Minutes of ACF Meeting
Tuesday, 30th March 2010
Southwick Green Communal Lounge, Southwick

Present: - Bruce Andrews, Ruth Andrews, Rose Boden, Bill Bone, Wendy Farmer, Paula Kinsella, Elsie Kitson, Sue Lane, Richard Letchford, Bob McClellan, Tony Morris, Bridget Orman and Edna Wye.

ADC: Councillor Julie Searle (Cabinet Member for Improved Customer Services), David Pannell (Executive Head of Adur Homes Services), Kevin Masters (Executive Head of Customer Services and Waste Management) and Barry Maxey (Tenant Participation Officer).

• Welcome and introductions

Wendy welcomed everyone to the meeting.

• Apologies

Apologies were received from David Guy, William Guy, June Moulton, Sylvia Page and Tanya Page. 

• Contact Centre

David, Kevin and Julie introduced themselves and explained they had come to the meeting to discuss the Adur and Worthing Contact Centre and to see whether this could be of benefit to Adur Council tenants and leaseholders.  David made it clear that they were there to gather information and that no decisions have yet been made on whether to start using the Contact Centre. 

Kevin explained that the Contact Centre is an in-house service based at Worthing Town Hall.  It started up several years ago to deal with Housing and Council Tax Benefits in Worthing.  It centralised customer enquiries, so as to leave Housing Benefit Assessors to deal purely with assessments.  Many other sections, including Planning and Environmental Health, now use this service and Kevin said this has resulted in efficiency savings. 

Kevin stressed that the objective of the Contact Centre is to resolve customer queries and not to transfer calls around the council.  This would operate within guidelines agreed with Adur Homes Services, so where there are serious rent arrears, for example, these calls would be transferred to the relevant Housing Management Officer.  However, the Contact Centre is currently able to answer over 80% of queries themselves.

In a survey last year, 67% of Adur tenants said their most recent contact with the council was by telephone.  Richard suggested that younger tenants may be more likely to use this method of contact for their enquiries.  Wendy thought it difficult to separate the use of the Contact Centre from the proposal to close the Local Offices but David suggested there may be benefits for the service whatever happens to the Local Offices. 

Ruth thought complaints about anti-social behaviour require face-to-face contact with trained staff but David said these enquiries would be recorded and referred to the Housing Management Officer.  There were also concerns about vulnerable people who have difficulty using the telephone and Richard thought that a built-in guarantee to protect these groups would help to gain acceptance of the Contact Centre.  David stressed that people would still have the option of face-to-face contact with staff and that if it was decided to pursue this option, any changes would require the approval of the Cabinet.

Julie, David and Kevin left the meeting at this point.

• Minutes of the last meeting 18th February 2010

The minutes were agreed. 

5.         Matters arising

• Richard asked for clarification about inviting council officers to ACF meetings.  It was agreed that these should go via the Secretary.
• Tony stated that the council still hasn’t said what savings have resulted so far from last year’s changes in how sheltered housing operates.
• Ruth said a gas contractor had told her that the date stickers for servicing gas boilers are awaiting printing and are not yet available. 

6.         Bids for environmental improvement grants

            Edna outlined a bid for funding to install a raised planter at the front of Marsh House.  The estimates for this work range from £900 - £1,100.  From things that she had picked up from a recent community gardening training course, Paula suggested the height of the planter should be reduced from 3ft to 2ft 6ins and that only 18ins of top soil would be needed for the plants.  There were also concerns about using recycled railway sleepers, as these are treated with tar that seeps out in the sunshine.  The bid was agreed in principle but Marsh House representatives were asked to reconsider the design and materials used for the planter and to obtain revised estimates.

Barry said he had a request from the Chair of the Pashley and Surry Residents’ Association about removing a derelict garden shed belonging to them.  It was agreed to get an estimate from Adur and Worthing Services for the cost of this work.  

7.         Treasurer’s report

Ruth said there is now £2,124.10 in the ACF bank account. 

8.         Cabinet agenda and reports for Cabinet Members

            There were no items on the cabinet agenda relating to housing.

Adur Homes Capital Programme 2010/11 – decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Resources

Copies of this report were distributed and the details discussed.  Regarding adaptations for tenants with disabilities, there was some debate over the council’s reluctance to install wet rooms in family homes.  Paula explained the council’s view that when a new tenant moves in, they will often want the bath re-instated, so it makes financial sense for the council to offer suitable alternative accommodation to tenants with disabilities instead.

The report suggests that there will be a reduction in applications for disabled adaptations and questions were asked about what evidence there is for this.  

9.         Reports of the Sub-Committees

i)          Compact Monitoring Group

Following discussions at the recent Annual Conference, it is proposed to hold a competition in the next edition of the Forum for residents to come up with a new name for the Compact.

• The Forum

Articles and contributions are still required from tenants and leaseholders and should ideally be submitted by 8th April.

• Adur Leaseholders’ Forum

The next meeting will be held at the ACF Office on 7th April 2010 at 2.15pm.    

• AiP

Ruth gave details of Local Neighbourhood Improvement Area funding for 2010/11 (copy attached).

10.       Any Other Business

• Adur Homes Services are proposing to ask garage tenants terminating their tenancy for feedback on the service.  Two versions of the survey were circulated for comment.  Both drafts had their merits but it was felt the shorter version was more likely to be completed.  Members did, however, like the thanks offered in the longer draft and asked for this to be included in the final version.
• The Annual Conference was generally thought to have been informative and worthwhile, with the Forum newsletter coming in for particular praise.  Barry explained that tenants and leaseholders are welcome to help in organising future conferences and their support would be positively encouraged.
• The evening raffle raised £22.00 for ACF funds.

12.       Date of next meeting

The next meeting will be held at 7.00pm on Thursday, 13th May 2010 in the communal lounge at Southwick Green.