Agenda and minutes

There were none.

This meeting was held in a hybrid format with members and officers able to join the meeting remotely.

However, regulations did not allow for members attending virtually to be counted as present in the attendance section of the minutes, and their attendance would not count as attendance in relation to section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972.

Members attending virtually would be able to speak but would not be able to vote.

Councillors joining remotely:

There were none.

Item 07 – Budget Update Report

Item 08 – Urgent Matter

Reason for Urgency

Impractical to comply with the forward plan requirements.

Pursuant to rule 15(1) of the Access to Information Rules, the monitoring officer was satisfied that it was appropriate for both decisions to be taken in any event.

Item 7 – Budget Update Report

Item 8 – Regulator of Social Housing Voluntary Referral and Notice

Pursuant to rule 15(1) of the Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules, the Monitoring Officer was satisfied that it was appropriate for both decisions to be taken in any event.

Reason for urgency

Impractical to comply with the forward plan requirements.

Item 8 contained confidential appendices but was not taken in private as it was not necessary to discuss the confidential information provided.

There were none.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 April 2022

Resolved:

That the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 6 April 2022 be agreed and signed as a true and correct record.

There were none.

Resolved

That Cabinet:

i)                Approves £3.001m revenue growth allocation approved by Cabinet in February 2022 towards the priorities set out in section 3 of the report and appendix 2.

ii)               Notes and agrees the new General Fund capital programme additions totalling to £11.588m (section 3, paragraph 4.3 and appendix 1) and approves the following:

a) Additional capital funding requirement of £11.588m to be funded from

mainstream borrowing with associated revenue financing cost to be met

from the revenue growth fund as set out in section 4.

b) Delegates authority to the Chief Finance Officer (Section 151) to release budget to be incepted into the capital programme (thereby giving authority to spend) upon approval of a detailed business case and option appraisal in accordance with the frameworks set out in the approved Capital and Treasury Management Strategies.

iii)             Authorises the Executive Director or Director with responsibility to carry out and take into account necessary due diligence, consultation, and equality analysis assessment for each proposal prior to taking the final decision on whether to implement.

Reason for Decision and Options Considered

Following on from the approval of the 2022/23 General Fund budget by Cabinet in February 2022 and Council in March 2022, the report sought approval for £3.001m of funding originally set aside as for potential in-year uncertainty/volatility to be allocated against delivery of key activities and outcomes supporting council priorities. The Council would continue to consider the necessary funding requirements for delivering its priorities as part of the annual medium term financial strategy (MTFS) and budget process.

The Council had continued to invest in services that experienced significant and continued demand pressures, with prioritisation being given to the most vulnerable groups. Against the current backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by the rising inflation and energy prices, council services continued to operate in a challenging resource environment where small demand change can lead to material budget variances. Thus, the reason for the Council wanting to redirect some of the growth towards supporting services to the most vulnerable such as the care sector. The proposed investment for a total of up to £14.589m (capital £11.588m and revenue £3.001m) was complementing the c£15m of revenue investment already built into the 2022/23 general fund budget.

It was necessary to consider the appropriateness of budget allocations relatively early on in the financial year and in doing it was important to view the total budget allocations in the round taking into account those amounts set-aside and already contained in the MTFS for pressures such as pay and contractual inflation. When viewed as a whole, it was reasonable to make the funding referred to in the report available given one of the most challenging cost pressure areas was in adults social care, which the majority of the funding being released contributes towards addressing.

Resolved

That Cabinet:

i)                Notes the receipt and contents of the Regulatory Notice dated 11 May 2022.

ii)               Authorises the Chief Executive, following consultation with the Director of Legal and Democratic Services (monitoring officer), to enter into a Voluntary Undertaking with the Regulator of Social Housing.

iii)             Notes that a further report will be brought to Cabinet by November 2022 informing it of the outcome of the response to the Regulatory Notice.

iv)             Notes that the report fulfils the requirements of the duty of the Monitoring Officer to report failings by the Council of statutory obligations.

Reason for Decision and Options Considered

Background

On 25 February 2022, the Council wrote to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), the body that provides independent oversight of all registered social housing providers including local authorities and Housing Associations and made a voluntary self-referral for a potential breach of the Home Standard. 

The Home Standard set out expectations for registered providers of social housing to provide tenants with quality, safe accommodation and a cost-effective repairs and maintenance service. The RSH’s role was to set those consumer standards and to intervene where failure to meet the standards had caused, or could have caused, serious harm to tenants.

As part of the 2021-22 Council internal audit programme, two audits, confidential Appendices A and B, were completed to assess the adequacy of the Council’s controls in place in relation to housing health and safety and fire safety compliance. The two audits concluded no assurance for fire safety, and limited assurance across other areas of health and safety statutory compliance.

In respect of fire safety, the Council had a statutory duty to regularly assess the risk of fire and to take precautions to prevent harm. Similarly, alongside specific statutory duties in relation to gas, electrical, asbestos and water safety, the Council had a duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to not expose our tenants, and others, to risks to their health and safety. 

The fire safety audit found that the Council did not have effectivecontrols in place in relation to its responsibilities for fire safety. At the time of the audit, a significant number of Council properties were recorded as not having an in-date Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) andthere was no process to record and track FRA remedial actions. While the Council had recently improved and were able to provide assurance that all properties requiring an FRA had one in place, it was unable to state that all remedial works had been completed and monitored.

Similarly, the internal audit had identified failings across gas, electrical, asbestos and water safety, including that there was no evidence of monitoring of remedial works.

The RSH assessed the evidence provided as part of the self-referral and confirmed that the Council had indeed breached the Home Standard. As a result, the RSH published a Regulatory Notice on 11 May 2022 which was attached to the report as Appendix C. The Notice remained ‘live’ for 12  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The next meeting will be held on 15 June 2022 at 7pm.

Resolved   

That Cabinet notes that the next meeting of Cabinet would be held on 15 June 2022 at 7pm.

Councillor Peter Mason, Chair

Date

The duration of this meeting was 6:00pm to 6:35pm