Andrew returns to frontbench

I am proud to have been appointed Chairman of the Housing and Estate Renewal Committee in the new Conservative Administration

I am also returning to the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee and to the regulatory Planning Committee

 

At last night's Annual Meeting of Basildon Borough Council, held at the Basildon Sporting Village due to the ongoing Covid restrictions, the Conservative Group formally took back Administration. I have been reappointed to the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee, which I served upon briefly before in 2019/20, and I have also been reappointed Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee under my colleague Cllr Carole Morris. I previously served on Planning for four years, 2014 to 2018, including two years as vice-chairman under Carole, so it's very much a case of 'putting the band back together'.

I am, of course, hugely honoured and daunted to be chairing the new Housing and Estate Renewal Committee. I take up the position with some trepidation but with the words of the recent Social Housing White Paper ringing in my ears; the Secretary of State, in his foreword, said: “I want tenants to feel protected and empowered by a regulatory regime and a culture of transparency, accountability, decency and service befitting of the best intentions and traditions of social housing in this country.”

"Basildon has a long and distinguished history of strong tenant and leaseholder engagement." 

This Government’s Charter for Social Housing Residents sets out what every social housing tenant should expect from their landlord. Basildon has a long and distinguished history of strong tenant and leaseholder engagement. I intend to make sure this is not only continued but strengthened through a new Tenant Engagement Strategy, ensuring residents are treated with respect and that we truly listen to their concerns and act upon them promptly and I look forward to meeting with the Tenant and Leaseholder reps’ at an early opportunity to discuss with them things like repairs, building safety, neighbourhood management and tackling anti-social behaviour.

This Administration continues to be committed to providing Basildon homes for Basildon people, either through the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) or Sempra Homes, the Council's wholly-owned company. It is a national scandal that France and Germany have higher rates of home-ownership among the under 40s. We are the Party of Margaret Thatcher and Harold Macmillan and, through Sempra, we will support local people to take their first steps to home ownership and give young people a share in the future. Through our HRA House Build Programme, we will also continue to increase the supply of new social housing to meet the demands of our Homeseekers’ Register.

"This Administration continues to be committed to providing Basildon homes for Basildon people..."

This Administration will invest in our existing stock to ensure our homes are of a good standard, fully meeting the new Building Safety regulations. We also made a commitment in our Alternative Budget earlier this year that we would invest in making our homes sustainable, supporting the wider Net Zero Carbon agenda. This is something we will now follow through.

Last year was an appallingly difficult year for many people, not least for our housing tenants, many of whom lost their income and have struggled to pay their rent and other bills; not helped, I feel bound to say, by the above-inflation rises in social rents imposed by the outgoing Administration. Moving forward, this Conservative Administration will continue to focus on prevention and early intervention in dealing with rent arrears and, working with partners, we will ensure all residents have access to appropriate financial support and debt advice and we will restrain future rent increases.

"These are their estates and the people’s priorities will guide us in everything we do."

Finally, my absolute top priority will be the renewal of our estates. There was a time, some of you may recall, when we used to hear a lot about the ‘Forgotten Estates’ from Labour councillors (until they were in power and then we didn’t anymore). Well, we have not forgotten our estates and we will be investing in our estates through an Estate Renewal Programme, which will address wider environmental issues and improve the quality of life for our residents. This programme will be delivered in full consultation with our residents, to ensure it meets their priorities and deals with the issues that matter most to them. These are their estates and the people’s priorities will guide us in everything we do.

It's going to be a busy year but I am very excited to get cracking. I am grateful to Cllr Kevin Wingfield, an old friend and newly-elected councillor for Laindon Park, for agreeing to assist me as my vice-chairman and also to his ward colleague, Cllr Jeff Henry, and Cllr Phil Turner, a former Leader of the Council and a former Cabinet Member for Housing, who was instrumental in the creation of Sempra. I look forward to working with them and will work constructively with whomever fills the Opposition spots on the committee to ensure that Basildon Council does indeed provide Housing Services befitting the best intentions and traditions of social housing in this country.