Agenda item

To receive a presentation.

Members received a presentation which gave an overview of Clarion’s work and development by representatives of Clarion.

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows.

·       Councillor Hay stated on the presentation it says that there are 52 inactive units and asked, is that meant to be empty homes? Sue Stavers responded that this is the way the system used captures information around the stock conditions, and these are units that have not been uploaded to the system yet. She continued there are to date 30 empty homes in the Fenland area. Councillor Hay asked how long these homes are likely to be empty for as she did notice there are waiting lists for every type of unit. Carl Grimmer emphasised the additional investment that Clarion have put into their empty homes in the Fenland area, he acknowledged that it has been difficult to maintain the number properties that are coming through as a void and to bring them back into a lettable position as quickly as Clarion would like to. He continued this figure has been improved by 60 within the last year but there are still a high number of voids that are coming through, but the return in the Fenland area is 12 a week, which is an improvement on previous figures, which has been achieved by doubling the bespoke work to the void properties and he is expecting the 30 to come down over the coming weeks.

·       Councillor Hay asked for the phrase ‘Cloned Survey’ to be explained in more detail. Carl Grimmer explained that this survey is in relation to stock conditions information from the surveyor, once he has been out and collated all the information relating to a property, if the Surveyor is unable to enter a property and it is similar to one that they have already been into, it will be classed as a clone, for example, if there is a row of houses all of the same build and nine have access and information has been gathered, the tenth one would be classed as a clone.

·       Councillor Hay asked where the wellbeing hub is going to be located in Chatteris and what sort of advertising has been done within the community? Maria Walker stated that the Wellbeing Hub is part of a joint application that Clarion Futures carried out with People and Animals to the health bid and they were awarded £38,000. She continued that the advertising is undertaken by the People and Animals, they are working closely with Living Sports and a local charity called Berts and Bees to open the hub. Maria Walker added that the wellbeing hub which is due to be run from the library will not be a one size fits all and she would like to know what the local community would like to gain from the wellbeing hub being in Chatteris, which is why it has taken a little while to open. Councillor Hay asked why the Town Council has not been approached? Maria Walker stated that she will feed this information back.

·       Councillor Hicks asked what Clarion would consider as a good figure for inactive units and are they achieving that? Carl Grimmer responded it depends on the value and cost to bring the properties round to a rentable state again, a rolling number of 20 would be reasonable for the Fenland area and he expects this to happen by the new year, bringing the figure down from 30 which it currently sits at, this is being achieved by doubling the internal workforce with a further 4 recently recruited bringing the workforce total to 15 from 8 working in the Fenland area.

·       Councillor Woollard asked if Clarion is satisfied that the cost of air source heat pumps is justified against the saving on fuel and efficiency of the equipment? Andy Curry stated that Clarion are happy with the move away from fossil fuel burning appliances and air source is a good option to use with the addition of cap wall insulation, upgraded lock insulation, plus new doors, windows and external wall insulation if needed, He continued with these extra measures in place this will insure the best out of the heating systems for the customer. Daniel Reed added this is the same with the new builds, the company is ensuring that each property has a EPCB rating which is one of the highest rates that can be achieved on a house. He continued any new residents are educated on how to use the new heat system, so they are getting best value for money.

·       Councillor Woollard asked what is the current situation and the real position against the three objectives that have been set out, how are they being met and what is being undertaken to achieve these objectives? Sally Greetham stated over that period show on the presentation, there was a reduction of anti-social behaviour, with the Police reporting an 80% drop in their figures and there was also an increase in customer satisfaction. She continued that Clarion are aware this is an ongoing challenge but there has been significant improvements which has come down to a close working partnership with other agencies, choosing the right tool to deal with the right problem at the right time and raising awareness on how customer tenants report things, plus adding additional features like CCTV and lighting for customer safety. Councillor Woollard asked if this scheme was going to be extended across Fenland? Sally Greetham responded that with the nature of anti-social behaviour, local bespoke solutions need to be considered to the challenges in that particular area, what Wisbech has given the team is a handy set of tool kits which could be shifted depending on what and where the challenges are.

·       Councillor Barber stated on the action plan there is a mention of environmental improvements and asked if, Clarion are aware of the rubbish that is being dumped at the back of the Salvation Army in Wisbech? Sally Greetham responded that there are wardens checking fly tipping on a regular basis and when the team is alerted, they do react quickly She also added that CCTV has been added to the well know trouble spots.

·       Councillor Barber stated that in Newton two Clarion houses are up for sale and asked why they are not being improved for use rather than being put up for sale? Also, when Clarion put properties up for sale is the profit invested back into the new round of properties. Sue Stavers responded that the two properties in Newton were put up for sale because of the cost it would take to bring them up to an acceptable standard for Clarion to re-let out and as a transfer agreement there is a commitment that when Clarion sell its stock the money is reinvested into new builds.

·       Councillor Foice-Beard asked if there was a list of the organisations mentioned in the presentation with their projects and locations for public access and do these organisations submit an evaluation piece with an impact report after the work is complete? Maria Walker replied that she has sent an email out to all the organisations asking them for a breakdown of everything that they are delivering that is linked to Clarion funding. She continued all of the organisations that Clarion support all handle their own advertising through social media, as this is a part of Clarion funding that is difficult to pinpoint, they get strategic support from Clarion which then will impact the things that they can deliver. Maria Walker committed to forwarding an updated list of organisations involved in this project.

·       Councillor Foice-Beard asked regarding the Fenland Project Work, how are these plans going and are they on schedule?  Adam Curry responded that Clarion employs the service of Equans in the region which are a tier one contractor and the work is on schedule and due to be completed by the end of the financial year.

·       Councillor Foice-Beard asked if there was any data on accessibility adaptations and adjustments requested and any data around Clarion’s response or their assessment time on works completed? Sus Stavers answered that they did not have any data with them today but there is a special adaptations team who coordinate all the repairs and improvements, some of which are done in house, and some are external via the DFG. She continued there is a current vulnerability and accessibility strategy that accesses needs of the homeowner. Sue Staver committed to sharing some data as an action after the meeting. Councillor Foice-Beard added that there is a high volume of digital exclusion in some local areas, and some local residents do not use the digital world and asked if some of the information could cover this area.

·       Councillor Foice-Beard stated as seen on the presentation measuring the success, how does this measure against last years and the year before that? She additionally asked, was this an isolated area of concern in Wisbech, or is this information from the whole of the Fenland area? Sally Greetham confirmed that the biggest area of anti-social behaviour is concentrated in Wisbech and the project that Clarion had was exclusively in Wisbech. She continued to say that across Fenland there has been a higher level of anti-social behaviour, but this has also been evident across the whole of the UK.

·       Councillor Mrs Davis asked if Awabb’s law has gone past the pilot stage? Carl Grimmer stated that Awabbs Law went live this week and that is what Clarion is working on now through training and understanding on what this means for the Clarion organisation and its residents with changes to reporting and a change in the IT system.

Members noted the information provided