To receive any declarations of
interest. Members are advised to consider the advice contained
within the Declaration of Interest advice attached to this Agenda.
If a Member declares an interest, they should complete theDeclaration of Interest
Form
To approve the Minutes of the
Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 17 February 2020, copy
attached.
Minutes:
Councillor Fellows proposed, Councillor Austin
seconded and the Panel agreed that the minutes of the Overview and
Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 17 February 2022 were a correct
record.
367.
Cabinet Member Presentation by Cllr Pugh on Information and Communications Technology
How TDC has been responding to the need for
improving information dissemination and conducting council business
(including holding council meetings remotely) in response to the
pandemic and how the council can develop its capacity and
resilience moving forward
Minutes:
Councillor Pugh made
a presentation at the Panel meeting. As part of the presentation
Councillor made the following points:
The council had built some resilience that would
ensure business continuity when faced by challenging
emergencies;
One way of building that resilience by moving to
Google Workspace;
The had worked well as it enabled council staff and
councillors to work remotely (work from home);
This worked very well during the height of the covid
pandemic as council continued to conduct its business and deliver
services to residents with minimum interruption;
Council meetings were conducted remotely and
livestreamed to the public;
Council still live streamed meetings and informal
meetings were now being conducted virtually as formal meetings were
now back to in person attendance;
There was a 35% increase in traffic on the
council’s website;
Real time information on the pandemic was provided
to residents through the website;
The telephony system was upgraded;
E-signatures and online payments were introduced to
expedite business transactions;
A new waste management portal was set
up;
There was a new online sign up facility introduced
for garden waste services;
Other councils were now learning from
TDC.
Members commented
and asked questions as follows:
Some Members were concerned about those residents
who were unable to access the council’s website for
information. How was the council ensuring that such residents could
still access council information?
How was the council making sure that residents read
formal documentation easier?
When the council tax bill was sent out for the
coming year, was it possible to include a tear off slip that
residents could complete and return to the council to indicate if
they were happy to receive information online? Was this a workable
thought?
Councillor Pugh and
Hannah Thorpe responded as follows:
The last residents survey showed that 83% of
respondents said that they used the TDC website, which was an
increase from the previous year;
The pandemic had spurred more people to use digital
services;
The council used visuals to put across
information;
However it was important to ensure that key
information was in all documentation being shared with the
public;
There were statutory regulations on access to
information that the council followed in order to meet the
compliance requirements for providing accessible information the
public;
Tear off slip: Officers would look into that
suggestion;
Residents who cannot access the council’s
website could still use the Thanet Gateway, post office or direct
debit to pay council tax.
The Chair thanked
Councillor Pugh and noted the presentation.
Bob Porter
introduced the report and made the following comments:
Eighteen months from when the housing service was
brought back in house, there had been significant improvements in
service delivery;
Safety standards compliance was now being attended
to through an established dedicated team;
The team was reporting monthly to the
Regulator;
On 24 February 2022, the Regulator removed the
compliance notice;
The council was still working attaining full
compliance;
The council was now in compliance regarding asbestos
surveys;
Work was in progress and on time regarding
refurbishments;
Water safety: the number of repairs still be done
had been reduced;
Electrical certification – At the time of
producing the report there were 777 properties with non compliance.
However that figure had since gone down to 600;
An additional contractor had been taken non board to
help with the certification;
All fire risk assessments were now being carried out
by an external specialist;
The report indicated that there were 237 fire risks
to be done. That number had now gone down to 180;
Capital Programme: Royal Crescent in Ramsgate
– Specifications were now being put in place for the project.
Project tender will be done in the next quarter;
Churchfield – The council had consulted with
residents on what needed to be done. Fire safety matters were the
main priority for this project;
Voids turnaround times: A new team had been set up
to improve the times;
Rent Arrears: This was a significant risk moving
forward due in part to inflation.
Members asked
questions and made comments as follows:
A number of households were currently facing a lot
of financial pressures;
Had staffing issues during the pandemic not affected
the work of the Housing Service, particularly relating to officer
visits to tenants in council housing;
The performance report showed some very impressive
results. Could a glossary be provided for the acronyms used in the
report?
A few years ago there were concerns regarding the
lack of fire, gas and electric certification on some of the council
houses. Has this issue been resolved?
Bob Porter
and Chris Blundell responded as follows:
Early intervention to support struggling families
was always the council’s policy;
The Wellbeing Team provided support to households so
that families can maximise their income;
The team provided advice on livelihoods and secure
employment;
The focus by the team was on prevention;
There was a discretionary housing payments facility
of £460k to support households in difficulties. This year the
council had used £430k of the funding to date of that fund,
with the remainder expected to be used by the end of the
year;
Regarding officer visits to residents; the plan was
to have more officers working from the office and have contact with
households where required;
Remote working has brought its own challenges and
benefits as well. The hybrid approach to working had also been
quite beneficial;
Officer were going to add a glossary for the
acronyms used in future performance reports;
Bob Porter led the
discussion and made the following comments:
The 2011 Localism Act gave councils a range of
powers including the requirement to have a tenancy strategy and
ability to vary the tenancies including fixed tenancy;
Thanet District Council introduced fixed term
tenancy and this covered all of the social landlords in the
district;
However social landlords take this as advisory
rather than mandatory;
The management strategy provided a framework for
managing the tenancy strategy;
There were some landlords that had ended the use of
the fixed term tenancy after the fixed term tenancy had
expired;
The challenge posed by this type of tenancy was
stability of tenancy and neighbourhoods;
TDC was now going back to lifetime tenancy with a
one year introductory tenancy.
Members asked
questions and made comments as follows:
What would happen in instances where a tenant had
lived at a lifetime tenancy property with disability facilities for
a long time and then passed away? Would the children continue to
live there even if they did not need the use of disability
facilities?
Would it be easy for TDC to move such a household to
a different property so they can give this property to a family
that needed the use of such a property?
Where did social landlords stand with such changes
being proposed? Would they continue to operate like the
council?
Was succession to a property handed
once?
Bob Porter responded
as follows:
Issues of inheritance were set out in
law;
The individual inheriting would have had to be
someone who ordinarily lived in that house for at least 12 months.
However this had to be a suitable property;
If the property was not suitable the council have to
provide a suitable alternative suitable option;
Most social landlords offered lifetime tenancy
arrangements as opposed to fixed term ones;
TDC would also be moving to providing assured
lifetime tenancy;
Succession can be handed only once. Before the 2011
Localism Act it could be handed twice.
Bob Porter introduced the report and said that the four
policies were being reviewed by the council on 17 March 2022,
having been inherited from East Kent Housing. The Panel was being
asked to review the draft policies before they were considered by
Cabinet. The Thanet Leaseholder Group and the Housing Cabinet
Advisory Group had also reviewed the proposed policies.
There being no further comments, the Panel noted the
report.