Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

Apologies were received from Joanne Drew (Strategic Director of Housing and Regeneration).

Members of the Committee are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relating to items on the agenda.

No Declarations of Interest were received.

To receive and agree the minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 11 March 2024.

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2024.

To receive a report on Housing Fraud/Illegal Subletting.

RECEIVED the report of Neil Wightman (Director of Housing Services (residents).

Neil Wightman presented this item; the short report provided introduced the work undertaken around housing fraud. Council housing fraud affects the availability and quality of housing available. It is important that fraud is both tackled and taken very seriously. Officers undertake a lot of detailed verifications and investigations pre and during applications. Fraud can also come to light post application.

The report details the main areas of fraud; Housing Application Fraud (involving applications to the housing register or homeless applications); Occupancy and Subletting fraud. Council tenants do not have permission to sublet, so if this occurs and they no longer reside there as their main primary home then this is a breach of their tenancy; Succession Fraud (this tends to occur in larger properties) and Right To Buy Fraud.

Section 4 4 provided some examples of the work of the Counter Fraud Team. They undertake both preventative and proactive work. However. most of their work is reactive. Most fraud cases are from referrals e.g., from employees, councilors, contractors, and residents on suspected fraud cases.

Section 4 provided some information around cases where there has been an established outcome and some examples of case studies are also provided in the report (section 5), highlighting some of the powers that the counter Fraud team have.

Observations were then made, and questions taken:

A general observation on the report was that it contains no details on prosecutions which would have been helpful to demonstrate impact. It would also be helpful to provide comparison with the rest of London or the country if data is available. Neil Wightman to provide clarification of whether there is benchmarking undertaken. Action Neil Wightman

Neil provided clarification on the table in the report the asterisks indicated notional recovery figures per case. The table is successful cases only, however many other cases are being investigated. Some cases will take a lot longer, dependent on many factors such as the response of the person being investigated, the type of case, and intelligence received. The number of cases will fluctuate.

In response to a query on the difficulty of seceding with a case where fraud is suspected, members were advised that the burden of proof is high, there will often be conflicting evidence and a judgement must be reached. The more complex cases can go on for long time.

Following safety concerns raised on intelligence from the public and possible repercussion it was confirmed that the intelligence is used anonymously. It was not expected that those reporting completed a witness statement. This information is the start of a formal investigation. Neil Wightman to confirm whether people are aware when they report fraud that it is anonymous. Action Neil Wightman

It was clarified that it is in all tenancies for both Council and Housing Association that tenants cannot sublet their entire property.

Neil Wightman agreed to provide more details on preventative work following a request. Action Neil Wightman

It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive a report on Social Housing Allocations Policy.

RECEIVED the report of Neil Wightman (Director of Housing Services (residents). 

Neil Wightman presented this item which was a follow up to the last report at the last Housing Scrutiny meeting. The report provided an update on the review of social housing allocation scheme.

The responsibility of any scheme is to allocate a very limited resource to those in the greatest need. This is regulated under the Housing Act which provides the framework for how the scheme is run and what must be included.

Any new scheme will have an Equalities Impact Assessment undertaken.

The Scheme was last updated 18 months ago so this will be a light touch review. The Government is consulting on this which was covered in the report to the last meeting and the main areas that they are looking at are detailed in the report.

There are two options for the scheme these being bands or points. Under points the need is calculate against different points examples are contained in the report. Bands is usually easier to understand and involves 4 to 5 bands. Point schemes are more flexible despite being more complicated as there are more categories. Points systems better represent those who have more complex or cumulative needs.

The points scheme is currently used and going forward it is proposed to continue. The current scheme uses Choice Based Lettings which ais a national product the recommendation will be to keep CBL.

Qualifications was covered at the last meeting; part of the consultation will be on whether to move to a longer period to establish a local connection. The Government is proposing 10 years for UK residents. A number of local authorities are moving to a higher threshold.

Priorities will be looked to see if they can be improved the main priority will remain overcrowding. The question to be looked at is who should be prioritised in terms of overcrowding and the issues to consider exception exclusions were detailed in the report. Adults in the household to be looked at a number of schemes with other local authorities do not include this group.

Enduring and cumulative needs will be recognised, want to look at where there is greater need within a household. The possibility of including neurodiversity is being explored going forward, particularly around children. There is a legal duty to offer a secure tenancy to households in temporary accommodation pre 2012 (currently 270 households).

There are a limited number of priorities that can be maintained due to the number of allocations made. Approximately just over 400 allocations are made each year including housing associations as well as Councils own stock. But with thousands of people on the register and thousands of homeless households, it is a difficult balancing act. Each year the number of people applying for housing goes up.

It was stressed that this is not a waiting list it is a Needs Register people often find this difficult to understand or rationalise. This is especially true if they have been waiting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the completion of the work Programme for 2023/24 and that the Housing Scrutiny Work Programme for 2024/25 will be discussed at the first meeting of the new municipal year.

NOTED the completion of the Work Programme for 2023/24 and that the Housing Scrutiny Work Programme for 2024/25 will be discussed at the first meeting of the new municipal year.

To note the dates of the future meetings will be confirmed following Annual Council on Wednesday 15 May 2024.

NOTED that future meetings will be confirmed at the Annual Council meeting on Wednesday 15 May 2024.