Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

All Members of the Panel were in attendance.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 22^nd December 2021.

The minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 22^nd December 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

Linda explained that, during a visit to a meeting of the Tenants Grants and Advisory Panel the previous week, the members had asked how their views would be captured and then used to shape and influence the Panel’s report.  It was agreed that the minutes of the meeting of the Ad Hoc Panel held on 22^nd December be shared with them and noted that further feedback would be provided once the final report had been produced.

Councillors will be asked to advise if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest, which would prevent them from participating in any discussion or vote on an item, or any other interests

No interests were declared.

Most debates take place in public. This only changes when there is a need to consider certain issues, for instance, commercially sensitive information or details concerning an individual. You will be told at this point whether there are any items on the Agenda which are to be discussed in private.

All items were considered in public.

The Panel will receive any petitions and hear any deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on a particular issue of concern, relevant to that body’s terms of reference. In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 (2) members of the public should provide at least 24 hours’ notice of presenting a deputation. A member of the public can also hand in a petition at the meeting subject to the petition relating to something on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

No deputations or petitions were received.

The Panel will hear any questions from the general public in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.

No public questions were received.

The Panel will receive a report on the updates made to the Fire Safety Management Policy and the Asbestos Management Policy.

Contact:

Eric Hughes – Head of Assurance and Transformation

The Panel received a report in respect of the updates made to the Fire Safety Management Policy and the Asbestos Management Policy to ensure alignment with Council policy and terminology, and to reflect legal and regulatory requirements.

The policies had been approved by the Building Safety Advisory Board (BSAB) in December 2021 and would be underpinned by detailed management plans.

Naz Parkar - Service Director, Homes and Neighbourhoods and Eric Hughes – Head of Assurance and Transformation attended to present the report and respond to Members’ questions.

Questions, comments and responses were put forward as follows:

Fire Safety Policy:

·       It was clarified that the policy was aimed at staff and included anyone who was connected with carrying out fire safety works on behalf of the Council, such as contractors.

·       The links to, and work with, tenants were addressed by the references to communication in the policy and the commitment to having a communication strategy.

·       The policy sought to provide assurance to a range of people, including tenants.

·       The policies were of good quality but, being very high level, it was considered that it would be helpful for the Panel to see the underlying detailed procedural documents, in order to provide assurance and a clear line of sight in respect of implementation. It would be expected that the management plans would cover a suite of key performance measures and include matters such as delivery to the correct quality standard, by staff with the relevant qualifications and experience, frequency of inspections, validation of works and maintenance of records. It was explained that work was ongoing to develop these detailed management plans and it was anticipated that they would be submitted to the BSAB within the next couple of months.

·       It was noted that performance information was being reported to the Panel on a regular basis to demonstrate the level and extent of compliance.

·       When a contract was procured, staff would have a responsibility to ensure that contractors were aware of the policies and that compliance was demonstrated within the tender return. Compliance throughout the term of a contract would be an element of the contract monitoring. This could be clarified within the policy, although it was considered that the wording within the scope captured all parties with a duty of care in the delivery of these services.

·       All work would have an assigned Project Manager, and a Clerk of Works with responsibility for validation and sign-off. This would ensure the same quality assurance would be maintained in the future and work undertaken previously would not be compromised.

·       It was suggested that the responsibility of the Legal Department, in terms of responding expeditiously to issues with gaining access to properties, be added to paragraph 4 of the policy.

·       It was acknowledged that further clarity would be helpful in respect of the roles and responsibilities of the BSAB and Housing Advisory Board (HAB). The HAB needed to have oversight of policy as well as performance so that they were able to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.