Agenda item

Objective: An update from the Chief Executive on key issues which may be of interest to the Cabinet Housing Committee.

The Chief Executive addressed the committee and explained that the initial recruitment process for the position of Director of Housing – Investment, Repairs and Decarbonisation had been unsuccessful. He confirmed that we are engaging with recruiters and that he would bring further updates to future meetings.  He highlighted that the Interim Housing Transformation Director will continue to fulfil the role of the duty holder for the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) with responsibility for health, safety and compliance. The Chief Executive explained that he is also working with HR colleagues to look at opportunities for both senior and junior colleagues to improve their professional development, and housing management standards and qualifications. He highlighted that this will provide strength and depth across the business and provide a succession plan beneath the duty holder.

The Chief Executive thanked colleagues for the work being carried out in housing. He explained that the Consumer Standards Improvement Board had met and discussed the council’s ambition to become an exemplar C1 housing provider and the Improvement Programme’s essential role in moving towards this target. It will provide oversight on what is going well and what areas require increased focus. A critical element of this work is the completion of stock condition surveys. The Chief Executive informed the committee that this work is slightly behind schedule, but we are working with contractors to introduce measures to move us back on target.  He emphasised the importance of the surveys to ensure we really understand our homes to enable us to determine investment, schedule works and replacements, and identify which blocks need to be prioritised for capital investment.

The Chief Executive highlighted the huge amount of recent activity in local government with the announcement of planning reform, a new finance settlement and the local government white paper. He explained that the white paper proposed significant changes to how government is structured with the aim that every area of England will be represented under a unitary combined authority. All two-tier areas, including Gloucestershire, have been asked to present interim proposals for local government reorganisation in the Spring, with final proposals due in May or Autumn depending on whether local county council elections are delayed. The Chief Executive stressed that the administration was continuing to focus on delivering the corporate priorities, including the delivery of new homes, the improvement of current housing stock and the delivery of the Consumer Standards Improvement Plan. He noted that as Cheltenham and Stroud are the only local authorities to have retained their own housing stock there may be opportunities to consider how we can continue to provide excellent homes for our communities and contribute the people and skills we have to areas outside the Cheltenham boundary.

The Committee’s discussion raised the following points:

·         There will be future Member Development opportunities for the Cabinet Housing Committee and Members were encouraged to consider what areas would benefit from additional insight. The committee agreed that a session on how the council supports people who need accessibility adaptations for their homes would be useful.

·         They requested further information be provided on the End Furniture Poverty report included within the briefing note.