Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair to welcome members of the Committee, officers, any external witnesses, and the public to the meeting and introduce committee members, officers and witnesses who are present.

Councillor Long welcomed attendees to the meeting.

To receive any apologies.

Apologies were received from Councillors Whitworth and Verma. Councillor Geary substituted for Councillor Verma for the duration of the meeting.

Councillors to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests, other registerable interests, or non-registerable interests (including other pecuniary interests) they may have in the business to be transacted, and officers to declare any interests they may have in any contract to be considered.

For transparency Councillor Oguntola advised that herself and her family had been council tenants. Councillor Long advised that he had previously worked for Tpas.   

To approve, and the Chair to sign as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting of the Health, Housing and Adults Scrutiny Committee held on 30 January 2025.

RESOLVED -

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Health, Housing and Adults Scrutiny Committee held on 30 January 2025 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

To receive and note the Recommendations Tracker and information regarding outcomes agreed at previous meetings.

RESOLVED –

That the updated Recommendations/Actions be received and noted.

To receive a report on the new commissioned carers service and the statutory services provided directly by the council.

The Assistant Director of People Commissioning introduced the report on support for carers highlighting that the main principle of the Carers Strategy and the newly commissioned Carers Service was co-production with carers so that they were involved from the very beginning and were able to advise what things were important to them. He advised that the newly commissioned carers service would be launched in May/June 2025 and, unlike the previous provision, would include a number of organisations providing specialist support for a wide variety of different areas where carers may require assistance including financial advice, neurodivergence, mental health, older people and young carers.

The Committee heard that it was estimated that there were roughly 24,000 unpaid adult carers in Milton Keynes and with the growth in population and the need for people to define themselves as a carer it was likely that the true figure could be even higher. Officers expressed that the current provision had only reached a maximum of 7,000 of these carers and the ambition was to drastically improve this figure moving forwards.

The Service Manager of Commissioning added that the level of ambition and enthusiasm within the service to ensure that this change is a success for carers was very high and that the Hub presented a single point of contact for carers to access the support they required.

The Head of Working Age Adults highlighted that there had been a 41% increase in the number of Carers Assessments in 2023/24, which she attributed to the shift in terminology from assessment to carers conversation and communications that had been shared by the council encouraging carers to come forward.

Members of the Committee asked questions about the identification of carers and the operation method of the Hub. In response officers advised that people had to self-identify as a carer and approach Adult Services or the Carers Hub directly, although the council did run proactive communication campaigns to try and ensure that people were aware that they needed to do so. The Committee also heard that the Hub was not a physical building housing all the partner organisations but there was a Service Level Agreement in place with all organisations to work as a collaborative and branding for the Hub had also been created which would be used by all to emphasise that they all formed part of the service.

Discussions were held on the reasons for the disparity in accessing the current service between genders, ages and diverse backgrounds. The Committee heard that the newly commissioned specialist service for young carers had had great success in other areas identifying young carers through education and it was hoped that would be replicated when the service commenced in May 2025. Committee Members discussed that people of certain cultures and men may not be comfortable identifying as a carer. Officers agreed that it was a priority that the newly commissioned service reached all demographics and confirmed that this would be closely monitored as the hub begins to provide services  ...  view the full minutes text for item HHAS36

To receive a report on the council’s work to prepare for new Consumer Standards and Professional Qualifications Standards in housing.

The Committee received a report on the Housing Service’s preparedness for the increased regulatory requirements for landlords, including the new Consumer Standards introduced in April 2024 and the proposed Professional Qualifications standard due to be introduced in 2025.

The Director of Environment and Property reminded the Committee that the council was the largest landlord in Milton Keynes and was classed as a large landlord by the Regulator for Social Housing. He gave an overview of the leadership model and board structure and highlighted the creation of key roles such as Housing Compliance Lead and Housing Performance Managers to focus on safe homes and decent homes standards.

The Committee heard that significant improvements had been made to the level of data that the council holds in this area and to ensuring that the data is of good quality and able to be relied upon. It was noted that previously this data had been collected by the contractors employed by the council but now efforts were underway to created a shared platform where the data could be accessed in real-time, giving the council a much better understanding of the status of each property and tenancy.

The Director of Environment and Property expressed that whilst many improvements had been made, it was still recognised that there were areas in which the service could be improved including complaints handling and making officers more visible and accessible to tenants. He added that, within the Regulator’s first published Tenant Satisfaction Measures, the council was in the top 10% of English landlords for compliance with safety checks for gas, fire, water and asbestos and also performed very well in repair response times with over 99% of repairs being completed within timescales, which was within the top 7% of landlords.

Homes meeting the decency standard was highlighted as an area which had been managed to allow a focus on health and safety and compliance but still remained at a level of 88% which had been reported to the Regulator for Social Housing. The Director of Environment and Property advised that the council had had two interactions with the regulator within a two year period with no breach being found of Consumer Standards and some ongoing monitoring needing to be taken in relation to fire doors, which had been addressed. He noted that the council had not yet been inspected by the Regulator, but it was not known exactly when this would take place within the four-year cycle.

The Assistant Director of Housing Maintenance, Investment and Corporate Health and Safety added that the service was aware of the areas in which improvements were required and works such as condition surveys will also help the council to know the exact condition of the housing stock and better target investment for tenants. She emphasised the importance of engagement with tenants and joined up thinking when doing improvement works to tenants homes but also when managing tenancies and offering support more widely with things such as hoarding and damp and mould.  ...  view the full minutes text for item HHAS37

The Committee’s proposed Work Programme for 2025/26 will be circulated in advance of the meeting for information (to follow).

Please note that all scrutiny Work Programmes remain flexible and may be subject to change at short notice depending on circumstances at any one time.

If there are any other items within the Committee’s remit which members of the Committee would like to see included in the Work Programme, please bring them to the attention of the Committee’s Planning Group (Chair, Vice-Chairs & Scrutiny Officer).

RESOLVED –

That the proposed Work Programme for 2025/26 be noted.