Decision Details

1. Approved the Housing Standards Enforcement Policy (Appendix C) and delegated authority to make necessary amendments to ensure compliance with any changes in legislation, policy or good practice to the Head of Housing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing.

2. Delegated authority to the Head of Housing in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer(s151) and the Cabinet Members for Housing and Value for Money, to approve a Debt Recovery Policy.

3. Delegated authority to the Head of Housing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing to amend the Civil Penalty Policy as required, to ensure compliance with any changes in legislation, policy or good practice.

4. Approved the proposed restructure (Appendix B) and additional staffing required to meet statutory duties, funded from New Burdens Funding and Private Rented Sector Database fee income, resulting in no impact on the General Fund.

5. Approved the additional budget requirements as set out in paragraph 5.2.

6. Delegated responsibilities and authorisations under the new legislation to the Head of Housing.

Adopt the policies, actions and new structure Members of the PSH team have attended numerous webinars, training sessions and regional professionals’ meetings to understand the full implications of this legislation and have conservatively judged what resourcing is necessary, bearing in mind the significant impact the new duties will have against the financial and political pressures the council faces. Proposals have been benchmarked against other, similarly sized councils and the proposal is proportionate.

Do nothing: Failure to implement the necessary changes will result in the potential for Judicial Review for failing to meet our new statutory duties. The Council may be open to substantial costs if a Judicial Review takes place, even if it is successfully defended. This is not something that is consistent with the council’s values and strategic direction.

Partial implementation: Adopting the new policies without the accompanying staffing resource would significantly limit the Council’s ability to deliver its statutory duties, increasing the risk of error and exposure to judicial review. Failure to increase the team’s capacity would also place unreasonable pressure on existing staff, adversely affecting performance and resilience.