Brighton & Hove City Council

Housing Management Panel: East Area

6.30pm 5 DECEMBER 2023

BRISTOL ESTATE COMMUNITY ROOM

Present:

Councillors: Williams, Allen, Simon

Residents: Dee Simson, Leah Webb, Anne Glow, Chris El-Shabba, Val Steadman, Rosemary Johnson

Officers: Sam Warren, Geof Gage, Jan Dowdell, Martin Reid, Justine Harris, Keely McDonald, Gab Tiranti, Grant Ritchie

Clerk: Francis Mitchell – Democratic Services Officer

OPEN SURGERY (DEALING WITH INDIVIDUAL ISSUES)

18:00 – 30 Minutes

1    WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS & APOLOGIES                                                       5 – 10

1.1 There were apologies from

2    MINUTES & ACTION LOG                                                                                       11 - 18

2.1 EA1 of the in the action log from the previous meeting was to be actioned by the next meeting.

2.2 The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record.

3    DEVELOPMENT OF TENANT ASSOCIATIONS

3.1 Sam Warren delivered a verbal update on this item, focusing on the support available for those who wish to develop new Tenants & Residents Associations in the East Area and drawing attention to the newly developed toolkit aimed at aiding in the establishment of associations.

3.2 Attendees shared their experiences with the establishment of their own respective associations.

3.3 Rosemary Johnson suggested inviting those wishing to start associations to residents and tenants only meetings.

4    HOUSING BUDGET REPORT

4.1 Martin Reid delivered the presentation as per the agenda item.

4.2 Residents raised questions with regard to how many parking spaces will be available for the 38 newly purchased homes in Whitehawk, Martin Reid agreed to action this and provide the information at the next panel meeting.

5    HOUSING PERFORMANCE Q2 REPORT                                                              19 – 38

5.1 Martin Reid delivered the presentation as per the agenda item.

5.2 Chris El-Shabba commended the repair turnaround time, citing a same-day routine repair.

5.3 Martin Reid iterated the importance of timely routine repairs in the delivery of planned preventative maintenance.

5.4 Dee Simson raised concerns regarding the Gas Safety Compliance Level and questioned whether the eight properties listed as not yet being compliant were inclusive of, or separate from, the five properties listed in the previous report.

5.5 Martin Reid stated the importance of Gas Safety Compliance and outlined how contractors were working on improving compliance within housing stock.

5.6 Martin Reid agreed to confirm with Dee Simson, at the next panel meeting, as to whether the eight properties listed as not yet being Gas Safety Compliant is inclusive of, or separate from, the five properties listed in the previous report.

5.7 Sam Warren cited research and suggested that phrasing had an impact on residents’ likelihood to allow maintenance to take place, stating that language such as ‘gas & boiler check’ could be rephrased to ‘gas and boiler servicing’ to remove potentially accusatory language and increase the number of households that allow access to their utilities.

6    CITYCLEAN, NEW PROCESS FOR PERSISTENT ISSUES

6.1 Sam Warren delivered the verbal briefing on the new process for persistent issues with CityClean.

7     RESIDENT'S QUESTIONS - 2 & 3                                                                          39 - 70

(There is a technical issue accessing the recording of the meeting and therefore this section is incomplete. We hope to have this resolved within the next 2 months and will update the minutes accordingly which will be available on the council website)

8     ANY OTHER BUSINESS

9     ITEMS FOR INFORMATION                                                                                  71 – 84