Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Trevor Lovett, Mary Bailey and Mandy Buxey from the Residents Consortium.

Councillor Darren Sanders declared that he lived in private rented accommodation and a House in Multiple Occupancy but was not affected by any of the issues being decided on.

Purpose of Report

The purpose of this information only report is to update the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness on the City Council's council housing (Portsmouth Homes) anti-social behaviour (ASB) improvement plan and to demonstrate the progress achieved to date.

Colette Hill, Assistant Director, Neighbourhoods presented the information only report, the purpose of which was to update the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness on the City Council's council housing (Portsmouth Homes) anti-social behaviour (ASB) improvement plan and to demonstrate the progress achieved to date.

She gave an update on the progress the plan.  At 5.2 of the report, actions 1, 2, 3 and 6 had been completed, embedded and were progressing and actions 5 & 9 had been implemented and actions 4, 7 and 8 were due for completion by the end of February.

Resident Consortium

Greg Anderson noted that residents were constantly complaining about issues such as people being in buildings when they shouldn’t be and people being outside when they shouldn’t be.  He did not feel there were enough people to cover all the areas.  He noted it was a manpower issue and not a lack of willingness.  If residents call the Police, they must wait for someone to attend.

Officers clarified that they are not necessarily a response service, but the housing team would address any issues that were raised with them.  However, the Estate Warden Service and the Community Warden Team do out and about in the blocks in the evenings.  They will try to target those areas where there were known issues.  Repeat problems should be escalated to the housing officer to help understand where the team need to be deployed for additional patrols.  Officers urged residents to report any issues as this would help to build a clearer picture of problem areas.

There were no Member's questions.

DECISION

The Cabinet Member noted the report.

Purpose of Report

This report provides an update on work completed following the City Council's social housing landlords (Portsmouth Homes) self-assessment against the housing consumer standards, which resulted in a self-referral to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in September 2024 and sets out the improvement plan which responds to the recent regulatory judgement by the RSH.

Nicola Clannachan, Head of Housing Community Services and Adam Hardwick, Assistant Director, Buildings presented the information only report, the purpose of which was to provide an update on work completed following the City Council's social housing landlords (Portsmouth Homes) self-assessment against the housing consumer standards, which resulted in a self-referral to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in September 2024 and set out the improvement plan in response to the recent regulatory judgement by the RSH.

A written Deputation was read out from Martin Silman - please see here  Agenda for Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness on Wednesday, 19th February, 2025, 4.00 pm Portsmouth City Council

Resident Consortium

Greg Anderson stated the report had been considered at the residents meeting and they had all understood the situation with not being able to prove what had been done.

Members' Questions

In response to Members' questions, officers clarified:

·       The regulation of private landlords by Portsmouth City Council was a completely different part of the service.  The Private Sector Service was resourced to deliver the services to the private sector around licensing enforcement, monitoring and support for landlords and tenants.  The Portsmouth Homes Service was funded purely from the HRA and was a completely separate service, so this did not impact on the ability to deliver the service to the private sector enforcement side.

·       Briefings had been carried out with the Team around how to manage conversations about the distinction between the Private Sector team and the Portsmouth Homes Service, should any challenge arise.

·       The first meeting with the Regulator on 4^th March 2025 would be a conversation to understand the remit of the monthly meetings with them.  The meeting would include the Regulator and the Assistant Directors with James Hill, Director having conversations with them and providing data to them in advance. The Regulator would then set the agenda and questions for the service to respond to.  The meetings would be aligned with the services own reporting and governance structure.

·       There was no legal requirement to be on a 5-year cycle with electrical checks whilst the service had been on a 10-year cycle.  It was noted that the policy had always been to do electrical inspections whenever there was a property inspection to ensure safety, and any issues would be addressed at the time.  Within the yearly inspections, a visual inspection of the electrical installations was undertaken to check for any issues such as broken sockets etc.

·       Doing an electrical inspection every 10 years did not mean that tenants were unknowingly living in unsafe conditions.  When electrical inspections were completed, all actions necessary at the time were completed to make the property safe at that point.  The service was demand led, and any resident could report an electrical issue at any time and any necessary repairs would take place immediately.   Tenancy update visits and the yearly inspection were reasonable steps to ensure that the properties were safe ahead of a formal electrical inspection.

·       The 15% detailed in the Regulator  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Purpose of Report

The purpose of the report is to present recommendations and agree the approach that will be applied to the upcoming annual pitch fee review process for April 2025.

RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness takes note of the recommendations in this report and:

1.    Agrees to increase Park Home pitch fees by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate as published on 19^th February 2025. This will be the applicable rate of CPI for April 2025 pitch fee uprating and will not be known prior to 19^th February 2025.  The most recent rate of CPI, published in January 2025, was 2.5%.

2.    Requests that an annual report will be brought to the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness for decision before each pitch fee review process commences.

Samuel Rickeard, Housing Regulation Manager, presented the report, the purpose of which was to present recommendations and agree the approach that would be applied to the upcoming annual pitch fee review process for April 2025.

He noted there was a set procedure and legislation in place that limited any increase to the applicable rate of CPI published on 19 February 2025 which was 3% not 2.5% as outlined in the report.

Resident Consortium

In response to a question from the Resident Consortium representative, officers clarified that the pricing for the double pitch was based on the size of the pitch. 

Members' Questions

In response to Members' questions, officers clarified:

·       The maximum the fee could increase by was the rate of the published CPI.  There was a discretion, that had been applied in some previous years, to increase to a lower rate than CPI.  That had happened when the RPI rate had been significantly higher and the decision was taken to essentially meet costs.  However, there were currently lots of budget pressures facing the service, so a lower rate had not been recommended now.

·       The service was paid for through the pitch fees paid by residents and any shortfall would impact the service's ability to meet its contribution to fixed overheads.

·       A 2.5% increase potentially invited financial pressure for the service due to the increases in costs the service was facing, such as water rates, and repairs and maintenance which were anticipated to be beyond the rate of CPI and may create a negative budget pressure.

DECISION

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness took note of the recommendations in the report and:

1.    Agreed to increase Park Home pitch fees by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate as published on 19^th February 2025 which was 3%.

2.    Requested that an annual report be brought to the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness for decision before each pitch fee review process commences.

Purpose of Report

The purpose of the report is to present the proposals for Private Sector Housing (PSH) fee adjustments for chargeable services to ensure fees achieve full cost recovery.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1.    That the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness approves the proposals for PSH fee adjustments for the City Council's Mandatory and Additional Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing fees as outlined in Appendix 1, to commence from 1^st April 2025 for all new licence applications received on or after 1^st April 2025, and for all licence renewals that have a current expiry date of 1^st April 2025 or later.

2.    That the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness approves the proposals for PSH fee adjustments for the City Council's Private Sector Housing Enforcement fees in Appendix 2, to commence from 1^st April 2025 for any enforcement notices served on or after 1^st April 2025.

Samuel Rickeard, Housing Regulation Manager, presented the report, the purpose of which was to present the proposals for Private Sector Housing (PSH) fee adjustments for chargeable services to ensure fees achieved full cost recovery.

Deputation

A written Deputation was read out from Martin Silman during agenda item 4  - please see here - Agenda for Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness on Wednesday, 19th February, 2025, 4.00 pm Portsmouth City Council

Officers moved on to answer the points raised in the deputation:

·       The 6000 HMO number was an estimate based on a variety of data sources that were available to officers.  This had not made any difference to the way licensing was carried out, as resourcing was based on the actual inspections carried out and the activity associated with that.  The service was based on demand levels.  The service was committed to inspecting every licensed property at least once during the term of the licence and fees needed to reflect that.

·       The tiered system required poorer performing landlords to pay more when compared with compliant landlords.

·       A comparison with other local authorities showed that HMO fees in Portsmouth were roughly mid-range. This comparison was based on the prices on their websites at that point in time and it was likely that other local authorities were also considering their fee structure and would likely increase their fees in the coming weeks and months.

·       Fees had not been reviewed since they were introduced 18 months prior.  The 11% included two pay awards for council staff in earlier years, a flat rate pay award for the current financial year and an estimated flat rate award for the next year.  It also reflected the extra burdens the service faces due to the changes in employer national contributions being bought in on 1^st April this year.  For some of the staff working on licences, that amounted to over 11%. There were also other costs which fed into the complex model such as the number of licences and the number of staff needed to meet the demand.

There were no Resident Consortium questions or comments.

Members' questions

In response to Members' questions, officers clarified:

·       The increase covered 2 years of pay awards and the staff overseeing the service, doing the enforcement, doing the monitoring and looking after the licensing were subject to the Local Government pay increase.

·       The £2 per month increase was per HMO not per room.

·       The Governments methodology for distributing the national insurance compensation looked at the net cost of service for council taxpayers, based on expenditure in the last financial year, so it excluded any paid for services where the costs are charged on such as licensing.

DECISION

The Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness:

1.    Approved the proposals for PSH fee adjustments for the City Council's Mandatory and Additional Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing fees as outlined in Appendix 1, to commence from 1^st April 2025 for all new licence applications received on or after 1^{st  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.}

Purpose of Report

The purpose of this report is to inform the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness of the delivery model review and options appraisal for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Repairs and Maintenance Service and the HRA Gas Repair and Servicing programme ahead of the expiration of their respective contracts on 31^st March 2026.

The scope of the report is in specific relation to existing services delivering:

·       Repairs and maintenance to c.17,500 council dwellings held in the HRA

·       Gas servicing and repairs to c.13,500 council dwellings held in the HRA

·       Repairs and maintenance to c.550 corporate assets held in the General Fund.

The report will provide:

·       An overview of the existing delivery model

·       Challenges facing the service that any revised delivery model will need to support.

·       A summary of consultation that has been undertaken.

·       The appraisal of the service delivery options.

·       Officer recommendation, the action to take forward the recommendation and rationale of the preferred delivery model.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1.    That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness notes the current service delivery model, the service pressures and consultation undertaken.

2.    That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness notes the delivery model and options appraisals (Appendix A-L)

3.    That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness approves the recommended delivery model of out-sourcing the Repairs & Maintenance contract, Gas Servicing and Repairs contract, Landlords Building Repairs Contract and Fire Safety Compliance contract and;

3.1          That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness notes the proposed Lotting and Contractual models proposed.

3.2          That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness gives delegated authority to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services in consultation with the Director of Finance & Resources (S.151 Officer) and the City Solicitor to determine the final lotting to achieve best value.

3.3          That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness gives delegated authority to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services in consultation with the Director of Finance & Resources (S151 Officer) and the City Solicitor to determine the final contractual arrangements to achieve best value.  That the individual contract durations be for a minimum of five years with the option to extend for up to 5 years subject to contractor performance.

3.4          That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness approves the commencement of a procurement exercise to re-tender the Repairs & Maintenance contract and the Gas Servicing and Repairs contract to commence from the 1^st April 2026.

3.5          That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness notes the duty to consult and engage Portsmouth Homes (council housing service) tenants, leaseholders and shared owners as required under s.105 of the Housing Act 1985 and the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2024, Consumer Standards in the procurement process and the intention that residents play a key role in the selection of the contractors and design of service.

3.6          That the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness requests the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, to update the Cabinet Member, housing opposition portfolio members and the  ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Adam Hardwick, Assistant Director, Buildings and Steve Groves, Head of Building Repairs, presented the report, the purpose of which was to inform the Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness of the delivery model review and options appraisal for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Repairs and Maintenance Service and the HRA Gas Repair and Servicing programme ahead of the expiration of their respective contracts on 31^st March 2026.  The report provided the following:

·       An overview of the existing delivery model

·       The challenges facing the service that any revised delivery model would need to support.

·       A summary of the consultation that had been undertaken

·       The appraisal of the service delivery options.

·       The officer recommendation, the action to take forward the recommendation and the rationale of the preferred delivery model.

He informed that the scope of the report was in specific relation to existing services delivering:

·       Repairs and maintenance to circa 17,500 council dwellings held in the HRA

·       Gas servicing and repairs to circa 13,500 council dwellings held in the HRA

·       Repairs and maintenance to circa 550 corporate assets held in the General Fund.

Resident Consortium

Greg Anderson expressed that the system seemed to be working well, and residents were happy with the service.

Members' Comments

Members were happy with the recommendations in the report to outsource at that point in time.

Cabinet Member Comments

Councillor Sanders outlined three principles behind his decision:

·       This would be a better service for tenants and leaseholders, and he was delighted that the service was looking at ways to meet tenant's expectations better.

·       Improving the service saves money.

·       The avoidance of a public monopoly.

He also noted the scrutiny report, which was clear that in-house teams run by housing associations were worse than outsourced teams run by the council.  He also considered that splitting the contract into different packages increased the opportunity to drive up the social value.

He also referred to the future of the Council in light of the Local Government re-organisation, and this would help ensure the service was future proofed against any merger. 

DECISION

The Cabinet Member for Housing & Tackling Homelessness:

1.    Noted the current service delivery model, the service pressures and the consultation undertaken.

2.    Noted the delivery model and options appraisals (Appendices A - L)

3.    Approved the recommended delivery model of outsourcing the Repairs & Maintenance contract, Gas Servicing and Repairs contract, Landlords Building Repairs Contract and Fire Safety Compliance contract and:

3.1Noted the proposed Lotting and Contractual models proposed.

3.2Gave delegated authority to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services in consultation with the Director of Finance & Resources (S.151 Officer) and the City Solicitor to determine the final lotting to achieve best value.

3.3Gave delegated authority to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services in consultation with the Director of Finance & Resources (S.151 Officer) and the City Solicitor to determine the final contractual arrangements to achieve best value.  That the individual contract durations be for a minimum of five years with the option to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.