Minutes:
The Chairman informed the Committee that the Council continues to press ahead with delivery of a number of projects and improvements The Safer Streets project continues with all the elements within the project due to be completed by the end of March. The new Community Hub at Chatham Court, which is part of the Safer Streets project is progressing well with many partners showing an interest in operating their services from the Hub.
The Chairman advised that during the past year of Covid restrictions, crime across Newark and Sherwood has fallen, unfortunately this has not been matched with a similar fall in anti-social behaviour. The Council and the Police are continuing to work together to have plans in place that use all the powers available to manage and reduce anti-social behaviour. The police have dedicated patrols in ASB hot spots, and these are supported by the Council’s Community Protection Officers. We have shown our commitment to addressing these issues by the appointment of two additional community protection officers for a temporary period of 12 months.
The Chairman highlighted that the Energy and Home Support team have successfully completed a project at Fairholme Park, Ollerton to move residents from LPG to mains gas, reducing running costs for those living in these hard to heat park homes which has not been an easy feat during a year of significant challenges.
Looking forward, the Chairman advised of a consultation to be launched with housing tenants through their next rent statement about what they would like to see in this year’s Annual Tenant Report. The Council will shortly start preparing the document which is a requirement of the Regulator to show how we are performing and how we invest in services. The report for 2019-20 can be found on the Council’s website.
The Chairman then informed the Committee that from the end of the month the Grounds Maintenance service for our Council homes will be delivered by our in-house team, enabling us to control the quality and improve the streetscape for Newark and Sherwood District. We have also been able to recruit two of our apprentices into full time roles within the team which is fantastic.
The Chairman went on to advise of the commencement of more in depth Fire Risk Assessments of our communal areas including checking of individual fire doors with the aim of improving fire safety for our tenants.
The Chairman was pleased to inform the Committee that the Council had been successful in securing £11,000 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to support with the complexities for rough sleeping and our long term project to support rough sleepers into accommodation is on track for April 21.
Now we have a roadmap out of lockdown, the Council are looking at how we bring all services back on line in a managed way and the chairman took take the opportunity to thank all colleagues at the Council for their continued commitment and knew that they will do their best to ensure a smooth transition.
Finally, the Chairman reminded the Committee of having just passed the first anniversary of bringing our housing service back into the Council. The team will be inviting members over the next month to take a look at what the newly formed Directorate has been up to.