Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

a)  To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 8 February 2024

b)  Matters arising

The Minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2024 were signed as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

Briefing Note of the Head of Highways

The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note and comprehensive presentation of the Head of Highways which provided an update on the Highways Asset Management Programme and an overview of the scoring mechanism, as well as delivery of the programme. Additionally, the note focused on the effectiveness of strategy in managing potholes and overall performance in line with the One Coventry Plan (OCP) indicator National Highways and Transport Network (NHT) resident satisfaction survey data.

In July 2022 the scheme assessment process was reviewed by the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Boards. No additional comments or recommendations were made by the Board.

The use of asset management principles has been applied for many years in Coventry to ensure appropriate investment with longer term planning and this is set out in detail within the Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan which was also published in 2016.

The note stated that every year during December and January the Councils Highway Maintenance Technical Services engineers, working with the Asset Management Engineer prepare a draft programme of schemes for approval by senior highway managers which is then presented to Cabinet. The schemes are presented as part of the Transportation and Highway Maintenance Capital Programme in March each year.

Pre and proceeding the officer’s presentation, Councillor P Hetherton, the Cabinet Member for City Services, drew the Board’s attention to a number of important salient points. Namely that, currently the state of highways has been a popular issue in the press and the council is working hard to tackle not just issues on the roads but also on pavements and footpaths – modern technology, such as the JCB Pothole Pro, has been a crucial tool in overcoming these challenges. She also highlighted the ongoing long-term issue of climate change, and the impact wetter weather is having in exposing road surfaces to the increased likelihood of potholes and damage. She stated these challenges were likely to remain in the future.

The Board questioned Officers and the Cabinet Member and received responses on a number of matters relating to the Highways Asset Management Programme:

·  Which areas receive pothole maintenance first and how is this selected? How is deprivation related to this?

·  What is the mechanism for determining deprivation in the city?

·  Who are the Highways Operation Team (DLO) operatives in each area and how do we get in contact with them?

·  What is the process of assigning a score to each pothole in the ‘worst first’ approach?

·  Continuing surface treatment plans still being in use and the state of unmaintained pavements in residential areas – the financial investment needed to repair footpaths.

·  Works carried out by City Fibre, Severn Trent and other utilities companies lifting paving slabs, flooding areas, cutting IT cables, and inflicting permanent damage on pavements and roads as a result – are fines imposed as a result of this damage?

·  How to enforce against illegal dropped curbs.

·  Increasing use of vans on roads and the knock-on effect of parking on pavements not built to withstand continual parking.

·  Possibility of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Briefing Note of the Head of Housing and Homelessness

The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note of the Head of Housing and Homelessness which outlined the progress of the Housing and Homelessness Service and the key initiatives that have been implemented. It also provided the Board with the opportunity to discuss the key homelessness issues and trends over the previous 12 months and note any actions that will be progressed during the next 12 months to achieve the key objectives of the Homeless Service.

The Council approved its Housing and Homelessness Strategy (2019-2024) in March 2019 and is the core strategy the drives the service forward. The Strategy and action plan was refreshed during 2022 to ensure that the actions were still relevant and those that had been completed were removed. The strategy has four key areas of focus:

·  Preventing homelessness & supporting homeless households

·  Support for people and communities

·  Improving existing homes

·  Housing development

The Housing and Homelessness Service has undergone significant change over the previous 5 years with a number of initiatives/projects being worked on with the intention of:

·  Reducing the financial burden on the Authority whilst providing better quality temporary accommodation options.

·  Increasing the number of households where homelessness is prevented or relieved and therefore decreasing the number of households in temporary accommodation.

·  Increasing the number of properties available to households in exceptional housing need that are either at social/affordable rents or at the Local Housing Allowance rates if in the private rented sector.

The demand for homelessness services in the city has grown significantly over the last 12-18 months. These increases have been reflected nationally with the highest number of households ever recorded currently living in temporary accommodation in England.

The homeless service is currently being approached by an average of 200 individual households each week in housing need. A number of these will receive initial advice and guidance with over 50% progressing to a homeless application.

As at the 26th February 2024 there are a total of 1145 households in TA provided by Coventry City Council. Of these 791 are households with dependent children with the remaining 354 households being single people or childless couples. The number of families in TA has increased at a greater rate than single people with large family accommodation being particularly high demand.

The Councils rough sleepers team undertakes outreach walks across the city 5 days a week to engage and work with people currently sleeping rough in the city. The frequency of these walks means that the service are fully aware of who is sleeping rough in the city. The team find some people only once whereas we also have people sleeping rough who have done so for a number of years. In January 2024, even though additional accommodation was available due to SWEP (Severe Weather Emergency Protocol) for 18 nights we found a total of 51 people with approximately 15 individuals sleeping rough on any one night.

Councillor D Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, pre-empted the Board’s discussion by providing a broad overview of the housing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The Board noted the Work Programme with the agreement that the following items be added to the Work Programme for the next municipal year:

1)  Rough Sleeper Strategy

2)  Housing Strategy

3)  Flytipping

There were no other items of business.