The Borough Residents' Forum was scheduled to discuss the Cleaner Borough Plan, and to receive an interim report from the Social Housing Improvement Task and Finish Group. The forum was also scheduled to confirm the minutes of their previous meeting.

Cleaner Borough Plan

The forum was asked to consider and comment on the Cleaner Borough Plan – Pride in our estates, which was due to be considered by the cabinet on 1 December 2025. The plan set out a range of measures to improve waste and recycling management across the borough, particularly on council housing estates.

According to the report, a package of actions agreed in December 2023 had already resulted in:

• Installation of just under 1,000 new bins and 200 new bin enclosures
• The waste collection contractor, Serco, collecting recycling 'side loads' from council estates
• Reviewing and changing bin locations
• Introducing new recycling and refuse signage

These actions were undertaken alongside boroughwide action to deliver the Cleaner Borough Plan, which included weekly waste collections, expanded Mega Skip provision, free bulky waste collections and increased street cleansing. According to the report, these improvements had resulted in increased recycling rates, waste disposal savings of £1.3 million and a reduction in fly tipping.

The report stated that a further phase of actions was proposed, which would ensure that residents benefit from the services in place and that targeted action is taken on fly tipping.

The report recommended that the cabinet note the content of the report, and approve budget variations including a Housing Revenue Account¹ capital budget variation totalling £1.7 million.

The forum was also provided with the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee paper Cleaner Borough Phase 2 Update, which provided an update on work to improve waste management on directly managed estates. According to the update, a survey of residents on the William Willison estate indicated that satisfaction with rubbish and recycling collection had increased, but satisfaction with efforts to tackle fly-tipping and littering had decreased.

The update stated that in addition to the William Willison estate, nine further estates were prioritised for improvements:

• Doddington estate
• Rollo estate
• Winstanley estate
• Alton estate
• Aldrington Road
• Wendelsworth estate
• Fitzhugh Grove
• Ashburton estate
• Lennox estate

Assessments of those estates were completed, and numerous bins, primarily for recycling, were replaced or had extra capacity added.

The update stated that it was proposed to install approximately 125 bin enclosures across the priority estates, but that the value for money achieved through the procurement process, and additional funding via the Alton Renewal Programme, had allowed over 200 enclosures to be installed to date across the priority estates, with a further 100 on order.

The update also stated that food waste bins are now in place across all council housing estates, and that it was proposed to wash the food waste bins between 6 and 10 times per year, depending on usage and need.

Social Housing Improvement Task and Finish Group Interim Report

The forum was scheduled to receive an interim report from the Social Housing Improvement Task and Finish Group, which was established to follow the C3 grading by the Regulator of Social Housing following their inspection in late 2024 and the publication of their findings in February 2025.

The group's objectives are to monitor and scrutinise improvement actions in relation to the Regulator of Social Housing Inspection Report and the council's engagement with the Housing Ombudsman and the Building Safety Regulator, as well as feedback received through resident engagement structures.

The report stated that the areas for consideration as part of the review would involve scrutiny of the adequacy and ambition of the Housing Department's Improvement Plan in response to the C3 grading. The review would also include identifying measures and milestones towards the achievement of a higher grading, with a focus on:

• Plans for stock condition surveys
• The performance of the electrical safety check programme
• Performance in relation to fire remedial actions
• Plans for informal residential engagement
• Tracking performance in relation to repairs

According to the report, the group had held two meetings so far, and had discussed the Housing Improvement Plan, stock condition surveys, resident engagement, the Housing Ombudsman and Building Safety Regulator, and electrical safety checks and fire remedial actions.