Agenda, decisions and minutes

Resolved: the minutes of the last meetign were agreed as a correct record of proceedings.

The following interests were declared:

·         Cllr Olurotimi Ogunbadewa is a board member of Phoenix Housing

·         Cllr Sue Hordijenko is a board member of Phoenix Housing

·         Cllr Silvana Kelleher is a Lewisham Homes tenant.

There were none.

Resolved: the committee noted the report.

Rachel Dunn (Housing Partnerships and Service Improvement Manager) introduced report. There was a discussion and the following key points were noted:

1.1 The Council is planning an 8-week public consultation on its draft housing strategy for 2020-26 in February/March.

1.2 Officers thanked the committee for their input at the two informal consultation sessions held between officers and committee members.

1.3 The consultation will be hosted on the Council’s online consultation portal. There will also be attendance at public events, such as local assemblies, and targeted events with key housing partners, such as L&Q and Phoenix.

1.4 The Council has a number of plans to improve the standards of temporary accommodation. There is an ongoing compliance project to ensure that necessary certification is in place. The Council is part of a London-wide project, Setting the Standard”, looking at centralising the inspection of B&B temporary accommodation. The Council is part of Capital Letters, which is looking at standards around procurement of temporary accommodation. The Council is also working on the implementation of borough-wide licensing for the private rented sector.

1.5 The committee suggested that the section in the draft strategy on the climate emergency could be more specific and include detail on efforts to improve the energy efficiency of homes and car-free developments on regeneration projects.

Resolved: the committee noted the report.

Resolved: the committee noted the report.

Rachel Dunn (Housing Partnerships and Service Improvement Manager) introduced report. There was a discussion and the following key points were noted:

1.1 The officer report provides a progress update in relation to the recommendations of an in-depth review of housing and mental health carried out by the Housing Select Committee in the last administration.

1.2 One of the key recommendations was to produce an agreement between housing providers and other relevant professionals on how to best to help residents with low-level mental ill health issues.

1.3 The Council has since produced a draft handbook to raise awareness among housing partners of the service available for low-level mental health issues so that they can better help residents to access support. The handbook should help provide more consistency by sharing and embedding good practice.

1.4 The partners involved have committed to having a named person in their organisation responsible for making sure the handbook is up to date. The Council will also be responsible for carrying out regular reviews.

1.5 The main implications of this initiative are raising awareness and staff development. Some support services may get more referrals, but this should not fall outside of normal budgets.

1.6 The Council would eventually like to expand this kind of support to those in temporary accommodation.

1.7 The committee commended the wide range of stakeholders that the Council engaged in the production of the handbook.

1.8 The committee also noted the link between mental health and anti-social behaviour and how low-level anti-social behaviour can affect mental health

1.9 The committee suggested including signposting to support for loneliness. Officers agreed that this would be a valuable addition. 

Resolved: the committee noted the report.

This item was postponed until the next meeting.

This item was postponed until the next meeting.

Resolved: the committee agreed the work programme.

The Scrutiny manager introduced the report. The following points were noted:

1.1  The committee agreed to postpone the consideration of possible recommendations for its review of resident engagement in housing development until its meeting on 30th January 2020.

1.2  The committee agreed to provisionally schedule an item on out-of-borough placements for its meeting on 12th March 2020.

Resolved: the committee agreed the work programme.

There were none.