Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alex Ball - personal

None

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2016.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Verbal update

Inspector Robert Wilson, Nottinghamshire Police, provided the following in relation to Sherwood, and apologised that there is no information for Sherwood as his colleague is unable to attend:

(a)  from 1 April 2016 to date there has been 83 fewer reports of anti-social behaviour, which is an 8.2% reduction;

(b)  increased patrols will continue in anti-social behaviour hot spot areas;

(c)  a significant amount of work has been done to reduce violence in the area, with 13 fewer reports of violence causing injury since 1 April 2016 to date, which is a 7.17% reduction;

(d)  from 1 April 2016 to date there has been 19 fewer reports of domestic violence causing injury. Support is in place for victims of domestic violence and the Police ensure they arrest perpetrators as soon as possible and seek charges;

(e)  from 1 April 2016 to date there has been 8 additional burglaries, which is an 8% increase. Work is ongoing to reduce this and there is a good conviction rate;

(f)  from 1 April 2016 to date overall crime has increased by 113 offences, which is an 8.7% increase. City wide the Police has seen a 12% increase so the local figure is below that. Some of the increase is related to new incidents being recorded, ie threats in emails.

In response to questions from the Committee, Inspector Robert Wilson provided the following additional information:

(g)  crime started increasing in the Sherwood Rise area in the summer of 2016 so extra patrols have been put in place and additional work in the area is ongoing;

(h)  work is being done with community and faith groups to increase local confidence in the Police and inform them of methods for reporting crime and explain how crime is dealt with.

Joint report of the Corporate Director for Development and Growth and the Corporate Director for Commercial and Operations

Lisa Ball, Strategic Planning and Performance Consultant, introduced the report detailing the proposal to introduce a selective licensing scheme for privately rented houses, for the purpose of gaining the views of the Committee as part of the consultation, which runs from January to March 2017.

Lisa presented the Committee with the following information:

(a)  it is a key priority to introduce a city wide selective licensing scheme to improve the private rented sector;

(b)  there are strict criteria to comply with and conditions needed for a scheme to be implemented, and now that a firm proposal has been developed, consultation is taking place before the scheme is submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for approval later in the year;

(c)  the Housing Act 2004 introduced mandatory and discretionary licensing. Mandatory licensing covers large houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), and discretionary licensing covers additional licensing of smaller HMOs, and selective licensing. An additional licensing scheme for smaller HMOs was adopted in January 2014 and covers 3,000 properties. The proposal for the selective licensing scheme will potentially cover the majority of the remainder of the private rented sector not covered by the other schemes;

(d)  the aim of selective licensing is to:

·  help tackle problems identified in the private rented sector such as anti-social behaviour, crime, deprivation and poor property conditions;

·  improve living conditions for tenants and the surrounding community;

·  drive up standards amongst landlords and tackle rogue landlords;

·  work with landlords and tenants to provide positive advice and assistance;

(e)  if the selective licensing proposal is successful, it will apply to the vast majority of Nottingham’s 43,000 private rented sector properties, and will run in parallel with the existing additional licensing scheme which covers HMOs or shared properties;

(f)  large parts of the area have a high proportion of private rented sector properties and meet the criteria;

(g)  in Sherwood the majority of the ward has a high proportion of private rented sector housing and meets one of more of the criteria, with the biggest problem being poor property conditions;

(h)  inBerridge all of the ward has a high proportion of private rented sector housing and meets one or more of the criteria.

In response to questions from the Committee, Lisa provided the following additional information:

(i)  Liverpool and Newham have similar schemes, but they were introduced before the changes to legislation so didn’t need DCLG approval. Colleagues from the City Council are currently working with them to understand the lessons learnt and look at the evidence of changes as a result of the scheme;

(j)  insulation levels are taken into account when assessing property conditions as there are links between health and housing conditions that need to be improved;

(k)  the model for the scheme has been developed to enable licences to be issued quickly, so the proposal is for 50% of properties to be inspected within the first year based on a desk top risk assessment;

(l)  if properties are not up to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Joint report of the Corporate Director for Commercial and Operations and the Director of Sport and Culture

Martin Harris, Parks Technical Officer, introduced the report outlining the proposals for the spend of £190,887.68 of Section 106 funding (from planning application 14/00436/PFUL3) for upgrading existing children’s play spaces at Peggy’s Park in Daybrook and Valley Road.

Martin confirmed to the Committee that the proposals are based on discussions with the local community and Neighbourhood Development Officers, and that consultation on the detailed proposals will take place at the appropriate time.

In response to questions from the Committee, Martin provided the following additional information:

(a)  the previous rowing machine on Valley Road was damaged and subsequently went missing when it was taken for repair;

(b)  footpath access from the new housing development to Peggy’s Park was discussed as part of the planning process but the final decision is unknown;

(c)  the footpath running across the top end of Peggy’s Park from the Community Centre is overgrown and requires upgraded lighting, but the Section 106 funding is specifically for upgrading existing children’s play spaces, so doesn’t cover these improvements.

RESOLVED to endorse the allocation of £190,887.68 of Section 106 funding from planning application 14/00436/PFUL3 for the following:

Report of the Business Development Manager, NG7 Training Employment and Advice

Jawaid Khalil, NG7 Training Employment and Advice, presented his report detailing the progress made on the Area Based Grant for the last three quarters, alongside performance monitoring data, and highlighted the following points:

(a)  the key priority areas, funding allocations for each priority, details of delivery partners, and their activities are:

(b)  in relation to performance:

·  employment and skills – most of the targets have been exceeded, with the remainder on track to be achieved by the end of the year;

·  young people – all targets should be achieved by the end of the year;

·  infrastructure support – work is ongoing to ensure activities are fully functioning;

·  support for VCS – work is ongoing to help achieve the targets, but the groups supported through the small grants fund isn’t currently being achieved due to new plans being developed as a result of the changes to the Partnership Council.

The Committee made the following comments:

(c)  the next update needs to include how work is developing with the voluntary and community sector and how involved they are in the decision making on the allocation of funds;

(d)  it would be useful if the impact of activities is also measured, ie whether youth unemployment is reducing, etc;

(e)  the publicity of youth organisations needs to be improved to help them achieve their targets, as citizens are unaware of what activities are provided.

RESOLVED to note the information.

Report of the Chief Executive of Nottingham City Homes

Chanel Richards, Area Housing Manager, Nottingham City Homes, introduced the report requesting approval for Area Capital Programme funding, and providing updates on the following key themes:

·  the Capital Programme and major work;

·  area regeneration and environmental issues;

·  key messages from the Tenants and Leaseholders Congress;

·  Tenants and Residents Associations updates;

·  area performance;

·  good news stories and positive publicity.

The Committee commented that 200 Universal Credit cases with rent arrears of £109,014 is very high, and needs context to be understood.

RESOLVED to

(1)  note the update and performance information in Appendices 1 and 2 of the report;

(2)  note the allocation of funds as follows:

(3)  approve the following funding request:

(4)  request that the Tenancy Sustainment Manager attend the next meeting to provide information on the 200 Universal Credit cases with rent arrears of £109,014.

Carol Mee, Carrington Tenants and Residents Association, informed the Committee that the grassed area near the Mansfield Road underpass will be planted with wildflowers, and that Picnic in the Park will be taking place in April.

Moby Farrands, Forest Fields Improvement Association, informed the Committee that money has been raised for a training course on community development, and that an awards ceremony will take place at Hyson Green Community Centre on 29 March to present the attendees with their certificate of attendance.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Operations and Communities

Beth Hanna, Neighbourhood Development Officer, introduced the report detailing the use of delegated authority by the Corporate Director for Commercial and Operations for the financial year 2016/17, and the remaining balance.

Beth informed the Committee that the uncommitted balance date should say 17 February 2017 on both appendices.

RESOLVED to note the actions taken under delegated authority:

(1)  Berridge (Councillors Mohammed Ibrahim, Carole Jones, and Toby Neal):

(2)  Sherwood (Councillors Alex Ball, Brian Parbutt and Jane Urquhart):

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Beth Hanna and Angela Bolton, Neighbourhood Development Officers, introduced the report detailing the current priorities and issues facing the Berridge and Sherwood wards, providing details of forthcoming events and activities, and highlighting the latest issues being addressed through the Neighbourhood Action Team meetings.

RESOLVED to note the priorities, current issues and supporting information provided in the report.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Beth Hanna and Angela Bolton, Neighbourhood Development Officers, introduced the report detailing the latest spending proposals under the Area Capital Fund including highways and footpaths.

RESOLVED to

(1)  note that the following money is now available:

  Berridge  £14,145

  Sherwood  £58,547

(2)  approve the following schemes:

Berridge Local Transport Plan Schemes:

Berridge Public Realm Schemes:

Sherwood Local Transport Plan Schemes: