising the partnership not being finalised. In order to minimise service disruptions a decision was made to ‘go live’ with the system on 19 November 2019.  

 

The Housing Options Manager reported a positive experience during the transition, with 1168 applicants now on the new system. It had been anticipated that the main difficulty would be the fact that there was no longer a paper based application route and so staffing had been put in place accordingly but this issue had not been a significant one.

 

It was clarified that all applicants on the new system had completed a new registration, to ensure that no dormant applications were transferred over and to ensure that all applications complied with the new policy. All applicants on the existing system received a mail shot advising them of the changes and how to register on the new system.

 

RESOLVED –

 

1.   That the report be noted.

 

2.   That the Housing Options Manager give a further update to the committee in 2020 on the impacts of the policy and IT system.

 

28.

Cabinet Member for Business Transformation and Customers - Commercial Services pdf icon PDF 53 KB

5.30pm

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Responsive Repairs Manager presented an overview of the commercial services provided by the council’s operational services department since the start of a trial in 2016. It was explained that all the commercial work was done by established posts but managed separately to housing repairs. The focus had been on smaller jobs, sold on reputation and there had been repeat customers.

 

The Responsive Repairs Manager described the work process involved; one designated officer acknowledges all the enquiries, processes quotes and is the customer liaison. This can lead to a backlog of enquiries and therefore potentially damage to the Council’s reputation when demand is high.

 

Internal audit gave the service a reasonable assurance rating in May 2019 but the Responsive Repairs Manager welcomed the committee’s interest in this area. It was acknowledged that this was a good opportunity to review the progress made over the last three years.

 

The Interim Assistant Director for Commercial Services highlighted that this service was set up as a trial initially. There was clearly demand for a trusted resource in the marketplace at a time when it was difficult to find quality tradespersons. Further investigation was necessary to determine which jobs were most profitable and the ongoing ICT investment would support this, in order to shape the offering moving forward.

 

RESOLVED –

 

1.   That the report be noted.

 

2.   That a task and finish group be established to consider this matter further and report back to the committee.

29.

Scrutiny Monitoring pdf icon PDF 125 KB

6.00pm

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Scrutiny recommendations monitoring schedule.

 

RESOLVED -

 

That the Scrutiny monitoring schedule be noted.

 

30.

Forward Plan

Minutes:

The Forward Plan for the four month period 1 December, 2019 to 31 March, 2020 was presented for information.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the Forward Plan be noted.

 

31.

Work Programme for the Enterprise and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee pdf icon PDF 101 KB

6.20pm

Minutes:

The 2019/20 Work Programme for the Enterprise and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee was reported for information.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the work programme be noted and updated to include the decisions of the current meeting.

 

32.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 80 KB

6.30pm

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

The Minutes of the meeting of the Enterprise and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee held on 3 October, 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.