Agenda and minutes

None.

All items were considered in public.

Petitioners did not attend the meeting, therefore, the Cabinet Member made a decision in their absence.

At the start of the meeting, the Cabinet Member confirmed that all reasonable attempts had been made to contact the petitioner including a series of emails and telephone calls and no response had been received.

Councillor Corthorne informed those present, that the report set out the actions taken by the London Borough of Hillingdon and where the petition referred to the Notting Hill Housing Association, comments would be limited to those taken by the London Borough of Hillingdon only.

Councillor George Cooper attended as a Ward Councillor in objection to the petition and made the following points:

• The Council had gone beyond the requested level of duty to try and resolve the matter.
• All parties had been successfully re-housed, although some families had been allocated temporary accommodation only.

Neil Stubbings, Head of Housing provided an update on those affected. He explained that of the 22 families not permanently re-housed, 7 were in bed and breakfast accommodation and of these, 3 were under offer for permanent accommodation. At present, only 4 families remained in need for permanent accommodation.

Councillor Philip Corthorne thanked the Ward Councillor for his contribution and also the Head of Housing for the Department’s work on resolving the matter as speedily as possible. Commenting further, he explained that it was currently a very challenging environment in which to find housing and while it might be preferable to use social lettings for the security of tenure and rent levels they offered, it was sometimes necessary to meet housing needs through the use of accommodation from the Private Rented Sector.

In view of the above discussions, the Cabinet Member moved the Officers recommendations contained within the report.

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet Member:

a)     Advises the lead petitioner that the Council does have a process in place to assist tenants when their private sector tenancy is ended.

b)     Advises the lead petitioner of the additional measures the Council employed to assist with these cases.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

Council has discharged its statutory responsibility to assist all families affected by the mass eviction from RAF Uxbridge. It has also exceeded its statutory duty by offering enhanced incentives to increase the availability of properties. This was a one off incentive above and beyond the Council’s normal processes to offer the best possible likelihood that the Council were able to re-house all the affected families during and after this eviction.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

None.