Agenda and minutes
Venue: Boardrooms 3, 4 and 5 - Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ
Contact: Toby Howes, Senior Democratic Services Officer 020 8937 1307, Email: toby.howes@brent.gov.uk
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Declarations of interests Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant financial or other interest in the items on this agenda. Minutes: None declared at this stage of the meeting. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 February 2015 To follow. Minutes: RESOLVED:
that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 February 2015 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting. |
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Matters arising Minutes: None. |
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Update on Community Access Strategy PDF 137 KB The report provides members with a summary of the Community Access Strategy agreed by Cabinet on 15 October 2014 and the progress that has been made in implementing it. Additional documents: Minutes: Margaret Read (Operational Director - Brent Customer Services, Regeneration and Growth) introduced the report and advised members that the Community Access Strategy had been agreed at Cabinet on 15 October 2014. She stated that the strategy recognised the significant challenges, including financial, that the council faced and it was not feasible for services to continue to be provided in the way they currently were. Members heard that the strategy focused on accessing services in different ways, such as increasing access through digital channels, whilst freeing up resources to target customers who needed a more personalised approach. Margaret Read then drew members’ attention to the key principles underpinning the delivery of the Customer Access Strategy that supported the wider aims of the Brent Borough Plan, corporate strategic objectives and the Community Access Strategy.
Margaret Read informed the committee that the Community Access Strategy would be achieved through a programme of projects that were overseen by the One Council Board, with the four working streams in progress being:
· Improving telephony to ensure residents experience a consistently good response · Channel shift – improving the digital offer to residents so that where they can self serve, it is easy and convenient to do so · Modernising face to face contact to support changing access arrangements, in particular providing assistance to residents who may need help to self serve · Thematic reviews – to redesign the way in which services, working with partners and the Voluntary and Community Sector and joining up service delivery so that individual and community needs are better met.
Margaret Read then provided members of an update on achievements and progress with each of the four working streams to date and in respect of channel shift, she advised that a new Customer Portal was due to go live in July 2015 that would include an increased number of services offered through this channel. She stated that it was recognised that some service areas needed to improve and it was important that services were joined up in a way that made sense to residents.
During members’ discussions, the multicultural nature of the borough was highlighted and it was enquired whether this had been taken into account, particularly as English was not the first language for a number of residents. It was asked whether lessons had been learnt from previous changes to services, such as parking and what was the level of savings expected from delivering the strategy. A member commented that many residents had no access to a computer and preferred to use the telephone, however he asked what steps were being taken to prevent customers being misdirected to the wrong department. Another member commented on the importance of communicating to residents that services could be accessed in a number of different ways and enquired whether residents were advised about things such as creating and changing sound passwords and was their data protected. In addition, another member asked if the new Customer Portal offered a facility to create a new password when the current ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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Housing pressures in Brent PDF 113 KB The report provides an overview of the housing pressures impacting on the borough, drawing on the Housing Strategy 2014-19 and other information, with particular regard to homelessness and wider housing supply and demand issues. Minutes: Jon Lloyd-Owen (Operational Director – Housing and Employment, Regeneration and Growth) presented the report and began by highlighting the significant population growth in the borough between the 2001 and 2011 Census exercises, in line with other London boroughs. In particular, there had been a marked increase in average family size and the numbers of children and this had led an increase in demand for homes in Brent. The demand increase, coupled with rising rents and prices, meant that for many housing was becoming increasingly unaffordable in the borough. Jon Lloyd-Owen advised that there had also been a large increase in the amount of housing that was privately rented, rising from just over 17% in 2001, to around 32% now, whilst the proportion of social housing had remained around the same. House prices in Brent had continued to rise between December 2013 and December 2014 and this had contributed to the decline in the number of owner occupiers in the borough.
Jon Lloyd-Owen advised that homelessness applications and acceptances had been rising across London and this was expected to continue, with Brent receiving around 50 applications a week and it was anticipated that there would be around 700 applications for the year. Due to the high levels of homelessness and limited social housing, Jon Lloyd-Owen advised that Brent had the highest number of households in temporary accommodation than any other authority. Furthermore, Housing Benefit restrictions and rising rents had limited the council’s ability to secure temporary accommodation in the borough, meaning increased reliance to seek properties in other London boroughs or further afield. Whilst the private rented sector played an important role in providing accommodation, demand helped increase rents and there had been an increase in multiple occupation, overcrowding and in some cases residents living in “beds in sheds”. Jon Lloyd-Owen advised that to address this, the council supported the use of voluntary accreditation schemes for landlords and agents, whilst an additional licensing scheme requiring all properties let as houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) to be licensed had been introduced on 1 January 2015.
Jon Lloyd-Owen informed members that the welfare reform had raised critical issues that had impacted significantly on Brent residents and drove a number of pressures in the housing market. The council had set up a joint team with staff from Housing Needs and Revenue and Benefits working with Job Centre Plus and Brent Citizens’ Advice Bureau to provide early stage support to mitigate the impact of the welfare reforms on Brent households. Members heard that the Overall Benefit Cap had led to 1,173 live cases being affected by it as of the end of January 2015 and the average rent in the borough was significantly more than the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for one, two, three and four bedroom properties. In order to tackle the housing issues, Jon Lloyd-Owen advised that local planning policy included plans for at least 22,000 homes between 2007 and 2026, of which 50% would be affordable housing. The Housing Strategy had ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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Unemployment and Work Programme providers PDF 875 KB Members of the Scrutiny Committee requested information on the work programme and how this national scheme is supporting long-term unemployed Brent residents into sustainable employment. The Work Programme is commissioned at a regional level by the Department of Work and Pensions to deliver support and job brokerage to those who have been unemployed longer than two years. The report will cover the current level and trends in unemployment and the performance of the work programme in Brent in tackling long term unemployment.
Report to follow. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair introduced the item and expressed on behalf of the committee its disappointment that representatives from two of the Work Programme providers, Reed and CDG, had given their apologies for absence. He also added that not all the information requested by members on this item had been provided, particularly in relation to specific information on the most deprived areas of each ward. The Chair stated that he would write a letter to officers and Work Programme providers on behalf of the committee setting out what information they wanted.
The Chair then invited Lucy Carmichael (Operations Manager, Ingeus, a representative of one of the Work Programme providers, to give a presentation to members. Lucy Carmichael began by explaining that only non-confidential information could be provided at this time as a non disclosure agreement between the council and the Work Programme providers was yet to be agreed. Lucy Carmichael then gave a presentation to members setting out Ingeus’ approach to the Work Programme and the initiatives it undertook to support a stronger community in Brent, including:
· Tackling unemployment · Working with small and medium sized enterprises · Improving health and wellbeing · Partnership working
Lucy Carmichael informed members that Ingeus staff undertook a number of roles to help Brent residents, including employment advisers, administrators, group facilitators, physical health advisers, mental health advisers and employer partnership coordinators. Amongst the partners Ingeus worked with included Clarion, who helped support clients who are deaf or hard of hearing. Lucy Carmichael then explained how the service it offered worked from the beginning to the end of the process and around 70% of the income Ingeus received came from after clients had gained employment. Members were also informed about the Training, Knowledge and Opportunities (TKO) programme, an innovative initiative set up by Ingeus.
During members’ discussion, the committee asked if Ingeus were successful in obtaining employment for its clients. A member requested that the success of the Work Programme providers be demonstrated in a measurable way and he asked in what ways could the council help in getting residents into long term employment. Another member, in noting that Ingeus worked with a number of colleges, asked why there appeared to be no links with secondary schools and could this be looked at and he also asked whether there was any support to develop ‘soft skills.’ A member queried what the biggest skills gap and mismatch in the borough were and were there efforts to achieve a balance between obtaining what would be perceived as good jobs for clients as opposed to jobs where there was a demand for them to be filled. She also asked whether any jobs were sub-contracted and to who and was there a working relationship with organisations in the community and voluntary sector.
A member commented that he had worked with voluntary organisations for a number of years and stated that he had observed that a number of children who had left school early or who had not performed well significantly lacked ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan PDF 49 KB The Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan is attached. Minutes: Members had before them the Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan. Councillor Colwill requested that the expansion of Byron Court Primary School and Uxendon Manor Primary School be added to the Forward Plan, in particular to consider their respective travel plans. There was also discussion amongst members about what officers would attend in respect of the equalities and HR practices report on 30 April and the committee would seek further advice in respect of this. A member also commented that members should be give more time to raise questions on agenda items rather than too much time being spent on the presenting of them.
The Chair welcomed members to send any other suggestions on the Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan to Cathy Tyson (Head of Policy and Scrutiny, Assistant Chief Executive’s Service) or himself. |
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Any other urgent business Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Democratic Services Manager or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64. Minutes: None. |