Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllr Pauline Ham (Cllr Richard Wilkins as sub) and Cllr Andy Kendell.  

Apologies were received from Cllr Pauline Ham (Cllr Richard Wilkins as sub) and Cllr Andy Kendell.  

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Resolved that the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee – Communities held on 9^th August 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.

Resolved

The minutes from the previous meeting held on 9th August 2023 were confirmed as a correct record.

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 )

Cllr Hazel Prior-Sankey declared a personal interest in Item 5: CCTV Service update becauseof her husband’s role as street pastor in Taunton. 

Cllr Hazel Prior-Sankey declared a personal interest in Item 5: CCTV Service update becauseof her husband’s role as a street pastor in Taunton. 

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’.

There were no members of public in attendance or registered to speak. 

There were no members of public in attendance or registered to speak. 

To consider and comment on a CCTV Service update from the CCTV Service Manager, Somerset Council.

The following items are included for further information; -

·         CCTV Annual report SSDC 2022

·         CCTV Annual report SDC 2022

·         CCTV Annual report SWT 2022

The Chair welcomed Ryan Kelly, CCTV Manager for Somerset Council to give a presentation to the committee. He invited comments and questions from the committee and the committee noted the update.  

The Chair welcomed Ryan Kelly, CCTV Manager for Somerset Council to give a presentation to the committee, which highlighted the following key points: - 

The service in incredibly busy, with the team working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

This is an income generating service.

The service is run from a control hub in Bridgwater House, all members of the committee are invited to visit the hub. 

The CCTV Service has covered SSDC, SW&T and SDC areas for some time, and now includes the MDC area. 

Following a review, the annual fee charged to the Avon and Somerset Police has been doubled to 20k for the year 23/24. 

The Chair thanked the CCTV Manager for a very interesting and informative presentation and the following comments and questions were received and discussed with members: - 

Regarding monitoring of crime hotspots, assuming these hotspots change over time, how easy is it to move equipment to continue to monitor the areas more likely to be affected by criminal activity?

Several members expressed an interest in a site visit to the CCTV control hub in Bridgwater House. The committee clerk would be in touch with members to organise this. 

What are the statutory duties of the CCTV service? The CCTV Manager advised that under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 the statutory duties of a local authority are to monitor the most vulnerable hotspot areas.  

Is there any more than can be done to support retail businesses with shoplifting? The CCTV Manager advised that the team are building strong relationships with retail businesses, through Business Link, and the police to tackle shoplifting in Somerset. Most retail premises in Somerset are covered by the Somerset Council CCTV Network, and the service also works with businesses to mitigate shoplifting in other ways, such as advice around shop layouts and positioning of high value goods. He added that the CCTV Service is an integral link between retail businesses and the Police. Whilst Police response times can be frustrating, the footage obtained by Somerset Council CCTV network is a key piece of evidence. 

How much does the CCTV Service cost Somerset Council per year? The CCTV Manager advised that the most recent annual cost for the service was 182k, and that this is usually financed by external contributions (from parish and town councils, police etc...) and other sources of income and funding. The 182k figure does not include payroll, and this detail can be provided to the committee on request.  

How can members obtain a breakdown of the locations of all 233 cameras in operation in Somerset? 

Why does Yeovil only have 29 cameras in operation currently? The CCTV Manager advised that the coverage is Yeovil is currently under review, and as well as equipment upgrades the service are working with Yeovil Town Council to increase the number of cameras in operation in Yeovil. 

On the pie charts (slides 9,10 & 11) what does the section ‘review’ mean? These are incidents that are currently under investigation. 

On  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To consider and comment on a verbal update from the Service Manager Housing, Somerset Council, regarding Homefinder Somerset.

The Chair welcomed Chris Brown, Service Manager Housing for Somerset Council to give a verbal update to the committee. He invited comments and questions from the committee and the committee noted the update.  

The Chair welcomed Chris Brown, Service Director Housing at Somerset Council to give a briefing to members, following on from several questions that had been raised at the recent Homefinder member training sessions held on 28th September and 4th October 2023.

He highlighted the following key points to the Scrutiny Committee – Communities: - 

There are currently 11.000 customers registered on Homefinder Somerset, of those 2200 are housed. 

Homefinder operates as a choice-based lettings system of social housing (not private) and the bidding process is easy for customers. There can be up to 170 bids for a property.  

We need to focus on how we maximise supply. 

Members are interested in lettings policy concerning local connection vs need.  

Members would like to see more democratic representation on the Homefinder board. 

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

Regarding property succession, is it mandatory to remove a tenant when the main tenant passes away or is there a degree of discretion here? The Service Manager advised that different landlords have their own policies on this. In some instances, the landlord will offer alternative accommodation to the remaining tenant to make best of housing stock.

One member asked about succession regarding a specific case of a mother and a vulnerable adult son, and the Service Manager advised that he provide a written response to the member directly.

Regarding rent arrears, is this an issue for social housing landlords currently? The Service Manager advised that the collection rate for Homefinder customers is currently 98.4% which is excellent. There are a team of specialist officers that provide money and debt advise and support to the small minority of Homefinder customers experiencing hardship.

How do we support customers who cannot use the bidding system themselves i.e. the elderly, vulnerable adults, or simply those customers with no internet access? Are we as councillors able to do this on their behalf? The Service Manger advised that there is a team of five senior caseworkers that do this work.     

A non-committee member online agreed with the points that had been raised at the Homefinder member training sessions regarding local connection vs need and the need for greater political representation on the Homefinder Board. 

The Chair thanked Service Manager for the update and discussion, concluding that Homefinder policy will be under review as the new Somerset Council Local Plan develops over the coming years.   

Resolved

The Scrutiny Committee – Communities noted the Homefinder update. 

To consider and comment on a month 5 Budget Monitoring update for Community Services, from the Strategic Manager Finance Business Partnering, Somerset Council. 

The Chair welcomed Christian Evans, Strategic Manager Finance and Business Partnering and Kerry Prisco Management Accounting and Reporting Lead to give a presentation to the committee. He invited comments and questions from the committee and the committee noted the report.  

The Chair welcomed Christian Evans, Strategic Manager Finance and Business Partnering and Kerry Prisco, Management Accounting and Reporting Lead to give the Scrutiny Committee – Communities an update on the Community Services budget position, at the request of the Executive committee. 

The Strategic Manager Finance and Business Partnering talked members through the key findings for the general fund, concluding that the majority of overspend is in Adults and Childrens services, and that there are no major concerns regarding the Community Services budget position. 

The Management Accounting and Reporting Lead then presented the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) to members, with the following key points highlighted to the committee: -    

This is about how the Council manages its own housing stock.

The HRA is a ring fenced, self-financing account since April 2012

One off Payment to the Govt of £132.5m (£85.2m TDBC and £47.3m SDC)

A 30-Year Business Plan is required 

There are financial benefits because all of the rental income is retained. 

The borrowing cap was removed in Oct 2018 giving more flexibility to borrow for new builds.

The Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) discount rate is now 0.6%, since 15 June 2023.

The Councils own housing stock is heavily regulated in terms of:

Compliance – providing a decent standard of homes  

Rent Standard – restricting rent increases 

Cross subsidy 

She talked members through the key risks, future issues and opportunities of the Housing Revenue Account, and the following comments and questions were received and discussed with members: -                                                 

Regarding the PWLB interest rate 0.6%, is this for new or existing loans? The Management Accounting and Accounting Lead advised that this is for new borrowing.  

Regarding the risks around homelessness and the rising costs of temporary housing, can more money be spent on self-catering multi occupancy units? The Service Manager Housing advised that there are ongoing discussions regarding options for this including looking at models such as the Rochester Road Modular Scheme and other bespoke homes models.   

Regarding Right to Buy Receipts, how much of this is retained by the Council? - The Management Accounting and Accounting Lead advised that the breakdown of money from Right to Buy Receipts is as follows: 

14% Treasury Contribution

2% Transaction fee

48% one for one 

36% Un adjustable allowable debt 

A member raised a specific case where residents were struggling with heavy fire doors that had been installed in a Somerset Council maintained communal housing premises, and the Service Manager Housing advised that work was being undertaken to electrify the fire doors in that particular premises.   

A non-committee member online asked if the Council is working with Community Land Trusts regarding buying land for new homes and he was advised that it is.

Regarding Right to Buy Receipts, what happens if these are not spent? The Management Accounting and Reporting Lead advised that these become payable to The Treasury, but that this has not happened before. 

A member asked that all presentations be shared with the committee in advance.

The Chair thanked all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

To consider and comment on the Scrutiny Committee - Communities work programme 23/24.

To assist the discussion please use the following link to view the latest Executive Forward Plan of planned key decisions that have been published on the Council’s website.

Forward plan - Executive Forward Plan - Modern Council (somerset.gov.uk)

The Chair asked members to consider and comment on the Scrutiny Committee – Communities forward work programme 2023/2024. There were no comments or questions received from members.

The Chair asked members to consider and comment on the Scrutiny Committee – Communities forward work programme 2023/2024. There were no comments or questions received from members.