The Discretionary Housing Payments Review Advisory Panel was scheduled to consider three review requests regarding refusals to grant Discretionary Housing Payments. The meeting was also set to note any changes to the panel's membership and receive declarations of interest.

Review of Refusals to Grant Discretionary Housing Payments

The panel was scheduled to review three separate instances where Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) had been refused. These payments are a form of financial assistance provided by local councils to help people who are struggling to afford their rent, particularly those on housing benefit or Universal Credit who are still facing a shortfall. The report pack indicated that these reviews would involve information relating to individuals, meaning that the public and press would be excluded from this part of the meeting under the Local Government Act 1972. The specific details of each review request were contained within pages 5 to 128 of the public reports pack. The report pack recommended that the public and press be excluded from this item due to the likely disclosure of exempt information.

The panel members present were Councillor Barbara Arzymanow (Chair), Councillor Philip Stephenson-Oliver (Deputy Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration and Armed Forces Champion), and Councillor Hamza Taouzzale.