Agenda item

This matter is the responsibility of the Scrutiny Committee.

As per the Constitution, the Scrutiny Committee may appoint Task and Finish Groups. At the 27^th January Scrutiny Committee the Committee resolved that:

“A Task and Finish Group on funding sources and approaches for a zero carbon retrofit programme for SWT’s council housing is further investigated with a further report brought back to the Scrutiny Committee to decide on establishment, with Terms of Reference.”

The Scrutiny Committee are to consider and decide whether to establish said Group and establish the Terms of Reference.

The purpose of this report is to consider and decide whether to establish a Task and Finish Group investigating the topic of Council Housing Zero Carbon Retrofit and, if approved, to also establish the Terms of Reference for said Group (Appendix A).

As per the Somerset West and Taunton Council Constitution, the Scrutiny Committee may appoint Task and Finish Groups. At the 27th January 2021 Scrutiny Committee the Committee resolved that:

A Task and Finish Group on funding sources and approaches for a zero carbon retrofit programme for SWT’s council housing is further investigated with a further report brought back to the Scrutiny Committee to decide on establishment, with Terms of Reference.”

There are no risks identified with establishing this Group, or associated with the Corporate or Directorate Risk Registers, although the 2030 Carbon Neutrality target is identified on the Corporate Risk Register.

Background and Full details of the Report

As its title suggests a Task and Finish Group is set up for a specific purpose to undertake a review and report back within a defined timescale.

Task and Finish Groups allow Councillors to look at an issue in which they have a particular interest in more detail. They can take a variety of forms, from a detailed review to a short, sharp concentrated focus on a high profile issue. The length of a review and its scope will define how frequently a task group meets, but it is usual to have at least one meeting at the start for planning, and one (possibly two) at the end to settle the report’s findings and recommendations. They offer the opportunity to use a variety of more diverse working methods (working flexibly to adapt to the needs of different reviews), including making visits, and use of interviews and publicity events to encourage community participation and public engagement in scrutiny. For example, the task and finish group can gather evidence through a variety of ways, such as:

· written evidence

· oral evidence and interviews with external and internal witnesses

· site visits

· visiting other organisations - partners, user groups, other councils

· research

· talking to people who are affected by the issue

Once the evidence has been gathered, the task and finish groups will produce a report to be submitted to the relevant Scrutiny Committee outlining details of the review process, evidence gathered, conclusions and subsequent recommendations. The Scrutiny Committee can then consider the report and decide whether to recommend the report on to the Executive, or Council as appropriate.

The final decision of whether to form a Group rests with Members of the Committee but it is recommended that Councillors undertake careful consideration of the advice of the relevant Director when seeking to establish. The Chair of Scrutiny has established in communication with the Housing Portfolio Holder, Cllr Fran Smith, that this group would not be duplicating the work of the Housing Development Member Working Group resolved to be established by Council in December 2020, but would be seeking to look at separate issues.

Links to Corporate Strategy – This topic is potentially considered to have some links to the Corporate Strategy as outlined in Appendix A – Terms of Reference, namely Priority Theme 1 on Our Environment and Economy - Objective 1: “Work towards making our District carbon neutral by 2030 - deliver projects based on a Carbon Neutrality and Climate Resilience Plan that work toward this goal”. Consideration when setting up a Task and Finish Group should be given to:

· External or national priorities,

· Priorities identified within the SWT Corporate Strategy and in key policies such as the Carbon Neutrality and Climate Resilience Plan (CNCR), (consideration should be given to which priorities may benefit from the intervention of scrutiny, for example, overview of progress against milestones or specific policy development in a priority area);

· Key decisions to be taken and the Executive and Scrutiny Committee’s Forward Plan;

· Evidence from recent public consultations or a trend emerging from Councillors’ case work which may be the subject of scrutiny

During the consideration of the item the following comments and questions were raised:-

·        Energiesprong aimed for a zero carbon modular approach with the aim of bringing the costs down, this was an ambitious approach and needed to prove to be deliverable in the UK.

·        The intention was to look at the Energiespring approach in addition to the wider ambition of making housing more energy efficient.

·        More flexibility in timescales was required to look at data to evaluate before the next financial year, with more effective results from data capture on retrofitting options in this time period.

·        The committee not to solely look at one specific provider with alternatives also considered if they were viable options.

·        The Terms of reference would be agreed at the first meeting.

·        It was questioned how much of the HRA stock had solar panels fitted, a response would be provided following the meeting.

·        The committee requested that the Housing Portfolio maintenance schedule should be relevant and included in any proposals on future retrofitting of housing stock.

Resolved that the Scrutiny Committee resolved to establish;

1.

a) A cross party Task and Finish Group for Council Housing Zero Carbon Retrofit to investigate this topic in further depth and to report back to the Scrutiny Committee within four months (if possible).

b) The Terms of Reference for the Council Housing Zero Carbon Retrofit Group (Appendix A) are approved.

2. Note: If the above recommendations are not approved the Task and Finish Group will not be established.