Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Higson.

There were no Substitute Members.

The Chairman stated that there was an urgent update to Item 15 – Housing Allocation Scheme Review to update the Committee on the resolutions on this item from the Housing and Community Cohesion Policy Advisory Committee on 21 November 2024.

There were no Visiting Members.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

RESOLVED: That all items on the agenda be taken in public as proposed.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed.

There were no petitions.

There were no questions from Local Residents.

There were no questions from Members.

It was raised by the Committee that they would like to conduct pre-decision scrutiny on the following items on the Forward Plan:

·  Community Larders

·  Maidstone House and the Link decarbonisation

·  Discretionary Rate Relief Policy

The Committee requested an update on when the Strategic Plan and budgetary items would appear on the Forward Plan. The Democratic Services Officer agreed to follow this up outside the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the Committee conduct pre-decision scrutiny on Community Larders, Maidstone House and the Link decarbonisation and Discretionary Rate Relief Policy.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness introduced the report and outlined the proposed changes to the Housing Allocation Scheme. Some of the proposed amendments included:

·  To amend banding to encourage households to remain in current accommodation, avoid use of Temporary Accommodation (TA) where possible and offer more opportunity for housing to applicants who offer a community contribution. A fifth band would be added specifically for households in TA, which would not be eligible to bid on the housing register, but would be allocated suitable social housing directly;

·  Due to the significant increase in Housing Register applications, it was proposed to amend qualifying criteria to favour applicants more likely to be successful so as not to build unrealistic expectations. Resident criteria would be changed from two to three years and family connection and returning resident criteria would be removed. Employment criteria would remain the same; and

·  To allow larger households to bid on properties that do not meet their bedroom requirement to improve their current living situation. Additional wording will be included stating we will work Housing Association partners to assist with this.

The Cabinet Member also outlined the proposed recommendations from the Housing and Community Cohesion Policy Advisory Committee, detailed in the urgent update, that paragraph 3.14 of Option A be amended to remove the family connection criteria and to change paragraph 9.3 of Appendix 1 to the report to change the family connection from 5 to 6 years.

During the discussion, concerns were raised that there was no reference to the Maidstone Pet Policy in the scheme. The Housing Solutions Manager reassured the Committee that this was still active as a separate policy and agreed to add a reference to it. Several Members commented that they were uncomfortable with the changes proposed to the local connection criteria, as it could make things difficult for those experiencing homelessness through relationship breakdown. It was also raised that the definition of family in the Appendix should be expanded to include looked after children and care leavers.

In response to queries, the Housing Solutions Manager advised that vulnerable applicants, such as those fleeing domestic abuse and 18 year olds leaving care were assisted by officers separately to get onto the housing register. He also advised that the bedroom criteria, whilst not ideal, would help many larger households to improve their situation.

RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to the CABINET MEMBER: That

1.  The proposed changes to the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme, as set out at Option A, be adopted subject to

a.  Retention of the local connection criteria, as per the current policy; and

b.  The definition of family to be amended to include looked after children and care levers.

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report and outlined the progress of the Working Group so far. This included that:

·  The Parish and Ward Member survey on non-strategic (neighbourhood) CIL, had been circulated on 18 October and was due to finish on 17 November with 31 interactions so far;

·  External stakeholders were invited on 15 October including Kent County Council (KCC) Highways and Education and academy trusts including Valley Invicta Academies Trust, Leigh Academy Trust, Woodard Trust and Coppice Partnership Primary. An officer from KCC has since responded and a date to interview was being organised for 5 December;

·  A letter had been drafted from the Chairman and Vice Chairman to KCC requesting an update on allocation of CIL and Section 106 monies but it had been agreed to wait until after the external stakeholder interview to finalise this; and

·  Letters were sent to other external stakeholders from the Integrated Care Board on 25 October with a response deadline of 25 November.

It was requested to invite Future Schools Trust as an additional external stakeholder.

RESOLVED: That the Democratic Services Officer invite Future Schools Trust as an additional external stakeholder for interview.

6.30 p.m. to 8.15 p.m.