Wrthi'n llwytho
Y penderfyniadau fel y mae cofnodion y cyngor yn eu cofnodi. Bydd crynodeb mewn iaith glir yn dilyn pan fydd wedi'i ysgrifennu.
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations and recommendations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting at this point during consideration of this item as the Committee discussed exempt information of the description contained in paragraph 16 of Part 4 and paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Action 1972. The public may be excluded from the meeting by resolution of the Committee pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during discussion of this item. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations and recommendations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Apologies were received from Cllr Mackie. Cllr Ali Ahmed was absent.
There were none. Cllr Littlechild declared a personal interest in item 5 as he was working on a project involving a social hub.
The minutes of the 18th March 2024 meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations and recommendations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Members were advised that this report sought to present the Adult Social Services, and Housing & Communities, Performance Reports for the Quarter 4 period of 2023/24 (January to March). For this item, the Chair welcomed: - Cllr Julie Sangani, Cabinet Member for Tackling Poverty, Equality and Public Health (Public Health & Equalities) - Cllr Peter Bradbury, Cabinet Member for Tackling Poverty, Equality and Public Health (Tackling Poverty and Supporting Young People) - Cllr Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities - Helen Evans, Assistant Director of Housing and Communities - Jane Thomas, Director of Adults, Housing and Communities The Cabinet Members were invited to make opening statements, after which the Chair invited questions and comments from Members. The Cabinet Members emphasised that it had been a busy year with many challenges, with a significant increase in demand for housing and homelessness services leading to the declaration of a housing emergency. The council’s commitments to tackle homelessness, end rough sleeping and support the most vulnerable people in the city remained strong. A sustained reduction in rough sleeping had been achieved in recent months, through targeted outreach work by the multidisciplinary team and partners, as well as the wraparound support of the housing first scheme. In all, 94% of clients had broken the cycle of homelessness and were maintaining their tenancies within a year. Members heard they were continuing with their £1bn program to deliver 4,000 sustainable, innovative homes, and had identified 67 sites capable of providing 4,567 homes. 1,127 had been completed so far, 284 of these during 2023/24. The Cabinet Members also highlighted the importance of maintaining the existing housing stock, and noted that the volume of outstanding repairs remained high, resulting in delays to non-emergency repairs. The report also outlined the progress of the advice team and public health projects. Targets had been increased in accordance with the recommendations of this committee’s task and finish report, and demand remained high as people were still being squeezed, even as inflation fell. 14,500 customers had been assisted by the money advice team, with over £2m saved for residents and more than £20m of additional weekly benefits identified. More than 6,000 customers had been assisted with Universal Credit, and there were now dedicated food and fuel poverty champions. Work was being undertaken with Public Health Wales and other partners to reduce health inequality across the city, and from now on new parents would receive leaflets on immunisation in several languages as part of their birth pack. The Committee discussed the backlog of more than 1,500 overdue reviews and reassessments, and heard that this figure included cases which had been assessed but not necessarily recorded. Improving data gathering would be key next year, but carrying out the outstanding reviews was the priority. Officers were confident that it was only lower needs cases that had not been assessed in the last 12 months. More complex, higher need cases such as those related to learning disability care, were constantly reviewed rather than on an annual basis. The Integrated Discharge Hub was not meeting its target of referrals to triage within one working day, but performance was still good and they were turning cases round quickly. Members noted that Cardiff was below the Welsh average for acquiring disabled facilities grants, and that the current contractor did not have capacity to meet this target, with another being sought now to account for this. The Committee discussed direct payments and heard that the vast majority of these were funded by the council, with Health covering some of the rest in limited circumstances. Members were reassured that there were controls in place to prevent the system being exploited, such as two recipients not being able to be registered at the same address. Members welcomed the focus on housing repairs, which was a recurring issue they heard about from their constituents, and advocated constant communication with tenants so they knew what was happening and when. Officers agreed, and outlined the new online system which would enable tenants to choose their own date. This was being tested in June and would hopefully be rolled out later in the year. The Committee noted the consequences of sub-contractors being brought in by contractors to carry out repairs, which hampered direct communication links to residents and made an already complex situation more difficult to navigate. Members queried the increase in the number of days needed to turn around a void or vacant properties, and heard that this was largely due to an increase in buybacks meaning there was more stock available to tenants. For example, when someone had passed away after living in a property for many years, a lot of work was needed to get the house in the right condition for someone else. The Committee heard that teams within different Cabinet portfolios would continue to work closely together due to the interrelated nature of the issues people were facing. Members queried whether reduced opening hours at the hubs had an impact, and heard that they remained as busy as before. The core hub hours (9am-5pm, with a later finish on Saturdays) remained unaffected, as did the advice line. As ever, a key focus was cliff-edge support for individuals who seemed to fall out of services. It was difficult to track and prevent cases where people presented as homeless with little warning, and the Home Office backlog was a key pressure. Members noted the recent measles outbreak in Gwent and the importance of the public health response, which officers explained was focusing on ensuring as many children were vaccinated as possible, with continual reminders about immunisation and engagement with schools. The Chair thanked Cllr Norma Mackie for her work with the Committee over the last few years as the Cabinet Member for Social Services (Adults). AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations and recommendations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting at this point during consideration of this item as the Committee discussed exempt information of the description contained in paragraph 16 of Part 4 and paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Action 1972. The public may be excluded from the meeting by resolution of the Committee pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during discussion of this item. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations and recommendations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Members were advised that this report sought to provide the Committee with background information to enable their pre-decision scrutiny of the draft report to Cabinet regarding the housing emergency in Cardiff. Members were reminded that appendices B, C, D, E, F, G and H were exempt from publication and therefore any questions or discussion pertaining to them would have to take place in closed session. For this item, the Chair welcomed: - Cllr Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities - Sarah McGill, Corporate Director of People and Communities - Jane Thomas, Director of Adults, Housing and Communities - Dave Jaques, Assistant Director of Development and Regeneration - Helen Evans, Assistant Director of Housing and Communities The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement after which Members were provided with a presentation from Officers. In her statement, the Cabinet Member recalled that a housing emergency had been declared in December in the face of massive and unprecedented demand for homelessness services. A range of measures had been implemented to alleviate this, and this report gave an update on their progress. She highlighted the remarkable work done by staff to provide the support that families and individuals needed. She acknowledged that development took time, and with the Local Housing Needs Assessment forecasting a daunting five-year predicted need, they had to use every option available and seek innovative solutions. During the presentation, Members heard that demand for homelessness services remained extremely challenging. All 1,699 temporary accommodation units in Cardiff were full, and 28 more families were entering accommodation than exiting it each month. Combined waiting lists for temporary accommodation were up 150% since 2021, and the number of single people presenting for emergency accommodation had increased to 88 per night. The Chair thanked officers for their prior briefing on the Local Housing Needs Assessment and invited questions and comments from Members. The Committee discussed the sequencing of the land ownership process and whether lessons could be learned from the timing of this. One Member queried figures in Appendix A breaking down the housing waiting list by age group, which seemed to skip over those aged between 70 and 80. Officers were happy to look into this and confirm if it was a typo. The Committee recalled their visit to temporary hotel accommodation and especially the uncertainty felt by families living there. Officers agreed that long stays were not ideal, but completing sites like the Gasworks would make a big difference. Communication with residents in temporary accommodation was critical, and the early help, into work and money advice teams went into these sites to speak to people directly. Members highlighted the importance of recreational activities to improve residents’ experiences in temporary accommodation, particularly for children and young people. Outdoor spaces and summer holiday programs could make a big difference, and families could be prioritised. Members also noted that the provision of green space would be especially important in the proposed new sites. Members queried the progress of the consultation regarding the policy change announced in December. Officers explained that the actual writing of the consultation had been completed, and partners had been consulted as well. It was on its way to the Cabinet Member for her final signoff before being published. Officers added that they would no longer be looking at intentionality with regard to homelessness, and would instead pursue options more closely aligned to the Welsh Government’s White Paper, which the Chair welcomed. RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting at this point during consideration of this item as the Committee discussed exempt information of the description contained in paragraph 16 of Part 4 and paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Action 1972. The public may be excluded from the meeting by resolution of the Committee pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during discussion of this item. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations and recommendations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
There were none.
The date of the next meeting was to be confirmed at Annual Council.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.