Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

Councillor Peter Groves declared a personal interest by virtue of being a Member of the Board of Wulvern Housing.

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relating to the work of the body in question.  Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman or person presiding will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given.

No members of the public were present.

To consider the draft Vulnerable Persons HousingStrategy and to approve it for consultation.

1.    That approval be given to the draft Vulnerable Persons Housing Strategy and that its preliminary findings be noted.

2.    That approval be given for officers to consult on the Strategy, and for the responses from that consultation to be incorporated into the finalised Strategy.

It was reported that work was underway to construct a Vulnerable Persons Housing Strategy for Cheshire East Borough Council to ensure that appropriate accommodation with care was engendered in the local area. 

The Strategy divided vulnerable people into eight primary groups, these being older people, learning disabilities, mental health issues, cared for children/care leavers, drug and alcohol issues, physical and sensory disabilities, domestic abuse and homelessness.   Extensive research and consultation had been conducted across Council services and wider partners, resulting in the production of the draft Strategy which highlighted a variety of strategic priorities for each client group. 

Finalising the Vulnerable Persons Housing Strategy would be the catalyst enabling the Council to map the current picture of accommodation supply and demand by client group and to baseline a picture of vulnerable persons housing within the Borough.  The information would be used as a basis for developing an optimal model of accommodation and support provision across all vulnerable client groups, to inform Cheshire East’s commissioning cycle and development priorities, integrate effective and appropriate housing into a multi-disciplinary and cross-agency approach for improving well-being for vulnerable people, and to provide an evolving evidence base to inform planning decisions and emergent policies in which it was expected to be integrated where appropriate to ensure that needs were met and future provision ensured. 

Public consultation was required to ensure that the findings and priorities identified within the Strategy were representative of the views of affected constituents and wider stakeholders, and that the Council was transparent and participatory in the formation of its strategic direction.

RESOLVED

1.    That approval be given to the draft Vulnerable Persons Housing Strategy and that its preliminary findings be noted.

2.    That approval be given for officers to consult on the Strategy, and for the responses from that consultation to be incorporated into the finalised Strategy.