Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D Brook, J Cattanach, J Chilvers, M Crane, K Franks, J McCartney, M McCartney, W Nichols and C Richardson.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

Councillor S Duckett declared a non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 3 – Housing Revenue Account – Additional Funding Requirements as she was a trustee of the Selby District Housing Trust but was not required to leave the meeting during consideration thereof.

Councillor J Mackman declared a non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 3 – Housing Revenue Account – Additional Funding Requirements as he was Chairman and a trustee of the Selby District Housing Trust but was not required to leave the meeting during consideration thereof.

The Council are asked to consider report C/22/12.

The Deputy Leader introduced report C/22/12 which sought approval for the allocation of £2.047m additional funds to the Housing Revenue Account, using affordable housing Section 106 (S106) Commuted Sums previously earmarked for market housing acquisition, to support essential investment in the authority’s social housing portfolio as outlined in option two in the report.

The Council noted that the report provided an update on the financial pressures faced by the Council’s Housing Revenue Account as a result of increasing numbers of void properties being returned which required substantial work to bring them back in to use, coupled with unprecedented post Covid global economic and geo-political instability resulting in building material shortages and double-digit price increases.

Members were informed that the report included detailed background information and context to foster greater understanding of the challenges facing the Housing Revenue Account, and provided an explanation of mitigation measures implemented to lessen financial impact. It also provided clarity as to actions taken to improve the data held by the Council to enable improved management of the portfolio moving forwards and presented options for managing the current financial pressures. 

The Deputy Leader emphasised the importance of investing in the Council’s existing housing stock and reminded Members that Appendices 1 and 2 to the report were confidential; as such, should Members wish to make detailed reference to the content of either appendix the meeting would need to resolve to move into private session.

The Council’s Section 151 Officer apologised that some financial information had been omitted from the report relating to further details as to options for funding, which included the major repairs reserve, capital receipts and S106 affordable housing committed sums. The use of capital receipts was not advised. The Section 151 Officer maintained that the recommended and most appropriate course of action was to use S106 funds.

Members debated the report, with the Chair of Scrutiny Committee making the point that the committee had asked numerous questions about housing repairs over the past few months; it had not been informed about the need for additional funding and wished to know how long the Deputy Leader had been aware of the issue.

The Deputy Leader made it clear that the matter was specifically to do with void and empty properties. As Lead Executive Member for Housing, the Deputy Leader had become aware of the need for extra funding in the late autumn. Officers had been working hard since this time to put together a plan to tackle the gap in funding. The Council was not permitted to overspend on its budget and as such the use of S106 monies was required.

The Leader of the Opposition asked why Option 2 had been recommended and commented on the statistics relating to refurbishments and partial repairs at paragraph 1.2.20 of the report; partial repairs were not efficient as they would require further work in the future. Full refurbishments were a better use of funds and provided a more positive message to the Council’s tenants in respect of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.