Minutes:
68.1 The Leader and Portfolio Holders gave brief updates on current issues not reported elsewhere on the agenda:
· The Housing Operations Team continued to meet regularly with the Tenants Panel members via Zoom, and the Panel had been providing support and signposting tenants to services. Members and Officers were grateful for the active involvement of the Tenants Panel.
· Council housing rent arrears were being maintained at under 1%, compared to a national average of 3.68%, which was a remarkable achievement. The number of void properties had reduced, and the team was working hard to clear the backlog from the first lockdown. Responsive repairs had continued to be carried out through this lockdown, as well as gas safety checks.
· The Ockford Ridge development project was continuing: demolition had begun on Site B, and the planning application had been submitted for Site C.
· In terms of homelessness, there were three single people in the York Road hostel in Woking and one person in B&B. Numbers were much lower than in the previous lockdown because a number of rough sleepers and ‘sofa surfers’ had been identified and either re-housed or have not approached Waverley again. Under the Government’s Next Steps accommodation programme, a grant had been obtained for two modular units for temporarily housing rough sleepers, a site was being considered and the Planning Service was providing pre-application advice.
· Meetings of the Safer Waverley Partnership were continuing. There had been a decrease in burglaries during the lockdown, but an increase in anti-social behaviour which included Covid breaches. British Transport Police had been working with Surrey Police to address anti-social behaviour on trains locally.
· The LPP2 consultation had ended and 430 responses had been received from a wide range of contributors. Officers were now beginning to analyse the responses.
· Regulation 16 Consultations on the Bramley and Haslemere Neighbourhood Plans were underway, concluding 19 March 2021.
· The opening date for the Brightwells Yard development had been pushed back from July to September 2021. Commercial lettings continued to be challenging due to the pandemic, but Crest were confident that sufficient units would be let to open in September. Waverley continued to be supportive of the development.
· An increased amount of car parking had been made available free of charge for people attending the Cranleigh Covid vaccination centre.
· A new Parking Spaces Order would be coming forward in the Spring, to enable the Brightwells Yard car park to be included.
· The council had now distributed over £30m of government grants to local businesses. With regard to the recent Supreme Court decision regarding business interruption insurance and Covid, Waverley was working closely with Places Leisure to understand how the ruling impacted on their policies specifically.
· Cyber security was a business issue as well as a technical IT issue, and it was important that Members and staff contributed to keeping the council’s and residents’ data safe and secure.
· The Leader and Deputy Leader had had productive discussions with the NHS Surrey Heartlands CCG and the Leader and Deputy Leader of Guildford Borough Council, and the Council Leaders had then jointly produced a video which was available via Eagle radio.
· The Deputy Leader thanked the Communications and Engagement Manager, Harri Robinson, who was leaving the council, for all her hard work and in particular in supporting the council’s Covid response over the past 12 months. On behalf of the Executive, he wished her every success in her future career.