Publication - Minutes

Joint Housing Policy and Delivery Group meeting: June 2018

Published: 29 November 2018
Date of meeting: 5 June 2018
Location: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh

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

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

Paper: JHPDG 75

Tom Barclay (TB) chairing, welcomed everyone to the twelfth meeting of the Joint Housing Policy and Delivery Group (JHPDG), and noted apologies and attendees as above.
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 5 June meeting.
The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 22 February 2018, were agreed as read.

Future of supply

Paper: JHPDG 76

TB welcomed Andrew Mott (AM), Head of Housing Markets, Strategy and North Programmes, to update the JHPDG on the Scottish Government’s approach beyond 2021 and the future of housing supply.
AM gave a brief presentation (available on the Scottish Government website) and introduced paper JHPDG 76, setting out the current housing supply context, and briefly providing a summary of current government interventions.
The Group welcomed the Minister for Local Government & Housing, Kevin Stewart MSP, who joined members in break-out groups to discuss members’ views on actual or potential benefits of government intervention in the housing market in terms of the four Housing and Regeneration outcomes:

A well-functioning housing system
High quality, sustainable homes
Homes that meet people’s needs
Sustainable communities

Representatives from each of the four break-out groups fed back to the Minister and the plenary group on the main points of their discussions. (A summary of these points is available on the Scottish Government website and will be circulated as an information paper for the next meeting).
The Minister for Local Government & Housing set out his thoughts and reflections in response to the discussion points shared by the groups. He picked out the importance of the following as themes for future work, by way of examples:

working towards the same standards across all tenures over time
housing's contribution to the economy and the need to respond to an evolving economy
off-site construction and building Scotland's supply chain
intergenerational living and adaptations / adaptable homes
making good use of our town centres / town centre living
tackling empty homes
facilitating older people in down-sizing, where it was right for them
tackling vacant and derelict land; and
making best use of all the available data on what people want and need.

He thanked members for their contributions, and emphasised the importance the Scottish Government placed on delivery of the right homes in the right places, and homes which met people’s needs.

Update on evolution of group: outcomes and working groups, and 2017/18 Annual Report

Niall Davidson briefly updated the Group on the draft refresh of the JHPDG outcomes (a result of discussions with the JHPDG subgroups before they were wound up) and the alignment of the outcomes to various existing working groups. Members were invited to comment on this during the break.
A copy of the draft paper on the evolution and alignment of the JHPDG outcomes would be circulated to members for comment after the meeting. (Action Point 1)

Homelessness (revisited)

TB welcomed David Signorini who updated the group on the work the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group had completed to date.
TB welcomed Dr Lígia Teixeira who gave a presentation the work of the Centre for Homelessness Impact in improving evidence and data, and the potential for a case management system for homelessness. She asked members’ views on what should be prioritised as part of this project.
As part of the plenary discussion, David Signorini also asked for members’ views on:

What are the barriers that JHPDG members see to transforming how homelessness is dealt with?
What are the practical suggestions for what is needed to make this new way of working work?

Many members broadly welcomed the HARSAG recommendations, and the work to develop a coherent strategy. Points raised included:

Potential issues around funding rapid response support services for homelessness at local authority level, as well as working in partnership with other agencies in cases with additional complex needs
That the issues in urban and rural areas can be quiet different, and that more training and a coherent package of support may be required
A concern that frontline workers have had to work with a lot of legislative and regulatory changes over the past few years, and that more investment in the workforce may be needed to support further change.
The importance of getting it right for everyone with a housing need, not just people experiencing homelessness and not just rough sleepers.
The possibility that further legislation may be required, placing prevention duties across public bodies.

Scottish Government Strategic Update

Lesley Fraser updated the Group on Scottish Government Strategic Developments.

Any other business

There was no other business brought forward.
TB reminded the group of the Scottish Housing Day taking place on 19 September.
Members were invited to submit any further suggestions for issues to be discussed in future plenary meetings to the secretariat, as well as any venue feedback or suggestions. (Action Points 2 & 3)
Date of next meeting: 7 November 2018 (morning).

Scottish Government

July 2018

Attendees and apologies

Lesley Fraser

Director for Housing and Social Justice, Scottish Government (JHPDG Co-Chair)

Tom Barclay

RICS (JHPDG Co-Chair)

David Signorini

Deputy Director, Better Homes Division, Scottish Government

Deborah Smith

Deputy Director More Homes Division, Scottish Government

Audrey MacDougall

Deputy Director Communities Analysis Division, Scottish Government

John McNairney

Chief Planner, Planning & Architecture Division, Scottish Government

Annette Finnan

Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers

Tony Cain

Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (Policy Manager)

Nicola Dickie

CoSLA

Annie Mauger

Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (Chief Executive)

David Bookbinder

Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Association (Director)

Peter Marshall

Heads of Planning Scotland. (Strategy & Policy Manager – Planning & Regeneration, Perth & Kinross Council)

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

Derek Logie

Rural Housing Scotland

Sally Thomas

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations

Michael Cameron

Scottish Housing Regulator

Graeme Brown

Shelter Scotland (Director)

Lesley Baird

Tenant Participation Advisory Service

Professor Ken Gibb

Professor in Housing Economics, University of Glasgow

Others Attending:

Kevin Stewart MSP

Minister for Local Government and Housing

Cllr Elena Whitham

COSLA Community Wellbeing Spokesperson

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Director of the Centre for Homelessness Impact

Dave Russell

Centre for Homelessness Impact

Margaret Dymond

Regional Network of Registered Tenants Organisations (shadowing)

Hazel Bartels

Scottish Government

Graham Thomson

Scottish Government

Ruth Whatling

Scottish Government

Sarah Newton

Scottish Government

Andrew Mott

Scottish Government

Niall Davidson

Scottish Government (Secretariat)

Bethany Wilson

Scottish Government (Secretariat)

Jesse Knowles

Scottish Government (Secretariat)

Apologies:

Caroline Elgar

Scottish Association of Landlords

Nicky Lloyd

Scottish Solicitors’ Property Centres

Craig McLaren

Royal Town Planning Institute

Norman Kerr

Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum

Ed Monaghan

Construction Scotland

Lori McElroy

Existing Homes Alliance

Items and actions

Action Point 1: Secretariat to circulate a copy of the draft paper on the evolution and alignment of the JHPDG outcomes to members for comment after the meeting

Action Point 2: Members are invited to submit any further suggestions for issues to be discussed in future plenary meetings to the secretariat.

Action Point 3: Members are invited to submit any venue feedback or suggestions to the secretariat.