Meeting documents

+ Cllr Bruce Mansell - Chairman

+ Cllr Paul Ilnicki - Vice-Chairman

+ Present

- Apologies for absence presented

Also present

Councillor Chris Pitt.

Mr Paul Reeves - Peerless Housing Group (for Minute 035/EP)

Mr John Tibbles - Independent Member of the Standards Committee

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 22nd March 2005 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman welcomed Paul Reeves, Group Chief Executive of the Peerless Housing Group, who was due to make a presentation and John Tibbles, a recently appointed independent Member of the Standards Committee, who was attending the meeting as an observer.

PART I

(public)

The Committee received a presentation from Mr Paul Reeves on the work of the Surrey Heath Housing Association, how it fitted into the Peerless Housing Group and the work done with this and currently seven other Councils, since its establishment in 1992. The board consisted of 12 members, two of whom were Borough Councillors.

The Association originally bought 2,885 households from the Council at a cost of £29.1 million. Three hundred houses have been bought on right to buy arrangements and the Council had benefited from these sales to the sum of £5.5 million. The Housing Association had borrowed significant sums in its development role and the parent group, Peerless had established a number of key strategic alliances across the Country.

The Association offered a range of services including social rent, market rent, sub-market rent (Key workers), leased rental, leasehold sales and shared ownership sales.

Mr Reeves raised in particular, the following:

In response to a suggestion that the actual housing needed in the Borough each year had been significantly overstated, Mr Reeves suggested that the figure of 450 units had been calculated on the basis of data provided by the Council.

Mr Reeves gave a robust defence of proposals to maximise the use of Section 106 Planning Agreements to gain the maximum levels of social housing across the range.

Mr Reeves reported that all new housing developed by the Housing Association had the potential to meet the needs of people with disabilities. The Association liaised closely with the Council’s housing officers to meet the specific needs of people with disabilities, including housing with multiple bedrooms where this was appropriate.

The Chairman thanked Mr Reeves for an enlightening and thought provoking presentation.

RESOLVED, That the points raised by Mr Reeves at sub-paragraphs (i) to (v) be reported to the Executive.

The Committee received a report from the Services for Young People Working Group, highlighting major achievements and proposing subsequent actions.

Members welcomed the significant achievements of the Working Group, focusing in particular on the development of websites to assist both young people and professionals and on the strong links that had being forged between the various disparate agencies which had been brought together by the Council through this initiative. The Committee gave its strong support to the imminent major event organised by the Mayor, bringing together providers of services to young people and older people, and their clients.

RESOLVED, That

The Committee considered proposals to re-establish the Speed Management Working Group and to establish a Services for Older People Working Group.

Members noted that the Speed Management Working Group was due to make a detailed report to the Committee’s November 2005 meeting and suggested that the Working Group be re-established with Councillor Bill Chapman as Chairman and Councillors Mansell and Trow as Members, with the terms of reference as previously agreed.

The Committee noted that the Services for Younger People Working Group had completed the bulk of the work set and that a working group with similar aspirations in relation to services to older people should now be established with similar terms of reference to be drawn up by the Working group and reported to the next Committee meeting. The Working Group would engage with the range of partners, including the statutory sector and voluntary sector partners such as DASH and the Frimley and Camberley Age Concern.

RESOLVED, That

The Committee received a report on the draft programme for the municipal year 2005/06 agreed at the last meeting of 2004/05 (minute 030/EP refers).

Members noted that the Executive would be consulted on areas of work it would wish the Committee to focus on and that the draft programme would be submitted through the Executive to the Council for consideration.

The Committee agreed that it would be necessary to balance the number of significant presentations submitted to each meeting, to ensure that sufficient time could be allocated to each issue.

Members noted the need to include reports from the Speed Management and Services to Young People and Services to Older People Working Groups. It was also agreed that DASH and the Disability Initiative be invited to make presentations to the Committee on 13th September 2005.

It was agreed that the Committee should also focus on services provided by Surrey County Council and the Health Service. Given resource and time limitations, it was considered that one area from each should be studied each year. It was proposed that Education should be addressed in the forthcoming year along with either the Primary Care Trust or Dental Provision.

RESOLVED, That

CHAIRMAN

ANNEX A

EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS SELECT COMMITTEE

DRAFT COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME

2005/06

Possible other issues to be allocated: