Issue - meetings

Council response to the Future of Westminster Commission – Housing Review

Councillor Hug introduced the report and thanked all those who contributed to the review, including the tenants and leaseholder who participated through the Resident’s Panel.

Councillor Hug invited Steve Hilditch, Future of Westminster Commission and Chair of the Housing Review to speak to the Housing Review report.

Cabinet heard that the Housing Review had, amongst other things, supported work to increase the number of social homes, considered the acquisition of temporary accommodation, contributed to the City Plan review plan review and helped to convene the Resident’s Panel.

Councillor Hug asked for any further comments on the Housing Review’s report from Cabinet or officers in attendance.

Councillor Begum thanked Steve Hilditch for the work of the Housing Review and said that she would work with officers to look at how best to incorporate those recommendations into the work of Housing Services.

Councillor Noble thanked the Housing Review for their work and explained that many of the recommendations set out in the report were already being delivered thanks to working with the Commission in real time.

Debbie Jackson, Executive Director of Growth, Planning and Housing thanked the Commission on behalf of officers for their collaborative approach, commenting that the opportunity for external input by experienced housing practitioners and residents via the Residents Panel had been welcomed.

Councillor Hug asked Debbie Jackson, Executive Director of Growth, Planning and Housing to introduce the council’s response to the recommendations set out in the Housing Review’s report.

Cabinet heard that many of the recommendations put forward would be incorporated into the Cooperate Housing Improvement Programme (CHIP) in order to deliver the best possible housing service for residents.

Other recommendations would be built into future strategy and business planning which would consider the prioritising of resources as well as procurement issues as Housing Services is reliant on a number of procured services. 

RESOLVED:  Cabinet approved the following recommendation set out in section 2, p12 of the Cabinet report pack.

·       Cabinet is asked to approve the proposed responses to the Commission’s Housing Review headline recommendations (Appendix 1) and instruct officers to integrate the resulting actions within the Housing Service and other relevant services’ work programmes.