Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Director of Service Delivery, (copy enclosed).

The Council considered the report of the Director of Service Delivery seeking authority to commence the purchase of property and the related capital borrowing and approval of funding to complete the necessary works.

It was noted that the Council had a statutory duty to secure accommodation for unintentionally homeless households who fell into a ‘priority need’ category.  The provision for emergency / temporary accommodation was a key tool to discharge this duty and report outlined the types of accommodation which the Council had access to both within out outside of the District.  It was noted since the Covid and Cost of Living crisis the Council had seen an increased in demand and the difficulties faced by the Housing department to secure temporary accommodation. 

Officers had identified an opportunity for the Council to purchase a property located within the District which would support housing demand on a long-term basis.

Prior to discussion on this item of business Members received a detailed presentation of the proposal from Officers.  The Leader of the Council spoke to the report and moved the recommendations which were duly seconded.

The Chairman referred to recommendation (ii) and questioned delegated authority being given to the Strategy and Resources Committee due to timescales and the Committee not meeting next until 8 June 2023.  He proposed that this recommendation be amended to give delegated authority to the Director of Service Delivery in consultation with the Chairman of the Strategy and Resources Committee, Leader of the Council and Leader of the Opposition.  The Leader of the Council agreed and amended her earlier proposition accordingly.

A number of Members spoke in support of the proposal and in response to questions raised further information was provided by Officers.

The Leader of the Council summed up the discussion and thanked Officers for identifying the opportunity and bringing the report forward.

The Chairman put the recommendations to the Council, and they were unanimously agreed.

RESOLVED

(i)               That Officers be instructed to continue investigations into the purchase of a property as set out in the report;

(ii)              that subject to (i) above, delegated authority is given to the Director of Service Delivery in consultation with the Chairman of the Strategy and Resources Committee, Leader of the Council and Leader of the Opposition to agree the following subject to further due diligence:

·              the use of £200,000 of Commuted Sums is applied for the purposes of the project as set out in Section 6.1 in the report;

·                  that a capital borrow of £455,620 is undertaken for the purposes set out in Section 6.1 in the report

During the discussion Councillor K M H Lagan thanked the Committee Clerks for their work.  This was reiterated by the Chairman who thanked the Vice-Chairman, Civic Support and all Officers, especially Committee Clerks for the hard work they had done for the District and helped him along the way.