The Cabinet made a number of decisions on funding the acquisition of new homes, plans to make the council's housing company dormant, and adopting the recommendations of a scrutiny review into the draft Inclusive Growth and Economy Framework.

Increasing Temporary and Settled Accommodation Supply

The Cabinet agreed to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) in order to secure £6.57 million from the third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund. The fund will be used to acquire a minimum of 28 homes. 23 of them will be used for temporary accommodation, and 5 will be used to permanently house refugee families. A total of £1.62 million of the grant funding will be used to refurbish existing council homes. The Council will borrow £4.11 million from the General Fund and £787,500 from the Housing Revenue Account to cover the rest of the cost of the acquisitions. The final details of the acquisitions will be decided by the council's Commercial Director, Property and Delivery in consultation with the Corporate Director of Governance and Law. The funding allocation between acquisition and refurbishment will be decided by the Strategic Director of Resources in consultation with the Strategic Director of Place. Finally, the Corporate Director of Housing will decide on the most appropriate method of letting the new homes, including whether to use fixed-term tenancies.

During the discussion of the report, Councillor Ahsan Khan said that he was pleased with the award, as it would help the council to meet its obligations to house refugee households under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Councillor Grace Williams highlighted the importance of remaining alert to the possible consequences of the Renters (Reform) Bill.

Sixty Bricks Dormancy

The Cabinet noted the contents of a report on the process of making the council's housing company, Sixty Bricks, dormant. Sixty Bricks will be registered as dormant with Companies House once the company's financial closure is complete in Autumn 2024.

The company will cease to trade with £1 million in cash. This will be returned to the council as a dividend and held in a reserve to offset any future costs associated with its pipeline of development projects. The day-to-day management of Sixty Bricks will be undertaken by the council's Corporate Director of Capital Strategy and Portfolio Management and the Corporate Director of Financial Services until the company is formally dissolved.

Councillor Williams took the opportunity to thank the Sixty Bricks Directors and staff for their work.

Inclusive Growth and Economy Framework

The Cabinet agreed to adopt all but two of the recommendations made by the Growth Scrutiny Committee as part of their review into the council's Inclusive Growth and Economy Framework. The Growth Scrutiny Committee was interested in exploring ways that the council could use the framework to address inequalities in the borough.

The adopted recommendations included:

• Working with residents and the Voluntary and Community Sector to co-design support to overcome barriers to economic participation.
• Providing education on financial literacy.
• Focusing on the wellbeing of residents.
• Utilising the new University of Portsmouth campus in the borough to encourage young people into higher education.
• Using planning powers, underused buildings and skills programmes to support the provision of free childcare for 2 year olds.
• Encouraging employers to pay the London Living Wage.
• Supporting people to enter sectors that are experiencing skills shortages.

The scrutiny committee recommended that a group of councillors be established to oversee the development and implementation of the strategy, but the cabinet decided that this work would be overseen by the new Housing and Inclusive Economy Scrutiny Committee and Portfolio Lead Member for Inclusive Economy. They also amended a recommendation calling for a closer working relationship between the council and the voluntary sector to specify that this work should be focused on the inclusive economy.

Councillor Naheed Asghar highlighted that the recommendations would provide support and increased opportunities for residents. Councillor Williams emphasised the importance of resident access to good quality jobs.