No apologies were received.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2016 to be submitted and signed.

Copies of the minutes of this meeting are usually available seven working days following the meeting.

(All minutes are available on the Council’s website.)

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2016 were submitted and signed.

The Cabinet may wish to consider whether there are any items on which there is general agreement which could be considered now, to enable discussion to focus on those items where the Cabinet sees a need for further debate.

Councillor Bell spoke on behalf of the Labour group.

Report of Head of Community and Customer Services

A report was received from the Head of Community and Customer Services.   The proposal was to establish a county-wide home improvement agency service to help elderly and vulnerable persons to live more independently.  A business case had been developed in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council and a number of District/Borough councils, including Watford Borough Council.

Councillor Johnson introduced the report and explained that there had been issues over the last few years with the service as there was only one surveyor.  Having a service with other authorities would make it more resilient and a better service for vulnerable residents.  The service would be monitored and after the first year it would be reviewed to look at the possibility of extending and commercialisation. 

The Head of Community and Customer Services explained that having occupational therapy staff in the same office as surveyors would be crucial to the service.  He explained there would be five Hertfordshire district councils working together with the county council, which would make it more resilient and improve the customer experience.

In response to a question from Councillor Bell the Mayor explained that there may be the ability to offer services to those who would be outside of the grant eligibility for a small charge as part of the commercialisation initiative.

Councillor Johnson concluded that the current service had provided a number of improvements to residents’ homes with level access showers and stair lifts in order to make a difference to their lives.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

1.         subject to satisfactory outcomes to 2 and 3 below, approves the proposal that Watford Borough Council becomes a partner in the Hertfordshire Home Improvement Agency service.

2.         delegates to the Head of Community and Customer Services, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Property, to contribute to, and agree, the detailed arrangements to establish the service, including any changes required to the Private Sector Housing Renewal Policy.

3.         delegates to the Head of Community and Customer Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and the Portfolio Holder for Resources and Customer Service, to contribute to and agree the detailed financial arrangements to establish and operate the service.

Report of Head of Community and Customer Services

Cabinet received a report of the Head of Community and Customer Services regarding entering into a joint venture with Watford Community Housing Trust to undertake developments within Watford and beyond and to hold properties for rent.  Also to establish a standalone trading company Watford Commercial Services Limited to allow the council to enter into the joint venture and to trade and act for commercial purposes.

Councillor Johnson introduced the report and explained that there was a housing crisis, with 228 households in temporary accommodation.  The venture was a measure which would help to reduce this and also had a commercial aspect.

The Head of Community and Customer Services and the Head of Democracy and Governance then gave a presentation to Cabinet.  The Head of Community and Customer Services explained there were three entities required: a trading arm for Watford Borough Council (WBC) (Watford Commercial Services Ltd), a property holding company (Hart Homes (Watford) Ltd) and a property development vehicle (Sale LLP).

The Head of Democracy and Governance explained that Cabinet had agreed in January to create Hart Homes which was a company limited by shares which had been set up but was not currently trading.  Hart Homes would hold the rental properties; both affordable and market rent.  WBC had a 50% stake in Hart Homes.  Watford Community Housing Trust (WCHT) through its delivery arm, Clarendon Living, also had a 50% stake in Hart Homes.  It had been agreed with WCHT that any time one party put in funds or land other than a loan this would be matched by the other party on a like for like basis.  For the first development proposed in the business case, WBC would be contributing the land and WCHT would match that with an equity stake.  The Council and WCHT would receive equivalent shares in the company to the value of the land and the equity stake they were contributing. The Shared Director of Finance explained that if Hart Homes were asked to repay the cost of the land it would not work financially so instead WBC would receive shares.  It would be possible to liquidate these shares in the future.

In response to a question from the Mayor, the Shared Director of Finance explained that part of the reason for establishing Hart Homes was to offset temporary accommodation costs, therefore there would be a saving in the WBC budget.  The trading figures of Hart Homes would not show a great amount of profit but Hart Homes and Sale LLP had to be looked at together. 

The Head of Democracy and Governance outlined the Limited Liability Partnership called Sale LLP.  WBC would enter into Sale LLP via a trading company called Watford Commercial Services Ltd (WCS).  WBC would have a 100% shareholding in WCS.  WCHT through their trading arm, Clarendon Living, would be the other member of Sale LLP.  The role of Sale LLP was to be the developer and develop land.  The profit would come back through WCS and Clarendon Living (50% each).  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

The Chair to move: that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during consideration of the item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Section 100(1) of the Act for the reasons stated below in terms of Schedule 12A.

Note: if approved, the Chair will ask members of the press and public to leave the meeting at this point.

RESOLVED

That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business as it is likely, in the view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during consideration of the item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Section 100(1) Schedule 12A of the Act for the reasons stated in the report.

Report of Regeneration and Property Section Head

This report is considered Part B in accordance with Paragraph 3, Part 1, Schedule 12A as it contains commercially confidential information.

The Property and Regeneration Section Head introduced the report and responded to questions from Cabinet.

RESOLVED

That the recommendations be agreed.