Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

The Advisory Board resolved that under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1097, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the restricted minute within Item 3 ‘Minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2018’ and the whole of Item 5, ‘Blackpool Housing Company’, on the grounds that they would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To agree the public and restricted minutes of the last meeting held on 24 July 2018 as a true and correct record.

(This item contains commercially sensitive information which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.)

The Advisory Board considered the minutes of the last meeting held on 17 May 2018, noting that there was a public and restricted version.

The Advisory Board agreed that the minutes be signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

To provide an update on the recent work of Blackpool Coasting Housing (BCH) including a summary of Quarter 1 performance for the period 1 April – 30 June 2018.

Mr John Donnellon, Chief Executive, Blackpool Coastal Housing (BCH) Limited provided an update on the recent work of BCH. He reported that £500k had been transferred from the company to the Council’s general fund as part of the current year’s budget process despite operating on a frozen fee.

He also provided an overview of the ongoing development work, providing updates to the work at the Queens Park development and Grange Park.

It was reported that following the Council’s decision to demolish and redevelop Troutbeck, extensive work had taken place to relocate tenants and deal with leaseholders. In response to questions, Mr Donnellon advised that all tenants had been spoken to on an individual basis regarding the proposals and that there had been very few objections from tenants. He added that a decision would be required in the near future to determine how the site should be redeveloped and that a report would be submitted to the Shareholder’s Advisory Board in due course.

The Positive Transitions Service was brought to the Advisory Board’s attention. It was reported that the service targeted the provision of stable accommodation and support for care leavers moving into independent living. Mr Donnellon advised that research had demonstrated that without adequate support a number of care leavers had been evicted for poor behaviour. A bid had also been made to the Opportunity Areas fund to provide a one-off service to care leavers aged 18 – 25 who had not benefited from the support currently being provided.

The Advisory Board went on to consider the key performance information relating to BCH. It was noted that ‘the percentage of homes empty but not available for letting’ was below target. The performance had been affected negatively by a number of properties being deliberately kept empty to enable redevelopment. It was agreed that the figure be divided into two separate indicators for future meetings to give a true reflection of performance. One indicator would show the proportion of empty properties not available for letting excluding planned development, and the other would show the proportion of empty properties not available due to planned development activity.

The current tenant arrears as a percentage of collectable rent was also noted to be performing below target. A number of concerns were raised relating to the roll out of Universal Credit and the subsequent impact on rent collection. In response to concerns raised, Mr Donnellon advised that the IT system operated by BCH identified anomalies in rent collection very quickly allowing the company to put interventions in place as required. The company was also providing support to assist tenants to return to work.

The Advisory Board discussed the roll out of Universal Credit in detail and noted that Blackpool was one of the final areas to be fully moved over to Universal Credit. It was considered that a large amount of research had been undertaken assessing the impact of the introduction of Universal Credit in other areas. It was suggested that the research be considered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To provide an update on the recent work of Blackpool Housing Company (BHC) including a summary of Quarter 1 performance for the period 1 April – 30 June 2018.

(This item contains commercially sensitive information which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.)

(The press and public were excluded prior to the consideration of this item as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act).

Councillor Jim Hobson, Chairman, Blackpool Housing Company Limited and Mr David Galvin, Managing Director, Blackpool Housing Company (BCH) Limited provided an update on the recent work of BHC including a summary of Quarter 1 performance for the period 1 April 2018 – 30 June 2018.

The Advisory Board discussed the data provided in detail and agreed to note the performance and financial information of the company.

To note the date and time of the next meeting as Tuesday 9 October 2018, commencing at 3pm.

The Advisory Board noted the date and time of the next meeting was Tuesday 9 October 2018.