Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Councillors Carl Etholen, Tom Hunter-Watts, Imran Hussein and Simon Rouse.

Councillor Peter Brazier was in attendance substituting for Councillor Simon Rouse.

There were no declarations of interest.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 15^th December 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

It was noted that item 7 from the minutes was not discussed in detail at the meeting and that a further update would be for members at a future meeting.

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee. The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

Two Public Questions had been received.

Question from Andrew Douglas

Today’s report on damp and mould in rented housing states the lack of available housing as one of the contributing factors. A recent Bucks Free Press article states that Buckinghamshire now has 678 fewer social homes than it did 10 years ago and that includes the 16 built last year. Clearly the present system is failing to deliver the warm, dry, cheap to heat social homes that are so desperately needed. What does Buckinghamshire Council intend to do to ensure this decline is reversed so that in the future  damp and mould free social homes are available to all those who need them?

Response from Councillor Mark Winn, Cabinet Member for Homelessness and Regulatory Services

The Council is committed to maximising the delivery of additional good quality affordable rent housing. During 2021/22, nearly 500 additional new rented social housing properties were delivered in Buckinghamshire by Registered Providers working alongside the Council. (The difference between the figure in the Bucks Free Press Article quoted in the question of just 16 is because they were referring only to properties that were available at the social rented level, whereas the majority of new Registered Provider rented properties are delivered using the Affordable Rent model. Hence we had 500 new properties delivered overall).

In 2022, the Council adopted an Interim Position Statement on Affordable Housing which set out the Council’s broad approach and immediate commitment to working with house builders and Registered Providers to maximise the delivery of general needs affordable housing. This included a commitment to bring forward a development on a Council owned site that could provide affordable housing, potentially with an element of specialist affordable and key worker housing, and this is now being explored on the former Sports and Social Club site at Stoke Mandeville and other sites are being investigated in Horns Lane High Wycombe Tatling End in Denham. The Council’s recently adopted accommodation strategy may provide further opportunities for exploring sites that could include affordable housing. 

The Interim Position Statement is underpinning the current development of the Council’s new single Housing Strategy which will provide the framework going forward for the Council’s approach to maximising the delivery of new affordable homes. The initial draft of the strategy is currently being finalised and will be brought forward for public consultation in due course. Alongside this, the Council’s Planning Policy approach to securing affordable housing will be a key consideration in the current work developing the Buckinghamshire Local Plan for adoption in 2025.

Question from Councillor Mark Cole JP, Chairman of the Planning Committee, Buckingham Town Council

Although Buckingham currently has no unmet housing need under VALP, can the Select Committee give an indication how much housing need it forecasts under the emerging Local Plan for Buckinghamshire, bearing in mind that the Secretary of State for Levelling Up Housing and Communities stated on 6th December 2022 that he has conceded that the 300,000 pa national housing target is being dropped,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Following the death of a two year old boy in Rochdale in Dec 2020 which was found in 2022 to be due to extensive mould in his home, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities requested information from all local authorities pertaining to damp and mould in rented housing accommodation. Members will have an opportunity to review Buckinghamshire's response.

Contributors:

Cllr Mark Winn, Cabinet Member for Homelessness and Regulatory Services

Lisa Michelson, Service Director, Economic Growth and Regeneration

Jacqui Bromilow, Head of Environmental Health & Trading Standards

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Mark Winn, Cabinet Member for Homelessness and Regulatory Services, Lisa Michelson, Service Director, Economic Growth and Regeneration and Jacqui Bromilow, Head of Environmental Health & Trading Standards to the committee meeting.

Cllr Robin Stuchbury submitted a question for the Cabinet Member and Officers to consider.

Properties with Damp and Mould are being rented within the local authority, am I correct there is a statutory duty to repair the structure and keep the external part of a dwelling in good repair & proper working order?

Under Section 11 of the landlord tenant act 1985, obligations on the landlord requires a time limit for section 11 repairs. Many of these obligations were set out in October 24, 1961 in respect to keeping a property in good order.

The HHSRS (Housing health and safety rating system) definition of hazard comes under housing in the health and safety rating system, of which damp and mould in a property are both within the housing unit and within the rating systems.

I seek assurance that the local authority has the resources to, where necessary, seek & enforce removal of damp within properties, noting how harmful this is to growing young people and vulnerable adults within Buckinghamshire.

If the authority does not have the powers to enforce, especially within social housing & private rented housing robustly. Who’s best placed to protect and defend all Buckinghamshire constituents within property which is rented within Buckinghamshire,

both in private and public rent sectors? Noting the aspirations within the report before your committee today, please could I have clarity around these questions I ask as a Buckinghamshire councillor regarding damp within socially rented properties.

Information quoted within the question, I've provided the evidence to legislation attached,

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/helping-tenants-with-damp-and-mouldy-housing-england/

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-of-social-housing-writes-to-social-housing-landlords-on-the-issue-of-damp-and-mould

Response from Councillor Mark Winn, Cabinet Member for Homelessness and Regulatory Services

Following the tragic case in Rochdale, Buckinghamshire Council has seen a large increase in requests for service relating to issues of Damp and Mould compared to previous comparable winter periods. This increase has also been seen nationally within other councils.  Whilst the increase in demand in this area of work has put the Environmental Health service under pressure, it has managed to respond to all requests for service regarding damp and mould.  As stated in the report the council will be reviewing our future needs in line with the heightened awareness that residents have around housing standards and their rights along with the demands of future legislation which are being proposed.  The council is a key enforcement agent with respect to housing standards and has responded as required to cases it has been made aware of.  There are some legislative proposals to extend the powers of the Housing Ombudsman and the Social Housing Regulator and we await more information regarding how our enforcement duties will work alongside these organisations.

The Council has a statutory duty under the Housing Act 2004 to investigate complaints of disrepair within properties, and to take enforcement action in line with the Council’s Enforcement Policy where there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

An opportunity for members to understand and discuss the synergies between the emerging Local Plan, Local Transport Plan and Infrastructure Plan. 

Contributors:

Cllr Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

Cllr Steve Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport

Steve Bambrick, Service Director, Planning & Environment

Darran Eggleton, Head of Planning Policy and Compliance

John Cheston, Planning Policy Manager

Rosie Brake, Planning Policy Team Leader

The Committee received an update from Councillor Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, Cllr Steve Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport, Ian Thompson, Corporate Director, Planning Growth and Sustainability, Steve Bambrick, Service Director, Planning & Environment, Darran Eggleton, Head of Planning Policy and Compliance, John Cheston, Planning Policy Manager, and Rosie Brake, Planning Policy Team Leader.

The following points were highlighted:

·         It was clarified that under item 6 on the agenda front sheet, it should read ‘regeneration strategies’, not ‘infrastructure plan’

·         In addition to the plans listed, various other schemes worked in collaboration with the Local Plan, Transport Plan & Regeneration Strategies, such as the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and Design Codes. The interdependencies were consistently assessed to ensure compatibility and that good practice was being followed.

·         The new Transport Plan being produced was the 5^th Local Transport Plan (LTP 5), a new LTP was produced every 10-15 years. Intelligence was gathered to assess the priorities of movement of people and goods in intra-authority and inter-authority areas.

·         Buckinghamshire Council was still awaiting final guidance on LTP 5 from the Department for Transport. This guidance was required before they could fully consult. Funding for projects was decided on a case by case basis with appropriate DfT indications. Given the nature and cost of transport schemes, there will be a need to draw on external funding in many instances.

During discussion, comments and questions raised by the Committee included:

·         Where major works/movements were conducted, in line with the asset management policy, the road was inspected and defects were dealt with accordingly.

·         In preparing the Local Plan, transport links are considered when looking at areas for large scale development. The Local Plan can’t fix historic problems. Where it is possible, roads/infrastructure are built prior to housing, however this won’t always be the case.

·          Policy requirements contained within the current Local Plans remain in place until overtaken by the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan. The Council is committed to following up on any infrastructure requirements contained within current Local Plans. Going forward, these allocations and requirements would be considered in the formulation of the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan.

·         A Member mentioned that Luton Airport had been looking to increase employment opportunities within Buckinghamshire. The LTP would examine the needs of residents as well as cross-boundary opportunities in its formulation. Research would be undertaken to identify where residents need to travel for work and how best to develop transport links. There is a legal duty to cooperate when preparing the Local Plan and Local Infrastructure Plans, as such the Council ensures their strategies are coherent with other Local Authority strategies.

·         It was clarified that when planning permission is granted, conditions or requirements only apply within the application site. This red line can limit the ability of conditions to stop incidents such as pavement damage outside the area of the planning application site.

·         Where a planning application requires infrastructure delivery, the developers are not always able to deliver this up front. Viability of arrangements such as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The committee will receive an overview and update on the planning compliance and enforcement service.

Contributors:

Cllr Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

Darran Eggleton, Head of Planning Policy and Compliance

The Chairman invited Cllr Peter Strachan, Steve Bambrick, Service Director, Planning & Environment, Darran Eggleton, Head of Planning Policy and Compliance to give an update on Planning Enforcement.

The following points were highlighted:

·         The Planning Enforcement service was important to local residents, and there was a very high level of performance reported across the team.

·         The team was fully staffed, having recently filled 5 new posts. It was noted many other authorities struggled to fully staff their Planning Enforcement service and faced unmanageable workloads.

·         Buckinghamshire was in the top 4 local authorities in the country for number of enforcement notices issued. While the level of appeals was high, the success rate of the service in defending these appeals was also very high. At the time of the committee meeting, there were 78 appeals reported in the overall process, with 43 in the determination phase.

During discussion, comments and questions raised by the Committee included:

·         How best to keep Members updated on the success of the enforcement service was to be reviewed by the Cabinet Member. Members of the committee were keen to have up to date information to disseminate to Parish Councils and residents as necessary.

ACTION: Cllr Peter Strachan

·         A new reporting form for planning breaches was to be released in the month following the committee meeting. This form was more user friendly and combined the 4 different previous forms into a single one.

·         Communication with complainants was being worked on to ensure that customers are informed at all steps of the planning enforcement process. Members were encouraged to contact the team if they were unsure of the progress of a case.

·         The Planning Enforcement Team was always looking at new ways to improve the process. Due to the nature of planning enforcement cases, it was hard to speed up the turnaround of cases.

·         Buckinghamshire Council had responded to the government’s consultation around the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill highlighting the length of time planning enforcement cases take. It was reported that cases can take years due to legal requirements, despite the best efforts of the enforcement team. Due to these legal barriers, sometimes the impression is that nothing is happening on an enforcement case, despite the correct processes being followed in a timely manner.

·         Members of the public can help the process where they feel comfortable by providing photographic evidence of planning breaches.

·         The Committee expressed their gratitude for the hard work performed by the Planning Enforcement team.

·         The Cabinet Member clarified that quarterly developers forum’s take place ensuring a constant dialogue with developers. The Council’s reputation as a planning enforcement authority could be assisted by local Members managing expectations.

The Committee will discuss and note the Work Programme for future meetings.

The Chairman noted the agreement of the Cabinet Member to return to the Select Committee prior to Winter 2023 to further update the committee regarding damp and mould. Attendance from Registered Housing Providers to scrutinise their work was suggested as a future topic for the committee.

A scope was being drafted for a review into the legacy of ‘everyone in’ and homelessness within Bucks. Cllr Thomas Hogg had volunteered to chair the review group. The Scrutiny Officer would circulate the scoping document to the committee when complete.

The next meeting will take place on 6^th April 2023 at 10.00 a.m.

The next meeting would take place on 6th April 2023 at 10.00 a.m.