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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
There were no apologies.
Cllr Littlechild declared a personal interest in item 4 on account of being involved in social housing at Albany Road Baptist Church. He also declared a prejudicial interest in item 5 on account of being a partner with Vision 22 delivering social housing in Roath, and left the room during this item. Cllr Lent declared a personal interest in item 5 on account of having a family member with a disability.
The minutes of the 24th February (Budget) meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Members were advised that this report provided an opportunity for pre-decision scrutiny of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan 2025-26 and the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) Compliance Policy 2025 prior to their consideration by Cabinet on 20th March 2025. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Lynda Thorne Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Cllr Lee Bridgeman Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Sarah McGill Corporate Director, People and Communities Jane Thomas Director of Adults, Housing & Communities Helen Evans Assistant Director of Housing & Communities Dave Jaques Assistant Director, Housing Development & Regeneration Anil Hirani OM Capital, Corporate and Treasury Gill Brown Group Accountant, Service Accountancy Addressing the Committee, Cllr Thorne noted that this was an annual report covering a hugely important piece of business, and thanked officers for pulling it together. She highlighted the council’s plans to build new homes, tackle the housing emergency and improve existing properties and services. The report also included an update on progress towards the requirements of the WHQS, supported by a new compliance policy. Their response was based on three main principles: tenants first, prioritising properties in greatest need, and affordability for the HRA. Officers gave a presentation outlining the key priorities of the business plan, which included building new council homes at scale and at pace, maintaining existing homes and neighbourhoods, supporting tenants, preventing and addressing homelessness, and long-term financial planning. The WHQS imposed new requirements for external storage, recycling areas, smart meters and water efficiency, and specifications had been amended accordingly. While most measures were fully operational, the most cost-effective solution for the storage requirements was still being tested. Officers added that a whole stock assessment would need to be carried out before March 2027, along with identifying target energy pathways for homes. A new asset management database would be in place by the end of April to aid this process. They noted that 69% of the council’s current stock fell below the requirement of SAP 75 (EPC mid C), although the average rating of 72 was 7 points higher than the Welsh average. It was believed that 99.8% of council homes could achieve SAP 75, at a cost of £351m. 173 homes currently had an EPC A rating but 776 more could achieve band B, at a cost of £515m. It was emphasised that this would only be possible with significant investment from the Welsh government. Officers added that they had recently appointed a contractor for the second housing partnership program, with all new builds compliant with the WHQS and with a rating of EPC A. They sought to prioritise properties in greatest need of improvement, making tenants comfortable and promoting wellbeing so they could be as independent as possible. The responsive repairs service was busy but the backlog was down to 2,000 from a peak of nearly 6,000, and damp and mould cases were down. More than £33m would be invested in 2025/26 in improving existing homes, largely offset by the Major Repairs Allowance and other grant funding. Further funding was being invested in Community Living Schemes to build apartments to meet the needs of older people, and a new Rightsizing Coordinator was in place to facilitate exchanges between tenants who were downsizing and overcrowded families. Inclusive services were key, as were improving digital delivery and addressing antisocial behaviour by engaging with tenants and the community. Finance officers explained that the HRA business plan was closely integrated within the budget agreed in March. There was a five-year agreed forecast but the business plan had to forecast for 30 and consider a number of variables outside the council’s control, such as Welsh government funding. Various different assumptions had to be made, and they highlighted sections of the report relating to the risk matrix and sensitivity analysis, as well as contingencies for the future. Members asked whether finance officers were comfortable with the business plan generally, specifically the level of risks and variables. Officers confirmed that they were, and highlighted the importance of closely and robustly monitoring risk, as well as the risks of opportunity costs if they did not spend. Finance worked closely with housing and treated developments as long-term investments to be supported by viability studies and long-term planning frameworks. Officers added that it was important to understand the environment they were operating in, and to be dynamic and prudent while taking advantage of the available opportunities. Governance was crucial, and they were confident that the plan would be effectively managed. Members welcomed the energy efficiency of the council’s new housing stock and noted the ambition of the Welsh government’s five year target. They queried whether the targets set were realistically achievable, and whether there was scope to offset houses that couldn’t be improved to SAP 75. Officers explained that they weren’t yet at the stage where they could think about offsetting, although there were standards for acceptable failure where the authority did not have enough money for full decarbonisation. On the question of achievability, officers emphasised that they had made clear to the Welsh government exactly how much it would cost, and that there would also need to be Planning Advisory Service (PAS) surveys on every property. Members queried what would happen if local authorities across Wales found that the standards were impossible to meet. The Cabinet Member noted that Cardiff was the only local authority in Wales to meet the standards of the previous WHQS in 2012. Several authorities still hadn’t met these standards and had not been penalised for it. The council would do what was necessary to improve its stock, focusing on the key priorities of tenants, affordability and prioritisation. Officers added that while failing to achieve the WHQS requirements would have an impact on grant funding, it was not clear exactly what this would look like. If funding were insufficient then it could be considered an acceptable fail. The Cabinet Member added that the Welsh government was responsible for rent setting, and that she had written to the minister on this topic since the council used to be able to set its own rents. Members noted that it would be useful to have some indication of where the council might set the cap were it within its gift. The Committee explored the council’s housing delivery pipeline and heard that the ten year delivery plan sought to deliver 4,000 new homes by 2035, with 1,400 delivered to date. Officers were confident that this target could be achieved, with the caveat that all development involved risk. Some sites had been identified but lacked planning consent at this point, and they had learned a lot from the previous housing partnership. The Cabinet Member added that they hadn’t quite hit the previous target of 1,000 by 2023, but had made good progress overall. Members asked about change of use developments like that at Scott Harbour, and heard that while there were generally constraints on converting any existing buildings, they always aimed to deliver the best possible level of sustainability within the viability parameters. The council had a lot more control when it built from scratch. Members noted that demand for single persons’ accommodation remained very high while family accommodation need had plateaued, and asked how the council’s approach took this shifting demand into account. Officers explained that while family homelessness had levelled off, there were still a lot of families in hotels and they were keen to get them out of temporary accommodation. Detailed work was undertaken to keep track of housing need, in particular relating to older tenants and adults with disabilities. Members queried the reference in the equality impact assessment to a disproportionately high proportion of BAME individuals reporting feeling overcrowded. The Cabinet Member suggested that anecdotally, people tended to want to remain in the area where they lived and where their family were, and BAME communities were relatively concentrated in the city centre. Members noted that this was not limited to one community, and asked for more information about the geographical spread of those who reported overcrowding. Members also noted that the charts in the report listed ethnicities as white, black, Asian and other, and requested a more detailed breakdown of future plans. Members explored the five-year extension of the Gasworks development, and heard that this had been planned all along in order to increase the density of the site. Under the Local Development Plan, the site should deliver 500 units but there were currently only 155. It had been planned with a meanwhile use in mind, and the money put in thus far would lower the cost of further development. Members noted the results of the tenant satisfaction survey, with 78% of respondents reporting feeling safe and secure but 22% not. They queried the geographical distribution of the responses and heard that officers would take a more detailed look. It was a biannual survey and they would seek to improve the level of engagement next time before reporting back to the Committee. The Committee discussed the backlog of 2,000 jobs in the responsive repairs service, and heard that the £33m to be invested was for planned work rather than responsive repairs. The backlog had been reduced considerably but demand remained high, as did the complexity of cases and the co-ordination of different tradespeople required to fix them. Officers were undertaking a comprehensive review of the service, broken down by trade, and were using targeted procurement to address the most problematic areas. The review was also looking at how the service engaged with customers and recruit staff. Members requested that a full report on the review come to the Committee once complete. Members discussed anti-social behaviour (ASB) surgeries, and in particular how progress was measured and reported back to individuals and communities. Officers explained that ASB surgeries had begun about eight months ago, primarily through community hubs. ASB officers engaged directly with people about the issues they were facing, and it was targeted (but not limited) to the areas of biggest concern, with significant work done already on e-bikes and scooters. They took a collective approach, working alongside the police and community safety. Members requested more information on existing projects, and asked that this be broken down by ward to allow councillors to assist with engagement. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Decision as recorded
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Members were advised that this report provided an opportunity for pre-decision scrutiny of the draft proposals for the Cardiff Living Well with a Learning Disability Strategy for Adults 2024-2029 and the development of a new Complex Needs Day Centre subject to confirmation of grant funding, prior to their consideration by Cabinet on 20th March 2025. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Leonora Thomson Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Public Health & Equality Jane Thomas Director of Adults, Housing & Communities Louise Bassett OM Complex Needs & Partnerships Anna Graham Project Manager, Strategy & Housing The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement, in which she thanked officers for their work and emphasised her pride in being able to bring the strategy forward and set out an ambitious plan of action for the next five years. It was built around a compelling but simple vision of promoting independence and improving live, and demonstrated the council’s commitment to delivering quality services to people with a learning disability, and to their families and carers. Officers gave a presentation outlining the local picture of social care, noting that as of December 2024, the council’s Community Learning Disability Service supported 1,186 local people of lower intellectual ability. Spending on the Learning Disabilities Services had increased by 36% since 2019, with the largest proportion of the budget spent on accommodation services such as supporting living contracts. People with a learning disability were significantly more likely than the general population to report having two or more long-term health conditions, such as epilepsy, asthma, diabetes and obesity. Officers estimated that around 7,000 individuals in Cardiff had a learning disability, or roughly 2-3% of the population, but noted that less than 10% of them received an annual health check in 2023-24. While primary care was provided by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, more specialist services were provided by Swansea Bay UHB. The strategy’s vision and principles aligned with those set out in the Cardiff and Vale Joint Commissioning Strategy, and had been informed by a multi-agency workshop where attendees had agreed that the live delivery plan should be led by service users. They explained that Cardiff’s Living Well Strategy was based around five key aims: improving health, wellbeing and access to timely support; providing accessible information and developing opportunities to support independence; promoting collaboration and increasing choice and control; improving the transition from child to adult services; and embedding a close to home approach. Officers also highlighted the importance of helping people stay healthy and connected to their communities, and the need for joint working with health colleagues and co-location of health and social care staff. The Complex Needs Day Service was vital to this, and a new site had been identified in St Mellons to meet demand, to be developed in the next 12-18 months alongside Swansea Bay and the Vale UHBs. Officers added that they were looking at commissioning a step-down service to help free up space, and were promoting choice and control through more direct payments to people with learning disabilities and support for individuals to travel independently using public transport. Technology and adaptation were used to further support independence, although the transition service was in need of improvement. They were supporting the close-to-home approach with 110 supported living schemes in Cardiff and 339 bed spaces, providing care and support both through contracts with third sector providers and council-operated schemes. The five year Accommodation Programme sought to deliver a pipeline of properties to increase the range, quality and number of schemes and meet various needs, and to explore alternatives for people at risk of leaving Cardiff due to their accommodation needs. Members questioned the presentation of out-of-county college placements as a negative, when a task and finish group set up by the Committee some time ago had identified this as something which was often better for the individual. Officers clarified that they did not necessarily see out-of-county placements as a negative, but emphasised that it was about choice, and Cardiff did not have much of a local offer for complex needs. Members queried a reference in the previous Budget meeting to savings made in supported living due to void places, and heard that this was linked to best use as it was sometimes difficult to match individuals to accommodation. Room requirements had changed, and some rooms were now too small for what people needed so they were classed as void, the key point being what they were replaced with. Members were concerned by the relative lack of annual health checks, noting that this had been an issue in previous years too, and the apparent gap in provision between the 7,000 people in Cardiff with learning disabilities and the 1,186 service users. Officers acknowledged this concern, which they raised regularly with health colleagues, and emphasised the importance of working with GPs and the health board to share and analyse data sets, and make sure health profiles were clear. There was a scoping exercise ongoing on this issue, and they had identified an issue with consistency as GPs worked independently of one another and tended to call it different things. A health check was an enhanced service rather than something GPs had to offer, but it could be added to their core contracts. The Committee explored how progress would be monitored, and heard that there was a detailed action plan and directorate reporting to keep track. Key performance indicators were linked into the strategy, with the primary one being to increase the numbers supported year on year. Community and partner involvement were critical, and this could not be measured just by numbers, so regular feedback sessions were necessary to ensure it was as effective as possible. Members advocated gathering a broad range of feedback, not just from individuals but also from their families and carers. Members queried the impact of recent UK government policy changes such as the increase in employer National Insurance contributions and proposed welfare reforms. Officers highlighted the importance of hubs, where specialist welfare officers worked directly with people with disabilities, and the upcoming Connect To Work program in alignment with the DWP. Their partners were skilled in this area of work but there were always ways they could improve. Members asked how the transition from Children’s Services to Adult Service was monitored, and how trends were identified. Officers explained that the strategy was underpinned by a lot of data, in particular from the last seven years of individuals moving through the system. It was important to understand not only what was there now but also what could happen in the future, and where resources could be directed to help prevention. Members welcomed confirmation that this work was ongoing, and suggested that it be made clearer in the strategy. Members asked how the strategy addressed health inequality, and heard that the service area sought to be inclusive and recognise difference. Ethnicity was generally self-reported, and 5% of users were currently classified as being of an unknown background, so more could be done on data gathering. Officers also highlighted the importance of publishing resources in as many languages as possible and in easy read format, and of staff members receiving a range of training including cultural awareness. The Committee discussed respite services and heard that their effectiveness was being reviewed, with officers seeking suitable sites for developing an improved respite offer. Some of Cardiff’s existing sites were limited in what they facilitated, and they were working with colleagues to consider a joint offer. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
There were none.
The Chair noted that while the next meeting was currently scheduled for 14th April, as it was a Community Safety session it might move depending on the availability of South Wales Police.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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