Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests, and any Party Whip.

There were no declarations of interest nor of party whip.

The minutes of the meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7 July 2025 will be considered at this meeting.

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny meeting of 7^th July 2025 were submitted for Members’ consideration.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7th July 2025 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chair.

To invite members of the public who have registered in advance of the meeting to speak to the Committee.

There were no public speakers registered to speak at this meeting.

This report will follow in a supplementary pack after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Friday 22 August).

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services presented a report on the subject of the Inspection Report by the Social Housing Regulator and the Housing Improvement Plan. Members were informed that the Council received a C3 Regulatory Judgment in relation to its social housing, indicating serious failings in delivering housing services, particularly in repairs and maintenance, fire safety, tenant engagement, and data management. It was noted that the regulatory judgment was graded from C1 to C4 with C1 being the highest grade and C4 representing most severe level of non-compliance. 56 per cent of local authorities (with social housing stock) inspected had received C3 gradings.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) identified key concerns around approximately 3,000 overdue repairs, 3,000 outstanding fire safety actions, limited stock condition surveys, and insufficient tenant involvement mechanisms. The RSH acknowledged the Council’s commitment to improvement, and highlighted positive practices in electrical safety, anti-social behaviour management, and the establishment of a Damp and Mould team.

The Council had developed a Housing Improvement Plan with the interim plan approved by the Executive Committee in June 2025. The Plan had been updated following the announcement of the inspection result on 30 July 2025. The Plan contained a set of targeted actions which included the appointment of a Senior Tenant Engagement and Participation Officer, establishment of tenant forums and training programmes, implementation of new systems for repairs and safety compliance, development of a five-year rolling programme for stock condition surveys, and an enhanced governance through a multi-tiered oversight structure.

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services highlighted areas of progress that had already been made within the housing service. It was noted that many of these improvement actions had been in progress for some time prior to the inspection and the inspection result. The areas of progress included:

1.     Publication of annual report to council tenants at the end of July 2025. The annual reports would now be produced every year.

2.     Work on initiatives for tenant engagement.

3.     A 50 per cent reduction in overdue repairs with this outcome prompted by a root and branch analysis undertaken in June and July 2025.

4.     A 94 per cent reduction in outstanding water safety inspections.

5.     Mobilisation of a caretaker service for communal areas within communal blocks etc.

6.     Recruitment of a Damp and Mould team to deal specifically with tenants experiencing issues in this area.

7.     Improvement in complaint handling with Q1 2025-26 recording progress over the same quarter in 2024-25, as the Council responded to a larger proportion of complaints within agreed timescales. (For Stage 1 complaints 93 per cent responded to within timescales, up from 62 per cent at Q1 2024-25, for stage 2 100 per cent within timescales up from 80 per cent at Q1 2024-25).

8.     Commencement of a fire door / hazard inspection programme within communal blocks.

Members subsequently discussed the report in detail and in doing so commented on the following areas:

·       Concern among Members that some changes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

This report will follow in a supplementary pack after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Friday 22 August).

The Community Services Manager presented a report on the subject of the Voluntary Sector Grants Scheme 2026/27 to 2029/30. Members were informed that for the previous three-year period, the Council had provided £150,000 in support to the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). This included a grant of £50,000 to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and £100,000 in major as well as small grants to a range of VCS organisations and local groups. During this time, decisions on funding had been made by Officers.

In the report, Officers were proposing to change the Council’s approach to funding VCS organisations, although it was important to note that funding provision would remain available. Under the report’s proposals, it was proposed that the Council should allocate £175,000 per year to support VCS groups. This would include £75,000 for a financial advice service and £100,000 for distribution of higher and lower value grants to VCS groups. The sum for higher and lower level grants would be further split with a pot of £90,000 allocated to provision of higher value grants (£2,000 to £10,000 in value) and £10,000 pot for smaller value grants (£500 to £2,000 in value).

It was further proposed that a Grants Panel, comprising a membership of elected Members, should be reintroduced to consider applications for higher value grants. Smaller value grants would continue to be determined by Officers.

Members were asked to note that there was funding, derived from scrap metal recovered through the cremation scheme operated by Bereavement Services, which was invested in VCS activities. This was entirely separate to the rest of the VCS funding programme and the level of this funding could not be predicted in advance as it varied year to year. Officers were proposing that authority should be delegated to the Assistant Director of Community and Housing Services, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Community Spaces and the Voluntary Sector, to distribute this funding.

Following the presentation, some Members expressed reservations about reintroducing an elected member Grants Panel and questioned the rationale of how this would improve the scheme. It was commented that for a number of years Officers had had delegated authority to consider VCS grant applications and this was felt by some Members to be a more transparent approach, ensuring efficiency of decision-making and removing possibility of political influence over the process. In response, it was explained that the Member-led Grants Panel would be cross-party and would ensure democratic accountability and public scrutiny of the decisions over allocations.

Consideration was also given to the advantage of a Member-led Grants Panel in that smaller charities, for example those that could not afford to employ professional bid writers, had a more equal chance in this format as Members could ask questions and clarify points on the application submitted with each applicant before the decision to award a grant is made. With an officer assessed grants format, this was more difficult. It was clarified that under the new grants policy there would still be a uniform scoring  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

This report will follow in a supplementary pack after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Friday 22 August).

The Technical Services Manager (WRS) and the Principal Officer (Planning and Environmental Crime Enforcement – WRS) presented a report on the subject of the adoption of Fixed Penalty Charge Notices (FPNs) for breaches of Community Protection Notices (CPNs).

Members were informed that WRS had assumed responsibility for planning and environmental enforcement in 2024. There were certain enforcement powers that could be deployed by the Council where non-compliance was identified. 

There was a process that needed to be followed in respect of enforcement.  Where anti-social behaviour (ASB) was identified, Officers would seek to impose a Community Protection Warning (CPW), which gave notice that an individual or organisation needed to address their behaviour. There was a high bar that needed to be met in order to issue a CPW.  Should evidence emerge that a CPW was being breached, then a CPN could be issued.  Where a CPN was breached, an FPN could be issued.

It was stated that FPNs would provide an additional tool that could be used to address poor behaviour where breaches of CPNs occurred. In some cases, it would be more appropriate to issue an FPN than to take court action. Equally, there would be no obligation to issue FPN if this was not identified as a correct course of action.

Some Members expressed frustration that they had not seen enough enforcement work undertaken in Redditch and were unsure how anti-social behaviour breaches would be enforced given the lack of capacity within WRS at the moment. It was responded that currently there were three officers dealing with enviro-crime across Redditch and Bromsgrove. It was highlighted that the WRS had issued two CPNs in Bromsgrove District and this measure was thought to be an important additional tool to officers.

Some Members questioned in what way the adoption of a fixed penalty for breaches of a CPN would lead to offenders changing their behaviour. It was explained that a CPN was served where there were reasonable grounds to believe the offender’s conduct was having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality. Section 52 of Part 4 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provided that might issue a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) as an alternative to prosecution for breach of a CPN. In cases of lower end offences this enabled a tool to be in place that allowed a reprimand to be given to offenders without going to prosecution. In addition, it could prompt a person served with a CPN to engage with enforcement officers before the matter was escalated to the courts.

It was commented that evidence needed to be seen of how this measure could lead to behavioural changes in communities going forward and the extent to which enforcement action was being taken. In this regard it was proposed that Crime and Disorder should consider a report on the Community Protection Notice (CPN), and the effectiveness of the fixed penalty notice and the wider WRS anti-social behaviour (ASB) enforcement regime on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

This report will follow in a supplementary pack after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Friday 22 August).

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services presented the Housing Consumer Standards Report for the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. The report detailed the Council’s performance in relation to 10 of the Regulator of Social Housing tenant satisfaction measures. It was reported that Council had achieved targets regarding Building Safety measures covering compliance, however, there remained urgent remedial works, for example in relation to outstanding high-risk fire remedial actions.

The available data indicated that the Council’s performance across the 10 landlord measures in Housing was improving, when compared to the same quarter in the 2024/25 financial year. In addition, information available from the Power BI system that the Council was now using was enabling Officers to more accurately identify and assess issues when they occurred. It was highlighted in relation to direct tenant data that in Q1 2025/26, the Service received 23 complaints and 54 complements.

Following the presentation of the report, a Member queried the reason for a drop in performance in lift safety checks, from 100 per cent in Q1 2024/25 to 87 per cent in Q1 2025/26. The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services explained that in Quarter 1 of 2025/26, the Council’s insurer experienced difficulties accessing one of the lifts for inspection. This had now been remedied and the inspection undertaken, however, as it was not completed in the required timescales which had resulted in the reported figure.

It was queried whether joint gas and electric inspections were still being undertaken. It was responded that this had been discontinued for practical reasons as electrical tests were done every five years and gas tests every twelve months and combining these in a single visit created scheduling challenges. It was noted that analysis was being done why some properties did not reach the target in relation to the various safety checks but difficulties in gaining access to the properties had been highlighted as an issue in some cases.

RECOMMENDED that

the Council’s 2025/26 performance against the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (Landlord) is noted.

This report will follow in a supplementary pack after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Friday 22 August).

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services presented the Housing Ombudsman’s Findings Report in respect of case 202417927. This related to a complaint that had been submitted to the Housing Ombudsman by a local resident.

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services apologised on behalf of the Housing department to the residents affected and the Committee for the maladministration found in the two Ombudsman cases presented before the Committee this evening.

The purpose of the report was to learn lessons from the Housing Ombudsman’s findings when investigating this complaint. This had concluded that there had been maladministration at the Council in respect of the following areas:

·       The resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.

·       The installation and maintenance of aids and adaptations.

·       The resident’s reports of structural problems with the balcony wall.

·       The resident’s reports of a leak to the communal entrance.

The Housing Ombudsman had identified issues with poor record keeping at the Council as well as in respect of how staff worked with people who had vulnerabilities.  Staff required training in order to provide appropriate support to residents with different vulnerabilities.  Issues had also been identified with complaint handling at the Council, with an emphasis having been placed on the need for staff to have empathy when working with residents.  Officers were working through the Housing Ombudsman’s findings with a view to identifying the most appropriate action to be taken to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.

Following the presentation, a Member commented that when any concerns with tenant’s property or vulnerabilities were identified, it should be the responsibility and due diligence of every employee who comes into contact with that tenant to escalate any concerns urgently with the Housing department. There needed to be a similar principle to safeguarding, that it is everyone’s responsibility, to be adopted by all employees/contractors coming in contact with a tenant. A Member commented that the detail described within the Housing Ombudsman Findings Report appeared to indicate that there were cultural issues amongst staff in the Housing department that needed to be addressed.

Some Members suggested it might be helpful for the Council to have a case worker, or multiple case workers, who could be someone ‘entrenched’ within the system and be a central point of contact in relation to a tenant. This would enable problems, such as special support needs, repairs or damp and mould, to be raised with management at an early stage.

It was suggested that this could involve recruiting family liaison case workers. In addition, the potential to work in partnership with other organisations to recruit these case workers as multi-agency staff was also highlighted for consideration. It was commented that the Council’s Neighbourhood and Tenancy Officers were also well placed to spot concerns with a tenant’s property at an early stage, however, the team’s capacity remained limited.

Members commented that residents should be the Council’s focus, as the authority’s customers but unfortunately in this case, the customer had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

This report will follow in a supplementary pack after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Friday 22 August).

The Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services presented the Housing Ombudsman’s Findings Report in respect of case 202331009.  As with the previous item, Members were informed that this report related to a complaint that had been received from a local resident.

In the report, the Housing Ombudsman had highlighted two key areas in which maladministration by the Council had been identified in relation to this case:

·       Maladministration in the Council’s response to reports from the resident of damp and mould.

·       Maladministration in the Council’s complaint handling.

In considering the report, Members were asked to note that the Council had already agreed to introduce a specialist Damp and Mould team. There had been successful recruitment to all of the posts in this team and new staff would commence employment with the authority over the coming weeks and months.

Officers explained that complaint handling in quarter 4 2024/25 was below par and the improvements seen in quarter 1 2025/26 needed to be embedded. It was noted that a programme of training was being rolled out in the Housing department to prioritise training of staff, including courses for relevant staff to be trained in relation to dealing with queries from vulnerable customers. The Regulator for Social Housing would be introducing a training qualification standard which would requiring all staff to gain the right qualifications for specific requirements.

RECOMMENDED that

1)    The findings, orders and recommendation from the Housing Ombudsman be noted.

2)    Compliance with those matters by the Council and the wider learning points be noted.

It was requested that the following items from the Executive Work Programme be added to the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme as pre-scrutiny items:

·       Bereavement Services – Burial Strategy (due for 24 November 2025 Overview and Scrutiny meeting)

·       Biodiversity First Consideration Report (due for 12 January 2026 Overview and Scrutiny meeting)

·       Climate Change Strategy 2026 to 2031 (due for 12 January 2026 Overview and Scrutiny meeting)

It was requested that all the finance-related reports referenced within the Executive Work Programme be added for the consideration of Budget Scrutiny Working Group.

RESOLVED that

the items detailed above be added to the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme.

It was confirmed that the Overview and Scrutiny work programme would be updated with items selected for pre-scrutiny under the previous agenda item – the Executive Committee’s Work Programme.

RESOLVED that

the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be updated as per the items selected under the previous agenda item.

a)          Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst

b)          Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst

c)           Post-16 Education Task Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst

Updates were provided on the meetings of Task Groups and Working Groups as follows:

a)    Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst

Councillor Warhurst reported that the last meeting took place on Thursday 28 August and the Working Group had not made any recommendations concerning any of the finance reports considered (that are due to be considered by Executive Committee on 2 September).

b)    Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst

It was confirmed that the only meeting of this group to had been arranged to date for this municipal year remained scheduled to take place on 2 October 2025.

c)     Post-16 Education Task Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst

It was noted that further meetings of this Task Group are being arranged for Autumn 2025.

RESOLVED that

the Task Groups, Short Sharp Reviews and Working Groups Update Reports be noted.

a)          West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council representative, Councillor Boyd;

b)          West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Council representative, Councillor Fardoe; and

c)           Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) – Council representative, Councillor Fry.

Updates on the meetings of External Scrutiny Bodies were provided as follows:

a)    West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council Representative, Councillor Boyd

Councillor Boyd had submitted his apologies from the latest meeting which took place in the morning (1^st September).

b)    West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny – Council Representative, Councillor Fardoe

Councillor Fardoe reported that at the last meeting an update relating to Midlands Rail Hub (region’s rail improvement scheme) was provided including that two trains per hours would continue with up to three services per hour at peak times on the cross-city line (Redditch-Lichfield line through Birmingham).

c)     Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) – Council Representative, Councillor Fry

Councillor Fry reported that the first meeting of this body in this municipal year took place on 30^th July 2025 at Pershore (hosted by Wychavon District Council). The main item on the agenda was routine immunisation in relation to which it was noted that there was concern around increase in measles cases in the UK, with concern around higher risk of importation of measles from abroad during the summer holidays. In relation to vaccinations uptake, there was a slow but gradual decline in the pre-school vaccination uptake over the last ten years, although this trend was less pronounced in Worcestershire than England as a whole.

Councillor Fry noted in relation to the governance of the HOSC Committee that the Committee comprised representatives from the Worcestershire County Council (WCC) and the six district councils in Worcestershire. The WCC had yet to appoint its two representatives to the Committee and there remained two elected member vacancies on the HOSC Committee as a result. Councillor Fry expressed hope that these positions could be appointed to by WCC in the near future to ensure full membership.

RESOLVED that

the External Scrutiny Bodies updates be noted.

“That, under S.100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following matter(s) on the grounds that it/they involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs (to be specified) of Part 1 of Schedule 12 (A) of the said Act”.

These paragraphs are as follows:

Subject to the “public interest” test, information relating to:

·         Para 1 – any individual;

·         Para 2 – the identity of any individual;

·         Para 3 – financial or business affairs;

·         Para 4 – labour relations matters;

·         Para 5 – legal professional privilege;

·         Para 6 –  a notice, order or direction;

·         Para 7 – the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime;

                     and may need to be considered as ‘exempt’.

RESOLVED that

under S.100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following matters on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 (A) of the said Act, as amended:

Minute Item 43 – Disposal of Housing Revenue Account Assets – Four garages at Ashorne Close, Matchborough, Redditch – Pre-Scrutiny

Minute Item 44 – Disposal of Housing Revenue Account Assets – 53 Parsons Road, Southcrest, Redditch. 53 Crabbs Cross Lane, Crabbs Cross, Redditch – Pre-Scrutiny.

This report will follow in a supplementary pack after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Friday 22 August).

This item contains restricted appendices and may need to be considered in exempt session.

The Housing Property Services Manager presented the report and advised the Committee of a typographical error in the title of the report in that this report concerned the proposal to dispose of eight garages at Ashorne Close and not four as stated in the title of the report.

The eight garages were built in the 1970s and were concrete beam garage. These garages had been deemed uneconomic to repair and it was proposed that they be demolished on the grounds of structural safety. It was clarified that in respect of Ashorne Close, it was proposed that ten car parking spaces be created that would be free of charge and accessible on a first-come, first-served basis.

A Member asked whether secure bike parking could be installed as part of this proposal and it was responded that this would be considered for similar schemes in the future. In response to a further question, it was stated that this land was not appropriate for housing as the area was too small.

A question was also asked regarding the potential to install Zest electric vehicle charging points at the site. Officers responded that electric charging points take up more space than ordinary parking so might not be suitable for this particular site, however, as part of the Council’s contract with Zest there was an opportunity to review EV charging locations and the potential sites would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The recommendations as stated in the report were endorsed by the Committee.

RECOMMENDED that

1)    The 8 garages located at Ashorne Close, Matchborough (as shown on the plan at Appendix 1) be declared surplus to requirements and demolished on the grounds of structural safety.

2)    Subject to planning permission the garages be replaced with 10 parking spaces as shown on the plan at Appendix 2.

(During consideration of this item, Members discussed matters that necessitated the disclosure of exempt information. It was therefore agreed to move to exclude the press and public prior to any debate on the grounds that information would be revealed that included information relating to any individual.)

This report will follow in a supplementary pack after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Friday 22 August).

This item contains restricted appendices and may need to be considered in exempt session.

The Housing Property Services Manager presented a report concerning the disposal of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) assets at 53 Parsons Road, Southcrest, Redditch and 53 Crabbs Cross Lane, Crabbs Cross, Redditch.

Overview and Scrutiny was informed that both properties were in a dilapidated condition. The potential for the Council to upgrade these properties had been reviewed but the conclusion had been reached that the cost of bringing these properties to a habitable state would not be financially viable for the Council. Therefore, it was considered preferable to dispose of both properties and the Council could use the capital receipts to invest in new properties as part of the Housing Growth Programme.

During the debate, Members discussed the specific conditions and planning features of the two properties and it was concluded that these properties would not be viable to bring back to use by the Council.

The recommendations as stated in the report were endorsed by the Committee.

RECOMMENDED that

1)    53 Parsons Road, Southcrest, Redditch be declared surplus to Council requirements.

2)    Authority be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer and to the Assistant Director of Legal, Democratic and Procurement Services to dispose of the site at market value.

3)    Any HRA capital receipt received from the sale of No. 53 Parsons Road, Southcrest be allocated to the HRA Capital Programmes.

4)    53 Crabbs Cross Lane, Crabbs Cross, be declared surplus to Council requirements.

5)    Authority be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer and to the Assistant Director of Legal, Democratic and Procurement Services to dispose of the site at market value.

6)    Any HRA capital receipt received from the sale of 53 Crabbs Cross Lane, Crabbs Cross be allocated to the HRA Capital Programmes.

(During consideration of this item, Members discussed matters that necessitated the disclosure of exempt information. It was therefore agreed to move to exclude the press and public prior to any debate on the grounds that information would be revealed that included information relating to any individual, information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual, and information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)).