Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Appointment of Chair
Additional documents:
Minutes:
1.1
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Councillor
Sioned-Mair Richards, Deputy Chair of the Committee, notified
members that Councillor Peter Garbutt had replaced Councillor
Kaltum Rivers as a member of the Committee.
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1.2
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Councillor Richards proposed that a new Chair be
elected and nominated Councillor Garbutt for this role. This was
seconded by Councillor Sangar. Members voted unanimously in favour
of the nomination.
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1.3
|
Councillor
Richards welcomed Councillor Garbutt as the newly elected
Chair.
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1.4
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RESOLVED: that
the Committee: -
(a)
appoint Councillor Peter Garbutt as Chair of the
Committee; and
(b)
thank Councillor Rivers for her contributions to the
Committee to date.
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2. |
Apologies for Absence
Additional documents:
Minutes:
2.1
|
Apologies for absence were received from
Councillors’ Ben Curran, Alison Teal and Sophie Thornton.
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3. |
Exclusion of Public and Press
To identify items where
resolutions may be moved to exclude the press and
public.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
3.1
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No items were identified where resolutions may
be moved to exclude the public and press.
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4. |
Declarations of Interest PDF 129 KB
Members to declare any
interests they have in the business to be considered at the
meeting.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
4.1
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There were no declarations of interest.
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5. |
Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 178 KB
To approve the minutes of the
meeting of the Committee held on 12 October 2021.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
5.1
|
The minutes of the meeting of the Committee
held on 12 October 2021 were approved as a correct record.
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6. |
Public Questions and Petitions
To receive any questions or
petitions from members of the public.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
6.1
|
There were no public questions or petitions
received from members of the public.
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7. |
Place Systems Review Housing Project PDF 39 KB
Report of the Executive Director, Place.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
7.1
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Councillor Garbutt introduced Bev Mullooly,
Head of Neighbourhood Services, to provide an update on the Place
Systems Review.
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7.2
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Bev outlined the Place Systems Review, which
aimed to modernise IT systems and the infrastructure and processes
around them. This was planned to start in the Housing and
Neighbourhoods Service as the current system was old and in need of
updating. The current system (OHMS) had been implemented in 1999
and operated with a collection of other systems (Abritas, Apex,
Technology Forge, Flare, Confirm etc) and interfaces around it.
This was a fully supported service and main data source for the
Housing and Neighbourhood Service.
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7.3
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Bev also explained the opportunities for
change. A soft market test had been carried out and indicated that
a single system would achieve the required strategic enablers. The
soft market test demonstrated that the majority of what was needed
could be provided in a single modernised system that would gather
an up-to-date view of customers and assets. It would allow more
efficiency in resolving customer enquiries. It was anticipated that
having one system would be more cost-effective and would bring
about longer-term efficiencies. It was also expected to allow a
smooth integration with Total Repairs and that having less systems
would allow better quality of data.
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7.4
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Bev advised that engagement had taken place
with Housing and Neighbourhoods service staff to gather all the
requirements for the system. Their understanding of customer
requirements would help to deliver a better customer service. The
team were also engaging with tenants, residents and stakeholders to
find out their experiences and ideas on how new ways of working
could improve the service. A survey was planned during the next few
weeks aiming to assist with this. It was proposed to set up a model
office in May 2022, which would engage staff and customers to test,
refine, and optimise processes to ensure they work for the service
and provide the best experience for customers before rolling
out.
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7.5
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Bev confirmed that the budget
for the purchase and implementing the new system was
£9.3m
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7.6
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Bev outlined the likely benefits to customers
and staff that the project would bring. It would be easier for
staff to gather, update and use information and thereby improve
customer experience. Having a single view of housing customer
information would save time on searching multiple systems, and
customers would only have to ‘tell their story’
once.
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7.7
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Customers would also have access to an online
portal which would allow customers to access information such as
rent balance, property bids and reporting of repairs. This was
expected to allow staff to deal with more complex customer
enquiries.
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7.8
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The tendering process had begun, and following
evaluation, sign-off and testing, implementation of a new system
was expected to be between April and September 2023.
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7.9
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Members made various comments
and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided
as follows: -
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8. |
Issues referred from/to Local Area Committees
Verbal report of the Policy and Improvement
Officer.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
8.1
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Deborah Glen, Policy and Improvement Officer,
confirmed that there had been no items received.
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8.2
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It was noted that
Full Council had previously agreed that each Transitional Committee
should consider items to be devolved to Local Area
Committee’s and that full officer support was needed to
facilitate this.
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9. |
Forward Plan of Key Decisions PDF 140 KB
Report of the Policy and Improvement
Officer.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
9.1
|
The Committee received a report
of the Policy and Improvement Officer (Deborah Glen) on the
Schedule of Forthcoming Executive Decisions.
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9.2
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Deborah requested suggestions
for items from the Schedule to build into the future work
plan.
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9.3
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The following comments from
Members were noted: -
- It was noted that although the Committee
currently had no decision-making powers, other avenues existed
to examine decisions taken, such as full
Council and Scrutiny Committees.
- The
Committee took a vote on whether they should receive the Sheffield
Street Strategy report at a future meeting. The majority of the
Committee voted against this. Councillor Joe Otten and Andrew
Sangar requested that their vote of ‘in favour’ of the
Sheffield Street Strategy report coming to a future meeting of the
Committee be recorded in the minutes.
- An
alternative option was suggested to bring the independent review of
the Sheffield Street Tree Inquiry to a future meeting of the
Committee.
- A request was made
that a report on Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan
and HRA Budget 2022/23 be brought. In response it
was advised that the HRA Business Plan was a decision for full
Council. It would be completed in draft form within next 2-3 weeks.
The Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods would report back to
members via briefings to each political group.
- It was suggested that
a presentation on Youth Services be brought to a future meeting of
the Committee so that members were in a position to understand the
future of their communities.
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9.4
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Resolved:
that the Committee voted against
bringing the Sheffield Street Strategy report and instead receive
an interim report on the Independent Sheffield Street Tree Inquiry
at a future meeting of the Committee.
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10. |
Work Plan and Ways of Working PDF 494 KB
Report of the Policy and Improvement
Officer.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
10.1
|
The Committee received a report
of the Policy and Improvement Officer (Deborah Glen) on proposed
ways of working for the Committee and containing a draft Work Plan
for the Committee for 2021/ 22.
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10.2
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The Chair made reference to the
comments and suggestions made at this meeting as to how the
Committee should work, and to the proposed topics for
consideration, as set out in the report.
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10.3
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RESOLVED: That the Committee:
-
(a)
notes the contents of the report now submitted,
together with the comments now made; and
(b)
requests that:
(i)
arrangements be made for an informal working group
to be set up to specifically to discuss Youth Strategy;
(ii)
arrangements be made for an informal
working group to be set up specifically to discuss the Housing
Repair Service; and
(iii) arrangements be made for an informal working group to be set up
specifically to discuss post-Christmas debt.
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11. |
Date of Next Meeting
Additional documents:
Minutes:
11.1
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It was noted that the
next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday 14 December
2021 at 10.00 am in the Town Hall.
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