Publication - Minutes

Joint Housing Policy and Delivery Group meeting: February 2018

Published: 7 March 2018
Topic: Housing
Date of meeting: 22 February 2018
Date of next meeting: 5 June 2018
Location: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Minutes and papers for the February 2018 meeting of the Joint Housing Policy and Delivery Group (JHPDG) , held in Edinburgh.

Attendees and apologies

Members present:

Lesley Fraser Director for Housing and Social Justice, Scottish Government (JHPDG Co-Chair)
David Signorini Deputy Director, Better Homes Division, Scottish Government
Audrey MacDougall Head of Communities Analytical Services, Scottish Government
Brad Gilbert Head of Financial Innovation Unit, Scottish Government
Deborah Smith Deputy Director More Homes Division, Scottish Government
John McNairney Chief Planner, Planning & Architecture Division, Scottish Government
Tony Cain Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (Policy Manager)
Nicola Dickie COSLA
Jim MacDonald Architecture and Design Scotland
David Bookbinder Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Association (Director)
Matt Lowther NHS Health Scotland (subs)
Susie Fitton Independent Living in Scotland
Nicola Barclay Homes for Scotland (Chief Executive)
Hugh McClung Regional Network of Registered Tenants Organisations
George McGuinness Regional Network of Registered Tenants Organisations
Malcolm Fraser Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (Director of Halliday Fraser Munro Architects)
Archie Rintoul Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Scotland
Craig McLaren Royal Town Planning Institute (Director)
Ronnie MacRae Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust
Ken Ross Scottish Property Federation (Chief Executive, Ross Developments and Renewables)
Sally Thomas Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
Norman Kerr Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum
Peter Reekie Scottish Futures Trust
Michael Cameron Scottish Housing Regulator
Adam Lang Shelter Scotland (subs)
Sharon Donohoe Tenant Information Service (Director)

Others Attending:

Angela Constance MSP Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities
Kaliani Lyle Deputy Chair of the Poverty and Inequality Commission
Katherine Hudson Poverty and Inequality Commission
Mark Turley Scottish Government
Andrew Fraser Scottish Government
Lorna Gibbs work-shadowing the Director for Housing and Social Justice
Andrew Mott Scottish Government (Secretariat)
Niall Davidson Scottish Government (Secretariat
Bethany Wilson Scottish Government (Secretariat)

Apologies:

Tom Barclay RICS (JHPDG Co-Chair)
John Marr UK Finance
Professor Ken Gibb Professor in Housing Economics, University of Glasgow
Caroline Elgar Scottish Association of Landlords
Graeme Brown Shelter Scotland (Director) (subs Adam Lang)
George Dodds NHS Health Scotland (subs Matt Lowther)
Peter Marshall Heads of Planning Scotland
Lori McElroy Existing Homes Alliance
Annie Mauger Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (Chief Executive)
Annette Finnan Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers

Items and actions

Introductions, apologies, declaration of conflicts of interest, minutes of previous meeting and matters arising

Paper: JHPDG 71

1. Lesley Fraser (LF) chairing the meeting, welcomed everyone to the eleventh meeting of the Joint Housing Policy and Delivery Group (JHPDG), and noted apologies and attendees as above. As JHPDG co-chair Tom Barclay was unable to be at the meeting, former subgroup chairs Nicola Barclay and Tony Cain took on a co-chairing role alongside LF.

2. Members were invited to declare any specific conflicts of interest which might arise in the course of discussions. No conflicts of interest were flagged by any members with regard to the 22 February meeting.

3. The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 23 November 2017, were agreed as read.

Forward Agendas

Paper: JHPDG 73

4. Andrew Mott briefly spoke to this paper, which put forward a proposed thematic schedule for future JHPDG meetings based on members’ suggestions and votes at the meeting on 23 November 2017.

5. He emphasised that the tentative schedule was not set in stone, and could be modified in the light of any current events which may arise.

6. Members were invited to submit any further comments or concerns regarding the proposals to the secretariat. (Action Point 1)

Housing’s contribution to tackling poverty and inequality Paper: JHPDG 74

7. Tony Cain (TC), former Housing Journey and Support Subgroup Chair, chaired this agenda item.

8. LF gave a brief overview work being taken forward across the Scottish public sector to meet statutory obligations to reduce child poverty rates in Scotland in relation to the Child Poverty Act 2017.

9. Kaliani Lyle and Katherine Hudson, of the Poverty and Inequality Commission, gave an overview of the Commission’s analysis and its recommendations for further housing action in relation to the Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

10. Members broke into four break-out groups to discuss the questions posed in Paper JHPDG 74:

How can we as the housing sector act together to reduce child poverty in Scotland?
What three key housing actions would we recommend to the Cabinet Secretary for inclusion in the Child Poverty Delivery Plan?

11. The Group welcomed the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, Angela Constance MSP. Representatives from each of the four break-out groups fed back to the Cabinet Secretary and the plenary group on the main points of their discussions. (A summary of these points will be made available on the Knowledge Hub and the Scottish Government website and provided as an information paper for the next meeting.)

12. Ms Constance set out her thoughts and reflections in response to the discussion points shared by the groups.

13. She thanked members for their contributions, and reiterated how much Ministers value the work of the JHPDG.

14. She made it clear that Scottish Ministers are committed to the reduction of child poverty, and acknowledged that there is work to be done in the face of predictions that child poverty will rise in coming years.

15. She recognised the need to look at what works best, but also to remember the people behind the statistics.

16. She acknowledged the potential of the housing sector to contribute to ending child poverty.

17. She stressed the importance of collaboration between different bodies, and of working at a regional level to take account of local economic differences.

Update on evolution of group: outcomes and working groups

18. Andrew Mott (AM) briefly updated the group on process with this. He and the two former subgroup chairs will meet before the June meeting to finalise this work.

19. Members are invited to email in any further views on this to the Secretariat. (Action Point 2)

Value for money

20. Nicola Barclay, former Home and Place Subgroup Chair, chaired this agenda item.

21. Brad Gilbert (BG) and Mark Turley (MT) updated the JHPDG on the ‘Achieving Excellence in Housing Development’ programme.

22. MT asked the Group four questions:

Has the Scottish Government got the first four projects in this programme right?
Is there a need to look at wider transformation of the construction industry?
Does the industry have the appetite for transformation?
What next?

23. Points raised by JHPDG members during the plenary discussion included:

Compared with traditional approach to VFM - how best to define, measure, evidence and present social value in a way that is proportionate and tangible.
Need to agree on definition of quality of affordable homes and customer opinion should be central in that.
Need an agreed way of measuring performance and quality moving forward so that the sector can focus on continuous improvement and also so that there is the strongest possible case for future investment in affordable housing.
The importance of building a good evidence base and utilising work already available e.g. Kingdom Housing analysis.
Opportunities for Housing Associations and Local Authorities to do more on joint procurement to achieve better value for money; opportunities for houses to be built to be flexible to accommodate changing needs.
Importance and opportunities with modern methods of construction.
Need to share learning across disciplines with centres for excellence; importance of investing in performance, skills and knowledge.
Consider levers for driving change i.e. strategic commissioning roles.
How do we ensure we get investment to scale-up off-site capacity?
While considering procurement at scale/standardisation also important to ensure diversity with creativity and flexibility of smaller scale.
Scope to look at scheme like HIF to drive standards/ land ownership.