The following disclosure of interests were received in the interest of clarity:

The Chair, Councillors Ahmed, Heseltine and Mallinson disclosed personal interests to the item relating to the Empty Homes Update (minute 48).

ACTION:       City Solicitor

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

Any referrals that have been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda will be reported at the meeting.

There were no referrals to the Committee.

Active Bradford is a partnership of agencies from across the District that are committed to working together to increase the number of people being active and playing sport across the Bradford District.

The Strategic Director Place will submit a report (Document “R”) which is the final version of the Physical Activity and Sport Strategy Strategic Framework which has a vision to create a ‘healthy and prosperous Bradford where everyone chooses to make physical activity and sport an every day part of their lives’.

The committee is asked to endorse the finalised version of the Physical Activity and Sport Strategy Strategic framework following consultation.

Recommended –

Those Members of the Committee endorse Active Bradford’s Strategic Framework for Physical Activity and Sport

(Phil Barker – 01274 432616)

Active Bradford is a partnership of agencies from across the District that are committed to working together to increase the number of people being active and playing sport across the Bradford District.

The Strategic Director Place submitted a report (Document “R”) which was the final version of the Physical Activity and Sport Strategy Strategic Framework which had a vision to create a ‘healthy and prosperous Bradford where everyone chose to make physical activity and sport an every day part of their lives’.

The committee was asked to endorse the finalised version of the Physical Activity and Sport Strategy Strategic framework following consultation.

Following a synopsis of the report, a question and answer session ensued:

·         In order to create a healthier population in Bradford a legacy had to be designed to pull the citizens towards fitness. How was the service intending to pursue this goal?

o   There has always been a slight struggle with people who were not keen in participating in sporting activities. The Government had embarked on a new strategy known as ‘Inactive People’ and other high level sporting activity showcases such as Tour De France would give people the incentive to become part of a sporting legacy nevertheless this was a significant challenge;

·         What were the mechanisms behind engaging with people who were not involved?

o   There were various interventions taking place and every measure available was being addressed and being built in the process;

·         Had the Wibsey ward been reached?

o   Every area of Bradford was part of the process and this was a slow transition;

·         How were schools being engaged?

o   An Active Schools Group had been created in October 2016 for the sole purpose of engaging with schools. School Sports Partnerships across the District have been retained delivering services to schools, especially primary schools which have had an injection of around £1.5m government funding for PE and school sport each year;

·         In addition to school children, how was the young population of Bradford being made to show an interest in the pursuit of a healthy living?

o   Bicycles had been donated to young people free of charge. In the meantime there were playgrounds, parks and a further 500 young people of all backgrounds in Keighley had participat in a cross country run;

·         Not much had changed over the last 5 years and now with the reduction of resources how was the service intending to increase numbers of participants? For people to become active there was the element of a behavioural context. Yes, there was the issue of less funding but there was no reason that the right message could not be delivered to the people to get more active;

During the discussion the Committee , Portfolio Holder and officers made the following comments:

• A significant amount of positive work was being undertaken for the purpose of delivering opportunities to all residents of Bradford;
• There had also been the issue of women and sports therefore this was another obstacle being hurdled by engaging with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Housing Standards team (HST) delivers a number of statutory functions to address housing conditions across the district. 

The report of the Strategic Director Place (Document “S”) will provide an update for members on housing conditions and the work of the HST taken to address these.

Recommended –

That the Committee note the report and request a further update on the work of the            Housing Standards team in a further 12 months.

(Julie Rhodes – 01274 431163)

UPDATE ON THE WORK OF THE HOUSING STANDARDS TEAM

Housing Standards team (HST) delivers a number of statutory functions to address housing conditions across the district. 

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “S”) provided an update for members on housing conditions and the work of the HST taken to address these.

The Principal Operations Manager was in attendance and gave the following synopsis accompanied with a PowerPoint presentation. The main legislation enforced by the team was the Housing Act 2004.  The legislation came into force in April 2006 and used the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) as the prescribed method of assessing a house’s condition.  Under the HHSRS officers were required to ensure that each property was assessed against 29 separate hazards.  Using the assessment tool hazards were categorised as either Category 1 or Category 2 hazards.

Under the Housing Act 2004 the Council had to keep the housing conditions in their area under review and had a duty to remove Category 1 hazards where they existed.

There had been a total increase of 37% in service requests compared to the number received by this point in 2015/16. In total 180 properties were inspected during the project with hazards found at 133 rented properties resulting in 20 formal Housing Act Notices, including three emergency prohibition orders. In 10 cases a property was found to have a fire risk high enough to justify Emergency Prohibition Orders but either the tenants moved out the same day and works were completed, or the property was owner occupied, so advice, information and smoke detectors were provided.

Since the introduction of these Regulations the service had served a further 19 notices that required agents/managers to prove that they were members of an approved scheme and had issued 3 penalty charges for non-compliance.

A question and answer session ensued:

• What was the reason behind tenants being occasionally rehoused?
  • This was due to poor kitchen standards, electrical hazards, dampness inside the property and including other defects. Occasionally tenants had other agendas and therefore the services worked with other West Yorkshire authorities and to learn new ways  in educating people to help themselves;
• What status was the relationship between the authority and the fire service?
  • A healthy one and worked with one another;
• Did the service work with other organisations?
  • Liaising with environmental services and the fire service for the sake of hygiene purposes and fire safety were important factors;
• Tenants being rehoused were additional expenses. Could these expenses be reclaimed from bad landlords?
  • Unfortunately no but the authority could prosecute or a tenant could progress towards private action;
• Which area in Bradford was known for the worst properties?
  • Significant amount of problems came from older properties and were spread across Bradford;
• How many referrals had the service received?
  • Since the previous year, there had been a total of 1400 referrals which was an increase of 17%;
• How was the increase of referrals coming in being resolved by the service?
  • This was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

The report of the Strategic Director Place (Document “T”) provides an update on the Council’s empty homes programme of work and introduces the draft Empty Homes Delivery Plan.

Recommended –

That the Committee note the report and endorse the draft Empty Homes Action Plan and request a further update on the work of the Empty Homes team in 12 months

(Julie Rhodes – 01274 431163)

The report of the Strategic Director Place (Document “T”) provided an update on the Council’s empty homes programme of work and introduced the draft Empty Homes Delivery Plan.

The Principal Operations Manager was in attendance and gave a synopsis of the report.

A question and answer session ensued:

·         Was there a specific reason why City ward had the most long term empty properties in Bradford?

o   This was due to properties being flats and were not necessarily targeted by the service because they were not problematic long term empty properties;

·         Was it possible for the authority to get involved if empty properties caused problems?

o   An alternative use would always be considered initially;

·         At what point was a home no longer considered as a home?

o   There was an acceptance that there are empty properties in cities but the authority always dealt with the most nuisance empty properties because owners of empty properties also had a legal right. There was also the element of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) but an element of cost to the authority was also attached to this factor;

·         Did the authority have any forms of agreements with developers in relation to empty homes that the authority may issue a CPO but through agreement a developer could finance the purchase?

o   If an interested party wished to purchase an empty property then then details of interested parties are passed to the owners.

Resolved –

That the report be welcomed and the draft Empty Homes Action Plan be endorsed. That a further update on the work of the Empty Homes team be presented to the Regeneration and Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee in 12 months.

ACTION: Strategic Director of Place

The report of the Chair of the Regeneration and Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Document “U”) presents the Committee’s Work Programme 2016-17.

Recommended –

That the Work programme 2016-17 continues to be regularly reviewed during the year.

(Licia Woodhead – 01274 432119)

The report of the Chair of the Regeneration and Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Document “U”) presented the Committee’s Work Programme 2016-17.

Resolved –

That the Work programme 2016-17 continues to be regularly reviewed during the year.

ACTION: Overview Scrutiny Lead