Issue - items at meetings - Cabinet Member's Communications

63.1    The Chairman informed the meeting of an announcement from Government about a reduction to the guideline rent increase for 2009/10. The announcement had been made without supporting guidance and at an awkward time. While the Chairman supported any initiative to reduce rent increases for tenants, it was not possible to determine how to respond to the announcement. Therefore the current rent increase of 5.45% approved by Cabinet on 12th February and by Council on 26th February remained until further notice.

63.2       The Chairman reported that Local Lettings Plans were being developed. These would be drafted in three phases; the initial Plan would be for Sheltered Housing, with plans for better balanced communities and age restricted lettings developed later.

63.3       The Chairman welcomed a proposal from the High Rise Action Group that the council publish its procedures for the handling of emergencies during ‘out-of-hours’ periods. Officers had been instructed to review the emergency procedures to ensure that they were robust and consistently applied.  Information on the procedures would be included in the revised Tenant Handbook and Tenant Representatives’ Handbook. 

63.4       The Chairman noted that the Audit Commission had visited earlier in the month to advise and assist on assessment. They had examined resident involvement and income management arrangements, and reviewed the HRA business plan. The inspector had been impressed with the commitment of the Tenant Compact Monitoring Group and had praised the work of residents following visits to meetings of the Asset Management Panel and the ‘Our Neighbourhood’ local base steering group. A full report on the visit and the recommendations made by the audit commission would be presented to a future meeting.

63.5       The Chairman reported that the Area Panels had confirmed their tenant board members to ‘Brighton & Hove Community Seaside Homes’. Further project developments including a number of key elements would be settled by end of March; including drafting legal documents, incorporating the company, and appointing a number of independent members to the board.

63.6       The economic situation had made it more difficult to secure funding within the original timeframe; however a number of funders had expressed interest. Consent was required from the Secretary of State to allow the council to lease properties to the company and meetings with the Communities for Local Government) had been held to progress this.

63.7       The Chairman paid tribute to Ted Kitchen and John Jolliffe both of whom had recently passed away. The committee observed a minutes silence in respect.

63.8       The committee noted that the Senior Democratic Support Officer was taking a secondment to the Policy Team for a few months. In wishing him well they noted that Caroline De Marco and Kirsty Walker would be covering his work in the interim.