Members received and considered Minute OSC22/07 arising from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) held on 6 June 2022 that had considered the Performance Report: Fourth Quarter 2021/22.

Cabinet was supportive of the OSC’s recommendations, particularly in relation to the pending merger of Optivo; concerns were raised with registered providers who were selling off housing stock, with inadequate replacement, rather than maintaining, repairing and preserving for continued social use.  The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Housing reassured Members that there was a continual dialogue with Optivo and would keep this issue very much under review.

It was noted that following the OSC meeting, the Director – Place and Climate Change had confirmed to Members the full funding breakdown of the BMX and Skate Park at the Sidley Recreation Ground and a formal correction would be made to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Minutes at its next meeting.

Cabinet Members commented on a number of key performance indicators, highlighted by the OSC as follows:

-       The slight drop in recycling rates had been noted nationally; locally there was an issue with bring sites that were often contaminated and it was noted that the most effective way of recycling was via the kerbside collection.  A meeting of the Joint Waste and Recycling Committee was taking place later this week where this would be considered.

-       There had been a marked improvement in the number of planning applications processed since the restructure last September and further work to improve processing times above statutory limits was being considered.  The time taken to validate applications had also improved considerably and Rother District Council’s performance compared to many other local authorities was favourable.

-       A number of housing targets had not been met, largely as a result of the impact of COVID and the current economic climate; it was likely that more targets would have been missed if the Council had not taken the actions it had to date.

The Chair of the OSC summarised the Committee’s deliberations and had been satisfied with the responses from officers as to why certain targets had not been met and considered that perhaps more thought needed to be given to setting realistic targets, rather than aspirational ones.

RESOLVED:  That:

1)    Central Government be lobbied, through the Local Government Association, to retain funding to assist rough sleepers; and

2)    the merger of Optivo and how properties were managed in the district be monitored by the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homes.