Agenda and minutes

Prior to consideration of this item, the Leader led Members in paying tribute to Mr Derek Allen, the former Strategic Housing Manager at the Council, after whom Allen Court had been named, who had passed away since the previous meeting of the Committee.  Members observed a minute’s silence in Mr Allen’s memory.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting of the Shareholders Committee held on 14^th April 2025 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Shareholders Committee held on 14^th April 2025 be approved as a true and correct record.

Representatives of the Spadesbourne Homes Limited Board presented the Performance Monitoring Report for Quarter 1 of 2025/26 for Members’ consideration.

The Committee was advised that overall, the company was performing well in relation to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that had been agreed by Members at the previous Committee meeting.  In total, 100 per cent of the properties managed through the company had been let.  Rental income was good, with only one household in rental arrears and this was being addressed through an ongoing legal process.  Whilst there had been some void properties on occasion, these had been turned around relatively quickly, within the space of a maximum of seven working days.

Performance was also reported to be positive in respect of health and safety related KPIs.  Health and safety inspections were on track.  Unfortunately, one of the heat pumps at one of the properties had experienced a technical fault but this had been addressed.  Electric lighting checks had not yet taken place but Members were asked to note that these were scheduled to take place in December on an annual basis.

Members were reminded that at the previous meeting of the Committee, a request had been made for an additional KPI to be added to the suite of performance data monitored for the company.  This had related to repair target times for properties.  Following that meeting, work had been undertaken to investigate whether other housing companies had a similar KPI and a target applying to this KPI but none had been identified.  Therefore, the Committee was being asked to consider introducing a KPI where target times for repairs would match those for the social housing sector.

As requested by the Committee at the previous meeting, an annual survey was due to be conducted.  This would take place later in the year.

Once the report had been presented, Members discussed the following points:

·             The extent to which technical faults connected to the heat pumps at properties and the impact that this would have on access to cooking facilities and hot showers should be classified as emergency repairs.  Members were informed that where tenants had no access to cooking facilities as a result of a fault at a property, remedial action would be classified as an emergency repair.

·             The potential for the annual survey to be shared with the Committee.  Confirmation was provided that the draft survey would be shared with Members at the following meeting of the Committee.

·             The annual inspections of properties and the fact that these inspections would be undertaken by the company’s agents.

·             The number of tenants that had moved on since the company was launched.  The Committee was advised that figures would be clarified and communicated to Members after the meeting.

·             The number of months that a tenant had been in rental arrears.

·             The action that could be taken by the company in cases where tenants fell into rental arrears.

·             The potential for insurance to cover any rental arrears and the extent to which there might  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

An update was provided to the Committee in respect of the budgetary position of Spadesbourne Homes Limited.  In considering the report, Members were asked to note that the details provided related to the budget for the whole of the 2025/26 financial year, rather than to just the first quarter.  Members were also asked to note that the report contained a typographical error at paragraph 2.1 of the report, which should have reported no creditors in respect of the balance sheet.

Reference was made to the balance sheet for the company and Members were asked to note that a closing balance figure of £143,000 had been identified for the period 30^th March to 30^th June 2025.

In terms of assets, Members were asked to note that Spadesbourne Homes Limited leased all properties from Bromsgrove District Council for a nominal fee of £1.  Therefore, the properties were not listed as company assets.

The figure recorded for debtors as of June 2025 was £17,500.  This included £4,174 in VAT payments that the company was due to receive back from HMRC.  Confirmation was provided that this repayment would be received but the timescales for the repayment could not be confirmed.

Bromsgrove District Council had provided Spadesbourne Homes Limited with a loan valued at £50,000 when the company was established.  This was acknowledged in the balance sheet for the company.  The loan had been made on an interest-free basis.

Members were reminded that at the previous meeting of the Committee, a request had been received to provide an updated budget forecast for the consideration of the Committee.  The report detailed the updated budget position and had incorporated the estimated costs arising from time spent by senior officers who had been appointed to the Board.  This included costs reflecting 20 per cent of the time of the Assistant Director of Community and Housing Services and the Assistant Director of Finance and Customer Services as well as 60 per cent of the time of the Strategic Housing and Business Support Manager, all of whom had been appointed to the Board.  In addition, the budget figures took into account contributions from the Housing Development and Enabling Manager and secretarial support from the Personal Assistants’ team.

In relation to other points raised at the previous meeting of the Committee, Members were informed that insurance costs had been incorporated into the figures provided for the budget as the company now had insurance in place. 

Following the presentation of the report, Members discussed a number of points in detail:

·             The amount of time members of the Board were allocating to duties associated with the activities of the company.  Clarification was provided that this was difficult to estimate at this time as duties during the initial set up period might differ from tasks required in the long-term.  Therefore, the figures recorded for officer time might change over time.

·             The number of Board meetings that were taking place and how lengthy these meetings could be.  The Committee was informed that Board  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

There was no urgent business for consideration on this occasion.