Agenda and minutes

In the event the fire alarm sounds attendees will be advised to evacuate the building via the nearest fire exit and assemble at the Bottle of Notes opposite MIMA.

The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting and read out the Fire Evacuation Procedure.

At the request of the Chair, all present stood and marked one minute’s silence to reflect on the sad passing of Councillor Jeanette Walker.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the Place Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 29 July 2024 were submitted and approved as a correct record. 

The Director of Environment and Commercial Services and the Transport and Infrastructure Manager will be in attendance to provide an overview of Middlesbrough Council’s Home to School Transport provision as an introduction to the Panel’s review of this service.

Recommendation: that the Panel determines what further information will be required for this scrutiny investigation.

The Director of Environment and Commercial Services and the Transport and Infrastructure Manager provided an overview of Middlesbrough Council’s Home to School Transport provision. 

It was highlighted that the increased need for home to school travel assistance was a national issue, with several factors contributing including increases in the number of pupils with special education needs and the numbers requiring an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Middlesbrough Council’s Home to School Travel Assistance Policy was informed by the Education Act 1996 and additional duties required by the Education and Inspections Act 2006.   The Policy had been updated and published ahead of the new academic year 2024-2025.   National guidance, updated by the Department for Education (DfE) in June 2023, set out the expectations of Local Authorities (LAs) regarding home to school travel and transport arrangements.  The guidance set out the circumstances in which the LA had a duty to provide, or arrange, free school transport or travel support for children of compulsory school age.

Eligibility criteria for pupils of compulsory school age during the current academic year included:

• A primary school age pupil attending their nearest suitable school and that was over 2 miles from the home address, where the distance was determined by the Council and used the shortest walking distance along which a child, accompanied as necessary, might walk with reasonable safety.
• A secondary school age pupil attending the nearest suitable school and that was over 3 miles from the home address, where the distance was determined by the Council and used the shortest walking distance along which a child, accompanied as necessary, might walk with reasonable safety.
• A secondary school age pupil from a low-income family and attending: any one of their three nearest suitable schools and the school was between 2 and 6 miles away from their home address, or the nearest school preferred by their parents on the grounds of religion or belief and the school was between 2 and 15 miles away from their home address.

The eligibility criteria, application forms, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and parent/carer information was available on Middlesbrough Council’s website on the Home to School Transport page: https://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/schools-and-education/home-to-school-transport/

Education and Inspection Act (EIA) applications could be submitted by the parent and/or carer of the student.  

Transport requirements were considered as part of a full assessment of a student’s special educational need.  If a student was assessed as unable to walk the statutory distance to their nearest appropriate school because of their special educational needs or disability, even if accompanied by a responsible adult, the Council would provide travel assistance which was subject to a statutory assessment or subsequent annual review.

Eligibility was assessed at the earliest opportunity.   SEND student applications were initially raised during a SEND Resource Panel which linked with a student’s Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).  A more detailed assessment was carried out once a referral had been received by the transport team.

When considering any placement for a pupil, colleagues were reminded of the principle that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/14

The Director of Regeneration will be in attendance to provide an overview in relation to Middlesbrough Council’s responsibilities with regard to empty properties as an introduction to the Panel’s scrutiny review on this topic.

Recommendation: that the Panel determines what further information will be required for this scrutiny investigation.

The Director of Regeneration gave a presentation in relation to Empty Properties in Middlesbrough.

Middlesbrough currently had approximately 2000 empty homes some of which were causing issues.  Properties that had been empty for longer than six months diminished local housing needs and could have a severe impact on neighbourhoods.  These homes could attract anti-social behaviour, increased crime rates and decrease local property values and outside investment opportunities. 

Substantial areas of the town had high residential voids, low sale values and high population churn, which created potential market failure - resulting in social consequences and implications for Council resources and service delivery.   This situation was unsustainable and resulted in the need for significant market intervention at great cost to the Council.  Tackling empty homes in Middlesbrough and bringing them back into use would positively impact on residents, including the homeless, children leaving care, and families in need of accommodation, or temporary accommodation, as well as the wider community, for whom empty properties often caused problems.

Middlesbrough Council had implemented the following actions to date:

·        Empty Homes Strategy

The strategy, which was subject to review, was designed to target and address empty homes in Middlesbrough.  It was being considered alongside homeless and temporary accommodation needs.

·        Problem Property Action Plan

     The aim of the plan was to better unify and co-ordinate Middlesbrough             Council’s cross-directorate and partner agency problem property            interventions, bridge gaps and embed the actions and assess and address the          issues across Middlesbrough’s problem properties, streets and gardens aligning   with the new Empty Homes Strategy.

·        Questionnaire

The aim was to ascertain why properties were empty and sign post to  other services or inform residents of available funding options and/or assist with repair work to bring them back into use.  The Council could also draw down on cross directorate enforcement powers and track premiums.  The results of the questionnaire would be evaluated.

·        Pilot - North Ormesby

All streets had been reviewed and problem properties that were detrimental to the area had been identified – all of which were empty.  Properties had been flagged and reported through the AIM meeting.  Information held on the council tax database was also checked for accuracy.

·        Introduced Completion Notices – April 2024

Forced owners to undertake the work to bring their property into the rating list.  

·        Cross Directorate Approach

-        Consultation process with stakeholders and partners took place monthly.

-        A communications Management Matrix.

-        Terms of Reference created.

-        Work Packages within the problem properties action plan had been agreed.

-        Task and Finish Group established.

-        Regular meetings.

-        Bi-monthly Highlight Reporting on progress.

-        Empty and problem premises intervention process and powers agreed.

-        Presented to the Mayor and Executive Members and the Policy Development Group.

Priorities for the Council included:

·        Working with Housing providers to bring back their empty properties back into use for the purpose of using them to accommodate temporary households, homeless or children leaving care.

·        Purchasing empty properties and refurbishing them to an acceptable standard to increase housing stock.

·        A Pilot  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/15

The Chair will provide a verbal update on matters considered at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 31 July 2024.

The Chair provided an update on items discussed at the last Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting.

The Chair will provide a verbal update in relation to the work of the Crustacean Deaths Collaborative Working Group.

There was no update from the Crustacean Deaths Collaborative Working Group as the Group had not met.  However a meeting was scheduled later in the month and the Chair would update the Place Scrutiny Panel at a later date.

Monday 23 September 2024 at 4.30 pm.

The next meeting of the Place Scrutiny Panel was scheduled for Monday 23 September 2024 at 4.30 pm.  The former Environment Scrutiny Panel’s Final Report on Waste Management would be considered at the meeting and members of the former Environment Scrutiny Panel had been invited to attend.

None.