Agenda item

Minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2012 (previously circulated). 

It was proposed by Councillor Mace, and seconded by Councillor Sykes, that the minutes be approved as a correct record subject to the following amendment:

That resolution (1) minute number 11 be amended to include the list of questions asked by the panel, and to record the full details of the resolution as follows:

It was proposed by Councillor Mace, seconded by Councillor James and unanimously agreed:

“That a report be requested on the Storey Creative Industries Centre that answers the following questions:

·         Has any contact taken place between representatives from sub-tenants of the building and the City Council as ultimate landlord (owner of the building)?

·         Did the City Council pay the insurance bills and a utility bill for SCIC in mid 2011 and if so why and on what authority? Why did the City Council not take further action to protect its interests at that time?

·         Why was the decision taken in December 2011 to grant the loan to the company without democratic accountability? [Opening it up to scrutiny could have saved at least four more months of losses and inaction.]

·         What processes of due diligence took place before the loan was agreed in principle in December 2011, when was the loan paid over to the company, and what due diligence took place between the agreement in principle and the payment of the loan to the company?

·         In what way and at what date did examinations of the annual accounts of the company contribute to due diligence?

·         Upon being put to the vote members voted unanimously in favour of the proposition, whereupon the chairman declared the proposition to be carried.

That resolution (2) minute number 11 be amended to include the list of questions asked by the panel, and to record the full details of the resolution as follows:

It was proposed by Councillor Scott and unanimously agreed:

That a briefing note be provided to the panel which answers the following questions regarding damage to council homes:

• What are the terms, conditions and legal obligations on the tenant’s agreement? Do we have a policy on responsible ownership?

• Can it be subject to changes if our policy need to be reviewed?

• How quickly do we check a home if we get complaints from a neighbour, for example overgrown gardens & run down state of the property?

• Do we call in on the day the tenants vacate the property to check that it is not trashed and left in a desperate state?

• The tenant hands in the keys on leaving at the Council office? Is this best practice!

• What is the turn around in Council housing?

• Has the housing department ever considered checking and collecting the keys from the tenant’s home on the day they leave?

• We reward council tenant’s £75 cash if they leave the house in good condition. How much do we spend on this incentive per year? Given that money is tight, should we continue this scheme?

• Should the tenant not have a duty of care to the property?

• How much do we spend on refurbishing trashed up homes per year in our district?

• Why is it difficult to trace a tenant when they leave Lancaster for non payment and also trashing homes?