STIRLING COUNCIL
MINUTES of SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING of STIRLING COUNCIL held as a VIRTUAL
MEETING by MICROSOFT TEAMS on THURSDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2022 at 3.30 PM
Present:
Provost Christine SIMPSON
Councillor Maureen BENNISON
Councillor Alistair BERRILL
Councillor Margaret BRISLEY
Councillor Robert DAVIES
Councillor Martin EARL
Councillor Scott FARMER
Councillor Bryan FLANNAGAN
Councillor Danny GIBSON
Councillor Graham HOUSTON
Councillor Jane HUTCHISON
Councillor Alison LAURIE
Councillor Alasdair MacPHERSON
Councillor Alastair MAJURY
Councillor Jeremy McDONALD
Councillor Susan McGILL
Councillor Jim THOMSON
Councillor Alasdair TOLLEMACHE
Councillor Evenly TWEED
In Attendance
Lesleyann Burns, Support Officer – Governance
Stephen Clark, Chief Officer - Housing
Gillian Findlay, Team Leader, Housing Management and Homelessness
Graeme Forrester, Lead Solicitor – Governance
Graham Gibson, Senior Media Officer, External Communications
David McDougall, Governance Officer (Minutes)
Isabel McKnight, Chief Operating Officer – Communities & Performance
Sean Moffat, Analyst, Digital & Technology
George Murphy, Interim Chief Officer - Finance
Brian Roberts, Chief Operating Officer – Infrastructure & Environment
Stephen Swan, Service Manager, Housing Property & Asset Management
Marie Valente, Senior Manager (CSWO)
Gregor Wightman, Property/Private Sector Housing Manager
Julia McAfee, Chief Officer - Governance (Clerk)
Recording of Meeting started
Prior to the commencement of business, the Provost welcomed and thanked everyone for attending the meeting via MS Teams.
A statement was read to the meeting providing detail on the procedures related to MS Teams and the protocols that both Members and Officers should adhere to throughout the meeting.
The Provost asked the Clerk to carry out a roll call of all Members participating in the meeting.
SC483 APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Douglas Dodds and Councillor Chris Kane.
SC484 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
SC485 HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT RENTAL STRATEGY 2022/23
This report sought approval for a rent increase for Council house rents, garages and pitch sites for 2022/23.
A full consultation process for rent setting for 2022/2023 was agreed in October 2021 in consultation with the Housing Advisory Group (HAG). This process involved providing tenants with a newsletter containing information about the rent consultation, response questionnaire, reply paid envelope and information on the option to complete online via the Engage Stirling platform on the Council’s website. The consultation began in late November and continued until 24 December 2021.
This year’s consultation with tenants was carried out on the basis of presenting three rentincrease options: 1.1%, 1.5% or 1.7%.
A total of 371 responses were received, 35 of which were received via the Engage Stirling platform. This equated to a response rate of 6.9%. This compared with 501 responses (9.3% response rate) for the 2021/22 consultation. The results were as follows:
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66.48% supported the proposed 1.1% rent increase, 23.01% supported a 1.5% increase and 10.51% were in favour of a 1.7% increase. 19 respondents failed to answer this question.
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271 (74.66% of respondents) were of the view that the rent for their property represented ‘very good’ or ‘fairly good’ value for money.
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A 1.1% rent rise would mean that the ‘average’ rent would increase by £0.84 per week over the 48-week rental period, from £76.75 in 2021/22 to £77.59 in 2022/23.
The results showed support for a 1.1% rent rise to enable the Council to continue with the proposed investment programme for 2022/23. Council was asked to approve a rent increase of 1.1% for 2022/23, which represented an average rent of £77.59 (£0.84 increase) in 2022/23 over a 48-week rent period. The full rent structure was set out in Appendix 3 to the report
The detailed budget for the Housing Revenue Account 2022/23 was shown in
Appendix 2 to the report.
Decision
Council agreed to:-
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approve an increase of 1.1% for house rents in 2022/23;
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approve an increase of 1.1% for garages and pitch sites in 2022/23; and
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approve the Housing Revenue Account budget for 2022/23, as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.
(Reference: Report by Chief Officer - Housing, dated 25 January 2022, submitted).
SC486 HOUSING – CAPITAL INVESTMENT PROGRAMME 2022/23
The Housing Revenue Account Capital Investment Programme for 2022/23 was based on the Council’s agreed 30-year housing business plan. It ensured the Housing Service improved and developed its housing stock to meet and maintain compliance with the Scottish Housing Quality Standards, and to meet the new Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH2) that social landlords must meet by 2032.
Total planned expenditure for the year was £18.326M. Funding from revenue was expected to be £6.856M with prudential borrowing for the year estimated at approximately £4.299M, a decrease of £6.405M from £10.703M. Income from the strategic housing account was projected to be £200,000.
Grant funding from the Scottish Government of up to £6.036M would be available to support the construction of approximately 70 units of new Council housing in 2022/23.
Additional funding of approximately £935,000 would also be available from Scottish Government to continue the delivery of the energy efficiency programme to the private housing sector.
Progress in delivering the investment programme would be reported to the Housing Advisory Group throughout the year. Regular outturn reports would also be submitted to the Environment & Housing Committee.
The main elements of the programme were set out within the report, with summary details provided within Appendix 1 to the report.
Decision
Council agreed to approve the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme as detailed in the report.
(Reference: Report by Chief Officer - Housing, dated 25 January 2022, submitted).
The Provost declared the Meeting closed at 4.15 pm