Sarah Robinson
Council: Fareham
Committees:
Activity Timeline
Meetings Attended Note this may include planned future meetings.
52 meetings · Page 1 of 11
Appointments Sub-Committee - Wednesday, 17th September, 2025 9.00 am
7 attendees, 2 documents, 0 media files
Appointments Sub-Committee - Friday, 12th September, 2025 11.00 am
7 attendees, 8 documents, 0 media files
Audit and Governance Committee - Thursday, 31st July, 2025 6.00 pm
to 22 July 2025, Council - Thursday, 24th July, 2025 6.00 pm,
Decisions from Meetings
74 decisions · Page 4 of 15
The Draft Fareham Housing Tenant Alterations and Improvements Policy - Adoption
From: from 12/05/25, Executive - Tuesday, 20th May, 2025 6.00 pm, - May 20, 2025
To seek Executive approval for the Draft Fareham Housing Tenant Alterations and Improvements Policy for adoption. Under section 97 of the Housing Act 1985, as amended, all eligible tenants have the right to make alterations or improvements to their homes. While tenants must have the permission of the landlord to carry out any such alterations or improvements, the law also stipulates that this permission cannot be ‘unreasonably withheld’. The draft Fareham Housing Alterations policy provides comprehensive information on the alterations process, background and relevant legislation. This document updates the information on our website and brings it together in a single policy. At its meeting on 9 January 2025, the Housing Scrutiny Panel approved the document to go to Executive with changes to the process chart in Appendix C to improve clarity. Following Executive agreement on 3 February 2025, the draft Tenant Alterations and Improvements policy was circulated for public consultation from 17 February to 31 March 2025.
Recommendations Approved
The Draft Fareham Housing Allocations Policy
From: from 12/05/25, Executive - Tuesday, 20th May, 2025 6.00 pm, - May 20, 2025
To seek Executive approval for the Draft Fareham Housing Allocations Policy to go forward for a period of public consultation. Under Part VI of the 1996 Housing Act, all Local Authorities must have an allocations policy outlining how priorities are determined and the procedure to be followed when allocating accommodation. The Draft Fareham Housing Allocations Policy (the Policy) provides comprehensive information regarding eligibility and the allocations process, the background and the relevant legislation. This includes the most up to date position from Government on the Allocation of Social Housing within England. An ‘easy read’ version and process chart have also now been produced as part of our compliance with the Transparency, Infludence and Accountability standard set by the Regulator of Social Housing. This updates the information already outlined on the Council’s webpages. A period of 6 weeks public consultation will be undertaken on the draft policy before it returns to the Executive for formal adoption. A period of 6 weeks public a consultation will be undertaken on the draft policy before it returns to Executive for formal adoption. At its meeting on 3 April 2025, the Housing Scrutiny Panel considered the Policy and a number of comments and suggestions were made. In the main these were regarding the future impact of the policy on the waiting list and how the Policy compared to other local authorities. Clarification on these points was provided at the meeting. Members were also pleased to see a greater focus on inclusion and suggested some minor formatting improvements. Further details are outlined in the report.
Deleted
Hampshire and the Solent Devolution MHCLG Consultation - Council response
From: Executive - Tuesday, 1st April, 2025 6.00 pm - April 01, 2025
To consider the Council’s response to the Government consultation regarding devolution proposals for Hampshire and the Solent. Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton Councils applied to join the Devolution Priority Programme to establish a Mayoral Combined County Authority across these areas. On 5 February 2025, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) confirmed Hampshire and the Solent was one of six regions across England that has been accepted onto the programme. A public consultation on the establishment of a Mayoral Combined County Authority in the area is the first key step of the Devolution Priority Programme; the consultation is led by the MHCLG and is required before taking a decision on whether to proceed with the making of the necessary legislation to enable devolution. It seeks views on the Proposed Geography, Governance Arrangements, Supporting the Economy, Improving Social Outcomes, Local Government Services, Improving the local natural environment, and Supporting the needs of the local communities and reflect local identity. The eight-week consultation, launched on 17 February 2025, seeks views from interested, including those who live and work in the area, on a proposal to form a Mayoral Combined County Authority (MCCA) for the local government areas in Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council, Isle of Wight Council and Southampton City Council. As a non-constituent body, Fareham Borough Council does not have a direct role in the creation of the MCCA, but nonetheless recognises the significant potential that the devolution arrangements could have for the borough. Consequently, it is appropriate for the Council to submit a consultation response to the Government in order to shape the development of the MCCA with a view to achieving the best outcomes for Fareham and the County as a whole. The draft response is attached as Appendix A to the report and reflects the Council’s position that devolution is broadly and widely supported. There are, however, aspects of the proposals where the Council believes that Governance and local representation could be strengthened, and this is reflected in the draft response.
Recommendations Approved
Fareham Housing Disposal of 29 Cottes Way, Hill Head - Variation to previous agreement for a tenure change at the property
From: Executive - Tuesday, 1st April, 2025 6.00 pm - April 01, 2025
The Executive is requested to approve the variation of a previous decision regarding 29 Cottes Way, Hill Head from a change of tenure to disposal of the property. In November 2024, the Executive approved the change of tenure of 29 Cottes Way from a rented to a Shared Ownership property. Following the decision, officers engaged with multiple teams across the Council to deliver this. As part of that work, a more in-depth assessment of the proposal has been completed, having regard to the property condition and the shared ownership market. This thorough assessment of the property and market conditions concluded that there is a stronger business case to dispose of the property. Further detailed reasoning is provided in confidential Appendix A to the report.
Recommendations Approved
Unreasonable Complainant Behaviour Policy Update
From: Executive - Tuesday, 1st April, 2025 6.00 pm - April 01, 2025
The report provides an updated Unreasonable Complainant Behaviour policy and proposes a centrally managed process for the very small occasions when the Council implements this policy. The Council’s complaints policy explains how customers can make a complaint and the procedure that will be followed. A consistent approach to handling complaints came into effect on 01 April 2024 in line with the obligation on the Council to follow a two-stage process set out in the Housing Ombudsman Code of Complaint Handling, mirrored in the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s draft Complaint Handling Code. Whilst the Council is committed to dealing with all complaints fairly, on occasion, our employees have to deal with unreasonable, persistent or vexatious behaviour from customers. On these, fortunately rare, occasions this behaviour can take up a lot of officer time. The LGSCO provides guidance to help authorities and other bodies within their jurisdiction to develop a proportionate approach when responding to unreasonable complaint behaviour, based on their view of good practice in dealing with these customers. The Council’s updated policy is presented for approval. Changes include the introduction of a managed approach when considering applying this policy and to managing the process for review after it has been applied.
Recommendations Approved
Summary
Meetings Attended: 52
Average per Month: 2.6
Decisions Recorded: 74