The quorum for this Panel meeting is three and substitutes are allowed.

Officer: Pat Jones Principal Scrutiny Officer will support the Panel with this debate.

Telephone: 01865 252191

Email: phjones@oxford.gov.uk

This item presents for discussion by The Panel the forward work programme and the results of recommendations made.

In particular:

(1)          That the Temporary Accommodations Management Arrangements issue which the Panel had requested to see before its implementation, would now be considered at the March 2014 meeting of the Panel.

(2)          That the outcome of the interviews with tenants who had been through the mutual exchange process would now be considered at the February 2014 meeting of the Panel.

(3)          That the City Executive Board at its meeting on 11^th December 2013, agreed with the recommendation from the Panel to ask that the new Landlord and Lettings Agencies Accreditation Scheme be publicised as widely as possible to achieve greatest impact so that the number of landlords in the Scheme be maximised, as part of the Housing Action Plan refresh.

Officer: Helen Bishop Head of Customer Services will support the Panel with this debate.

Tel: 01865 252233

Email: hbishop@oxford.gov.uk

At a previous Panel meeting, Panel members asked to see more details on Council Tenant rent arrears.

Further information was requested on the profile of the rent arrears figures. In particular:

·                     The number of tenants in arrears who are affected by any of the benefit changes, or

·                     are in the direct payments pilot.

·                     Alongside this the profile of the debt by number of weeks in arrears.

THIS REPORT WAS NOT AVAILABLE WHEN THE AGENDA WAS PRINTED AND WILL BE CIRCUALTED SEPERATELY PRIOR TO THE MEETING

Officer: Stephen Clarke, Head of Housing and Property

Telephone: 01865 252447

Email: sclarke@oxford.gov.uk

The Panel at its meeting on 4^th November 2013 discussed rough sleepers and asked for a further briefing on the numbers of people helped by the policy, a breakdown of figures showing the trends for new and entrenched rough sleepers, their profiles and the wait times for a hostel place.

Officer: David Edwards, Executive Director, City Regeneration

Telephone: 01865 252394

Email: dedwards@oxford.gov.uk

At the Panel meeting on 4^th November 2013, the Panel while aware of the Councils focus on improving quality in the private rented sector through the extended licensing scheme, wanted to explore the possibilities of the City Council setting a letting agency.  The Panel asked for further information detailing the benefits and risks of such an approach. 

Officer: Ian Brooke, Head of Leisure and Parks

Telephone: 01865 252705

Email: ibrooke@oxford.gov.uk

The Panel considers a set of performance indicators every quarter which includes LP013 regarding increasing satisfaction with parks.  To further understand the downward trend of performance highlighted at its meeting on 4^th November 2013, the Panel asked for further information on the survey including the methodology used, the numbers and locations of respondents, the questions asked and reasons for any dissatisfaction.

Notes of the meeting held on 5^th December 2013