Agenda item - Update on the EDB review

63.1    Hilary Edgar introduced this report which confirmed that the EDB funding budget would need to be reduced and make the most of council resources, so that the scheme could become better managed with a greater clarity required on its rules.  She stated that the Task and Finish group was originally set up in July 2018 with four members from this Housing Area Panel West forming part of the group and the group has met seven times so far.  She confirmed that three main things had occurred: Firstly the reduction in the budget had not happened. Secondly that from 2020 repairs will be carried out in house and the EDB would also be carried taken over by the Council. Thirdly, the improvement budget was approved at £500K ( as stated in the table in Appendix B on p. 43 ) so that the maximum level of bids could  stay the same for at least a year.  She confirmed that the budget was divided into four areas and they want to ringfence the number of seniors who are bidding as well as making information available to residents earlier.  She confirmed that points 7 – 10 of the Report highlighted the importance of speeding up the processing, increase the value of quick bids and reduce the number of meetings. She also confirmed that they would like to introduce a community chest for revenue projects..

63.2    In reply to Roy Crowhurst – Chair’s question about the set up for seniors housing, Hilary replied that the sheltered housing action group meeting would try this new approach for one year and that the pricing still needed to be looked at.  She also confirmed that she had spoken to Peter Huntsback about how to price these bids and that they would be looking into this.

63.3    A Resident stated that this sounded like a good plan, but reminded residents that in the last area Panel there had been an issue of the underspend in the West Budget and they asked whether this overspend was going back into the overall budget for the whole of Brighton, rather than just the West area.  Hilary replied that the issue of how the budget was split between the areas was being reviewed, but that there had not been any change to this and that the Task and Finish  group is where this decision would be made, since this money would currently meet the needs of a wider group of people.  A resident also confirmed that the underspend had not be confirmed until all the area meetings had taken place and that they felt it should not be shared as other areas did not understand the requirements of this area. 

63.4    Roy Crowhurst – Chair stated that people should not put in spurious bids just because the money is available. He stated that over the next two years the budget would  remain the same, but from 2021 onwards there would be a dramatic cut with £200K shared between all four areas and there would therefore be no underspend in that year.  He added that a lot of residents did not apply for quick bids and that was the reason for the underspend.  Hilary replied that it was a political decision and that the size of the budget may change after the election. A resident then added that they felt it was more important to sort the underspend this year and that regarding point D on page 25 – that Central want an increase in the share, they asked where this left the other Housing Area Panel.  Hilary Edgar replied that this was likely to happen in the future.

63.5    Hilary stated that she was almost certain that an EDB voting panel was not required, but that the annual meeting would still take place ,but would not be filmed this year. 

63.6    A resident stated that there was a concern at the last Residents Meeting that people did not know how to apply for an EDB bid and Hilary confirmed that Pat Lidell had put in a lot of work helping residents in doing this. A resident also queried that bids for fencing, since they understood that the council did have a fencing budget for certain areas and surely it was the  Council’s responsibility to check who would  pay for this repair.  Hilary replied that there was a new fencing policy that people could apply for and that work would be done in assisting people with their bid over the next couple of months.

63.7    RESOLVED: That the panel agreed to note the report.