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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED – (i) That a Grass Cutting and Weed Spraying Task and Finish Group be established with the following terms of reference: Objectives of the review To consider all aspects of the operational service together with details of its funding and the recovery of costs from Council Departments and Third Parties. Expected Outcome To ensure that the service is fit for purpose and delivered with an appropriate budget. (ii) That Membership of the Group consist of Councillor Steve Joe Jones, Claire Lovett, Jeremy Newton, John Phillips, Graham Rogers and Paul Rogers. (iii) That the energy usage and costs element of the Change Programme is included in the six monthly monitoring reports on the Council’s Decarbonisation Plan. The Decarbonisation Plan Update is scheduled for the January 2025 meeting.
AGREED – (i) That the membership and monitoring groups include a Councillor if possible. If this is not acceptable due to GDPR, then Members be issued with a guidance document instead. (ii) That the Committee receive an update report in 12 months’ time. (iii) That further procedures for consultation be explored in order to gain more responses if possible.
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Bryan Apsley, Trevor Bates and Carrie Harper.
AGREED – That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 November 2024 be signed as a correct record.
Members were reminded of their responsibility, under Paragraph 11 of the Members’ Code of Conduct, to declare any interests in relation to any of the business to be transacted at this meeting. The following declarations were made: Agenda Item – Allocations Policy Report Councillors Steve Joe Jones, Paul Pemberton, John Phillips and Paul Rogers - Personal – Family member employed by Wrexham County Borough Council in the Housing Department Councillor Claire Lovett – Personal – Employed as a Housing Support Officer by Wrexham Engage, and family member employed by Wrexham County Borough Council in the Housing Department The Councillors remained in the meeting taking part in the discussion and voting thereon.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (i) That a Grass Cutting and Weed Spraying Task and Finish Group be established with the following terms of reference: Objectives of the review To consider all aspects of the operational service together with details of its funding and the recovery of costs from Council Departments and Third Parties. Expected Outcome To ensure that the service is fit for purpose and delivered with an appropriate budget. (ii) That Membership of the Group consist of Councillor Steve Joe Jones, Claire Lovett, Jeremy Newton, John Phillips, Graham Rogers and Paul Rogers. (iii) That the energy usage and costs element of the Change Programme is included in the six monthly monitoring reports on the Council’s Decarbonisation Plan. The Decarbonisation Plan Update is scheduled for the January 2025 meeting.
The Chief Officer Governance & Customer submitted a report (COGC/105/24s) asking Members to consider the revised work programme. The Scrutiny Facilitator drew Members attention to the main points contained within the report, advising them of the following: · The Committee previously agreed that a Task and Finish Group be established in relation to Grass Cutting and Weed Control. Members were asked to agree the draft terms of reference, together with the membership of the Group. · The Customers, Performance, Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee made a recommendation at their Meeting in October, for this Committee to consider details of the measures being implemented to reduce energy usage and energy costs across the Council. This suggestion had been discussed with the Lead Member, and it was suggested that it should be considered as part of the Decarbonisation Plan. AGREED – (i) That a Grass Cutting and Weed Spraying Task and Finish Group be established with the following terms of reference: Objectives of the review To consider all aspects of the operational service together with details of its funding and the recovery of costs from Council Departments and Third Parties. Expected Outcome To ensure that the service is fit for purpose and delivered with an appropriate budget. (ii) That Membership of the Group consist of Councillor Steve Joe Jones, Claire Lovett, Jeremy Newton, John Phillips, Graham Rogers and Paul Rogers. (iii) That the energy usage and costs element of the Change Programme is included in the six monthly monitoring reports on the Council’s Decarbonisation Plan. The Decarbonisation Plan Update is scheduled for the January 2025 meeting.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (i) That the membership and monitoring groups include a Councillor if possible. If this is not acceptable due to GDPR, then Members be issued with a guidance document instead. (ii) That the Committee receive an update report in 12 months’ time. (iii) That further procedures for consultation be explored in order to gain more responses if possible.
(Members declarations of interest in relation to this item are set out in Minute 28 above) The Lead Member for Housing and Climate Change submitted a report (COH/38/24s) to present the results of the formal consultation exercise carried out between February and May 2024, following the review of the Allocations Policy. The Lead Member presented the report and highlighted the main points contained within it. Officers gave a presentation which highlighted the following: · Purpose of the report – to update Members on the results of the consultation following the review of the Allocations Policy. · Consultation stakeholders · Consultation events – an All Member Workshop and a meeting with contract holder representatives · Survey respondents · Band 2, 3, 4, 5 changes · Changes relating to homeless · Changes relating to those contract holders living in the County Borough · Changes relating to applicants living in the County Borough · Changes relating to the removal of a welfare need · Offers of Accommodation – Changes · Community Connection Areas – Changes · Local Lettings Policy Changes · Monitoring the Changes · Local Member Questions Following the presentation, a detailed debate ensued and the following points were highlighted: · Clarification sought regarding the age criteria for bungalows – Officers advised that there were no proposed changes to the criteria which was currently set to a minimum age of 60 and over or anyone in band 1 with a disability. · Confirmation that flats would be dealt with under the Local Lettings Policy. · Disappointment at the low number of consultation responses but it was acknowledged that Officers had done everything possible to encourage responses. The Lead Member advised that a piece of work was currently being undertaken to obtain email addresses and mobile numbers to allow further methods of responding, that will help improve future consultation exercises. · Suggestion that an incentive be introduced in order to try to encourage people to take part in future consultations. · Outline of the robust system in place which ensured that properties were allocated in line with the policy. · Suggestion that a Councillor should sit on the monitoring group, but if this wasn’t possible due to GDPR, then a guidance document would be issued instead. · Concern at the removal of the local lettings scheme, but reassurance by Officers that it would be monitored closely so that after a period of time, it would evident as to whether it needed to be done on an area by area basis. It was noted that the current system meant that everybody had the same level of opportunity. · Confirmation that the allocations process and the prison pathway still applied to people released from HMP Berwyn. It was noted that a prison release person wasn’t a protected characteristic. · Recognition that some applicants didn’t always want to disclose medical information, despite it possibly positively affecting their banding. · It was noted that on occasions, the public had a different perception of who should be prioritised for housing. Consideration would be given to raising public awareness to assist them in understanding that Officers were sometimes privy to additional information that often resulted in applicants being in a higher priority for housing, than appeared. AGREED – (i) That the membership and monitoring groups include a Councillor if possible. If this is not acceptable due to GDPR, then Members be issued with a guidance document instead. (ii) That the Committee receive an update report in 12 months’ time. (iii) That further procedures for consultation be explored in order to gain more responses if possible.
On behalf of the Committee, the Chair wished to convey his best wishes to Annette Sellwood, Committee Officer, who was retiring from the Authority. He thanked her for her hard work in supporting the Committee and wished her well for the future. The Committee endorsed these views and thanked Annette. The Leader of the Council advised the Committee that this was Councillor Pemberton’s last Meeting as Chair. On behalf of his colleagues, he thanked him for his longstanding commitment and valued input into the work of the Committee, over many years.
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.
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