Agenda item

To approve funding of the additional net cost of £150,500 by making use of the income generated from the Council Tax Premium on second homes and empty homes, in order to realise the changes to the staffing structure of the Housing Service, as highlighted in paragraphs 3.4 and 3.7 of the report.

The report was presented by Cllr Craig ab Iago

DECISION

To approve funding of the additional net cost of £150,500 by making use of the income generated from the Council Tax Premium on second homes and empty homes, in order to realise the changes to the staffing structure of the Housing Service, as highlighted in paragraphs 3.4 and 3.7 of the report.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted, noting that the housing situation in Gwynedd was at crisis point, as the number of homeless people was increasing, and a high proportion of the county's housing was being used as holiday homes.  It was explained that a decision had been made to establish a Housing and Property Department following the Managerial Review held last year.  It was emphasised that the department was showing potential and that the officers were eager to make a difference. 

It was noted that work had been carried out to consider the structure of the department and that money was required to realise changes to the staffing structure.  It was emphasised that the situation could not be changed without the restructuring.  It was added that the department had identified savings to the value of £200k by changing suppliers in the property field and it was possible to use this money to fund the restructuring. 

The Head of Housing Department added that the department had only been five months old when the Covid-19 crisis struck.  It was added that during those five months, the Head of Department had had time to learn about the housing field and identify more options and new schemes.  It was noted that the department would need to be ready when returning to normality as there was a strong possibility that the situation would be worse, as the number of homeless people continued to increase during the crisis.   He reiterated that the restructuring set out foundations for the future. 

Observations arising from the discussion

It was expressed that housing problems were witnessed by every Councillor across the county and support was expressed for the restructuring.  The housing emergency in Gwynedd was highlighted, specifically hidden homelessness through overcrowding, emphasising that the situation had worsened during the period of restrictions.  One Cabinet Member noted that she objected to the request to fund this by using the Council Tax Premium on empty homes and second homes, as this money was available to obtain housing for local families.  Enquiries were made about when the action plan would be available and it was noted that an Action Plan was in place and that it would be shared as soon as possible. 

Reference was made to the irony of the Gwynedd housing crisis, as it did not appear as if there was a housing shortage here.   It was noted that using a very small percentage of the Council Tax Premium made valid use of the money. 

Enquiries were made about the 1% that the Council would receive from any savings realised by another authority, if they used the Gwynedd Framework - would this be an annual or one-off payment?  It was noted that there was uncertainty at this point as it depended how many counties would be part of the Framework.  It was added that more savings could be realised as these savings were for gas supply only. 

The Chief Executive noted that obtaining a Head of Department for the new department was step one and that step two would be to carry out a review to ensure that the department made the best use of the budget available. It was emphasised that there was a very strong case here as a result of the county's housing crisis as 10% of the housing stock was being used as second homes and consequently, no housing supply was available.  It was noted that Welsh Government needed to play its part in protecting the tax outputs from the premium.  It was expressed that funding the posts from the Council Tax Premium was a wise move, as it would be likely that the savings would be needed in order to avoid service cuts when balancing the Council's budget, as a result of public expenditure in response to the Covid-19 crisis.