Agenda and minutes

[To receive any apologies for absence]. 

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Jas Dehar and Cllr Christopher Haynes.

Cllr Ellis Turrell substituted for Cllr Christopher Haynes.

[To receive any declarations of interest]. 

Cllr Zee Russell declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of the Wolverhampton Homes board.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record]

Resolved : that the minutes of the meeting held on 29September 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

[To receive a presentation on Performance, Budget Monitoring and the MTFS (Medium Term Financial Strategy]. 

[Presentation is marked: To Follow]. 

The Temporary Director for Housing and Environment gave a presentation on Performance, Budget Monitoring and the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  He stated that the Council had built up a strong track record over many years of managing its finances despite reductions in funding.  The Council’s strategic approach to strategic financial planning was to align resources to the Our City, Our Plan which was approved by Full Council on 2 March 2022. 

The Temporary Director for Housing and Environment commented that Cabinet received a quarterly report on integrated performance and budget monitoring.  The quarter 2 position had been presented to Cabinet on 16 November 2022.  Overall a forecast overspend was reported across the Council of £1.5 million, this was in the main as a result of the 2022-2023 pay award.  In total there were 56 Key Performance Indicators in the Our City: Our Plan Performance framework.  33 had shown an improvement or seen similar performance, 17 were yet to be updated in the year to date, with 8 of those falling in Healthy Communities.  6 of the 56 performance indicators had shown a decrease in performance. 

The Temporary Director for Housing and Environment, talking specifically about the priority area, “Good Homes in Well-Connected Neighbourhoods,” commented that of the 10 priorities in this area, 5 had showed improved or similar performance in the year to date and for 5 there had been no update in the year to date.  The KPIs that had showed increased or similar performance were as follows: -

• Number of new builds completed in the City - Similar
• Percentage of carriageways in City assessed as high quality – Increased for all road types.
• Percentage of planning application decisions made with 13 weeks or agreed timescales – Increased
• Percentage of fly tipping incidents resolved in five working days - Increased.
• Number of homeless families moved into secure housing - Increased

The performance against the number of new builds completed in the City had remained at 70.  This put Wolverhampton slightly lower than the statistical neighbour average which was 111.  The increased performance against the number of carriage ways in the City judged as high quality included a large increase in the quality of C roads in the quarter.  100% of major planning applications had been completed within 13 weeks in the quarter.  There had been a slight increase in the percentage of fly tipping incidents resolved in 5 days from 76% to 77.5%.  More homeless families had been supported into secure accommodation.  Homeless applicants made up 30% of the customers on the housing register.  The additional support in place for the homeless customers placed in Temporary accommodation would increase the number of homeless applicants that were rehoused. 

The Temporary Director for Housing and Environment commented that they were awaiting on data, which was expected to be published in November to update 5 KPIs, these were in the areas of:-

• Net additional dwellings in the City
• Housing affordability ratio
• Percentage of dwelling stock that was vacant in the City
• Energy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

[To receive a report on the impact of the new Housing Allocations Policy].

[Report is marked: To Follow]. 

The Chair invited the Deputy Director of City Housing and the Service Lead – Housing Strategy to give their presentation

The Deputy Director of City Housing began the presentation by explaining that Housing Strategy had 650 enquiries a year from Councillors and MPs about housing allocations, in addition to customer enquiries.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy gave some background information on the Council’s Housing Allocations Policy, which was rooted in the Housing Act 1996. The Council’s Allocation Policy was managed through a choice based lettings scheme (CBL), called Homes in the City, implemented in 2007 and under yearly review. The aims of the new policy were as follows:

Ensure people in the greatest housing need have the greatest opportunity to access suitable housing that best meets their needs.

·         Make use of a range of housing options and tenures to prevent and alleviate homelessness.

·         Make best use of the Council’s and partner registered providers housing stock.

·         Manage applicants’ expectations by being realistic about stock availability, to support them in making informed choices about their housing options, and the extent to which they are able to express reasonable preference.

·         Ensure that the Council’s legal duties and corporate responsibilities are met and that they contribute to delivering the Council’s priorities.

The revision of the Council’s Allocations Policy had been towards a focus on those in the greatest need of social housing. The current waiting list data showed 4,930 on the list, prior to the changes to the Allocations Policy, the list had over 11,000 applicants.  The introduction of a new band, called “Emergency Plus” recognised not only homeless, but people with significant additional needs such as disabilities who needed adapted homes. The Service Lead – Housing Strategy then went on to discuss the supply and demand of Council Housing. They explained that demand was outstripping supply, with less than 900 homes becoming available by the end of the financial year (2022 – 2023). Of highest demand were two and three bedroom houses and bungalows, whereas 67% of the properties that became available across the previous year were flats and maisonettes.

Statistical data showed a yearly rise in applications for social housing as a constant trend. The Lettings Team received the highest number of enquiries from MPs and Councillors through Wolverhampton Homes. Void turnarounds were delayed during the pandemic during its peak, however this had been improving monthly since. City housing and Lettings team were open and transparent with each other and this collaboration worked well.  The Council continued to prioritise the increase of affordable housing supply in the City, with multiple schemes in support of this aim. Between 2021 and 2022 the Council bought 28 former Council Houses back into available stock, as of this financial year six properties had been bought and a further seven were in the process of being bought. Private Sector housing had contributed 20 empty homes back into use in the first two quarters of 2022-2023. New build housing development activity, funded by the Housing Revenue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

[To provide an overview of the current transport service activities related to Active Travel, including strategic policy direction, current funding priorities and schemes for delivery, and to highlight the existing political oversight for these activities].

The Service Manager for Transport Strategy opened the presentation explaining National Government policy for the implementation of cycling lanes throughout cities. They then addressed how the City of Wolverhampton Council was delivering on the policy. A Copy of the presentation is attached to the signed minutes. The Service Manager for Transport Strategy explained that cycling transport was accessible and, affordable for people; because of this the Council was keen to promote the uptake of cycling.

The Professional Lead for Transport Strategy City Housing & Environment began by explaining where main priority development roads were, in co-ordination with the other Black Country Network Local Authorities, for cycle lanes. Professional Lead for Transport Strategy City Housing & Environment informed the Panel that these developments were subject to national policy, with specific standards expected to meet the criteria for national funding. All major road developments required cycle lanes to be implemented alongside them and this needed to follow the set standards.

The Professional Lead for Transport Strategy City Housing & Environment set out that the Council was utilising the Active Travel fund money to build cycle lanes across the City and provided updates on completed as well as on going works across the City. The Cycle Hire Scheme had been taken up by residents since the scheme was launched, statistics show the useage. The Professional Lead for Transport Strategy City Housing & Environment noted the electric bikes were out performing the pedal bikes in hire uptake. Docks for bikes were currently located at the City centre end of the Wednesfield Road, at Springfield Campus and at New Cross Hospital, with an additional one in Heath Town planned.

Future oversight of cycling development aims were:

·         Proposal to make standing report to Climate Change Advisory Group

·         Look to convene an officer led forum to embed Active Travel discussions across service areas

·         Maintain the existing and well attended public Cycle Forum to encourage stakeholder input and encourage collaborative working.

·         Continue promotion through public champions in the form of Hugh Porter as Cycling Ambassador and Adam Tranter as the West Midlands Cycling and Walking Commissioner

A Panel Member enquired if data was available on how many loaned cycles accrued damages or were written off.

The Professional Lead for Transport Strategy City Housing & Environment answered that the company who managed the bikes who had that information which could be provided if required. He added that the company have advertised the fact that the bikes were particularly difficult to damage however.

A Councillor asked for more information on the Future oversight of cycling development, in particular the Officer led forum and the Cycle led forum, citing concerns about how the cycle paths may impact residential areas. He felt having that early engagement with the public was crucial to getting them on board.

The Professional Lead for Transport Strategy City Housing & Environment agreed with the Councillors point and explained that the Council would be using multiple methods to promote its consultation on the matter including social media, letters, and other communication methods  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

[To receive a presentation on the Public Realm]. 

[Presentation is marked: To Follow]. 

The Service Lead for Place Making City Housing and Environment summarised the Public Realm Improvement Programme background information which began as the Connected Places Strategy in 2017. It went through multiple consultation periods and phases, and suffered from a delay due to Covid-19. Main works on the site started in November 2021.

The Head of Network Management for City Housing and Environment gave an overview of the City Centre Destination plan, a copy of the presentation is attached to the signed minutes. The presentation set out road traffic management changes, pedestrianised area, events and more. Cycling routes and bus routes were displayed on a map for the Panel to view. Disabled parking, new and current, as well as taxi ranks and bays were also shown.

The Service Lead for Place Making City Housing and Environment explained the purpose of the development was to improve links between the City centre and future developments, improve cycling and pedestrian access in and around the city, create green spaces and improve the cities appearance. It also aimed to reduce pollution and traffic, as well as support local businesses with the creation of new event spaces. Phase 1, Victoria Street and Phase 3, Civic Halls developments were currently active and ongoing, their original dates of estimated completion were February 2023 and October 2022; however they were now both set to finish in April 2023. The later completion dates were caused by a variety of issues, the Service Lead for Place Making City Housing and Environment explained some of these to the Panel, which included material delays, adjacent works and poor ground conditions.

The Service Lead for Place Making City Housing and Environment then took the Panel through conceptual photos of what the events areas would look like. She added that the raised section in the modelling photo was no longer being implemented as it was not friendly to vehicular movement. Photos were then displayed showing the Panel the progress of all on-going works. The Service Lead for Place Making City Housing and Environment  informed the Councillors about the Council’s contractor, Eurovia, and listed numerous Social Value related projects they had previously assisted with.

A Councillor asked if the Council had planned to make sure the Victoria Street phase 1 event area materials would be suitable for long term usage by heavy vehicles for events and would not wear down quickly. The Councillor also believed more development should be done in Queen’s street and asked if this could be done.

The Director of City Housing & Environment stated that he believed the construction techniques and materials being used in the phase 1 area were future proofed, and that a degree of back up materials has been stocked in case of repairs and maintenance. He agreed with the Councillors comments about Queen’s Street but stated that Phase 2 had not yet begun and was subject to budgetary restrictions which limit what can and cannot be done with this project.

A Councillor welcomed all the information provided to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The date of the next, Residents, Housing and Communities Scrutiny Panel is 16 February 2023 at 6pm.

The date of the next, Residents, Housing and Communities Scrutiny Panel was confirmed as 16 February 2023 at 6pm.

The meeting closed at 8.58pm.