West Area Panel 18.03.26
Minutes

Attendees:
Cllrs: Nann (Chair), Miller, Cattell, Parrott

Residents: Malcom Campbell, Alex, Helen Jardine-Hodges, Murial Briault, Alison Gray

Officers: Hannah Barker, Justine Harris, Chloe McLoughlin, Sam Crick, Harry Williams, Francis Mitchell

Press: Sarah Booker-Lewis

1 – Welcome, Introductions and Apologies

1.1 Apologies were received from Martin Reid.

2 – Chair’s Communications

2.1 No communications were delivered.

3 – Minutes and Actions of the Previous Meeting

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

3.2 Concerns were raised regarding meeting invitations only being distributed digitally.

i. ACTION – Hannah Barker to ensure that attendees are invited through other means to avoid digital exclusion.

3.3 The Chair read each action and the associated response in turn.

4 – Review and Approve Residents Questions

4.1 W3.3

Helen Jardine-Hodges stated that it was difficult to disincentivise individuals from feeding wildlife and questioned what could be done to prevent this occurring in future.

4.2 Councillor Miller stated that feeding wildlife should be considered antisocial behaviour and suggested the installation of CCTV cameras as a potential solution.

4.3 Harry Williams stated that CCTV would be limited in its ability to solve this issue in particular, and suggested signage as an alternative.

4.4 Alex agreed with the use of signage to dissuade the feeding of wildlife.

4.5 Cllr Miller suggested tracking the license plates of those feeding wildlife.

4.6 The Chair suggested that PCSO’s could support with this issue.

4.7 Harry Williams stated that Estates Officers could assist with the prevention of feeding wildlife.

4.8 Cllr Miller stated that they were looking at potential dates for a meeting with residents of Conway Court.

i. ACTION – Hannah Barker to follow up with Cllr Miller regarding meeting with residents of Conway Court.

4.9 W3.4

Alison Gray stated that this issue was raised 6 months prior and questioned why a resolution was taking so long and stated that the response was unacceptable.

4.10 Alison Gray stated that several residents without email addresses were left out.

4.11 Hannah Barker outlined the process of setting up a new Housing Database, as well as outlining the process by which papers and documentation are provided to residents.

4.12 Hannah Barker stated that approximately one-third of Council tenants do not use email, and that paper copies of documentation can be provided upon request.

4.13 Muriel Briault questioned why they had not been contacted regarding the EDB and expressed dissatisfaction with the delivery services provided by Royal Mail.

4.14 Justine Harris outlined how this would be dealt with, suggesting that documentation and invitations would be sent to residents at an earlier date.

4.15 Sam Crick outlined other methods of resident engagement.

4.16 Alison Gray stated that they were not invited to this months EDB panel and questioned why emails could not be printed and mailed to residents who were not proficient in the use of technology.

4.17 Alison Gray requested the attendance and location information for upcoming digital inclusion sessions.

i. ACTION – Justine Harris to provide Alison Gray with information regarding digital inclusion sessions.

4.18 Alison Gray questioned how residents were notified of digital inclusion sessions.

4.19 Harry Williams suggested bringing an agenda item to a future meeting that provides information on digital inclusion.

i. ACTION – Harry Williams to ascertain whether an item on digital inclusion would be beneficial at a future meeting of the West Area Panel.

4.20 W3.5

Alison Gray stated that cessation of Special Interest Groups was not adequately communicated to residents.

4.21 Alison Gray questioned why the work of a department seemed to rely on the presence of a single individual officer.

i. ACTION – Harry Williams and Justine Harris to meet with residents to investigate concerns of departmental work relying on the presence of a single individual officer.

4.22 Helen Jardine-Hodges highlighted the need for engagement strategies to be broad and include as many residents as possible.

4.23 The Chair iterated Harry Williams’ proposal to meet and discuss this with residents outside of the meeting.

4.24 Alison Gray stated that action N3.1 indicated that other areas of the city were facing similar issues with Council communications.

5 – Chairing Arrangements

5.1 Hannah Barker delivered the report for this item.

5.2 Harry Williams stated the need to make the process for electing new co-chairs as clear and transparent as possible.

6 – Break

7 – STAR Results Survey

7.1 Harry Williams delivered the report for this item.

7.2 Malcolm Campbell stated the importance of the availability of paper copies of surveys being made available to residents in good time before the conclusion of the survey period.

7.3 Alison Gray questioned how many residents and tenants had responded to the survey.

7.4 Harry Williams stated that around 10% of Council residents had responded to the survey.

7.5 Helen Jardine-Hodges stated that ASB mostly occurred during nighttime hours.

7.6 Harry Williams outlined how the Council and Sussex Police provide a multiagency response to ASB.

7.7 Cllr Parrot stated that there was an ASB task and finish group focusing on prevention of ASB that was due to report to Overview and Scrutiny Committee in July.

8 – Terms of Reference Update

8.1 Hannah Barker provided an update for this item, stating that any updates to the terms of reference would be in regard to the election of co-chairs.

8.2 Harry Williams stated that work was being conducted to improve residents experiences of Housing Area Panels.

9 – Allocations / Sensitive Lets Workshop

9.1 Harry Williams delivered the report for this item.

9.2 There were no questions.

10 – LPS Update

10.1 Justine Harris delivered the report for this item.

10.2 There were no questions.

11 – Regulatory Judgement

11.1 Harry Williams delivered the report for this item.

11.2 There were no questions.

12 – Any Other Business

12.1 Alison Gray stated that it seemed that the rules regarding EBD panels had been changed to allow repeat bids and criticised that funding was being allocated to group exercise classes.

12.2 Hannah Barker stated that the EDB criteria had been amended some years ago to include wellness activities for residents and iterated that all funding is still voted on, as well as that the West Area frequently finds itself underspent in terms of total EDB funding available.

i. ACTION – Community Engagement to investigate and contact Alison Gray regarding changes to EDB eligibility requirements.

12.3 Malcolm Campell was informed that there would be an EDB panel meeting on 25 March.

i. ACTION – Community Engagement to meet with Alison Gray regarding her removal from the EDB panel.

The meeting concluded at 15:48