P Cresswell, R Etherington, Miss C Gaynor and Mrs MJackson.
179. Apologies for Absence
There were no apologies received.
180. Declarations of Interest
No declarations of interest were received.
181. Call-in of Community Services & LicensingCommittee Decision – Single Homelessness Strategy for NorthYorkshire and Local Action Group
At a meeting of the Community Services & LicensingCommittee held on 24 July 2008, the Housing Services Managersubmitted a report which sought Members' approval for a singleHomelessness Strategy for North Yorkshire and an associated localAction Plan specific to Ryedale.
The Homelessness Act 2002 required Local Housing Authoritiesto have Homelessness Strategies in place. The purpose of thesestrategies was to outline the ways in which Council’s and theirpartners work together to prevent homelessness and to providehousing and support for the homeless.
Each individual district in North Yorkshire produced their ownseparate Homelessness Strategies in 2003, however the Governmentrequired that all these strategies be updated and replaced by the31 July 2008. Following the recommendations of the Audit Commissionand the North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Board individualstrategies had since been replaced by a single over archingstrategy within individual action plans to reflect the detailedactions and initiatives that were developed at district level inorder to achieve the sub regional objectives.
The Housing Services Manager reported that the development ofa Single Homelessness Strategy for North Yorkshire was part of thedrive towards better joint working with North Yorkshire generally.It would ensure a consistent approach across the County, thesharing of best practise and the provision of preventative andreactive services for homeless people.
In the circumstances the Committee had resolved:
(a) “That the draft single HomelessnessStrategy for North Yorkshire be approved;
(b) That the local (Ryedale) HomelessnessAction Plan be approved;
(c) That future decisions regarding theHomelessness Strategy for North Yorkshire be delegated to the NorthYorkshire Strategic Housing Board.”
The Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee reportedthat, in accordance with the procedures detailed in the Council’sConstitution, the above decision had been called-in for review bythe Committee. This would enable the Overview & ScrutinyCommittee to consider whether the decision was appropriate and tomake a recommendation regarding the reconsideration of thedecision.
The call-in had been made in accordance with the followingprinciples as set out in the Constitution:
b) Clarity of aims and desired outcomes.
The three signatories to the call-in were Councillors Clark,Andrews and Raper. The Chairman invited Councillor Clark to explainthe reasons for the call-in. Councillor Clark reported that whilsthe accepted the decision, he was concerned that the Committee hadnot given full consideration to the matter. He reported thataffordable housing was one of Ryedale’s top priorities and one ofthe main strands of achieving this was a percentage of developerbuilding. The affordable housing target was 75 which had not beenachieved in the last four years and the strategy had increased thetargets for North Yorkshire to 144 for 2007/08, 124 for 2008/09 and101 for 2009/10. Councillor Clark was of the opinion that thesewere currently unachievable targets for North Yorkshire andsuggested that a Steering Group be formed, the aim of this beingthat it would enable Ryedale District Council to have a strategyand systems that would ensure the targets are achieved.
Members accepted in principal the establishment a SteeringGroup.
Members were concerned about the decision to approve theSingle Homelessness Strategy for North Yorkshire and Local ActionGroup in relation only to Objective Five ‘Increasing the Supply ofAffordable Housing’ and the three-year stretch target for RyedaleDistrict Council of 387 units from 2007/08 – 2009/10. The Committeewere concerned that this target would be difficult to achieve andrecommended that:
Resolved
That Full Council creates a broad basedSteering Group for Affordable Housing. Membership of the group tobe 1 or 2 Conservatives, 1 Independent, 1 Liberal Democrat and 1Liberal. This initial group to be augmented by Officers of thecouncil and by representatives from outside organisations withhousing expertise.
The Aim of the Steering Group
To enable Ryedale District Council to havea strategy and systems that ensure that affordable housing stretchtarget is achieved.
The Task of the Steering Group to be asfollows:
- Draw up potential Terms of Reference forthe Steering Group
- Discuss with/consider possiblerepresentatives to join the Steering Group from outside RyedaleDistrict Council. Consider Yorkshire Housing Association,Government Office Yorkshire and the Humberside, Shelter and LocalGovernment Association etc
- Estimate of costing for the SteeringGroup
- Most of all examine new ways of obtainingAffordable Housing – ‘Think outside the box’
- Report back to Full Council in Novemberwith potential membership, estimate of costs and terms ofreference.