Issue - meetings

To consider the report.

DECISION

a)     To accept and note the report.

b)     To ask the officers to report back to the Committee in due course on any potential implications for the policy after assessing the contents of the Welsh Government's White Paper.

c)     To ask the officers to consider whether the Committee should contribute to Cyngor Gwynedd's response to the consultation following the publication of the White Paper.

The report was submitted explaining that a further update on the Housing Allocation Policy was in question and that the policy had already been submitted before the Care Scrutiny Committee in the past. It was explained that changes had been made to the Council's policy in the context of which bands housing applications were determined to and that the current policy had now been in operation for nearly three years. It was noted that the policy had managed to maximise the number of houses let to Gwynedd residents from 90% to 96.7% and that this was a very high percentage, especially considering that local connection could not be considered as an essential priority criterion in every application.

It was explained that the Welsh Government intended to publish a White Paper in October 2023 that would review the legislation and undertake fundamental changes on the way homelessness was dealt with in Wales. Due to the link between homelessness and social housing, the side effect of examining the legislation review on homelessness was the need to re-examine how social housing was let and any side effects that derived from that process.

It was noted that the Housing Department was waiting eagerly to see the White Paper to gain an understanding of the Government's direction. It was explained that they had a fairly good idea as they had attended regular meetings and discussions with the Government over the past few months and had been given an opportunity to note their opinions and feelings about the potential changes. Therefore, it was noted that they hoped that nothing too shocking would be included in the White Paper, but the department would need a bit of time to evaluate its contents and any impact it could have on Council policies. It was explained that considerable work was likely to face the department once the White Paper would be published.

During the discussion, the following observations were noted: 

-        The members expressed their thanks for the report noting pride in the success of the policy so far.

-        Questions were raised about the definition of local connection and concern was expressed that the Council could say it had been successful when providing a house to someone from Aberdyfi in Bethesda. An explanation was requested of how it could be ensured that vulnerable people could remain in their communities.

o   In response, it was explained that although every authority had an element of flexibility when it came to a Housing Allocation Policy, that statutory priority had to be given to 5 categories of people and, therefore, the local connection element had to be secondary to those statutory categories.

o   It was noted that Cyngor Gwynedd had added a community connection tier which went further than local connection. In a situation where applicants were equal in the same priority band, it was explained that people with a community connection would be given priority over those who did not have a community connection.

o   It was explained that 54% of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5