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PRESENT

Mr Norman M Macleod (Vice-Chairman)

  
 

Mr Iain Morrison

Mr Norman L Macdonald

 

Mr Alexander A Macdonald

Mr Donald I Nicholson

 

Mr Malcolm J Graham

Mr James L Macarthur

 

Mr Angus Nicolson

Mr Calum Mackay

 

Mr Murdo Macleod

  
     

APOLOGIES

Mr George Lonie (Chairman)

Mr Ian M Macleod

 

Mr David Blaney

Mr Angus Campbell

Housing

H13.01.03

23

MINUTES

The Minutes of Meetings of 30 January 2001 and 19 February 2001, were approved.

Housing Sub-Committee

H13.01.02

24

The Minute of Meeting of the Housing Sub-Committee of 21 February 2001, was noted.

Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme 2000/01: Progress

PR110.08

25*

FINANCE

The Director of Housing submitted a Report regarding the Housing Revenue Account Capital Expenditure Programme for 2000/2001. The Report detailed expenditure on the Programme and summarised details of variations within the Programme. It was intimated in the Report that the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme for 2000/01, was based on year 1 of the current three year Housing Financial Plan 2000/01 - 2002/03, which took account of the principles of stock investment, as set out in the Comhairle's Strategic Housing Plan 2000-03.

Details of the proposed revised Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme were appended to the Report, together with the anticipated expenditure profile for the Programme.

   

It was agreed to recommend that:

(1) the Housing Capital Programme 2000/01 be revised as detailed at Appendix 1 of the Report by the Director of Housing, to take account of project variations; and

(2) the expenditure profile shown at Appendix 2 of the Report by the Director of Housing, be noted.

Housing Revenue Account: Repairs and Maintenance Budget 2000/01

PR110.08

26

With reference to item 7 of the Minute of Meeting of 30 January 2001, the Director of Housing submitted a Report, advising Members of the measures taken to ensure that expenditure on the Housing Revenue Account Repairs and Maintenance Budget, remained within the financial limits set by the Comhairle. The Report referred to the difficulties experienced in monitoring expenditure incurred in terms of the Housing Revenue Account Repairs and Maintenance Budget, as a result of industrial action involving the Comhairle's information technology systems. The Report concluded that, as at 28 February 2001, the expenditure incurred and the commitment to expenditure on the Housing Revenue Account Repairs and Maintenance Budget 2000/01 indicated that expenditure on the Housing Revenue Account Repairs and Maintenance Budget for 2000/01 could be approximately £23,423 in excess of the approved expenditure limit of £560,000.

   

It was agreed to note the report by the Director of Housing concerning the Housing Revenue Account Repairs and Maintenance Budget 2000/2001.

Housing Bill Update

H01.23

27

The Director of Housing submitted a Report giving information on the legislative progress being made by the Housing Bill which, it was anticipated, would move to stage 2, the detailed amendment stage, in the Scottish Parliament in early April 2001. The Report highlighted the proposals by the Scottish Executive, as contained within the Bill, in relation to:

(1) the enhancement of a strategic housing role for Councils; and

(2) the proposed functions of the new Executive Agency, which would result from the conversion of Scottish Homes, from a Non-Departmental Public Body into an Executive Agency.

It was stated in the Report that the new Executive Agency would have the following roles:

(1) regulator of registered social landlords and Council housing;

(2) the regulation of local authority homelessness strategies and performance;

(3) providing advise to Ministers, on the basis of a national overview of housing; and

(4) powers to place special Managers in poor performing local authorities.

It was further intimated that the new Executive Agency would have a development funding role in local authority areas where the Council was a landlord and in those cases where a whole stock transfer had taken place, the local authority would allocate development funding, in accordance with its local Strategic Housing Plan. The Report further referred to the wider strategic and enabling role which would be undertaken by local authorities for housing in their area and, in particular, referred to specific duties relating to:

(1) the carrying out of an assessment of housing needs and provision in their area, when required by Ministers;

(2) the preparation of a local housing strategy; and

(3) responsibility for funding housing support services to vulnerable people.

The Report identified a number of concerns in relation to the proposed regulatory functions of the new Executive Agency, particularly as a result of potential conflicts of interest when undertaking its role as regulator, funder or partner, in the delivery of community regeneration and partner in preparing local housing strategies. The Report concluded that the enhanced strategic role of local authorities, as detailed in Part 5 of the Housing Bill, had been widely welcomed and stated that such proposals were totally consistent with local authorities community planning role.

   

It was agreed to note the Report by the Director of Housing concerning the progress of the Housing Bill.

Prioritising Housing Grants

H10.01.01

28*

The Acting Director of Environmental Services submitted a Report outlining proposals which would bring about a better match of demand with resources available for housing grants, whilst maintaining a commitment to target resources to the elimination of the worst housing conditions. The Report referred to the high demand for both grant payments and approvals and intimated that the forecast out-turn on housing grants for the financial year 2000/01, was approximately £3.4 million, some £400,000 above the target figure, as set out in the Programme of Capital Expenditure 2000/01 - 2002/03. The Report referred to the proposed review of housing grant policies which had been delayed until new housing legislation had been approved by the Scottish Parliament and further highlighted the need for action to be taken by the Comhairle to dampen demand for housing grants, whilst, at the same time, focusing approvals on improving those houses which were in the worst condition. The Report set out proposals for re-introducing a pointing scheme for housing conditions and limiting approvals, for the time being, to those houses with sufficient points, to indicate that they were seriously below the tolerable standard. It was further suggested in the Report that the Care and Repair Service be requested to design an emergency small repairs service, for consideration by the Comhairle, to address individual repairs items for the elderly, to moderate the increasing demand for full repairs grants. It was suggested that the proposals outlined in the Report in relation to the prioritising of housing grant approvals should remain in force for the time being and be reviewed by the Member/Officer Working Group, established to consider the targeting of housing grant monies, as soon as the financial commitment associated with housing grants had been reduced to an acceptable level and when there was an opportunity to gather further data in relation to the impact of the measures outlined in the Report.

   

It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:

(1) approve the prioritising of Housing Grant approvals, with the exception of those for adaptations for the disabled and grants to replace lead pipes, based on the criteria set out at Appendix 1 of the Report by the Acting Director of Environmental Services;

(2) for the time being, authorise the Acting Director of Environmental Services to sanction housing grant approvals for applications received after 27 March 2001, only where the housing conditions were such that the housing condition points exceeded 25, or works were necessary for the adaptation of the property for the disabled, or the application was for replacing lead pipes; and

(3) authorise the Acting Director of Environmental Services to request the Western Isles Care and Repairs Service to design an emergency small repairs service for consideration as an alternative and simpler system for tackling emergency repairs for the elderly.

Asylum Seekers: Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

PR90

29

With reference to item 18 of the Minute of Meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee of 22 February 2000, the Director of Housing submitted a Report outlining the current situation regarding the provision of accommodation and support services for asylum seekers. It was indicated in the Report that, in February 2000, the Comhairle had intimated to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) that, although it was sympathetic to the needs of asylum seekers and acknowledged that the Comhairle had surplus housing stock in Balivanich, it was unlikely that support services could be provided in the Western Isles for asylum seekers, without significant cost implications for either the Comhairle or the Scottish Executive.

Appended to the Report was a letter dated 9 February 2001 from COSLA, stating that the National Asylum Support Services (NASS) were continuing negotiations for access to more properties across the whole of the United Kingdom.

   

It was agreed to note the Report by the Director of Housing concerning Asylum Seekers: Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and the content of COSLA correspondence on this issue, as detailed in the Report.

New Housing Partnerships: Progress Report

H01.17

30*

With reference to item 12 of the Minute of Meeting of 30 January 2001, the Director of Housing submitted a Report giving information on the progress made in relation to the New Housing Partnerships Initiative. It was stated in the Report that the options appraisal stage of the New Housing Partnerships Feasibility Study had been completed and the Report had highlighted that a number of possible structures for delivering the housing service, had been considered at the option appraisal stage of the feasibility study, namely:

(1) retention by the Comhairle (the status quo);

(2) full transfer to a new locally based housing organisation, established by the Comhairle;

(3) full transfer of the stock to a number of new or existing housing organisations, with service delivery by a new single Island-wide housing service provider; and

(4) full transfer of the stock to a number of new or existing housing organisations, with all service delivery carried out "in house".

The Report further referred to a Tenants' Aspiration Survey, which had been carried out as part of the Feasibility Study by System Three, a market research company, between October and December 2000, which had been conducted using face to face interviews with over 600 tenants and housing waiting list applicants from throughout the Western Isles.

A summary of the main findings of the Tenants' Aspirations Survey was appended to the Report and it was further intimated that the main findings of the survey was:

(1) there was a very high response rate to the survey, with over 83% of targeted addresses responding;

(2) overall, there were very high levels of satisfaction with the current level of service, with 83% of tenants being either "very satisfied" or "fairly satisfied";

(3) "undertaking repairs and maintenance" was considered to be the most important housing service;

(4) "affordable rents" and "improving the quality of the housing stock", were considered to be the most important housing priorities; and

(5) 72% of housing waiting list respondents had not received any offers of housing since they had been on the waiting list.

The Report concluded that there was a need to undertake a detailed study of the demand situation for housing throughout the Western Isles, by means of a Housing Needs Analysis, which would provide a clearer picture of the need for new housing for rent, on the basis that this needs analysis would deal with aspects of household size and formation, population trends and the availability of existing housing. The Report referred to the likely cost of the housing needs analysis, which was estimated in the sum of £10,000 and that the cost of the study could be met jointly by Tighean Innse Gall and the Comhairle, using funding made available in terms of the Scottish Executive New Housing Partnerships.

   

It was agreed to recommend that:

(1) the Director of Housing be authorised to request Tighean Innse Gall to commission a Housing Needs Analysis in relation to affordable rented housing in the Western Isles;

(2) the Director of Housing be authorised to fund the housing needs analysis jointly with Scottish Executive, New Housing Partnership monies and Tighean Innse Gall;

(3) the results of the Housing Needs Analysis be fed into the New Housing Partnerships Feasibility Study and used as a basis for a bid for New Housing Partnership Capital Funding (or its successor) to enable a significantly increased building programme of social rented houses;

(4) the Director of Housing, in consultation with the Director of Corporate Services be authorised to arrange a Seminar in the Council Chamber on Wednesday 18 April 2001 to enable DTZ Pieda to report back on the Option Appraisal stage of the New Housing Partnership's Feasibility Study and the Tenants' Aspiration Study, with attendance being deemed an approved duty for Members of the Comhairle; and

(5) the Director of Corporate Services be authorised to invite all Comhairle Members to attend the seminar in (4) above.

   

The Committee unanimously agreed that, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 17 of the Scheme of Administration, that the Committee determine recommendations (4) and (5) above, on behalf of the Comhairle, under delegated powers, in light of the need to have the matter dealt with prior to the next meeting of the Comhairle, on the basis that the recommendation was not contentious and did not breach a major policy position of the Comhairle.

Action by Communities on their Environments (ACE) Option/

Challenge Fund Grants Review

H01.21

31*

With reference to item 50 of the Minute of Meeting of 30 May 2000, the Acting Director of Environmental Services submitted a Report concerning the Action by Communities on their Environment (ACE) Option and Challenge Fund Grant Schemes. It was intimated in the Report that the ACE Grant Scheme had integrated a number of the key elements of the Local Agenda 21 Strategy and had proved to be an effective way in supporting communities in their efforts to improve their environment in a sustainable manner.

The Report gave information on those projects which had been funded using the ACE Option Grant during 2000/01 and gave details of ACE Challenge Grants applications received for the 2001/02 financial year. The Report concluded that the demand for grant assistance from the ACE Challenge Fund had almost matched the level of budgetary provision made available for the Fund. It was intimated in the Report that ACE Challenge Fund projects would be monitored throughout 2001/02, with a view to developing criteria against which future Fund applications could be prioritised, as it was likely that the demand for funding in 2002/03 would exceed the probable level of budgetary provision for Challenge Fund Grants.

   

It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:

(1) note the level of participation from Community Groups in the Action by Communities on their Environment Grants Scheme (ACE) and the ability of Community Groups to successfully develop environmental projects; and

(2) approve the ACE Challenge Grant applications as listed in Appendix 2 of the Report by the Acting Director of Environmental Services, on the basis that the "Sandwick Project" be substituted for the Bernera Community Council's Project.

Scottish Executive Central Heating Programme: Local Authority Stock

H10.01.01

32

The Director of Housing submitted a Report appending a letter dated 26 February 2001 from the Scottish Executive concerning the Executive's Central Heating Programme for local authority stock. It was indicated in the Report that, as all of the Comhairle's housing stock had some form of central heating system, the Scottish Executive's Central Heating Programme was not expected to assist in the upgrading of the heating systems in those properties with inadequate heating systems, as for local authority stock a cash grant under the Central Heating Programme was only available for households that currently had no form of central heating.

   

It was agreed to note the Report by the Director of Housing concerning the Scottish Executive Central Heating Programme: Local Authority Stock, on the basis that the Director of Housing would submit a further report on how the Scheme was administered.

   

MANAGEMENT

Balivanich Community Regeneration Project - Acquisition Update

H02.31.35

H01.24

33

With reference to item 17 of the Minute of Meeting of 30 January 2001, the Director of Housing submitted a Report concerning the acquisition of 89 houses at Balivanich from the Ministry of Defence. It was intimated in the Report that the request had been made for a meeting with Dr Lewis Moonie MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, but that, as yet, no date had been given by the Minister for a meeting. The Report referred to the possibility of the 89 houses being transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the Comhairle under the "Gift Minute Procedure" and it was intimated that this process required the approval of HM Treasury. The Capital Expenditure forecast for the Balivanich Programme for the 2000/01 financial year, was appended to the Report.

   

It was agreed to note the Report by the Director of Housing concerning the Balivanich Community Regeneration Project: Acquisition Update.

   

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Best Value Review - Housing Grants - Progress

H10.01.01

34

The Acting Director of Environmental Services submitted a Report concerning the progress made in relation to the Best Value Review of Housing Grants. It was intimated in the Report that the Best Value Review Team had identified approximately 40 possible outputs that required consideration and development for possible policy adoption and these were detailed at Appendix 1 of the Report. The Report referred to the Review of Housing Grant Policies, utilising a Member/Officer Working Group and intimated that this had been delayed until the legislative position was more clear.

The Report further referred to the relationship between the Care and Repair Service and the Comhairle, as set out in a Service Level Agreement which was, at present, under review. It was highlighted that, at present, the Care and Repair Service had some 787 current cases to deal with and that this had placed a significant burden on the service although, it was anticipated that by September 2001, the workload on the Care and Repair Service would be considerably reduced.

   

It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:

(1) agree to the list of potential outputs for the Best Value Review of the Housing Grants Service detailed at Appendix 1 of the Report by the Acting Director of Environmental Services; and

(2) agree to continue to fund the Western Isles Care and Repair Service at the current level for a further six months.

Reports Outstanding: Progress

PR33.01.12

35

The Director of Corporate Services submitted a Report detailing Reports Outstanding arising from decisions of the Committee from 1 May 1994.

It was agreed to note the Report.

   

RELATED MATTERS

Western Isles Credit Union Feasibility Study

H01.01.13

36*

The Vice-Chairman invited Mr John Wilson, ABCUL (Scotland) to address the Committee on the outcome of the feasibility study into the relevance of a Credit Union for the Western Isles.

Members were afforded an opportunity to ask questions of Mr Wilson.

The Vice-Chairman thanked Mr Wilson for his presentation.

   

It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle note the findings of the Western Isles Credit Union Feasibility Study, on the basis that a further Report would be prepared by the appropriate Heads of Service, as determined by the Chief Executive, on the establishment of a Credit Union in the Western Isles and submitted to the appropriate Committee of the Comhairle at a future date.

Proposed Terms of Lease of Land to North Tolsta Community Council for Extension to the School/

Community Hall

H15.10.128

37*

The Director of Housing, the Acting Director of Education and Leisure Services and Director of Corporate Services submitted a Report concerning the lease of land adjacent to North Tolsta Primary School and the Comhairle's Housing Scheme at Airidh a Bhreide to North Tolsta Community Council. It was indicated in the Report that on 29 August 2000 the Comhairle agreed to authorise the Acting Director of Education and Leisure Services to lease 137 square metres of land forming part of the curtilage of Tolsta School to North Tolsta Community Council for a period of 75 years. Following examination of the Comhairle's title deeds, it had become clear that a larger area of land would be required to incorporate car parking and landscaping. An amended plan showing the two plots of land now required by the North Tolsta Community Council were appended to the Report.

   

It was agreed to recommend that:

(1) the Director of Corporate Services be authorised to lease the two areas of land at North Tolsta shown on the plan appended to the report, extending in total to 1,301 square metres together with a right of pedestrian and vehicular access over the new access road to the North Tolsta Community Council, on the basis that the said Community Council meet all property and other related costs related to the occupation of the land and building to be erected thereon and for a period of 75 years and subject to such other terms and conditions as the Director of Corporate Services, in consultation with the Acting Director of Education and Leisure Services and the Director of Housing would determine; and

(2) the lease of the said subjects be for a nominal sum of £10 per annum, subject to the Comhairle obtaining the consent of the Scottish Ministers for the disposal of the land at less than market value and for disposal of that part of the land held on the Housing Revenue Account.

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