Communities Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 29 September 2026, 7:00pm

Communities Scrutiny Committee
Tuesday, 29th September 2026 at 7:00pm

Speaking:

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Cllr Chidi Nweke

1 WEBCASTING INTRODUCTION

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Laura Kirman

2 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

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Cllr Chidi Nweke

4 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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Cllr Rose Brookes
Cllr Chidi Nweke

5 NOTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

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Minutes Public Pack, 23/06/2026 Communities Scrutiny Committee

Cllr Janet Whitehouse
Cllr Chidi Nweke

6 WORK PROGRAMME

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Work Programme Communities 21 Sept

Cllr Stephen Murray
Keith Bowman
Cllr Stephen Murray
Keith Bowman
Cllr Stephen Murray
Keith Bowman
Cllr Stephen Murray
Cllr Chidi Nweke

7 Epping Forest District Museum 2025/26 Report

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James Warwick
Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Stephen Murray
Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum
Cllr Stephen Murray
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Lisa Morgan
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Janet Whitehouse
Cllr Chidi Nweke
James Warwick
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Rose Brookes
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Stephen Murray
Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum
Cllr Stephen Murray
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Paul Violet - Epping Forest District Museum
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Jeane Lea
Cllr Chidi Nweke

8 Mid-Year Housing Performance Report

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Mid-Year Housing Performance Report

Cllr Smruti Patel
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Stephen Murray
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Stephen Murray
Cllr James Small
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Smruti Patel
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr James Small
Cllr Smruti Patel
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Rose Brookes
Keith Bowman
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Rose Brookes
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Lisa Morgan
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Lisa Morgan
Dawn Harrisson
Keith Bowman
Cllr Lisa Morgan
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Smruti Patel
Cllr Stephen Murray
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Stephen Murray
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Stephen Murray
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Stephen Murray
Keith Bowman
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr James Small
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Mary Dadd
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Keith Bowman
Cllr Mary Dadd
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Dawn Harrisson
Cllr Smruti Patel
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Jeane Lea
Jennifer Gould
Jennifer Gould
Cllr Stephen Murray
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Lisa Morgan
Cllr Mary Dadd
Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Smruti Patel
Cllr Chidi Nweke

9 DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

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Disclaimer: This transcript was automatically generated, so it may contain errors. Please view the webcast to confirm whether the content is accurate.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:00:00

Good evening, members. I will start by reading the webcast introduction.

1 WEBCASTING INTRODUCTION

I would like to remind everyone present at this meeting,

we will be recorded live and will be capable of repeated reviewing or other use by such third parties.

Therefore, by entering this Council Chamber and using this sitting area,

You are consenting to being framed and to be possible use of those image and sound recording

for webcasting and or training purposes.

Welcome members.

My name is Councillor Chi Di Weike.

I will be chairing the meeting tonight.

And by my right I have Councillor Lee who is the vice chair for the meeting.

I have a few offices in the chambers today.

if I can say, if you introduce yourselves, starting from my far left.

James Horrocks, Service Director for Contracts, Partnerships and Procurement.

Keith Bowman, Housing Strategy and Performance Manager.

Dawn Harrison, Service Director for Housing and Property Services.

Nicholas Ayers, Head of Vehicle and Deputy Monitoring Officer.

Thank you. And from my far right.

Matt Peikin, Web Carsten Officer.

Laura Kerman from Democratic Services.

Thank you so much. I know we have a few offices as well online. Can you please introduce yourselves?

Good evening, Chairman Andrews, Chief Executive at the European Forest District Council.

Good evening, Chair. Thank you. Any apologies?

We have received several apologies, Chairman. We have received apologies from Councillor

Laura Kirman - 0:01:57

Lucas, Braha, Cornish and Butler.

2 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Substitute members?

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:02:03

We have one substitute, Councillor Janet Whitehouse, for Councillor Cornish.

Thank you. Declaration of Interest?

Councillor Brooks?

4 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Yes, Chair, I have to declare an interest because I am still a member of the Museums

Cllr Rose Brookes - 0:02:16

Association, which is a body that lobbies on behalf of museums.

Thank you.

5 NOTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:02:24

Notes of previous meetings. Can we confirm the notes for the last meeting on the 23rd

of June? Yes, Councillor Whitehouse.

Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 0:02:37

Chairman, in Item 4 it just refers to the place, the scrutiny committee rather than

communities.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:02:42

Thank you. Noted. So, going back to item 5, notes for previous meeting, which is on page

3. Can we confirm the notes of the last meeting on the 23rd of June, 2026? I'll take that

as confirmed.

6 WORK PROGRAMME

Item 6 is our work programmes, which will be found on pages 6 to 7.

The community work programme for the year is shown on page 6.

Do members have any further comments, amendments, suggestions for the work plan?

Councillor MURRAY.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:03:21

Yes, thank you, Chairman.

I do have a number of questions.

Mainly aimed to help me do my scrutiny role, but I think they will help the committee as

well.

I think they are fairly brief answers.

In Item 8 on the December meeting, we are told that we are going to get the policy on

possible compensation and remedies policy.

Could we just have a general flag up of what area of housing and services and performances

we will be covering?

Thank you, Chairman.

Thank you, Councillor.

Keith Bowman - 0:03:58

All housing services will be covered.

This will include repairs, tenancy management and estate services.

It may be that we can include the compensation and remedies approach

within the revised tenancy policy, which is under discussion at the moment.

If we can wrap it up within that one policy, we will do.

But otherwise, it will be included as a separate policy,

as I say, covering all housing services.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:04:25

That's extremely useful. Thank you, Chairman.

I've got two more questions because I can link three of them together.

Number 12, Housing Strategy Review.

I think I probably do know what that's likely to cover, but could you just give us a heads -up

what that housing strategy review, what areas it will be covering?

Thank you.

Thank you, Chairman.

Thank you again, Councillor.

Keith Bowman - 0:04:49

It covers the whole of the housing services that are offered, so we've set a list of priorities

within the existing housing strategy.

So we'll be looking to see whether there's any review or amendment required.

The scrutiny panel, the tenant release holder scrutiny panel considered it at their August

meeting and it's actually been put out for further consultation amongst residents and

we've got a meeting in October when we'll pick up any feedback as a result of that.

So we're, based on the feedback we've had so far, we'll be looking at producing a draught

to settle amendments to the existing one.

That covers all of the housing services again.

Thank you Chairman, really look forward to receiving that.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:05:33

And then I can link that answer to my final question.

On 18 we're told we're going to get the tenants policy and handbook.

In 19 we're told we're going to get the residents involvement strategy.

And in number 20 we're told we're going to get the review and update of the housing allocation

scheme.

Can I just be reassured that when we get those reports at our April meeting next year,

we will clearly be able to see the input from the tenants group,

because I am sure, like other members of the committee,

I am certainly wanting to see very specifically what tenants are saying.

Good.

Thank you again, Chairman.

Keith Bowman - 0:06:20

Yes, you will, and in fact, Sonia Lard, who is the chair of the Tenant and Leaseholder

Scrutiny Group, is here with us today, and she will be attending future meetings and

be able to feedback the comments directly within those.

They have either been considered by tenants on an initial version already, or they are

planned for some of the future activity amongst tenants.

So we have got a couple of reports that are going to the 20th of October.

Tinnleton Leaseholders' Grouping Panel will get their initial input then, revise the draughts

based on that and then bring them back to them in advance of it coming to this committee.

Thank you, Chairman. That's very reassuring.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:06:58

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:07:02

Thank you, members. Can we note those comments on the work programme? Item 7 is the European

7 Epping Forest District Museum 2025/26 Report

Forest District Council Museum report which is on page 8265. And we have a representative

from the museum present in the chambers and we have a cane online as well. And I will

hand it back to James Warwick.

James Warwick - 0:07:31

Thank you. This report presents the Eppen Forest Museum's performance and activities

during 2025 -26 financial year.

The museum is operated by the

Eppen Forest District Museum Chapel

Incorporated Organisation Trust

under a four year service level agreement

with Eppen Forest District Council,

which covers the period April 2024 to March 2028.

The agreement sets out the standards required

for the management and operation of the museum building

and its collection which remain in the council ownership.

Appendix one, which you will have,

provides the museum's annual performance

and operational report for 25 -26.

And appendix two is the Trust's annual report

and financial statements for the year ending 31st March 2026.

We have Ian Channel, museum manager,

and Paul Violet Museum Trust's chair,

Ashley Harker, vice chair, and Helen Kane is online.

James Carstairs is here next to me,

who is the client officer for EFDC

and the liaison between EFDC and the Museum Trust.

But I'll now hand over to Ian,

who will give you an overview of the museum's performance

and be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Thanks very much, James.

Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum - 0:09:06

Good evening, Chairman and members.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide an update

on the work of Epping Forest District Museum CIO

during the 25 -26 financial year.

So this has been another really successful year

for the museum and our second full year operating

as an independent charity.

So I'm pleased to report that we exceeded our visitor target,

so we welcomed 15 ,768 visitors,

that's an increase of more than 2 ,200 on the previous year.

We also engaged over 50 ,000 website users,

in particular on Facebook,

and continued to grow our online audiences.

The museum continued to retain

its Art Council England accreditation

and visit England quality assured visitor attraction status.

So we achieved an excellent 90 % assessment score

that financial year.

So education and outreach have been key priorities

and I'm sure you saw that in the report.

So during the year, we engage 1 ,753 pupils

through museum visits and outreach events,

while also delivering activities in schools,

in libraries throughout the district,

community venues, as well as care homes.

So we delivered a varied programme of exhibitions

as well as events,

including our common courageous exhibition.

So it was all about the Second World War Home Front

in the district,

and it commemorated the end of the Second World War,

as well as our current exhibition,

Town and Country Life in Roman Deir Elesum,

which is all about Roman life in the district,

in particular the settlement of Deir el -Tzam,

located between Chiguel and Abridge

on the banks of the river roading.

Events such as King Harold Day, family activities,

and our very popular Christmas programme

continued to attract strong public support as well,

which was fantastic.

Our volunteers remain essential to the museum's success,

and hopefully that comes through in the report as well.

They contributed almost 3 ,000 hours during the financial year.

At the time of the report, we had 22 volunteers and we now have 35.

So it's something we're actively trying to increase.

Well, we also had external funding.

So we brought about £37 ,000 into the service to support new projects,

as well as new acquisitions.

A particular highlight was the successful acquisition

of a nationally significant object.

So we've called it the matching ring.

It's an early mediaeval Anglo -Saxon ring

that was found by a metal detectorist in matching.

And by raising the money to purchase this object,

we basically are ensuring that this important bit

of local heritage remains accessible

to members of the public.

So looking beyond this particular reporting year,

I'm pleased to report that visitor growth

has continued to improve.

So both quarter one and quarter two

of this current financial year, we've attracted more visitors than the same year,

the same period last year,

really suggesting that the demand for the museum's exhibitions,

our events, educational programmes, continues to remain strong, which is great.

Overall, the museum is in a positive position.

We're attracting growing audiences, securing external investment,

supporting education, wellbeing,

and preserving the heritage of the Epping Forest District for future generations.

So I would like to thank the Council, our trustees, staff, volunteers, funders and community partners

for all of their continued support. So thank you very much.

Thank you so much for that.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:13:01

So any comments or questions from members?

Councillor Mory.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:13:05

Thank you, Chairman. I have quite a few because I have read the report very carefully. Perhaps

I will have a first half or a second half because it will allow other members to take

part. If I just look at the first few I have got, comments first of all. I thought this

was an absolutely excellent report and I also picked up on the volunteer numbers which are

really good, so well done to the volunteers.

And this was an excellent report because it allows us to have a real insight into the

service and ask meaningful questions, and I've got four of those in my first half.

It was good to read about the visitor numbers on page 13, and absolutely delighted to read

about the Visit England inspection and the nomination for the Hidden Gem Award.

I was also pleased to read about the volunteer opportunities and the work experience placements

offered because those are really hard to obtain.

I have some involvement with a local six -form work experience programme and to get good

quality work experience in this field is excellent.

So my four questions at this stage, Chairman, do you want me to read them all out in one

go?

Yes, please, just read all the four questions.

Okay.

And I don't mean this rudely in any way, because trustees play an important role, and

I read about the current trustees on the board, but I would ask this for any organisation.

Does the current trustee board have the full range of necessary skills and experiences?

So, are there any gaps?

Does the museum board intend appointing another part -time community engagement officer?

That was covered in page 14 and 15 and it was a little bit unclear whether the part -time

community engagement post was going to be filled.

We've heard about the visitor figures increasing and they did increase 25 to 26 compared to

24, 25, and unless I've misread pages 16 and 17, they do still appear to be substantially

lower than 23, 24 and 22, 23.

And is there any particular reason for that?

And the last question at this stage, and I'm always suspicious when I'm reading the report

that a particular service or a particular institution has generated so much for the

local economy. On page 17, we were told that the museum contributed over £300 ,000 to the

local economy in the last financial year. I understand where that came from, because

the report tells us, but is there a simple explanation of the methodology that worked

out that contribution? Those would be my four questions at this stage, Chairman.

Thank you. James, is this...

Yeah, no, I forgot.

Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum - 0:16:20

Thanks very much for those questions, Councillor.

So, the first question regarding the trustee board.

So, the current board brings together a range of skills and expertise,

so local government, finance, procurement, community engagement and heritage.

So, the board regularly reviews its composition,

So we regularly fill in a skills audit,

and we continue to sort of identify

and address any skills gap through any sort

of future trustee recruitment.

So particular areas of consideration

that we have at the moment include ensuring obviously

an appropriate geographical representation

across the district.

We aren't just the Museum of Waltham Abbey,

and as well as strengthening fundraising expertise,

which is, I imagine, a challenge faced by a lot of museums.

The second question was about the community engagement post, I believe.

So, the museum's previous community engagement officer, Charlotte Coombs,

has now left the role,

and we've now successfully appointed a new community engagement officer,

Louise Michael -John.

So, Louise has been in post for approximately two months

and has already hit the ground running.

So she's restarted our reminiscence workshops

and she's attended events on behalf of the museum as well.

So Louise was at Lauten Day

as well as the Epping Town Partnership event as well.

So if any of the members visited the museum store

during those events,

they might have had the opportunity to meet her.

The next question about visitor numbers.

So the higher, I've often thought about this question

as well, so the higher visitor numbers in 2022, 2023,

and 2023 and 2024, I think were largely driven

by two very popular exhibitions

and they were paid for touring exhibitions,

in particular, the tiger that came to tea

and wildlife photographer of the year.

So these obviously attracted significant audiences,

but I'm sure as you can appreciate,

they had limited connexion to the district's heritage,

and really only showcased a portion

of the museum's permanent collection.

And since becoming an independent charity,

one of the things that the museum is focused on

is developing exhibitions and programmes

rooted in local history

and our fantastic permanent collection,

really trying to showcase our permanent collection

as an amazing resource that it is.

Another reason potentially that the museum now operates

with a smaller staff team than in previous years.

And we no longer have several specialist posts

that existed previously, like two education officer posts

and an exhibition technician post.

But I think despite this, visitor numbers increased

in 2025, 2026 compared to 2024 and 2025.

about 2025, while learning outreach

and community engagement activity have also increased.

So I think that's really, really positive.

Regarding the local economy question.

So the figure is calculated using an AIMS,

that's Association of Independent Museum

Economic Toolkit calculation.

So it's a nationally recognised methodology.

it estimates the wider economic benefits generated by museum visitors through spending in the local

economy, taking into account factors such as visitor numbers and visitor origin as well.

So the toolkit itself is widely used across the museum sector and it essentially provides a means

of assessing the economic contributions of museums beyond their direct income. So organisations in

east of England like Cromwell Museum, Ware Museum in Hertfordshire, they've used the

same methodology to calculate and report economic impact of their museum service.

And I mean it goes without saying, well any sort of economic impact model contains assumptions.

It provides sort of a recognised and consistent way of assessing the museum's contribution.

So yeah, the toolkit provides sort of a recognised

methodology for quantifying the benefit of the museum.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Chairman.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:20:59

And if I could have another go once other members

have asked the questions they want to ask.

Noted, Councillor Morley.

Councillor Morgan.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:21:07

Thank you.

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 0:21:11

Mine's not in the questions because Stephen's just asked,

sorry, Councillor Martin's just asked one for once,

I wanted to ask.

But mine was really just to say it's really great to have the regular updates on community

Facebook pages, see them all the time and that you're regular visitors of local community

events.

So we saw you at Loughton Day on Sato's at Buxteil.

I've just seen you've got King Harold Festival in North Namibia on the 10th where you're

going to there as well.

And it's making such a huge difference.

And I think the numbers have increased again or increasing gradually, which is good, because

for the past two years you have been an independent charity. So you can see we did have the job

and we're picking it back up. So I just think that's really good and I just wanted to say

thank you and it was fantastic for the in -house events as well where we came along and saw

the artefacts that were found in Chigwell and for the thing that we had a couple of

weeks ago for the matching ring as well. It was much appreciated and it's very nice that

you do ask all the Councillors to come along so that we can actually see the work that

I am very impressed.

The report was really comprehensive and I enjoyed reading it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Councillor Morgan.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:22:23

Next is Councillor Whitehouse.

Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 0:22:28

Thank you, Chairman.

Thank you for this very full and detailed report.

It gives a wonderful picture of everything the museum does.

Some of the things I knew about, some I didn't.

I was quite shocked, really, to discover how few staff you have got.

I mean, 3 .2, four -time equivalents

with all the things you do, it's absolutely amazing.

And obviously the volunteers

are extremely important for that.

But, you know, I was very shocked to discover that.

I came to the matching ring, which was a great, great event.

And I was talking about it

to a group of people afterwards.

And I was rather disappointed, surprised to discover

some of them never even heard of the museum.

I know you do a lot in going to outreach events.

You were at the Epping Festival, for example.

I'm not sure that you can do any more,

but I do wonder if Epping Forest District Council

couldn't do a bit more to help to promote it.

And I do wonder how many of the councillors

on the district council have actually been

to visit the museum.

Council Morgan mentioned the invitations

that some of us get.

I don't know how many, why do that goes,

but the days when we have our pigeonholes

and little pieces of paper used to appear in pigeonholes telling us about the various

events that different services in the Council were doing have rather passed.

And I don't know whether you need to promote every May to all the new councillors that

you exist, but I would encourage any councillors that have not been to the museum to come where

you have got your present exhibition on, because it is absolutely wonderful.

So yes, I think publicity is my main point and request to the District Council to do

something about it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Whitehouse.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:24:09

If I could come back, thank you, Councillor Whitehouse.

James Warwick - 0:24:16

Take on board what you said.

So we will take that way, have a conversation and see what we are doing and where we can

improve with those cons.

Thank you so much.

Next, Councillor Brooks.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:24:32

Cllr Rose Brookes - 0:24:35

Thank you so much.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:24:37

Back to Councillor MURPHY.

Thank you, Chairman.

I will do what I did before.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:24:41

I will share some comments and then I have got five questions but four of them are kind

of linked.

I was really delighted to read the significant increase in the school pupils taking part

in the formal education programme.

That's outlined on page 18.

That's probably the teacher in me,

but I was absolutely delighted

because it was more activity -based learning.

The range of the family activities

during the school holidays was really good as well.

And I really liked the memory lane Tuesdays.

That sounded a really good, excellent provision.

And then you mentioned the range of some of the exhibitions.

I mean, the one that really caught my attention, and it isn't just because it's Loughton.

I mean, I do believe Loughton is the centre of the universe, but the Boys from Holmhurst

is a very particular exhibition, and I think we all appreciate the reason why that's important.

So my four questions, and I did write them down, so I'll take them in one bit.

I realise that it will vary from school visit to school visit, but in the general sense,

what would be considered the key learning outcomes from a school visit, either on site

or as regards to outreach.

And then I just wanted you perhaps, and it's probably, unless there's other people who

want to speak, a good way to finish, just to do a general kind of SWOT analysis.

If you had to pick one main current strength, what would it be if you were to identify one

of current weakness, the main one,

hopefully you've already got one.

If you were to identify one opportunity

and identify one main threat, what would they be?

Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum - 0:26:37

Thanks very much, Councillor.

So yes, regarding the education outcomes,

very much are dependent on the activity and the age group.

But I suppose essentially our programmes are designed

to increase knowledge and understanding of history, heritage, and archaeology, all linked

to national curriculum.

It's to develop sort of critical thinking skills as well through object -based learning.

That's what the museum is all about, is using replica objects as well as objects from our

permanent collection to encourage that ability to critically think and inquire.

support curriculum outcomes as well,

not just for heritage, but also things like geography,

culture and the arts.

I suppose it's also to strengthen understanding

of local heritage as well,

and foster that sense of community pride

and pride in place,

as well as sort of to build confidence, communication,

teamwork skills through any sort of activities

we run as well.

The next question, so these were the SWOT analysis questions, and I don't know if Paul,

our chair, would like to chip in at one point as well regarding these questions.

So the main strength, at least to me, is our ability to deliver a wide -ranging and impactful

service with a very small team.

I think we have a really small but ambitious team.

We're really passionate about the district as well as the museum service,

but we're also supported by a generally amazing group of dedicated volunteers.

And we've worked really hard to develop those community partnerships as well.

And I think this commitment and this ambition have enabled the museum

to maintain high levels of public engagement,

to secure external funding and to really enhance its reputation,

which I think is great.

The main weakness, the other side of the coin,

is our limited staffing capacity.

So as the report says, it's 3 .2 full -time equivalent staff.

We're a small organisation,

we're not thousands of staff members

like the British Museum,

so we need to carefully prioritise what we do do

and use our resources as effectively as possible.

The main opportunity, I think,

is continue to build on the success

that we have built as an independent charity

by securing more funding, expanding our partnerships,

which we do every exhibition,

increase engagement with schools, community groups,

and visitors across the district.

And I like to think, maybe I'm in a bubble,

but I like to think that we've significantly

increased our profile, certainly on social media,

but hopefully with visitors in the district as well.

and we really do want to think of ourselves

as a regional museum for Southwest Essex.

The main threat, so probably the most significant

long -term threat for the museum service

is its financial sustainability.

So like many museums up and down the country,

rising operational costs, ongoing pressures

require really careful financial management.

and of course the diversification of income streams as well.

So we're trying to actively address that challenge

through obviously external funding,

but also by developing sort of income generating activities.

So we've run a film event at the museum,

which we've never done before.

We've run loads of talks, things like that,

as well as special events.

Thanks.

We respond to chairman.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:30:31

I was really pleased to hear about the development

of local heritage identity from the education.

And if they develop the critical awarenesses so well,

particularly for the children,

maybe they could be future members of the scrutiny committee.

You never know, Chairman.

You never know. You never know.

Thank you so much.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:30:53

I'll just say I was invited by the museum to attend a programme recently.

I was actually looking forward to it.

but unfortunately how to decide between the museum or Lauting Day, which I chose a letter,

unfortunately. But thank you very much for this report and I will say it's a report that I enjoy

reading and is much different from the first one I saw, which was quite not up to standard,

but this is well balanced and a lot of information. I think it's like my voice.

Yes, Helen, do you want to say anything?

No, thank you very much for allowing me to be there.

I'm only here because I've been involved with the museum for many, many years.

And I was, just in case people wanted to know a little bit about how we ended up with the SLA,

or anything like that, I'm here to tell the history and our journey of today.

But thank you very much for letting me be attending.

What's this name?

Thank you very much, Elaine.

I understand, Paul, you want to say something as well.

Yes, thank you very much.

Can you hear me okay?

Paul Violet - Epping Forest District Museum - 0:32:23

I've got a terribly quiet voice.

I just wanted to make a few comments.

is probably relevant now because everybody said everything very positive.

But I've only been the chairman for a very short time.

I've seen the work and development of the museum over a few years.

So I find it a privilege to be the chairman of the trustees.

As chairman, I plan to be supportive of all the energy team are working to accomplish.

And apart from supporting the work, I'm also very conscious of the health

and wellbeing of the staff, in particular in what is a very challenging environment

with much work to be done by a small team.

So I'm very much conscious of Ian's health and wellbeing.

It's something hopefully I'll be able to help with.

I've seen first -hand 100 % dedication to the work and developments of the museum

in all areas of the district by all of the team, an extremely impressive group of experts.

They have developed an excellent reputation not only just in the locality but throughout

the county.

We had a meeting recently with our Essex County Council Museum Development Officer

and we were told that our museum, compared with many in Essex, is head and shoulders

above them in our abilities, expertise and general running of the museum.

That was a very pleasant thing to hear.

I heard from another Epping Forest museum, ours is the local standard to which others

aspire.

That indeed was praise indeed.

And I know that the Mayor -Counsellor, Rosie Sherriff, as I'm sure Councillor

Morgan would testify, was mightily impressed when she attended the presentation

of the recently discovered Saxon Ring.

Her praises rang loudly.

Ian is totally transparent with everything that happens at the museum.

He shares all things with the trustees.

He's very conscious of inviting Councillors from across the district to all relevant

events, ensuring that they have the opportunity to become very much part of everything

that happens at the museum.

There are activities offered from cradle to grave, making it a real community

hub, as well as the excellent local history resource it is and the, it is an ever -involving

exhibition of, well, all things local.

Activities for the very young run right through to retired gentlemen in the Men's Shed,

and this is indeed now a central part of the community that is open to all.

It's highly respected by local schools who greatly enjoy their visits and the input,

and I was only told by one of the schools just last week that it genuinely does enhance

their curriculum.

Our monthly town partnership meetings, I'm the chairman of the town partnership

as well, are fully updated by Ian every month, therefore we're able to spread the word

far and wide.

Some of the activities are shared with the partnership and it's always a pleasure

to work hand in hand.

The exhibitions that are provided are always

excellently resourced and organised,

with full explanations given at the outset

in order that everyone can take full advantage

of the opportunities that the museum offers.

Community engagement is at the core of the work

done at the museum, and the spreading of the work

to all corners of the district is a paramount desire.

Thank you for allowing me to say that.

Thank you very much.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:35:34

My vice wants to say something.

Thank you, Chairman.

Cllr Jeane Lea - 0:35:42

As a local person in Waltham Abbey, I do pop in and out of the museum and I want to say

how lovely the staff are and how helpful everybody is.

Not only that, I don't know if you are all aware, that Waltham Abbey did its own Bayou tapestry.

all the ladies of the town did all this with cross stitch.

And I put one cross on it when I was chairman,

I have to say, but it's beautiful.

And it's a part of the museum,

but it is actually in the library

because of the space it needs.

So anybody who's coming to Waltham Abbey,

apart from coming into the museum,

you really need to go in the library

and see this lovely tapestry.

I just wanted to let you know.

Thank you, Councillor Lee.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:36:27

Can we note those comments and the report, please?

I'd like to thank members from the Museum and Ian for attending.

You can leave if you choose to.

8 Mid-Year Housing Performance Report

That leads us to Item 7, which is the Mid -Housing Performance Report,

which can be found from pages 66 to 76.

I will introduce the report.

Thank you, Chairman.

Cllr Smruti Patel - 0:37:01

Welcome to the overview and scrutiny for the members as well.

I am really pleased to present this mid -year performance report which does provide the

committee with an update on the performance of our housing and property services to the

end of August 2026.

The overall picture is positive, I'm glad to report.

Performance remains strong across many of our key measures

whilst the report is also transparent about these areas

where we need to improve and the work is underway

to address them.

I'm gonna allow members to leave the chambers

before I continue, yeah there you go.

So keeping our tenants safe is one of our key measures

that we've got on there and first and foremost,

the safety of our tenants and their homes remains our priority. We continue to report 100 % compliance

for fire risk assessments, asbestos management and water hygiene risk assessments.

Gas safety compliance was 99 .97 at the end of August and electrical safety compliance has

improved from 98 .02 % at the end of March to 98 .71%.

So, there's a process that we've still got a long way to go

with reaching that 100 % target.

Some of it's primarily due to the access issue

and I have been assured by the officers

that we do have a series of processes

where we take steps one after the other

to ensure that we can get access to those properties.

As we know, gas can be a very important compliance issue to resolve.

We should, however, note that the communal passenger lift safety cheques were reported

at 94 .12 % at the August snapshot.

Our expectation is 100 % compliance across our statutory safety measures, and officers

continue to focus on achieving the required position.

Access to tenants' homes remains one of the challenges,

affecting some areas of compliance, as I've just alluded to,

with dedicated officers working alongside qualists and tenants

to secure access where necessary.

Repairs and homes.

There has been some encouraging progress in response to repairs.

Performance for non -emergency repairs completed within Target

increased to 91 .58 % in August,

exceeding the 90 % target.

So yeah, really well done for those who've been involved

in making sure those numbers go up.

Emergency repairs performance was 94 .94

against our 100 % target.

So again, this is one of those things where we win some,

we lose some.

We do definitely want to keep an eye on this

and this remains an area where further improvement

is required and we're making sure that we do improve

on those numbers.

Whilst the vast majority of our homes continue to meet

the decent home standard,

the main performance table does identify 12 properties

as potentially non -decent.

I mean, although they add up to 0 .19%,

we are still thinking that that's important.

With these properties being monitored monthly

and works planned were required as well.

Importantly, nine -

No.

Somebody say something?

Oh, sorry, it's on mute.

Importantly, 96 % of our stock has received a condition survey within the last five years

and the remainder is scheduled to be completed during this financial year.

Going forward, the intention is to maintain a rolling programme covering at least 20 % of

the stock each year.

With regards to complaints and customer service section, our complaint handling performance

does remain strong.

99 .32 % of stage 1 complaints and 100 % of the stage 2

complaints were responded to within the housing

on business complaint handling code timescale,

which if you know, it's 10 days for stage 1

and it's 20 days for stage 2 complaints.

We do meet those timelines and we met them between

April and August as well.

Overall, 99 .42 % of complaints were resolved within the Council's set timescale.

However, responding to complaints promptly is only part of the picture.

We also need to learn from what our tenants are telling us.

Work is therefore progressing.

I can see somebody is struggling to hear, so I'm going to come forward.

We also need to learn from what our tenants are telling us.

Work is therefore progressing to strengthen the housing complaints learning log so that

recurring themes can be identified and translated into service improvements we would like to

make.

Homelessness and temporary accommodation.

There has been a particularly welcome reduction in the number of households living in temporary

accommodation.

At the end of March, there were 193 households and by the end of August, we have a reduction

to 148, which is roughly about 23 % reduction.

We have also maintained the important position

of no families remaining in bed and breakfast accommodation

more than six weeks, ensuring continued compliance

with our statutory obligation.

Understanding and listening to our tenants,

let's see how we factored on that one.

A significant focus for us now is strengthening

our knowledge of the people living in our homes.

Our programme of tenancy audits is updating information

held within our CIVICA system, and we expect to have completed

more than 1 ,000 audits by the end of this financial year.

What does that mean?

We've still got a long way to go.

That adds up to about 15%.

We want to try and get that higher.

This will be supported by our planned big conversation,

which we're running a trial at the end of October,

which I keep plugging about where all of us

Councillors' offices are welcome to be involved,

through which we intend to contact as many tenants as possible.

This is not simply a data gathering exercise.

It will help us better understand our tenant circumstances,

communication and housing needs,

and identify where additional help may be needed to sustain their tenancies.

Also, on the broader angle, it would also help us target any support that we're putting

in place as well.

We're also seeing encouraging progress in tenant involvement, engagement through our

tenant and leaseholder scrutiny panel, the new procurement panel, and the EFDC and Qolis

complaints panel is definitely increasing, having offered the hybrid meetings, which

makes participation much more accessible as well.

Regulatory assurance, the consumer standards self -assessment is an important element of

that report.

It provides members with visibility of both our strengths and the areas where we do recognise

further work is required.

The assessment is being refreshed and will be informed by the outcome of the current

regulatory inspection.

Updates will continue to be brought to this committee at least annually.

The next Tenant Satisfaction Measures Survey begins in the week commencing 19th of August, 2026,

with the second wave planned for February, 2027.

These results will give us an important indication of whether the service improvements we're making are being experienced positively by our tenants.

In conclusion, Chair, I'd like to say that in summary, this is the positive media position,

but there is no room for complacency.

We have strong performance across the majority of our building safety measures, improving

non -emergency repairs performance, very strong complaints response performance, a substantial

reduction in households in temporary accommodation, no families exceeding the statutory six -week

B &B threshold, improving tenant engagement, and increasingly robust approach to understanding

our tenants and using their feedback to shape the services we provide.

At the same time, we recognise where performance must improve, particularly emergency repairs for

compliance with safety measures, our understanding of tenants and household needs, the remaining

and ensuring that complaints and tenant feedback

translate into demonstrable service improvement.

I would therefore ask the committee to consider

and comment on the performance set out in the report,

and I welcome the members' questions along with the officers

who are here to answer them as well.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Péter.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:46:05

Now, members, I think I would like to,

if you have more than four questions,

We can take the first four and then allow other members to ask questions and we can

come back to you later on.

So we can take the first four in group.

So the first, Councillor MURRAY.

Thank you, Chairman.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:46:26

I was going to say that I have got a few questions and points and I am quite happy to divide

them into two settings, so to speak.

I just wanted to say thank you to the housing portfolio holder.

Probably by implication I am being less charitable to some other portfolio holders, but she does

regularly come to scrutiny.

When there is a housing report, we know that the housing portfolio holder is here, and

she does always have ownership of the report in front of us.

To be blunt, that is not something we can say for all portfolio holders.

Yes, they are normally here, but they tend to almost immediately pass over to the offices.

So we do as a scrutiny committee value that, and that is a comment that I have made on

a number of meetings in the past and I will continue to make.

So if I just keep to some comments first and then at this stage two questions, Chairman.

So on page 68 we are told about tenancy engagements and I just wanted to update the committee

along with I think Councillor Chitty and it was only a Loudon one because it's going to

go elsewhere.

There was a very successful tenancy engagement event held in Loudon within the last two weeks,

I can't remember my diary.

It was held locally, just off the Broadway, the right location, and there was a very good

range of housing and wider council services that were represented.

So I just wanted to bring that to the committee's attention.

I know that we've all read the report, but I think this one is mainly to bring it to

the attention of the public.

We should note on page 69 that on six important measures, and we're talking about safety

cheques really, the whole number of areas, we are reaching 100 per cent.

Performance is 100 per cent and that needs to be noted and that's positive.

I do just have two questions in the early part of the report and then that will be my

first innings over, Chairman.

On page 66, and I nearly missed it because it was a sentence, but I picked it up on the

second reading, we're told at the bottom of page, we're told in page 66, top of page

66, that there's a suite of key performance indicators, obviously, and that's some of

what we're looking at tonight.

Measures are monitored throughout the year, and then it says service managers and teams

are then being held accountable for their performance through regular meetings.

So the question is, could you in very general terms just describe how these meetings are

conducted and how you deal with any issues arising out of them?

And then the other question of this stage, Chairman, is on page 67.

And we're told there that a thousand tenancy audits, and I think we know what a tenancy

audit is because that has been explained to us at earlier meetings. A thousand tenancy

audits are planned for this year. When they are done, what percentage of our tenants by

the end of that year will have had an audit? So those are my two questions, Chairman.

Thank you, Councillor Murray.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:50:02

Dawn Harrisson - 0:50:05

Thank you, Councillor Murray. Regarding the performance, I actually hold monthly meetings

with all the housing service managers and team managers,

and we review the entire suite of KPIs

and measures of which there are over 150.

These meetings and remedial actions are discussed,

and the success of those actions is evidenced

with the subsequent monthly meeting.

So we discuss them, we look at mitigations,

and then we review that the following month

to cheque on improvement,

and as I say, they're monitored on a monthly basis.

With regard to the tenancy audits,

Yes, a thousand are planned for this year and that would represent approximately 15 .6 %

of our tenanted properties and that will continue year on year.

Thank you, Doreen.

Thank you, Councillor Small.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:50:51

Thank you, Chairman.

Cllr James Small - 0:50:55

I'm going to be raising four points, please, and questions.

Okay, so the first is page 73 at the bottom, diverse needs.

I quote, we have limited current information about the tenants and their household who

live in our social housing homes.

So I'm a little surprised at this.

Why is this critical information not held already?

That's my first question, please.

I'll give you an opportunity to...

I'll do four questions.

All of them, okay, because it's quite long -winded.

Okay, so next is referring back to the last community scrutiny meeting on the 23rd of

June.

So you may be wondering why I'm raising this now.

Back in June, I've just been officially sworn in as a new Councillor and was not familiar

enough with this area.

We are scrutinising.

So, I do consider this relevant to what we are reviewing now, which is the ongoing subject

of tenant satisfaction and housing performance.

So, as members do not have the last report at hand, I will not quote from it as I planned.

Rather, I will just jump to my question.

So, in the last security report, there was a common theme of those with disabilities

and impairments and otherwise vulnerable tenants,

not feeling supported, getting support

or feeling empathy from the council.

Can you explain what you're doing to try to improve this?

Okay, so let's go to the next one.

So now I'm going to raise two housing related issues.

One is on homelessness process

and the other is on medical banding rehousing.

So the first is the approach to homelessness by the council

through something expressed in the meeting

with senior officers of this council. A domestic violence victim that was put into Norway House

last year with a young baby would have walked five minutes to her allocated separate bathroom

through dark hallways. There were single men on the same site. She is not there now, but

she is back under the council again for housing help, and this is where I took it on.

So I questioned in a meeting why she was not put into a self -contained unit at the time

in light of her being a vulnerable domestic violence victim with a baby. A senior officer

replied we treat all homelessness the same. So I am passionate about homelessness and

all cases of homelessness is a tragedy. But we have to be realistic in that not all cases

are equal. I'm sure I do not have to explain to you the difference in priority and vulnerability

between a homeless domestic violence victim with a baby and a single male. They should

not be treated the same. Naturally, this has caused me alarm and I wish for this approach

to be reviewed. And finally, medical banding.

So the second issue is a live case, so I cannot go into too much detail on this particular

committee.

It is related to banding for rehousing, and having dealt with this residence case exposes

an issue in the housing process.

So this Council sends medical reports and evidence to external medical assessors who

give their opinion on medical banding.

I learned that once these external medical assessors give that banding, it cannot be

challenged.

All that is open to residents is the demand for them to provide new medical evidence not

yet seen. My resident had an occupational therapist report sent externally to those

assessors. She was put in the lowest band despite that report and was told it would

not be reviewed unless new medical evidence was provided. But this is a fallacy, as the

occupational therapist report is king and is the most important weighted evidence that

can be provided in a rehousing case. It seems like a shut door process to me, so the Council

gets external medical assessors to look at the reports and decide the banding. They then

leave no recourse for that original decision to be challenged, rather they demand new

medical evidence that has not yet been seen. So this demonstrates to me a process with no

accountability. So the Council needs to allow a challenge of original decisions based on strong

evidence that has already been provided without a demand purely for new medical evidence. As

Councillors who can act as advocates for residents in housing cases, we should also have the ability

to directly contact and challenge the external medical assessors with the residents' agreement.

They cannot remain untouchable. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Small. I will now turn it over to Dawn.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:54:57

Dawn Harrisson - 0:55:01

Thank you. With regards to the diverse needs question, Councillor Small, we do have a significant

amount of information about our tenants. However, this is largely from when they first took

out their tenancy. For the programme of tenancy audits, another work is intended to update

as much information as possible.

For example, we hold information on ethnicity, age,

and communication preferences across most households,

and these are unlikely to change much over time.

However, disability -related information does change,

and that's another reason why we're looking to carry out the big conversation.

Residents aren't always forthcoming with changes,

unless there's a direct impact, so we don't always know about it.

But we've identified that, and that's the reason why we want to get this information,

that we're able to support our residents in the best way that we can.

With regards to your query on homelessness, you know, I'm happy to meet with you to discuss

our process about that. Our senior, our service manager has said that they want to do a member's

briefing on how the process works and we'll be happy to meet with you to be able to do

that and any other members as well.

I think there is one more on the binding.

Thank you, Chairman.

Cllr Smruti Patel - 0:56:12

Sorry, just to come back on to the homelessness case one, the Ministry of Housing, Communities

and Local Government, we do have – our assessment that we make is in accordance with the part

7 of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, basically.

So we do have to stick to that homelessness code of guidance and our allocations policy,

which was agreed by full Council.

But what I do want to say is not going,

this is what it is, that's it.

What I'm saying is there is the policies now coming up

for renewal and members will be asked to comment

on that new policy as well.

So that will definitely come to,

we will present it to the Scrutiny Committee as well,

following the resident consultation in March, 2027 as well.

So just to give you some reassurance

in terms of the process and the policy changes

that are coming up on that.

with regards to medical banding, okay to take it?

I only know this one because I've seen you email

from Sunday, so thank you very much for sending that.

And I have done some deep dive on that.

Not that like you've said,

we can't disclose a particular case,

but where we, the point I want to bring up

is where you've said about the external medical company

doing the assessment,

and then our officers who make the eventual decision,

eventually makes that decision.

we do have a process of appeal, so the resident can appeal the decision within 28 days of them receiving it.

So if that appeal comes in within 28 days, the officers would re -review that one, even without extra medical assessments sometimes as well.

Yes, sure.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:57:51

Just in terms of this appeal process, the resident in question had actually called in

Cllr James Small - 0:57:55

in shock at the band and awarded, and she was told she needed to provide fresh medical

evidence. She wasn't told that she can appeal this particular, you know.

Cllr Smruti Patel - 0:58:08

Sure, no, I appreciate that. So we'll definitely have a look at the process in terms of whether

or not that comms letter goes out, what the appeal letter looks like. So we'll definitely

take that up and provide you a deeper response as well.

Detailed please.

Yes, Dawn.

Thank you.

I mean, as I said, Councillor Small,

we can take this offline and talk about specific cases.

Dawn Harrisson - 0:58:26

We can't really talk about specific cases here.

With regards to your comments about the previous report,

the Acuity Report, it's not on the agenda today.

I appreciate that you're new Councillor

and what we will do is we will respond to those questions

and attach them to the minutes

so they're available for all members to see.

Thank you.

question particular to a

Councillorologists

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:58:49

requirement.

Cllr Rose Brookes - 0:58:52

But certainly she does .loe

Broadwayometer

Simons found when

Sheiness'

to reach the tenant, but, and bills have been sent out by the council tax department

and the rent arrears, but no one sort of followed it up by perhaps visiting to see, and this

tenant was actually very ill indeed, and in fact the worst thing happened, and they subsequently

died.

It is really the big conversation, what exactly are we going to do about trying to reach people

in these circumstances, bearing in mind our officers are very overstretched and the tenancy

audits when people don't engage, what can we do?

Thank you, Councillor.

Keith Bowman - 1:00:04

So the big conversation, it follows a format that other organisations have used quite successfully,

which will in fact we will obviously communicate out that we're going to be

coming round to the local areas and it is in fact door knocking. So we're going out in

pairs, actually knocking on the door, having some simple key questions. There's

a few of you I know have been out on our make a difference days and you've used a

simple template to gather feedback at those, not dissimilar approach to that,

and gathering as much information as we can. Other organisations have typically

managed to get somewhere between the 40 and 50 percent mark of carrying out that exercise.

But we will also look at things like, well, for those people we haven't been able to contact,

can we try and follow up with a phone call?

Need to establish that we are talking to the right people and things like that.

So there is those sensible approaches we need to do.

But by and large it is going to be door knocking and asking people for their updated information,

what their home is like, what they may need in the future, that kind of thing.

Thank you.

Yes.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:01:04

Just to add, Councillor Brooks, as well, in terms of our tenancy audits, we are doing

Dawn Harrisson - 1:01:07

that on a risk -based approach as well. So where we have not had contact with a resident

for maybe a year, they are the ones that we will be prioritising when we are carrying

out tenancy audits, where there are safeguarding concerns and working closely with income teams,

so where people haven't paid rent and notices are being issued, that will be shared more

widely with the tenancy teams that they know who to focus on and who may be in need of

Cllr Rose Brookes - 1:01:34

I am just very aware that the ten years, you know, that we are going to stop offering new

tenancies, that still leaves a lot of tenancies that need to be done, tenancy audits needing

to be done for the people that are at six, nine, whatever years, and takes up a lot of

time. But it is just really those people that don't engage, and there is likely to be reasons

for it. And if it means a visit, then that probably is advisable to have two people there,

but sort of persistent calling. And also, the other thing that I wasn't clear about

is how much the housing department can communicate with our revenue and benefits team.

Dawn Harrisson - 1:02:24

So our Internal Revenue Team for Rents, we are talking all the time, I suppose for Council

Tax, maybe that is an area that we can look at and build some stronger relationships and

cross -working. So thank you for that comment.

Thank you, Don.

Councillor Morgan.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:02:40

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:02:43

Thank you. I did have a couple of questions, but I saw previously Councillor MURRAY's email,

I know he is going to ask them. I just want to say really good news about people living

in temporary accommodation that has decreased. That is a real positive, which I am very pleased

about. And the fact that the gassing electrical testing, that has increased as well, which

is very good. One of the questions, I have got two questions, one of them is about the

social behaviour. It is really good. It has dropped from 59 .8 to 36 .1 per thousand. What

have we done to get to there? I think that is really good news. It would be really nice

to know what we have been doing as a counsellor to get that.

Second question? I have noticed the increase from 5 to 12 of the properties not meeting

the decent home standards. That was a bit concerning, unless it is just the fact that

We hadn't been highlighted with those previously.

Sorry, there was three questions.

I don't realise.

The other one was the one on page 74 about the flight tip in shared spaces.

What are we doing about that?

Because I have noticed that we've had quite a few of those on the estate near us

and it's going now from the shared spaces to just outside the shared spaces as well.

Is there something that we're doing about that, please?

Thank you, Councillor Morgan.

Don.

I can take the question on decent homes.

Dawn Harrisson - 1:04:12

Decent homes is a fluctuating figure.

Something may be decent today and tomorrow,

it may fall out of decency.

We normally report on the figure at year end,

but we've reported at this period in time.

Some of it is because residents actually just don't want

the works carried out or they've done the work themselves.

But the team, to have 12 properties out of over 5 ,000

that are potentially non -decent is actually quite a good statistic.

and the team are working to get into those properties

where the works are actually acquired,

but they are minimal works.

I don't believe there's anything exceptional

that's outstanding in terms of them being non -decent.

And Keith will answer the question on ASB

and I will find the one about flighting.

Unless you...

Do you have a comment on that?

Okay, no clause.

Thank you.

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:04:59

So you just said some people do the work for themselves

and when you say it's not decent home -sanding,

I expect it to be really awful.

So thank you for clarifying that.

But do we actually go out and cheque the works that they've done themselves?

Because obviously what we class as good may not be what they're actually doing.

Dawn Harrisson - 1:05:17

So residents are supposed to ask permission

before they make any alterations to the property.

And those works are all absolutely inspected.

Sometimes residents do it themselves, and it's only identified

when we are carrying out surveys to do decent homes work.

And they may well be absolutely OK and fine.

and on the other hand they may not be,

and then we will have to do the work

under our own Decent Homes programmes.

But there is a process for people requesting alterations

in their own homes.

We have the other two questions on social behaviour and waste.

I think that's fine to be done.

Keith Bowman - 1:05:48

I'll pick up the first one on the reduction

in the proportion of cases

that are reporting on antisocial behaviour.

They do fluctuate quite a lot from time to time.

based on the numbers that we're actually getting through.

We do see seasonal changes as well,

but in terms of what we're doing,

I think the communications that we've had,

things like that, we make a difference days

where we can support people

and help people to understand what is antisocial behaviour.

These kind of things could be having,

starting to have an impact in terms of the numbers

that are actually being, coming through.

But it's such a difficult area for me to put a hand on heart

I often say those are the things that are having an impact

or not, but we know that the cases have fluctuated

quite a lot from time to time.

In terms of the safety of shared spaces,

and I know you've picked up on the fact that

fly tipping and misuse of shared areas is an issue.

What we're looking for is where there may be hotspots

that we can do something with.

So we, around the broadway for example,

we know there are areas around there

where there may be particular issues,

so we're planning whether an engagement event

around there might support residents to understand the impact on the local area, but also trying

to understand where the fly -TV is coming from.

Is it local, if you see what I mean, or is it people coming from other areas and doing

things like that?

So we work across the board.

When we do the Make a Difference Day, we'll have colleagues from Environment, we'll have

colleagues from Community Resilience, we'll have TVS there, et cetera, et cetera, and we

hopefully will leave the area a better state than we walked onto it.

We certainly did when we did a piece of work at the estate up the road,

and we removed a lot of flytipping.

And encouraging residents to say, well, this is how we know you want to live,

and this is how it could look like it.

So really trying to target the hotspots and focus on them.

Also looking at where it's internal in the communal areas,

the fact that we have to have zero tolerance on things that are left within those communal areas,

for health and safety reasons,

and working with the residents to understand that

and get them to report it to us

so we can do something about it.

You want to come back to that?

Yeah, I just want to say thank you very much for that.

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:08:01

That's really good news to hear what's happening.

Thank you.

Thank you, members.

Councillor Patel.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:08:08

Just a real quick one.

Cllr Smruti Patel - 1:08:09

I can't remember whether I might have not heard Keith Weld.

Did we talk about, you mentioned mad days as well

that we do with regards to the flight tipping as well,

isn't it?

So those skips,

I don't know if you've seen them, I regularly post about them, that we take those skips

six times a year, I think we've done it around the district and that's been our target, so

yeah, that's been really successful.

Councillor Mory?

Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:08:37

I'm not feeling particularly great at the moment and that's nothing to do with the

chairing of the meeting.

Thanks.

I just have moments when I'm not feeling particularly well at the moment.

If I could just restrict myself to my two comments and then I do have a few questions.

On page 71 we are told about the income management and our performance, if I am reading it correctly,

is better than our target, so that is good.

So perhaps we need to increase the target for next year.

It's already been referenced, but I think a clear question hasn't been answered yet,

so I'll follow the question from the point.

It was really good to see that we are meeting the statutory target as regards to six weeks in bed and breakfast.

My question arising from that is do we know what average length of time families are in

B &B then?

We know that it's less than six weeks because we're meeting our target.

So if I take that one as an individual one and then return to my other questions, so

what is the average length of time families are in B &B?

Thank you, Chair.

Councillor Murray.

Dawn Harrisson - 1:10:02

So the average day of B &B in August was actually 25 days, and for the year to the end of August,

so for that combined period, it was actually 38 days, and we typically have between 40

and 50 households in B &B all night, you're not set any one time, and still able to achieve

that six -week deadline.

Okay, thank you.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:10:18

And then if I just take the Chairman and the Committee through my other questions, and

then they can be dealt with, and if I just do it by page number.

On page 69, we are told that at the bottom of page 69, based on 147 stage 1 complaints

and I just wanted a general flavour of what those are, the issues within those, 147.

Don't need to know about all the 147, but what's the general range of issues.

And then on page 70, and I suppose I do need to just say broadly what the measure is, TSM

measure M01, bracket 1, which is the number of antisocial behaviour cases and then the

number of hate incidences.

And in a sense, the officer said something about this, but my specific question was,

Do these figures represent an increase, decrease or broadly in line with past figures and past

figures say over the last five years?

And then these ones were a little bit concerning and remember Chairman, as you know, both myself

and you represent a ward with a relatively high percentage of social housing still.

All our wards, and I think we've got 18 in the district, will have some social housing

But Louton Road in Ward has one of the highest densities, I would suggest.

So on page 70, we are told that just over 11 % of our non -emergency repairs weren't completed

to our timescale.

So 89 % were, so that's good, but I would be interested in knowing why 11 % of our non -emergency

repairs aren't completed within our timescale.

And then just under 4 % of our emergency repairs aren't completed within timescale.

I'm sure there's good reasons, but I really felt I had to ask those questions.

And then my final question, members, please to know, complaints of the Ombudsman.

We were told the 22 cases were referred to the Ombudsman.

What percentage of those cases were upheld?

Thank you, Chairman.

Thank you, Councillor MURRAY.

I will go to Dawn.

Thank you, Chair.

Dawn Harrisson - 1:12:52

Thank you, Councillor.

All right.

Where shall we start?

So let me start with repairs.

I have got repairs here.

So the TSM measure of non -emergency repairs, 11 per cent, were not completed.

So non -emergency repairs, we are actually now receiving 91 .58 % within target, which

is exceeding the 90 % target.

The main reason for not hitting the timescale is because of follow -on works.

So there'll be lots and lots of repairs where we'll attend, and the whole repair cannot

be completed at the time.

So for example, if there's been a leak in the ceiling, the ceiling needs replacing,

so it's boarded.

It then needs replastering and then needs repainting, for example.

or a kitchen tap may not be a simple repair

if a new connexion is needed,

which may not be a standard item.

So this tends to be where there are foreign works required,

and which is why we would never have a target

of 100 % for non -emergency repairs.

With regards to emergency repairs,

again, these are all moving targets,

and at the moment we are at 95%,

so there's 5 % which haven't been completed.

So some orders have failed their for -hour response

due to some technical issues that were expuked

with the Out of Hours call centre,

and those issues are actually currently being addressed

with them.

And again, if the operative is 10 minutes late,

there could be problems with traffic or something like that,

then that's a failure.

But whenever they do attend, everything is always made safe.

The repair may not be carried out,

but whatever the emergency is is actually made safe.

So complaints to the Ombudsman.

The 22 were from last year.

This year we have had 13 cases so far.

Six were not investigated.

Four had the complaint upheld and we are waiting to hear on the final three.

Your final question.

So your final question was about the cases per thousand in terms of

antisocial behaviour and hate crime.

That represents a decrease in cases that have been raised.

There was one outstanding question and then I've got a follow -up question from what we've

Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:15:13

just heard.

The 147 complaints received, what's the kind of range of issues?

And then I just want to follow up one to do with the Ombudsman information we were given.

Right.

Dawn Harrisson - 1:15:29

Bear with me just a second.

I will put some notes on this.

I will put that somewhere around that with me.

Members, I am looking forward, Chairman.

It is just a play of one of the kind of issues.

Okay.

So most of our transactions are repairs.

Most of our complaints are actually about repairs.

I think about 60 % are to do with repairs.

They have to do sometimes with communication

and communication, 10 % related to planned maintenance work.

We have homelessness and housing allocations

also receive 15 % of complaints.

As I say, in terms of repairs,

that is the most common source of complaints.

It's where we do most of our transactions.

Other areas of housing also receive complaints

on customer service, plus complaints may include

dissatisfaction with a decision that was actually made,

which may relate to actually policy.

So it wouldn't really be, it's a complaint,

about the policy rather than the surface of receipt?

Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:16:40

Just a comment and then a question about the Ombudsman answer. I don't know whether I should

or I shouldn't, but like other members, I sometimes go straight to QALYs over a repair

issue because offices have got a lot to do. I just have to give a shout out to Debbie

Casey again at Qolis. I only ever go to her with difficult issues where things haven't

worked properly and she always gets back almost immediately and has a problem -solving approach,

like many of our officers indeed, and gets things sorted.

Councillor Whitfield, I won't always be quite so positive about Qolis on other issues, but

tonight, Qolis Repair Service gets a thumbs up.

I think you said, Chairman, that four ombudsman cases were upheld.

Can I just be told what's the learning process?

I mean, obviously it depends what the case is about, but if there's a case over policy

or procedure, do we have a built -in policy review mechanism that would take, you know,

would look at the ombudsman judgement and what judgement they have made and what changes

we need to make as regards policy or implementation of that policy.

Keith Bowman - 1:18:02

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Councillor. There are two angles to it. One is the complaints

team, the corporate organisation, hold regular meetings with the team managers. So if they

have had complaints in the recent past, they will be meeting with them, looking at the

outcomes, looking at the process, how well they've been able to manage that, and then

looking for any learning that they can pick up from the outcomes.

We also look at that in terms of the EFDC and QALYST complaints panel with tenants,

and look at where there may be some learning from that.

And in fact, one of the tenants has asked us to look at the tenant journey through a

complaint.

So whilst we focus very much on our policy and our approach, they've asked us to switch

it around.

And there is the review of old cases

when they are completed to actually look and see

what learning we can get out of that

and what we can develop.

The latest development is the learning log within housing

that is being populated at the moment

that will also, whilst we'll report outcomes from that

within here where appropriate

in our regular performance reports,

we'll also be taking that into the tenant complaint panel

so that they can see that we're picking up on learning out of that as well.

So there's a number of avenues to it at the moment.

We certainly will also consider it when we're looking at policies,

because the team managers having their conversations with the complaints team

will be aware if there's something coming through the policies

that we think actually we need to address that.

Sometimes there's a bit of a clarification to make sure that it's obvious within there,

that type of thing coming through.

Dawn Harrisson - 1:19:37

Just to add, Councillor, as well, that there has been quite a backlog with the Ombudsman

over the previous years, and I understand that these cases are actually from 2023, so

we have moved on quite a bit, but I understand that the Ombudsman is actually getting through

cases a bit quicker now, and there's a six -month delay now with receiving and acting on them.

Thank you, Diane. Members, any further questions?

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:20:00

Cllr James Small - 1:20:03

On the subject of the number of households in temporary accommodation, I agree with other

members it is very positive there has been a reduction. I am just curious where these

households are actually being housed because we have affordability issues in this district.

Are they being housed outside of the district?

Some cases are being housed within the district. You have mentioned a scheme that we already

Dawn Harrisson - 1:20:25

have, most are outside of the district.

Thank you. Members, any further questions? If not, I will go to the Councillor Dadds.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:20:35

Cllr Mary Dadd - 1:20:40

Thank you, Chairman. First of all, I want to say that I have had the pleasure of going

around the grounds maintenance teams, that is QALYST and EFDC, and the communal inspections

and mad days and I found them very worthwhile

and I'd recommend any councillor to do the same.

What I wanted to say is a very encouraging report

and I'll commend the work that has gone on

in the last 15, 18 months since I've been a councillor,

particularly since Dawn Harrison and Keith Boman

has actually joined the team.

But I have got a few queries on these very excellent

reports from ACQUITY. And I wanted to look at really the summary of the approach, the

questions that you have asked. I think sometimes they are a little bit vague and you might

want to look at the questions to get more specific responses on that. But I have got

three areas. Some of them have been covered, mostly by Councillor Morgan, but I will touch

on those.

So the first one relates to neighbourhood.

In other words, sort of the community area,

the maintenance.

And what I have seen, and I'd like to know

why this is the case, is quite often there's a poor state

of the communal areas in the flats.

And there's a poor state of the external areas.

I mean, the grass might be cut,

but the shrubs and the weeds, et cetera.

I mean, a garden is never finished, for example.

And those sort of things that as a gardener,

I would say needs attention.

And also this poor state of some of the pathways.

So they're cracked or the edges don't look nice.

So the curb appeal in some of them is really not

the sort of neighbourhood you'd want to live in yourself.

And one or two of them,

you've got front gardens full of junk.

And I don't know if that is ever reported

because some of your officers must go past these.

And similarly, as you know, we've got a case at the moment

about pervasive weeds that's not being dealt with.

But I would say that I also want to commend the officers

in how they responded to individual cases.

And certainly in my patch, we're very grateful for that.

But I'm wondering on this maintenance

in communal areas, external inter,

is that an issue about budgeting,

including budgeting for the grounds maintenance team for qualities as well,

because I really think that needs to be addressed.

I know we're short of funds, but please don't forget it.

That's my one, the first thing.

The second one has largely been dealt with by Councillor Morgan

on fly tipping and antisocial behaviour.

However, in my area in Onga,

we feel that antisocial behaviour generally is on the rise,

but it's very insidious, and it's insidious bullying.

And I would be interested to know how you can actually encourage people to report

things, because they don't want to be singled out.

It's a very sensitive area.

And when people have anonymously said things, what is the follow -up to see?

Because I've got a few people I'm a bit concerned about in my area.

but also what links have you with the police

and how do they get involved, again, sensitively.

So that's that part.

And then the other one is on parking.

And there's a lot of areas of parking stress

because a lot of the housing was built in the 1950s,

as we know.

But because of that, you've got destruction

to the grass verges.

I have found very little help from the housing team

on working with councillors and the highways department.

I know that's a sticking point because different,

EFDC owns one bit and highways owns another, et cetera.

But even when there's some solutions offered,

we seem to have got an impasse in some areas.

And I'm talking about several areas in my own ward.

And the response from the junior officers

seems to be put more bollards,

make more parking restrictions,

or make it permit holder only,

but that's only going to increase the problems of stress

and not increase the capacity,

and that will also lead to antisocial behaviour.

So I'm wondering if that perhaps could be something

that you could look at in the future.

And then my very last question was a follow up really on,

from Councillor Murray's about emergency repairs.

And some of the ones that are not done in the time, and you said that they are left

safe, does that involve a temporary measure? For example, if the water, if there's

a water leak, is there a temporary measure? If there is a gas problem or that sort

of thing, is there a temporary measure or are they left without some utilities

or some usual benefits? Thank you.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:26:03

Thank you, Councillor. I am going to start off with the first few questions and then

Keith Bowman - 1:26:08

Dawn is going to answer some of the others. In terms of the tenancy satisfaction measure

questions, they are set by the regulator. We are obliged to use them. What we try to

do is add other things in, so we do have the capacity to add a few questions in. For example,

on antisocial behaviour. We are looking at questions that were getting set up for the

October round of the surveys. And we would like to, where people have said, yes, I have

reported antisocial behaviour, we found in the past that doesn't actually match the cases

that we have got on the go. So we might add some questions in about who did you report

it to, when did you report it, that kind of thing, so that we have got the can openers

to be able to dig in a bit more. But they are set questions.

In terms of the neighbourhoods, yes, as you know, you've been out a few times on the inspections

with Craig, our contract management officer for the Qols grounds maintenance and at the

mad days, and there is work to be done.

There are – the pathways is a difficult one because they're not necessarily within

the contract for Qols to be maintaining, but we think we just need to work with them and

say, a bit less precious and make sure we leave a site looking as good as we can.

Part of the difficulty, of course, as you mentioned, the budgets, is that any work that

we're doing on housing land is rechargeable via the service charges to our residents.

So we're trying to walk a balance between making sure that they remain affordable whilst

being able to maintain the communal areas as good as we can.

As we know, the weather hasn't been our friend this year in the way that things are panning

out and we've got a meeting with Qualys tomorrow actually on the grounds maintenance side and

part of that is talking about what can we do to improve, can we look at the potential

for investment and what would that look like in terms of a budget.

We've been looking over like a 10 -year programme or something.

You and I have talked briefly about it in the past.

So I haven't got solutions for you but I have got conversations on the go that I'm hoping

we can find some solutions to see how we can improve the overall look of our areas.

Things like junk in gardens, if we know about it, yes, we will certainly speak to the residents.

And certainly when we did the Make a Difference Day, the Mad Day at Rownsville, for example,

on the wettest day in January that we've known for a long time,

we were able to help some residents out by removing things from their front garden

that they just didn't have the ability.

So one lady, for example, around there who had her own issues around arthritis and that,

She couldn't remove the mattresses and bits and bobs from her own front garden, but she had no alternative.

We were able to help on that day, so we could do it.

So the will is certainly there to try and support people to do it.

We'll assign those people to the bulky waste collections and things like that.

We do need residents to try and take a pace towards us so that we can work with them on that.

I think that covers most of the points that I was going to cover on the grounds maintenance

point.

You mentioned some of the perennial weed problems like the knotweed one and things.

Oh yes, knotweed, yes.

Yes.

The particular one we have been talking about, particular case, we do have a solution, a

three year solution.

And as soon as I can persuade my colleague to my right to open the wallet, we'll be able

to say that.

That one is a budgeting question because that's not a rechargeable to our tenants.

So I do need to find the money to put that together.

But we have a solution.

That is very good.

And that obviously would be what you call a stitch in time.

Cllr Mary Dadd - 1:29:44

So if it's left to get worse, it would be a bigger problem to resolve.

Can I just come, sorry, I'm assuming I can come back.

The situation about rubbish in people's gardens, yes, if they can't get rid of it themselves,

I think in some cases they are using it as a sort of you can dump it here type of aspect

and I can talk to you about one particular place later.

I'm happy to pick up outside the meeting.

Thank you.

Councillor Pottel, do you want to come back?

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:30:15

Two more questions.

Thank you, Chair.

Thanks, Councillor Dadd.

Dawn Harrisson - 1:30:22

In regards to parking, we know it's a real contentious issue, particularly in your ward

and it is something we do need to work on together.

We do have some solutions and some ideas

and myself and the team will be happy to meet with you

to discuss some of those going forward

because we appreciate properties built in the 1950s

when there was one car between five homes.

It's a completely different situation now

where you might have three cars for one home

and we need to look at that

but also whilst maintaining the open green spaces as well.

In terms of the emergency repairs, yes, we do put in interim measures.

So, for example, if there is an issue with the gas boiler

and it needs to be shut off, we will shut it off.

But that will only normally be overnight

until they can get back the next day and do the repair.

But if it's in the winter and the colder months,

then the contractors will provide heaters.

And the same if water needs to be disconnected

because there's a water leak or something,

then residents will be provided with water.

But it is a real short -term measure.

It is just to make things safe until we can get contractors back the following day.

Thank you, Don.

Cllr Smruti Patel - 1:31:32

First of all, do you want to go first?

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:31:35

I wouldn't mind.

Cllr Jeane Lea - 1:31:41

It was just with Mary saying about the greenery everywhere.

Now, Keith, whether this is your honour,

now, Monkswood Avenue, we have lime trees,

which Epping Forest every year have clipped them back

slightly, not how they used to be done.

And at the bottom of the trees,

you've got branches all sticking out covering the pavement.

Now we have two schools up the road

and mums have to walk up and down with pushchairs.

And so all this horrible line is hitting the children

in the pushchairs. Now, I brought this up in ONS and I was told now that we don't do

it anymore, Epping. But I've not heard anything saying that we don't and that it's now down

to highways. But it's probably always been highways because it's on the pavements, but

as far as I'm aware, Epping Forest has always done it because the guy comes every year because

I give him a cup of tea.

You know, but he can't stay as it is

because the parents are complaining to me

because as they're walking with the pushchairs,

this is sticking all over them.

Jane Gold.

Thank you, Chair.

Yes, Councillor Lee, we did used to do it,

but we used to have a contract,

Jennifer Gould - 1:33:01

an arrangement with Essex County Council

on their behalf and that no longer exists. So it is an Essex County Council function.

Jennifer Gould - 1:33:10

I'm afraid we don't have any jurisdiction.

Thank you.

That doesn't help me.

Councillor Mory.

Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:33:20

Yes, I think things are rising from these issues. I would endorse what's just been said

has come through very clearly in my casework. I mean, obviously we say HRA land, that's

a different issue, but we're obviously not talking about HRA land in that example. Since

straight over to Essex, good luck in getting them to get anything done, but Essex Highways.

I could identify with some of what the Onkar, Councillor Dabble was saying, but I couldn't

identify with grounds maintenance and I don't know what your view of the ward is, Councillor

grounds maintenance in Loughton seems to be improving.

And now I'm not going to suggest for one minute,

every single bit of grounds maintenance on the HRA estate

is exactly how we would want it to be.

Because if I was to say that,

I'd probably get a dozen emails tomorrow

from the Oakwood head of state pointing out sections.

But overall, I feel the standard is improving.

Again, a shout out for Qualis.

College grounds maintenance are very responsive.

If you bring an issue straight to Chris Burgess and I'm deliberately naming names, he will

respond as long as it's within their contract and their responsibility in terms of HRO.

I always found him responding and I actually, I've got it in front of me, I actually sent

an email in the middle of June congratulating them on some wonderful garden beds that are

on HRA land and the final sentence I wrote was they reached the standard you would expect

to see in a public park. So, Nelson seems to be okay, I'm sorry. I'm sure there are

areas that we need to work on, but it is improving, isn't it, Chairman?

Yes, Councillor Mory, I agree with you on your assessments in terms of ground maintenance,

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:35:26

especially in our ward, where we have a lot of good responses from officers.

And our experience has been positive.

So, thank you.

I will come back to you, Councillor.

First of all, I will come back to you first.

Come back to you, Councillor Morgan.

Thank you.

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:35:45

Two points.

First, for Councillor Lee, we do have the chair, Bessieks, the Councillor.

so maybe you should grab her afterwards

and ask her what we can do about the trees.

And the second point was just a follow up from Councillor Dad.

I went on a Qalis walk around with the ground maintenance team

and we had TBS come along and I've got to say,

they were absolutely fantastic.

I did write to the portfolio holder to say this

because when we was walking around,

I highlighted about the weeds on the pavements

and the fact that the grass was just growing over the pavements,

there was lots of weeds in the kerbside.

And I went the next morning,

that was at three o 'clock in the afternoon we finished,

and I went the next morning to take pictures,

and they had actually gone and cleared the whole lot that morning.

Jamie and his team, the guy from TVS, cleared the whole lot.

So unfortunately, a bit like Councillor Murray and Councillor Nwaki,

in Grange Hill they're doing a good job.

So, yes, we are getting a good thing.

So I know they are working all over,

and I know Councillor Davis wasn't criticising them,

but I just wanted to add as well that they are doing an excellent job.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Morgan.

Back to Mary Dance.

Thank you very much, Chairman.

I think it's probably been misinterpreted

Cllr Mary Dadd - 1:37:09

because I can't praise Qualis enough under Chris Burgess,

and they do react very, very quickly, and they have made a lot of improvements.

My question really is are we spending enough money because gardens don't stay the same

and it's all very well cutting the lawn, but if you've got weeds

and if you've got ivy that's killing the shrubs and the shrubs have outgrown their position,

then it doesn't look as good as it could do.

So I'm sorry if I've given the wrong impression because I think they're doing an excellent job

and I think they are doing an excellent job with EFDC.

But we need more money.

Thank you so much.

I would like to bring it back to housing,

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:37:50

because that is the item we are discussing tonight.

So I will go back to Councillor Patel.

Thank you very much, Chair.

I mean, it is only for all the members who have finished with their questions.

Cllr Smruti Patel - 1:37:59

I really want to thank all the committee members

who always scrutinise the housing reports that come in front of you really well.

I like the fact that the robust scrutiny actually provides me a learning platform as well as

a new portfolio holder.

I know you guys are always complimentary about me taking a lot of interest in what I am doing

because I really am quite keen to learn about my portfolio.

But I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you guys and also the amount of praise

as well as the critical criticism that we do receive.

It is a really good balance.

Thank you again.

Thank you, members.

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:38:36

Thank you, members.

Yes, I would like to add to what members have said tonight in terms of how the work our

officers are doing in a very difficult condition sometimes.

They are doing amazing work and we just have to thank them and congratulate them for the

amazing work they are doing and spending time to write the reports and coming to the committee

to present.

So, thank you, officers, for the work you do.

And if members, there's no further questions, I will be – the comments and the questions

that have been asked on the housing report will be noted.

And on that, I'll be going to the next item, which is the date for the next meeting, which

9 DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

will be the 8th of December.

Just to remind members, the next meeting is on 8 December.

And I will be away.

Oh well actually I have come back that day so I might be back in time.

Lucky you.

I am not sure what time I get back but come back I will be here.

Thank you members for attending the meeting tonight and the meeting is closed at 8 .39.

Thank you.

Keith Bowman

Team Manager - Housing Strategy and Information

Epping Forest District Council

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Cllr Rose Brookes

District councillor for Buckhurst Hill East and Whitebridge ward

Loughton Residents Association

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Cllr Mary Dadd

District councillor for Ongar ward

Conservative Party

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Jennifer Gould

Strategic Director - Chief Operating Officer

Epping Forest District Council

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Dawn Harrisson

Service Director Housing & Property

Epping Forest District Council

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Laura Kirman

Democratic Services Officer

Epping Forest District Council

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Cllr Jeane Lea

District councillor for Waltham Abbey North ward

Conservative Party

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Cllr Lisa Morgan

District councillor for Grange Hill ward

Epping Forest Independents Group

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Cllr Stephen Murray

District councillor for Loughton Roding ward

Independent

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Cllr Chidi Nweke

District councillor for Loughton Roding ward

Loughton Residents Association

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Cllr Smruti Patel

District councillor for Buckhurst Hill West ward

Conservative Party

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Cllr James Small

District councillor for Buckhurst Hill East and Whitebridge ward

Reform UK

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James Warwick

Service Director - Contracts Partnerships and Procurement

Epping Forest District Council

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Cllr Janet Whitehouse

District councillor for Epping East ward

Liberal Democrats

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Interactive webcast player

Communities Scrutiny CommitteeTuesday, 29th September 2026 at 7:00pm

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:00:00

1 WEBCASTING INTRODUCTION

Laura Kirman - 0:01:57

2 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:02:03

4 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Cllr Rose Brookes - 0:02:16

5 NOTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:02:24

Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 0:02:37

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:02:42

6 WORK PROGRAMME

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:03:21

Keith Bowman - 0:03:58

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:04:25

Keith Bowman - 0:04:49

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:05:33

Keith Bowman - 0:06:20

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:06:58

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:07:02

7 Epping Forest District Museum 2025/26 Report

James Warwick - 0:07:31

Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum - 0:09:06

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:13:01

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:13:05

Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum - 0:16:20

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:20:59

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:21:07

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 0:21:11

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:22:23

Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 0:22:28

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:24:09

James Warwick - 0:24:16

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:24:32

Cllr Rose Brookes - 0:24:35

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:24:37

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:24:41

Ian Channell - Epping Forest District Museum - 0:26:37

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:30:31

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:30:53

Paul Violet - Epping Forest District Museum - 0:32:23

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:35:34

Cllr Jeane Lea - 0:35:42

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:36:27

8 Mid-Year Housing Performance Report

Cllr Smruti Patel - 0:37:01

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:46:05

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:46:26

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:50:02

Dawn Harrisson - 0:50:05

Cllr Stephen Murray - 0:50:51

Cllr James Small - 0:50:55

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:54:57

Dawn Harrisson - 0:55:01

Cllr Smruti Patel - 0:56:12

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:57:51

Cllr James Small - 0:57:55

Cllr Smruti Patel - 0:58:08

Dawn Harrisson - 0:58:26

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:58:49

Cllr Rose Brookes - 0:58:52

Keith Bowman - 1:00:04

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:01:04

Dawn Harrisson - 1:01:07

Cllr Rose Brookes - 1:01:34

Dawn Harrisson - 1:02:24

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:02:40

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:02:43

Dawn Harrisson - 1:04:12

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:04:59

Dawn Harrisson - 1:05:17

Keith Bowman - 1:05:48

Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:08:01

Cllr Chidi Nweke - 1:08:08

Cllr Smruti Patel - 1:08:09

Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:08:37

Dawn Harrisson - 1:10:02

Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:10:18

Communities Scrutiny Committee
Tuesday, 29th September 2026 at 7:00pm