Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interests were made.

No members of the public were present.  Duncan Marshall, Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales [CSSIW] was present as an observer.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 25^th July were confirmed and signed as a true record. 

It was explained that there had been a misunderstanding regarding today’s date as the expected presentation from Welsh Government on the White Paper Consultation ‘Services Fit for the Future’. 

The Chief Officer Social Care, Safeguarding and Health offered to present the slides, but, following discussion, it was agreed with the Chair of the Children and Young People’s (CYP) Select Committee that the Welsh Government officers would attend the CYP Select Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday 14^th September 2017. The arrangements for that meeting were changed to a pre-meeting at 9.00am and meeting start time to 9.30am.  This new item will start at 10.00am.

Context:

To receive information on the revenue and capital outturn positions of the Authority based on activity data at month 2.

Recommendations Proposed To Cabinet

      i.        That Members consider a net revenue outturn overspend of £164,000.

     ii.        Members consider a capital outturn spend, forecast by service managers to agree with budget.

    iii.        Members note that the low level of earmarked reserves, which will severely reduce the flexibility the Council has in meeting the financial challenges of reducing settlements and consequent need to redesign services.

   iv.        Members note the significant forecast reduction in the overall school balance at the end of 2017/18 and supports the continuing work with schools to ensure that the Council’s Fairer Funding scheme requirements are met and that the overall schools balance reverts to positive position at the earliest

            opportunity.

Member Scrutiny

The Chair asked why the monitoring months had been altered. Information was provided that this year a change of approach is being piloted. Instead of quarterly reporting, monitoring will be at Month 2, Month 7 and at outturn. This allows SMT and DMTs more opportunity to reflect on and actively influence figures. Monitoring will be more meaningful and reassurance was given that managers and officers will receive interim monitoring information.  A proposed enhancement to the ledger facility will allow officers and Members to access financial information in real time.

It was explained that Month 7 was preferred because it is the month following the start of the academic year and is therefore more convenient for Headteachers. It was queried if Month 3 would be better than Month 2 and responded that both would provide similar information but the preference was to use the earlier date to obtain an initial position and forecasting purposes.

In terms of both Adult and Children and Young People Services, it was questioned if there is enough money in the budget to continue to provide services if pay rises above 1% are realised.  It was explained that the potential pay rise is a smaller element of the budget and is not as relevant as the budget for adult social care.  Of more concern is the increase in capital threshold limits for adult care which creates a draw on local authority funding at an earlier point, also reference was made to the impact of national minimum wage.  It was explained that there are grants available from Welsh Government which won’t necessarily cover the total liability. Full advantage is taken of the grants available and that position is reflected in the forecasts.  The challenge to provide services, within limited resources, increases every year and it was commented that there is a national issue regarding adult social care budgets not being sustainable in view of improved life expectancy.

The Head of Adult Services added that the adult social care budget is closely monitored to look at all costs and their impact.  For example, in terms of capital threshold, it was detected that there was an increase in take up in the south of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

It was resolved to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, on the grounds that it involves the information as defined in Paragraph 12 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act [Proper Officer’s view attached].

Purpose

The Council’s contract with Melin Homes to manage the Private Leasing Scheme (PLS) is due to end in June 2018. The purpose of the report is to make the Committee aware of the findings of a due diligence exercise and to consider the options for the future management of the scheme. The report also provides an update on Welsh Government temporary accommodation funding and its relevance to thePLS.

Key Issues

·         Under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, the Council has a duty to both respond to homelessness and to prevent homelessness. The Act also provides the power to discharge the associated duties into the private rented sector. In recent years it has been a priority to strengthen prevention activity, including engaging with private landlords to enable access to the private accommodation as an alternative to over relying on social housing and the need to utilise bed & breakfast.

·         The Council has operated a PLS for over ten years. It was initially established due to the lack of social housing. The scheme supports the Council to discharge its statutory duties and helps to minimise bed & breakfast use. The PLS was transferred to Melin Homes in 2009 having tendered for the contract. This ends in June 2018. A decision now needs to be made about the future of the PLS and the Council is actively preparing for the end of the contract and undertaking a process of due diligence. See Appendix 1. Melin no longer wish to manage the scheme, in part, due to Welfare Reform changes.

·         Of relevance is the Department of Work & Pensions decision from April 2017 to remove the ability to claim a £60 pw per property temporary accommodation management fee subsidy, through housing benefit. Welsh Government have replaced with additional Rate Support Grant.

·         Although the Council continually seeks to access private rented opportunities, the ability to deliver the required number of properties is limited for a number of reasons including:

o   Homeless applicants typically are low income households and in receipt of benefit.

o   Lettings agencies and landlords are often reluctant to accept households on benefit.

o   Many households cannot afford to meet local rents and upfront private sector costs.The Council only has a limited ability to support in this respect.

o   Vulnerable households are often perceived, often incorrectly, as a risk to landlords

o   Some households with complex needs are difficult to accommodate in any sector

·         The following options, which are fully evaluated in Appendix 1, are available:

o   Option 1 – Transfer back to the Council and continue to operate whilst seeking to retain but re-negotiate with landlords. The PLS would operate alongside the Shared Housing Scheme. Option 1 is considered the most appropriate option in order to most effectively meet statutory duties. It also supports the development of Monmouthshire Lettings.

o   Option 2 – Transfer back to the Council and phase out the scheme. This would impact negatively on preventing homelessness due to the lack of social housing and other housing options. It would also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

·         Actions: Regarding action points from previous meetings, it was discussed that responses are often sent to Committee Members individually, or as a group, and therefore not formally reported back to the Select Committee.  To address this issue, it was agreed that such information should be included in the Action List from this point on.  It was further agreed that Officers should be advised that any information they provide, in response to an action point, will be in the public domain.

·         Performance Report 2016/17: It was agreed that the table below provided after the last meeting with the number of people entering residential care during the year and percentages of the whole by age group should be published in the minutes:

·         Affordable Housing: Concern was expressed about an example where 2 of 20 affordable homes on a development were purchased shortly after allocation.  It was queried if this would reduce the number of affordable houses delivered. The eligibility criteria for such circumstances was questioned as affordable homes should be for everyone not to be sold.  It was questioned if the number of houses sold were included in the figures for affordable homes.

A further question centred on the availability of s106 recreation and s106 education funding allocations.  It was commented that affordable housing is almost always allocated to Registered Social Landlords.  It was confirmed that applications for s106 consider the type of affordable housing.  It was explained that if anything deviates from the affordability criteria should be monitored.

A Member wished to ensure that affordable houses are genuinely for local people and that they have priority in the first allocation.  It was explained that the rural allocations policy applies which uses very strict eligibility criteria to          ensure that dwellings are allocated to local people.

It was suggested that the Chair of Strong Communities Select Committee noted the discussion.

The Forward Work Programme was received and noted.

The Council and Cabinet Forward Plan was noted.  Members were reminded that the Plan is updated every week and circulated every Friday.