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.

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 4 November 2024 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

The Executive Director of Customer Services at Thirteen will be in attendance to provide information in respect of the actions the Company are undertaking to address the issue of empty properties and bringing them back to use

Recommendation: that the Panel determines what further information is required for this scrutiny review.

The Executive Director of Customer Services at Thirteen was in attendance at the meeting and gave a presentation in relation to the work being carried out by Thirteen to bring empty properties back into use.

Members heard that in respect of empty homes Thirteen Group considered environmental drivers not in the sense of environmental sustainability but the wider environmental drivers that affect Thirteen and how they work some of which had been widely reported in the press such as the Grenfell Tower tragedy which had highlighted the need for quality housing stock and decency within the housing sector and the health and safety conditions of such housing.  Changes in the regulations of social housing were now being implemented.

The sector risk profile for social housing included the following risks:

Viability

·        Constrained financial headroom reduced the capacity for the sector to manage downside risk. Items such as NI increases, net zero damp and mould responses all impacted the bottom line of registered providers.

Tenant safety

·        Understanding the landlord’s legal obligations in relation to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas

Stock decency and home quality

·        Homes were a long-term asset and failing to invest adequately could have serious consequences for tenants as well as leading to deterioration that cost more in the long run

Service delivery and accountability

·        A failure to deliver good quality housing services or to engage effectively with tenants could result in harm to tenants, as well as seriously damaging the reputation of the provider and sector.

The longer-term challenges for Thirteen were that all registered housing providers had a target to have all their housing stock up to EPC Level C by 2030 and to adhere to net zero carbon targets in the longer term which had put significant pressure on the company as they continued to develop new homes and invest in existing homes going forward.  Members were advised that some of Thirteen’s housing stock was 60-80 years old which would take a lot of investment to get these properties up to these standards.

Members heard that out of the 35,000 lower super output areas some of the challenges faced in Thirteen’s operating areas within Teesside fell within the top 200 which created a lot of pressure within the system in terms of housing demand and the investment in homes and the neighbourhoods.  

Thirteen had approximately 11,300 homes in Middlesbrough to rent with 300 properties currently empty which proportionately was not a lot, 43% of the empty homes were screened which equated to 1.2% of the total homes owned by Thirteen, it was advised that properties were screened for security purposes to prevent theft of boilers and copper pipes  It was advised that organised crime groups operated in some communities and properties needed to be secured to prevent gangs from using them for illegal purposes, 66% of all empty homes were less than 12 months old.  Many older homes from 2022 or earlier were going through options appraisals to ascertain the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/49

Recommendation: that Panel Members note the minutes of the Task and Finish Group meeting held on 4 November 2024 and agree the terms of reference for the scrutiny review of Empty Properties.

The Empty Properties Task and Finish Group had met on 4 November and drafted the Terms of Reference for the Empty Properties Scrutiny Review which were circulated to Panel Members at the meeting.

AGREED that:

The Terms of Reference for the scrutiny review of Empty Properties were approved as follows:

·        To understand the current position with regard to empty domestic and commercial properties in Middlesbrough and the efforts the Council is making to address the various associated issues.

·        To investigate the Council’s responsibilities and enforcement powers in respect of empty properties.

·        To investigate what work has been undertaken with third party providers to refurbish and re-let empty properties.

·        To investigate what work has been undertaken to bring empty commercial properties back into use.

Recommendation: that Panel Members note the update from the Task and Finish Group meeting held on 21 November 2024.

A note of the meeting of the Home to School Transport Task and Finish Group held on 21 November 2024 was circulated to Members during the meeting.  The various Members had provided feedback from their visits to several schools including Re Integrate at Pallister Park, Kings Academy and Holmwood.  Issues raised included:

·        Lack of escorts on the buses and reliability. A Member had queried what were the requirements of the contract made with the providers. It was advised that the escorts must have a DBS as well as the driver of the vehicle?

·        Failure to provide enough vehicles with wheelchair access.

·        There was a discussion of whether we should be picking up students when the parents have their own transport. Also

·        Could the council recoup the cost of home to school transport from academies as they would obtain payment for the number of students they admit. It was questioned if the Council are subsidising them unnecessarily.

·        The number of students had increased sharply due to greater awareness of mental health issues and possibly the effect of COVID. This needed to be taken into consideration.

·        Driver recruitment was an issue.

AGREED that:

The information provided was received and noted.

The Chair will provide a verbal update on matters considered at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 20 November 2024.

The Chair provided a verbal update on items considered at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 20 November 2024. It was highlighted that a representative from Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency had attended and provided an update on how the voluntary sector can work alongside the Council with involvement from the Community Cohesion Task and Finish Group to bring communities back together.  A wider meeting was planned with community organisations to look at producing a new Community Strategy.

Monday 6 January 2025 at 4.30 pm.

The next meeting of the Place Scrutiny Panel was scheduled for Monday 6 January 2024 at 4.30pm.  The Chair confirmed that going forward the meetings would continue to be held at 4.30pm for the remainder of the municipal year due to some Members work commitments.

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