Agenda and minutes

Councillor Holmes was present as a substitute for Councillor Flunder.

·         Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

·         Other Interests

The Panel considered a revised Private Sector Housing Renewal Assistance Policy for Staffordshire Moorlands District Council following public consultation.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council was required to publish a policy that outlined how the local housing authority would comply with their obligations under the Housing Regulatory Reform Orders and the Housing Act 2004 to provide housing renewal interventions for the maintenance of the private sector housing stock and enforcement of their legal obligations.

The Housing Regulatory Reform Order 1994 required that local authorities publish a policy on their interventions in the private housing sector in order to maintain and improve as necessary the housing stock in their area.

The Housing Act 2004 required local authorities to publish their enforcement policy for the application of their legal powers and duties.

Local Authorities were required to review their Private Sector Housing Policies from time to time to ensure that they reflect current housing regulation and guidance and current trends in housing renewal. The Policy was last reviewed in 2016, and the current revised Policy was intended, on implementation, to determine the Council’s regulatory and discretionary interventions in respect of the private sector housing stock for the next 5 years.

The draft Private Sector Housing Renewal Assistance Policy was circulated to Staffordshire Moorlands members in December 2021 as an Information Digest as a precursor to the launch of the public consultation. The public consultation was subsequently launched on 7th January 2022 and ran to 4th March 2022, and at the same time the draft policy was sent directly to a number of external stakeholders, as detailed in Section 4 of the Policy. The public consultation was supplemented by a press release and promotion on the Council’s Social Media platforms.

On conclusion of the consultation period, the Council had received no formal representations form the public or other stakeholders.

In response to a query in relation to empty properties, the Panel was advised that a meeting had taken place between councillors and officers. The Council was keen to work with parish/town councils on this matter and members could speak individually to officers about any specific empty properties which they were aware of.

Clarification was sought around empty business premises and it was confirmed that this legislation related only to domestic dwellings. The Council was also in the process of contacting all landlords of properties with an energy performance certificate rated less than E.

Members were encouraged to contact Mike Towers, should they wish to discuss any aspect of the report further.

DECIDED: The Panel RECOMMENDED Cabinet APPROVE the revised Staffordshire Moorlands Private Sector Housing Renewal Assistance Policy for 2021-26.

The Chair to move:-

 “That pursuant to Section 100A (2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that exempt information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 100I (1) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the paragraphs indicated.”

“That pursuant to Section 100A (2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that exempt information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 100I (1) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the paragraphs indicated.”

Members considered a report on the proposal to transfer the management of the SMDC Countryside Sites.