Agenda item

To receive a briefing from the People Portfolio Holders regarding the People business area and their portfolios and to consider any issues that arise.

Members received a briefing from the People Portfolio Holders regarding the People service areas and considered any issues arising from their presentations.

The Director of People Services introduced the item and the three portfolio areas which were: Housing and Benefits, Wellbeing and Intervention and Community Partnerships.

Cllr G. Knight,  Portfolio Holder for Housing and Benefits, gave an overview on housing services and revenue, benefits and fraud. Highlights included homelessness prevention (252 positive outcomes where this was prevented – 96 more than last year) and successful use of emergency accommodation in Horley (which saved around £180k a year on bed and breakfast accommodation). Forty-three affordable and social rented homes have been delivered during the first two quarters of 2019/20. It was examining the affordable housing economic viability qualifications and working with social housing providers to fulfil the criteria which was part of the Housing Delivery Strategy. Projects such as Lee Street, Cromwell Road and Pitwood Park developments were getting underway to deliver more housing.

Universal Credit (UC) was being rolled out gradually in the borough. Raven Housing Trust was performing above the national average to reduce arrears of those receiving UC – an average £589 UC debt compared with £774 national average. It supported Raven’s initiative to help people move to the right size homes to free up larger homes for families.

Over 50 per cent of the 19 people in bed and breakfast accommodation in any week were single people with complex needs which was increasing. The four units in Lee Street, Horley would be aimed at accommodating single people and they were looking at best practice projects working with single homeless people. A project in Leatherhead had been visited, called LeatherHead Start.

Members made comments in the discussion that followed which included:

·         Universal credit – Members asked if people were generally worse off due to the introduction of Universal Credit (UC) and how people were helped to be debt free when there was a five-week delay in payments. It was noted that the Council worked with Raven Housing Trust to help people through the first few weeks such as getting advice from the Money Support Team. It was noted that 700 Raven tenants were claiming UC which was increasing by 12 – 15 households per week. There was no date yet from the Department for Work and Pensions when the full roll out of UC was going to take place.

·         Empty homes – a number of properties were known to be empty and the Council have tried to engage with some owners to bring them back into use as a private rented accommodation or to find another solution.

·         Cromwell Road and Pitwood Park – it was confirmed that the forecast completion date of June 2021 was realistic. A budgetary review of the Pitwood Park development had been carried out as the government’s scheme on starter homes (on which this project was based) had not materialised and the tenure mix and market had changed as well as Members’ appetite for more affordable housing.

·         Housing register – it was noted that 800 households were on the waiting list and a household could be one person or more. Social housing vacancies were running at 222 to date in this financial year. Members were pleased that the Housing Delivery Strategy aimed to establish a Local Housing Company.

·         Portland Drive, Merstham – Members asked why 50 homes would be for sale in this development when more affordable homes for rent were needed. It was noted that Merstham had a range of social housing and this allowed a housing mix. There were 80 properties in total so not all were market sale homes. This was to generate cross subsidy to support the building of more affordable homes.

·         Care home developments –Members asked what impact the increasing number of care home developments in Tattenhams, Nork and Banstead had on the different housing targets and on the local economy. It was noted that this was considered as part of the planning policy and discussions with developers to make them more aware of their obligations to build affordable housing.

·         Revenue, benefits and fraud – it was noted that the revenue, benefits and fraud team were very successful in collecting council tax and business rates in the Borough with one of the best collection rates in England and Wales. Identifying cases of false applications for housing services saved the council an estimated £505,800. The team were winners of the Excellence in Counter Fraud Awards 2019. Since 2015, the team had been successful at providing services to other local authorities, housing providers and the private sector. In November, the Council had asked consultants to look into the potential for setting up a Local Authority Trading Company and a report was due to be taken to the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee in February to consider future growth and the best way of delivering this and ensuring financial sustainability.

Cllr A. Horwood, Portfolio Holder for Wellbeing and Intervention, gave an overview of work in his business area. The intervention work includes the Family Support Programme, the Refugee Resettlement Programme and the Money Support team. The Family Support Programme received 100 referrals in 2019/20 – nearly half the referrals in South East Surrey. Family feedback showed that 79 per cent of families felt their lives have improved as result of the team’s work. The Refugee Resettlement Programme was currently supporting 10 households who had been displaced by the war in Syria. Innovative projects included a Conversation Café and Syrian feasts that had been held at the Harlequin. The council had agreed to extend this programme and double the numbers of refugee households in the next five years.

The Money Support Team was one of the newest services aimed at helping with the roll-out of Universal Credit. It helped households with a budget plan, clearing debts, setting up a bank account, digital support and benefit entitlement.

In the Wellbeing business area, the three leisure centres had seen a two per cent increase in visitor numbers to 1,219,649 in 2019 despite a fire in the men’s changing room at Donyngs in Redhill which had closed the centre for a short period. The operator, GLL had managed this incident well and made sure the centre then reopened in stages. Leisure activities for residents included the Star for a Night, holiday activities and the Surrey Youth Games.

The Harlequin theatre had a busy year with 46,124 tickets sold for 135 live performances. The refurbished cinema, renamed the Waller Studio, opened in time for October half term and had received favourable feedback. Cllr Horwood thanked officers as well as the Harlequin Board for their work this year and for developing a new vision which will see a refreshed approach in the coming years.

Members discussed the following points:

·         Harlequin theatre ­– Members thanked the team for their work on the renovation of the Waller Studio, successful performances and for hosting community events such as the baby café which was important locally. It was confirmed that the visitor numbers to live performances did not include film showings. Members asked for the box office financial takings and officers said they would supply a written response to this question. It was confirmed that the Harlequin theatre was not currently breaking even. It had been a challenging year, however, venue managers were looking at efficiencies they could make. There was also a rolling financial plan over the next five years so the theatre could rely less on subsidies by 2025. Ultimately though it was seen as a community hub.

·         Harlequin satisfaction survey ­– Members noted that a fifth of respondents was going away unhappy as the satisfaction survey rate was 81 per cent. They asked how this data would be monitored in future to improve this rating. It was noted that this was a new collection of data and this focus on customer experience would feed into future management reports, with an action plan. Members asked if customer feedback on the refurbished Waller Studio could be included.

·         Leisure – It was confirmed that the council worked closely with different voluntary organisations and were always open to speaking to residents who wanted to start up new groups or community associations.

·         Refugee resettlement – it was noted that this programme to support Syrian refugees would be expanded in future years to support another 10 families. Households also received courses in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL).

Cllr R. Ashford, Portfolio Holder for Community Partnerships, and Justine Chatfield, Head of Community Partnerships, gave an overview of his portfolio. The Voluntary and Community Safety (VCS) Support services underwent a review in 2019 and the recommendations were approved by the Executive in June 2019. Progress had been made, for example, reworking the Council’s financial support for the sector, and policies are now in place for free/discounted use of meeting rooms and for ‘at cost’ printing services. There was also more one-to-one contact with the voluntary sector partners. The team was evaluating the new approach to small grants funding and there would be an opportunity shortly for Members to provide feedback for future rounds.

The Council was working with Skylark charity and Voluntary Action Reigate and Banstead (VARB) to raise resident awareness on volunteering opportunities and increase corporate sector skills-based volunteering including by RBBC employees.

The Council’s community development workers support six communities where there are greater needs. Their roles involve listening  to local people to understand local issues and build trust. They run very valuable networking fora, each of which has its own action plan. Their roles are highly valued by other Council teams and external partners. As well as supporting individuals, their work can prevent some issues from escalating and save the Council money.

An update on the three Community Centres in Banstead, Woodhatch and Horley was given. These were being brought in-house from 1 April after the provider ended the contract early. The aim was to make the transition for staff and centre members as smooth as possible. A consultation exercise with users and volunteers would be launched once the centres were back in-house. An all-party Member consultative group had been established to inform the work.

Cllr Ashford concluded by thanking the Head of Community Partnerships and her team for their work.

Members asked questions and discussed the following points:

·         Employee volunteering policy – Members asked for clarity on the number of days of volunteering a year proposed for RBBC employees. It was confirmed that the plan was to introduce the opportunity of two days of volunteering at first as the Council needed to balance showing leadership in this area with its operational staffing needs. It would be reviewed once up and running.

·         Raising public awareness of volunteering – Members asked about publicising the voluntary groups’ work on volunteering. The Council will be working with VARB on this, with a focus on National Volunteer Week at the beginning of June. Some voluntary sector organisations use social media well and may be able to share this expertise with other organisations through peer support. A skilled social media Council staff member is planning some short surgery sessions to provide local voluntary organisations with advice on social media.

·         Community development workers – Members commented how well the community development work in Preston ward was progressing.

·         Future youth provision– it was noted that as Surrey County Council planned to move away from providing universal youth work, it had agreed to offer its premises at low or no cost. Cllr N. Harrison thanked the Leader for facilitating work in this area. Ward members who have youth centres in their areas will work with the Portfolio Holder  and Executive.

Committee Chair, Cllr N. Harrison thanked the Place Portfolio Holders and officers for attending the meeting.

RESOLVED – that the Committee’s observations regarding the People Portfolio Holder briefings and business areas be noted.