Agenda and decisions

The Committee resolved:

in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business:-

·       Deputation request one.

These will be included within the minute of the meeting.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note that two deputation requests had been received in relation to item 7.1 on the agenda – Notice of Motion by Councillor Graham; and

(ii)            to agree to suspend Standing Order 14.5.7 in order to hear the deputations. 

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note that item 11 (City Centre Multi Storey Blocks) would now be reported to the November 2024 meeting and to agree that the Executive Director – Families & Communities would circulate timescales for this report to members by way of email;

(ii)            to note that item 15 (Cost Neutral Environmental Enforcement) was delayed as the contract was due to start on 19th August 2024 so the report on the pilot would be reported back in summer 2025;

(iii)          to agree to remove item 30 (Rental  Differentials), as this will be incorporated into the report to Council on the Housing Revenue 30 Year Account Business Plan;

(iv)          to agree that a joint report would be presented at the November Committee titled Housing Board Bi Annual Report, which would incorporate items 8 (Housing Improvement Group), 29 (Asset Management Strategies for the HRA Estate) and item 32 (Council Housing Improvement Activity and Acquisition and Disposal Policy), therefore agreed to remove items 8, 29 and 32;

(v)           to request that the Executive Director – Families & Communities include information on void properties within the Housing Board Bi Annual report, due to be reported to the November committee; and

(vi)          to otherwise note the committee business planner. 

That Aberdeen City Council:

1.    notes that anti-social behaviour includes street drinking, fist fights, drug taking and dealing, aggressive begging and recognises that anti-social behaviour incidents in the city centre are causing increasing concern to residents, businesses and those who work, shop and visit the area;

2.    notes that Aberdeen holds Scotland's only Purple Flag accredited city centre status and that efforts should continue to retain this accreditation; and

3.    instructs the Chief Officer - Governance to co-ordinate a further report from the Community Safety Partnership to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee on current efforts to manage anti-social behaviour in the city centre and on approaches to offering wider system awareness and understanding of the issues.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to acknowledge concerns from residents and businesses in the city centre around antisocial behaviour;

(ii)            to acknowledge the work of Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Inspired, Police Scotland and other partners in achieving Scotland’s only Purple Flag accredited city centre status, noting Aberdeen Inspired have played a key role in securing this award and have submitted the application for 2024; and acknowledges this work will now be carried out in future years by Aberdeen City Council's City Centre Manager to continue to maintain this accreditation; and

(iii)          to instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Governance to coordinate a further report from the Community Safety Partnership to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee on current efforts to manage antisocial behaviour in the city centre and on approaches to offering wider system awareness and understanding of the issues.

Council notes the unprecedented housing and homelessness issues affecting tenants and potential tenants in Aberdeen.

Recognises the extreme pressures facing housing and homelessness services in Aberdeen today. 

These pressures exist despite the best endeavours and professionalism of officers within the Council that have seen a number of positive achievements. These include:

The Aberdeen Labour decisions alongside our coalition partners 2017-2022 to build 2,000 new Council homes on top of procuring over 4,000 Affordable homes with Registered Social Landlords.

This has resulted in

• Dyce new Builds Completed
• Auchmill Road New builds Completed.
• Summerhill New Build has now achieved Practical Completion for all blocks
• Tillydrone New Build has now achieved Practical Completion for all blocks
• Cloverhill New Build is progressing as planned
• Kaimhill New Build is nearing completion,
• Greenferns and Greenferns Landward are progressing to achieve RIBA 3 completion
• Craighill New Build is out to tender
• Kincorth New Build tender documentation is being finalised; and
• 206 Union Street works have commenced

However, the number of households assessed as homeless or in housing need waiting for a home to call their own remains of significant concern.

As detailed in the reports to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee:

·       Homeless applications are at a 13 year high at the end of March 2024, with levels recorded (1,481) not seen since the same period in 2010/11

·       442 Statutory Homeless Households Residing in Temporary Accommodation at end March 2024.

·       Only 30 % of Unintentional homeless decisions reached within 21 Days

·       161 days the Average length of journey in days for applicants assessed as unintentionally homeless at the end of March.

·       The Council are now breaching our duties in accordance with the Unsuitable Accommodation Order, by having households in unsuitable accommodation for longer than 7 days.

·       237.7 The YTD Average time taken to re-let all properties (Citywide - days) against a target of 125 days at the end of March 2024.

·       The YTD Void Rent Loss figure for 2023/24 is £7,805,806 this equates to 7.91% of the gross debit (rent due) which is a significant increase when compared with the same period last year where the figure stood at £5,271,632 (5.70%).

·       Planned maintenance projects such as in Summerhill have been put on hold.

·       In April 2022, 4,750 applications were on the waiting list for housing, this has grown to 6,658 in May 2024

These issues have been exasperated by the following.

·       We have 366 houses identified as uninhabitable due to RAAC and a massive transfer operation in place for Council tenants.

·       Of the 366 houses, 138 are privately owned properties whose owners have been virtually neglected by ACC, The Scottish Administration and the UK Government, families face ruin and bankruptcy and this should not be allowed to happen in a Civil Society.

·       The Housing Revenue account is funding the majority of the costs currently being incurred and faces unprecedented financial pressures. .

This a perilous situation and one that requires action today. 

That the Council therefore agrees to:-

-          Declare a Housing Emergency in Aberdeen today.  ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.2

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to acknowledge that in May 2024 the Scottish Government declared that Scotland has a national housing emergency;

(ii)            to recognise the seriousness of the housing situation facing the city, which is causing far too many families to experience housing insecurity and homelessness;

(iii)          to acknowledge the significant challenges being posed by the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) emergency in the city and the additional pressure this has placed upon housing supply in Aberdeen;

(iv)          to note that a roundtable meeting with both the Scottish and UK Governments has been requested to discuss the financial impact of RAAC on the Council and seek any additional funding to help meet the short-term rehoming costs and the longer-term rebuild phases;

(v)           to note the ongoing work being carried out by officers, Registered Social Landlords and other sector partners within the city to deliver the homes and services which people rely on, through our existing Local Housing Strategy, Strategic Housing Investment Plan, Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan, empty homes work, and work as part of the Homewards Programme;

(vi)          to recognise the impact that the housing crisis was having on communities across Aberdeen, due to the shortage of affordable homes, changing housing need and demand, and decades of under investment in our housing stock; 

(vii)         to note that, as outlined in report F&C/24/176, the Housing Board was established in late March 2024 to identify risks through the Housing Service, oversee improvements and establish an action plan, the first bi-annual report on progress towards this would be presented to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee in November 2024;  

 Therefore, this Committee:

1. Agrees we are in a Housing Emergency;
2. Commits to the creation and implementation of a Housing Emergency Action Plan, through the work of the Housing Board, which will be refreshed and reported bi-annually to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee – this Action Plan will draw together ongoing work, existing strategies and council teams, aligning these behind the shared goal of tackling the housing emergency;
3. Recommends to Council to establish a cross-party working group to monitor the progress of the Housing Emergency Action Plan, to be chaired by the Convener of the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee;
4. Will take a human rights-based approach to delivering the Action Plan, embedding participation, accountability, non-discrimination and empowerment into the process; and
5. Commits to working with communities, individuals with lived experience of the housing emergency, and internal and external partners to deliver the Action Plan and develop solutions to the housing emergency.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the contents of the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to request that Scottish Fire and Rescue determine how many hours had been saved in terms of workload since the introduction of the new model and to pass this information to the clerk for forwarding to Members; and

(ii)            to note the attached thematic report relating to Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals across Aberdeen City and considered the impact since the SFRS changed their response model on 01 July 2023

The Committee resolved:-

to note the contents of the report and the positive outcome of the Charter.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the contents of the report and the progress made and welcomed the forthcoming launch of the Scheme.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to request that information on the Rent Assistance Fund be included in the Housing Board bi annual report due to be reported to the November 2024 committee;

(ii)            to note that Councillor Graham would send address details on various  empty properties he had identified to the Chief Officer – Housing for investigation;

(iii)          to request that the Executive Director – Families and Communities ascertain when the last asset plan was produced and to send this information to members by way of email; and

(iv)          to otherwise note the information contained in the Performance Report. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the contents of this report and the intentions of the Housing (Scotland) Bill;

(ii)            to instruct the Chief Officer – Housing to provide a report or Service Update, as that Chief Officer deems appropriate, on the Bill as it progresses through Stage 2 of the parliamentary process; and  

(iii)          to instruct the Chief Officer – Housing to report to this Committee with a full Implementation Plan when the Bill has progressed through Stage 3 of the parliamentary process.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the progress on delivery of Aberdeen City’s Affordable Housing Delivery Programme.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the work undertaken to develop a new model for Library and Information Services which aligns more deliberately to “education and lifelong learning” as a determinant of population health;

(ii)            to endorse the working vision for the Library and Information Services outlined at paragraph 3.32;

(iii)          to endorse the Future Model of Library and Information Services presented at paragraphs 3.33 – 3.38;

(iv)          to instruct the Executive Director Families and Communities to present a detailed phased Implementation Plan which reflects plans for internal zoning of the Central Library and testing of the Library and Information Service as an integral part of the emerging model of Family Support to the next meeting of the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee;

(v)           to note the feedback on the Library and Information Service Management Rules;

(vi)          to agree not to make Library Management Rules;

(vii)         to agree to refer the previous income targets set against the library service to the budget setting process; and

(viii)       to note that the Executive Director – Families and Communities, would engage with Community Councils and ward members in regards to the future library and information service model at community level.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the work undertaken to address areas listed in the Housing Regulator Engagement Plan (April 2023) to date;

(ii)            to note the self-assessment against Regulatory standards contained in Appendix B; and

(iii)          to approve the Annual Assurance Statement (Appendix A) report for submission to the Scottish Housing Regulator by 31 October 2024

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the progress made during the first year of the Homewards programme.

(ii)            to note the programme is governed through Community Planning Aberdeen; and

(iii)          to approve the appointment of Councillor Allard to join the International Mayors Council on Homelessness.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the progress to deliver the programme of social housing sites across the city.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the Community Safety Partnership’s update in this report on developing a Busking Code of Conduct for Aberdeen City Centre;

(ii)            to approve the draft Busking Code of Conduct for Aberdeen City centre contained in Appendix 1;

(iii)          to instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Governance to implement the Code of Conduct; and

(iv)          to request that a report be brought back to this Committee in due course on how the Code of Conduct has worked following its implementation. 

The Committee resolved:-

to note the verbal update received in relation to Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC)