Agenda item

The Leader made the following announcements:

“Good evening to you all. 

Last night I attended the council’s Scrutiny Committee meeting. The meeting was addressed by two members of the Shepway Tenants and Leaseholders Board who were expressing their concern about the possibility of us taking the housing department back in house. One of them thought that where previously there had been a stigma attached to being a council house tenant under EKH that had diminished. I do not know why he should have thought this, in all of the time I have been a Councillor I have never encountered it, far from it. Before EKH was formed, we were proud of our well maintained housing stock and particularly of our engagement with the tenants. When EKH was formed it was envisaged that at some future time it would become a stand-alone entity, that has not happened and therefore the legal accountability still resides with each of the councils. That leaves us liable for such things as corporate manslaughter without direct control of the situation. I make this point now because the tenants should be aware of this implication before they are consulted with.  I will also say how impressed I was with the way the Scrutiny Committee handled this item.

EKH is a legal function of the Executive, but recognising the importance of this issue, Cabinet have decided that they will bring this item before Council for discussion before going to Cabinet for the final decision.

At the earlier Cabinet Meeting, a decision had also been made to purchase Ship Street, and I look forward to this coming forward.

The FPPG had also met earlier that evening, and had made a decision that meetings would be open to the public. A report would be brought to the next meeting of the FPPG setting out the rules for this”.

The Leader of the Green Group responded and stated that it had been useful to have the Shepway Tenants and Leaseholders Board present at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and she had been surprised by how attached they were to EKH.  She stated that it was important to involve the public, and listen to what they had to say.  She also added that she was concerned about the current format of the consultation form, and felt that it could be leading.

The Leader of the Labour group responded and advised that he echoed the comments of Councillor Whybrow, and that it was important to have consultation events, not just to gain views, but to inform of the consequences of each action.

Councillor Prater, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group responded and stated that opening up the FPPG meetings was a welcome move.  He also welcomed the Ship Street Scheme, and looked forward to seeing the proposals and costings. He added that a year ago, members would have been horrified at the thought of bringing the housing function back in house, but facts had changed, and despite appearances, tenants had not been kept safe.  The council has seen this, and changed its mind.  More reviews were coming forward and it was important to learn lessons and look forward.  If the council did decide to bring the housing function back in house, there would be an extra cost to bring the housing stock back to an acceptable standard, and ensure this never happened again.

The Leader in reply stated that he was gratified that all parties recognised the problems and issues in taking forward the proposals with regard to bringing the housing function back in house. He added that he would have liked to set EKH off on its own, as a housing association, but it was not able to get there.  He stated that the proposals were subject to consultation, but that there was no alternative but to bring the service back in house.

Proposed by Councillor Monk,

Seconded by Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee; and

RESOLVED:

That the announcements of the Leader be noted.