Minutes of ACF Meeting
Thursday, 28th February 2008

Southwick Green communal lounge, Southwick

Present: - Wendy Farmer (Chair), Bridget Orman (Vice-chair & Secretary), Ruth Andrews, Fred Bathurst, Rose Boden, Bill Bone, Keith Bones, Brian Higgins, Paula Kinsella, Elsie Kitson, Sue Lane, Bob McClelland, June Molton, Linda Price, Sylvia Page, Tania Page, Ron Pope, Brian Smith, Hilary Thompson, Alex Marsh (ADC) and Barry Maxey (ADC).

Welcome and introductions

Wendy welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies

Apologies were received from Bruce Andrews (Treasurer), Conny Fairclough, John Halls, Stan Reed and Ann Seldon. 

3. Minutes of previous meeting on 17th January 2008

These were agreed.

4. Matters arising

There has been no progress on the replanting of the Millennium Garden, so Ruth will contact Clive Bramble about this.

Monitoring reports for anti-social behaviour (ASB)

Alex gave a presentation on changes to the procedures for monitoring reports of anti–social behaviour. These are being introduced to meet Part 1 of the Respect Standard for Housing Management covering the recording of information. 

These changes will provide better information on the amount, type and location of anti-social behaviour, as well as improving the measurement of customer satisfaction and allowing for comparisons to be made with other social landlords. The present case load of Housing Management Officers is fairly similar with between 12–15 cases each and most of these are in the less serious category. Under these new procedures, the Housing Management Officer will also contact the complainant after a suitable interval to decide jointly on whether to close the case and if so, will confirm this in writing.

Alex then opened the meeting for questions which included: -

Q Does this cover private households?
A The procedure covers all ASB involving council tenants or council properties.
Q How long will it be before a case is closed?
A Each case is unique so it’s impossible to give a timescale for this. Methods of resolving problems will differ with different cases and this will also affect the timescale. 

Q Does the policy cover non-housing estates, such as Southwick
Square?
A No but other departments within the Council would deal with similar situations in these areas.

Q What happens if the complainant feels that there has been no
progress after an ASB case has been going on for several
months?
A In the first instance, the complainant should contact the Housing Management Officer dealing with the case to request a detailed report on what is being done. If they are not satisfied after this, the complainant should follow the Council’s complaints procedure as set out in Book 2 of the Tenants’ Handbook. Alex agreed to consider incorporating this information into a review of the ASB policy.

Alex left the meeting at this point.

6. Secretary’s report and correspondence

Bridget explained that she had recently attended a SETUP training course in Battle on ‘Involving More People’. This came up with a number of useful ideas for encouraging participation, such as mystery shopping and holding a disability day. 

She also reminded everyone that the Chartered Institute of Housing South East Conference is being held in Brighton from 4th to 6th March.

7. Treasurer’s report

In the absence of Bruce, Barry read out details of recent ACF income and expenditure and advised that the current balance of funds is £2443.15.

8. Bids for grants from the Environmental Improvement Fund

Brian Smith enquired about funding for two water butts at Marsh House. He was advised to consult residents to ensure their full approval and to agree sites for the butts. Paula has looked into this before and will pass on information about suppliers.

Ron asked about funding for garden furniture at Courtfields and was advised to provide the Management Committee with details and cost.

9. Agenda for Housing and Central Services Committee meeting

Item 6: Prince Charles Close Community Hall
Report noted.

Item 7: Development of Council Owned Land for Affordable Housing - Proposals for Land at Williams Road
The arguments for and against developing this plot of land were debated at some length but some ACF members expressed concerns that the objections raised could be repeated on other proposed developments and that the lack of building for social housing is having serious implications for those on the housing waiting list.

Item 9: Supporting People Update
The ACF recognise the importance of the issues concerning Supporting People that will become apparent in the next few years and would like regular updates but are unsure about how this can be achieved under the new Cabinet structure.

Item 10: Supporting People Review / Sheltered Housing and Community Alarm Service
The ACF support the views of the Sheltered Housing Advisory Review Panel (SHARP) who had already discussed this report. SHARP members agreed with the recommendations but have real concerns about the implications of changing the tendering process for the Supporting People contract.

Item 12: Choice Based Lettings
The CBL scheme was debated but members were unsure about whether it has been successful and some felt that it needed to be in operation for longer to properly evaluate it.

10. Reports of the Sub-Committees

i) Compact Monitoring Group – Linda reported on the last meeting held on 22nd February in which methods were discussed for getting more involvement from people with disabilities or from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The Forum – The next meeting is on 5th March and Wendy requested articles from residents’ associations to go into the newsletter as soon as possible.

Adur Leaseholders’ Forum - Bill reported that the group last met on 6th February at the earlier time of 2.15pm. As the attendance was much improved, it was agreed to continue with this time for the next few meetings. Kate Routley, the Leasehold Property Administrator attended the meeting and as well as answering a number of queries on different topics, she also discussed conducting a survey on leasehold management.

iv) SHARP – Ron informed everyone that SHARP had met earlier in the day and that Sue Hart, the Supported Housing Manager had attended the meeting and had given a presentation on Item 10 of the HCSC Agenda above. 

(v) AiP – Ruth advised that at their meeting on 21st February, the AiP Board had discussed areas of deprivation in Adur and been given a presentation on converting local schools into academies.

11. Any other business

Linda questioned the wording of a recent letter sent to residents regarding the service charge for the installation of digital TV aerials.

Bridget queried how the introduction of a Cabinet structure will affect the ACF and their influence on housing policies. It was agreed that a council officer be asked to attend a future meeting of the ACF to advise on this.

The raffle raised £22 for ACF funds.

12. Date of next meeting

To be advised.