SPC 1 - Minutes

Minutes of Meeting of Strategic Policy Committee 1 – Housing & Corporate – Held on Tuesday, 31st October, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. in The Council Chamber, County Hall, Riverside, Sligo


COUNCILLORS PRESENT:

  • Councillor Arthur Gibbons (Chair)
  • Councillor Declan Bree
  • Councillor Tom Fox
  • Councillor Gino O’Boyle

 

OFFICIALS IN ATTENDANCE:

  • Mr. Seán Martin, A/DoS Housing & HR,
  • Mr. Joe Murphy, Senior Executive Officer,
  • Ms. Margaret McConnell, Senior Executive Officer,
  • Ms. Aisling Smyth, Administrative Officer
  • Ms Kate Gibbons, Senior Staff Officer(R)
  • Ms. Elaine Siberry, Clerical Officer.

 

REPRESENTATIVES IN ATTENDANCE:

  • Ms Pippa Black, PPN Social Inclusion
  • Mr Trevor McDaid, Business Pillar
  • Mr Alan McMenamin, PPN Community & Voluntary(R)

(R) = participated in the meeting remotely
(C) = participated via County Hall Video Link

 

APOLOGIES:

None

 

ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEETING:

Councillor Arthur Gibbons welcomed all to the meeting and then sought agreement for the meeting to be recorded for the purposes of minute taking, this was agreed.

 

1.  MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 13th JUNE 2023:

Proposed by Councillor D. Bree
Seconded by Councillor G. O’Boyle

AND AGREED

“To confirm the minutes of the Meeting of the Strategic Policy Group Committee 1 – Housing & Corporate - held on 13th June 2023.”

 

2.  Matters Arising from Minutes

There were no matters arising.

 

3.  SPC Procedures:

P. Black summarised the PPN SPC Procedure suggestions that were previously circulated to members prior to the meeting. P. Black stated that SPC 1 was working well and reiterated that the main aim of SPC’s is to work with the Corporate Policy Group and recommended that there should be a clear schedule of upcoming policies to ensure they are discussed in the early and formative stages.

S. Martin thanked P. Black and said it was good to hear that this SPC was working well. S. Martin proposed that the suggestions be brought forward to the next CPG meeting. A. Gibbons agreed and said he was glad to hear SPC1 was working well and stated that all SPC groups should be working together. It was agreed for SPC Procedures item to be on the agenda for the next CPG meeting.

Councillor O’ Boyle and Councillor Fox thanked P. Black for the summary and Councillor Fox reiterated the importance of training for the new members for the next term of council.

 

4.  Draft Home Heating Costs Paper:

P. Black welcomed any feedback or suggestions in relation to the Draft Home Heating Costs paper that was circulated prior to the meeting.

 

5.  To consider and agree the Draft Sligo County Council Disability, Inclusion and Access Strategy 2024-2027 as recommended by the Disability Consultative Committee.

M. McConnell outlined the approach taken in redrafting the updated strategy referring to use of the social model of disability and the inclusion and review of local, regional and European policy, and a refresh on data and actions. The key dates around adopting the strategy were outlined to members including the public consultation process.  

A. Smyth highlighted in detail all areas in the document that were updated including the action plan.  Councillor Gibbons, Councillor Bree and Councillor Fox acknowledged the work to date and thanked M. McConnell, A. Smyth and K. Gibbons for the development of the draft strategy which is proposed to be on public display from 7 November to 8 December, 2023.

In response to comments and queries raised by P. Black, M. McConnell responded and also asked for same to be forwarded for further consideration as part of the consultation process. M. McConnell confirmed that the Disability Consultative Committee (DCC) is a sub-committee of SPC1.

The Draft Sligo County Council Disability, Inclusion and Access Strategy 2024-2027 was:

Proposed by: Councillor Declan Bree
Seconded by: Councillor Arthur Gibbons

 

6.  Work Programme List

The work programme list had already been circulated to the members in advance of the meeting. It was agreed that a Housing Disability Paper by the PPN group and Regulation of Lobbying be included on the agenda for the next SPC1 meeting.

 

7.  Update on Housing Delivery 2022-2026:

Mr S. Martin summarised the report already circulated to members on Housing Delivery. He reiterated the important ground work that is completed before a submission can be made to the Department.

Councillor D. Bree thanked Seán Martin for the report and queried if the current housing delivery target for 2023 would be met. S. Martin expressed his uncertainty of delivering phase 4 at Seaville before Christmas but would continue to monitor this with the developer. In response to Councillor Bree’s query Seán confirmed that Irish Water have changed their contractors, so this has caused some delays with water connections to current construction projects on site.

 

8.  Questions Submitted by SPC Members:

Submitted by Councillor Declan Bree:

That the Committee be provided with a report on the number of households currently on the Housing Waiting list in each of the Municipal Districts; including a breakdown of  the number of people in each household; the number of people in receipt of HAP: the number residing in RAS and other such accommodation; the number residing with family members; the number in emergency accommodation; the length households have been on the waiting list; and any other information which the Housing Department might consider relevant.  

Mr. J. Murphy welcomed any questions in relation to the report that was circulated to members prior to the meeting.

Councillor Bree thanked Mr. Murphy for the report. J. Murphy also confirmed that there would be a review of the waiting list figures with regard to those who were over 10 years on it.   

 

Submitted by Pippa Black (PPN Social Inclusion):

Would it be possible to get housing waiting lists statistics broken down by family type, age, gender, disability and including the number of months and years on the waiting list?  Do we have (or can we get) any statistics on the number of disabled people on the HAP /RAS schemes (we have stats for the general waiting list)?

Mr J. Murphy circulated a report on the current housing waiting list statistics prior to the meeting and welcomed any questions. P. Black thanked J. Murphy for the report.

 

9.  Correspondence

S. Martin summarised the correspondence received from Uisce Éireann and the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage.

 

10.  Any Other Business

Councillor Gibbons queried if there are specific standing orders in relation to SPC meetings to which clarification was to be sought.

Meeting concluded at 15.15

Date of next SPC meeting 12th December 2023.


Meeting Date 31/10/2023