Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Luttrell Room - County Hall, Taunton TA1 4DY. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services Email: democraticservicesteam@somerset.gov.uk 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Decision:

Apologies were received from Cllr Dawn Denton, Cllr Andy Dingwall, Cllr Andy Kendall (substitute Cllr Mike Stanton).

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Cllr Dawn Denton (virtual online), Cllr Andy Dingwall (virtual online), Cllr Andy Kendall (substitute Cllr Mike Stanton).

 

2.

Minutes from the Previous Meeting 21st June 2023 pdf icon PDF 66 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 21st June 2023

Decision:

The minutes of the Scrutiny Committee – Communities meeting held on 21 June 2023 were agreed upon and signed by the Chair.

Minutes:

The minutes of the Scrutiny Committee – Communities meeting held on 21 June 2023 were agreed upon and signed by the Chair.

3.

Declarations of Interest

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

Decision:

Cllr Lance Duddridge, Cllr Pauline Ham, Cllr Kathy Pearce declared an interest in  Item 7  - Annual Approval as sole shareholder of Homes in Sedgemoor from as Members of the Homes In Sedgemoor Board.

Minutes:

Councillors present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor of a Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-

 

SOMERSET COUNCILLOR

CITY, TOWN AND/OR PARISH COUNCIL

Andy Dingwall

Westonzoyland Parish Council

Pauline Ham

Axbridge Town Council

Edric Hobbs

Shepton Mallet Town Council

Kathy Pearce

Bridgwater Town Council

Wes Read

Yeovil Town Council

 

 

Cllr Lance Duddridge, Cllr Pauline Ham, Cllr Kathy Pearce declared an interest in Item 7 - Annual Approval as sole shareholder of Homes in Sedgemoor from as Members of the Homes In Sedgemoor Board.

4.

Public Question Time pdf icon PDF 128 KB

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

Decision:

Public Questions were received from:

 

Shannon Johnstone

 

Housing and Homelessness team / staff training

 

Given that housing officers have to work within multiple legal frameworks and do hard and great work, making vastly important decisions, does the committee feel it would be beneficial for their housing and homelessness team to have a programme around what training each staff member should receive??A recent FOI confirmed that there was no policy or recorded data around what training they get.

 

Response from Service Director: Housing, Communities Services

 

Housing Options is the service area responsible for managing the council’s statutory duties and non statutory support and prevention for households who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or those who are rough sleeping.  The wider service also includes a Displaced People service.

The services is made up of circa 130 posts who previously were employed primarily by four former District Council all of which delivered there service and staff training differently.

The service recognises and agrees with the public question that the duties of the team must use a standard and consistent approach.   Good induction programmes for new staff and ongoing training and development is essential to ensure this consistency is embedded. 

The service has prepared a set of common induction materials for the Housing Options Officer role. These materials are now in final draft and will be piloted with new starters in September.  The documents will then be adopted for other roles in Housing Options and Displaced Persons service and reviewed at regular intervals.

The service through its restructure which take place later this year will help the service bring about greater consistency as the service will establish a staff structure which is consistent throughout the Counties four customer facing localities.  The service will also establish a number of officer posts responsible for establishing consistency of service and decisions. 

There has been some early success in the delivery of consistency for example all locations moved to one IT case management system in April 2023.

Establishing consistency is one of the projects placed in the housing transitional  programme which the service is calling ‘Establish consistent approach to case management & assessment for Housing Options’.

A range of materials have been developed including:

        Induction Training Templates – Instructions.  - This document explains the corporate elements to the induction which all SC new starters must complete

        Skillset Assessment and Training Recommendations- This document matches the competencies and skills listed on the Housing Options Officer Job Description, plus other skills such specific application skills (word, SharePoint etc) and asks the line manager to go through this on day one, capturing any gaps. For each competency or skill, the document suggests appropriate training which the new starter can do to address the gap in the skills.  By completing this document, a training plan will be established.

 

        New starter plan - This document is intended as an ongoing way to capture the training and experience which the new starter acquires, so it is clear what gaps there  ...  view the full decision text for item 4.

Minutes:

 

Public questions were received from Shannon Johnstone and Jean Humber. 

 

The questions and the responses are provided below:

 

Shannon Johnstone

 

Housing and Homelessness team / staff training

 

Given that housing officers have to work within multiple legal frameworks and do hard and great work, making vastly important decisions, does the committee feel it would be beneficial for their housing and homelessness team to have a programme around what training each staff member should receive??A recent FOI confirmed that there was no policy or recorded data around what training they get.

 

Response from Service Director - Housing, Communities Services

 

Housing Options is the service area responsible for managing the council’s statutory duties and non statutory support and prevention for households who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or those who are rough sleeping.  The wider service also includes a Displaced People service.

 

The services is made up of circa 130 posts who previously were employed primarily by four former District Council all of which delivered there service and staff training differently.

 

The service recognises and agrees with the public question that the duties of the team must use a standard and consistent approach.   Good induction programmes for new staff and ongoing training and development is essential to ensure this consistency is embedded. 

 

The service has prepared a set of common induction materials for the Housing Options Officer role. These materials are now in final draft and will be piloted with new starters in September.  The documents will then be adopted for other roles in Housing Options and Displaced Persons service and reviewed at regular intervals.

 

The service through its restructure which take place later this year will help the service bring about greater consistency as the service will establish a staff structure which is consistent throughout the Counties four customer facing localities.  The service will also establish a number of officer posts responsible for establishing consistency of service and decisions. 

 

There has been some early success in the delivery of consistency for example all locations moved to one IT case management system in April 2023.

Establishing consistency is one of the projects placed in the housing transitional programme which the service is calling ‘Establish consistent approach to case management & assessment for Housing Options’.

 

A range of materials have been developed including:

•        Induction Training Templates – Instructions.  - This document explains the corporate elements to the induction which all SC new starters must complete

•        Skillset Assessment and Training Recommendations- This document matches the competencies and skills listed on the Housing Options Officer Job Description, plus other skills such specific application skills (word, SharePoint etc) and asks the line manager to go through this on day one, capturing any gaps. For each competency or skill, the document suggests appropriate training which the new starter can do to address the gap in the skills.  By completing this document, a training plan will be established. 

•        New starter plan - This document is intended as an ongoing way to capture the training and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Recommissioning of 16+ Housing/Supported Accommodation pdf icon PDF 696 KB

To receive a presentation on the Recommissioning of 16+ Housing/Supported Accommodation, for information, from Julie Breeze Strategic Commissioner for Childrens’ Services.  

 

For information members may wish to watch the recent BBC documentary Joe Swash: Teens in Care

BBC One - Joe Swash: Teens in Care

Decision:

The Committee noted a presentation on the Recommissioning of 16+ Housing/Supported Accommodation from the Service Director, Commissioning and Performance (Children and Family Services) Richard Selwyn and Strategic Commissioner for Childrens’ Services, Julie Breeze.

 

to present

Minutes:

Members of the Children & Families Scrutiny Committee were invited to attend the meeting for this agenda item.

 

The Committee received a presentation from the Service Director - Commissioning and Performance (Children and Family Services) Richard Selwyn, on the Recommissioning of 16+ Housing/Supported Accommodation, with the Service Director - Housing, Communities Services, Chris Brown, further added to the introduction discussing the cross service working.  The Strategic Commissioner for Childrens’ Services, Julie Breeze, presented the report.

 

The following comments and questions were received and discussed with members:

 

  • The progress of young people in Pathways to Independence (P2I).
  • The role of multi-agencies in supporting the Council in making provision to support young people, including Somerset Drug and Alcohol Service, Police, nursing outreach teams and trials piloted with different providers.
  • Accommodation provision, including escalating costs, local providers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
  • Range of accommodation provided through shared houses, ?flats, foyers – different levels of support to meet different levels of need?.
  • The links and differences between Homefinder and 16+ Housing supported accommodation, with Homefinder being the stable long-term accommodation.
  • Moving on from P2I, both positively; moving to a social housing tenancy, moving to the private rented sector, returning to family, living with partners/friends and negatively; evictions (non-payment of rent, deliberate damage, threats to staff or other residents), regular breaches of house rules, no properties available.
  • The indicative 9-month (270 days) timescale measure pathway and what support is available after 9 months and the individuals 25th birthday.
  • The progress and good engagement of young people within P2I service and the great work across the Council making good progress against individual goals identified in their support plan.

 

The Committee noted the report..

6.

Somerset Council Service Introduction: Customer Services pdf icon PDF 1 MB

To receive a presentation, for information, on the Customer Services function at Somerset Council, from Jan Stafford Service Director Customer Services.  

Decision:

The Committee noted a presentation from the Service Director: Customer Services, Jan Stafford, on the Customer Services function at Somerset Council.

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation from the Service Director - Customer Services, Jan Stafford.

 

The following comments and questions were received and discussed with members:

 

  • Comparison and benchmarking with other Councils and the upcoming work in this area with other Unitary Councils.
  • Customer segmentation information, including break down of services provided, responses and satisfaction of the service.
  • Data used to drive change and improvement.
  • Digital inclusion and interaction with the Council, including infrastructure, the collection of feedback, data collection and provision of spaces for digitally disadvantaged (customer access points).
  • Emergency response teams, including a unified lifeline service for Somerset Council and the work taking place with providers, adult social care and the Mendip area.
  • Volumes and performance statistics for calls received, including satisfaction and resolution.
  • Quality assurance, completion of surveys and the low number of satisfaction surveys completed.
  • Roadwork emergency numbers and the review taking place on out of hours highways services.
  • Adult Social Care services queries and responses.
  • Face to face customer opportunities, including customer access point promotion and potential partnership models.
  • Survey participation and options to leave responses.

 

The Committee noted the report.

7.

Annual Approval as sole shareholder of Homes in Sedgemoor pdf icon PDF 531 KB

To receive a verbal update on the Annual Approval as sole shareholder of homes in Sedgemoor from Chris Hall, Executive Director Communities and Dave Baxter, Strategic Housing Manager.

 

For background, members may wish to review the slides delivered as part of the LGR all-member briefings held in Jan/Feb of 2023.

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Committee noted a verbal update from the Service Director:  Housing, Community Services, Chris  Brown, and the Strategic Housing Manager, David Baxter, on the Annual Approval as sole shareholder of Homes in Sedgemoor.

Minutes:

The Committee received a verbal update from the Service Director - Housing, Community Services, Chris Brown, and the Strategic Housing Manager, David Baxter on the Annual Approval as sole shareholder of Homes in Sedgemoor.

 

The Committee noted the verbal update.

8.

Date and venue of the next meeting

Decision:

The Committee noted that the next meeting would be held on 11 October 2023 at 10am, with the meeting venue to be confirmed.

 

The following items were suggested for the future work programme for Scrutiny Committee – Communities:

 

·       Homefinder (All Member Briefing to be provided by Service Director: Housing, Communities Services.

·       CCTV provision across Somerset

·       Budget Monitoring within Communities Directorate

 

Minutes:

The Committee noted that the next meeting would be held on 11 October 2023 at 10am, with the meeting venue to be confirmed.

 

The Chair advised the Committee of the work taking place to consider increasing the frequency of Scrutiny Committee meetings and a proposal to hold Committee meetings in the former District Council offices in Somerset.

 

The following items were suggested for the future work programme for Scrutiny Committee – Communities:

 

  • Homefinder (All Member Briefing to be provided by Service Director: Housing, Communities Services.
  • CCTV provision across Somerset
  • Budget Monitoring within Communities Directorate