The Communities, Homes and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee met on Tuesday 15 April 2025 to review the operation of the Emergency Social Housing Allocation Policy, discuss budget monitoring reports, and examine performance data. The committee also received updates on scrutiny actions and explanations for any non-submitted reports.

Emergency Social Housing Allocation Update

The committee received a monitoring report on the Emergency Social Housing Allocations Policy, which served as the final assessment of this policy before the commencement of the new Allocations Policy on 2 March 2025. The report detailed the proportion of properties directly matched versus advertised, the banding of clients, and the number of matches by community connection area, property type, and landlord. It also outlined the proportion of direct matches that were successful, the number of clients who requested a review of an allocation, and those who refused an allocation without requesting a review. The data covered the period from April 2024 to February 2025.

Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report 2024/25

The committee reviewed the budget monitoring report for the Housing, Economic Development & Property, Place and Sustainability, and Leisure & Recreation Services as at 31 December 2024. Services within the committee's remit were forecasting a £119,000 overspend. The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was predicting an overspend of £1,565,000 for 2024/25. The capital programme showed a forecasted net spend of £64,714,000 against a working net budget of £73,199,000, resulting in a variance of -£8,485,000. Notable capital projects included an acceleration of £900,000 from the 2025/26 budget for the Market Street North development and a new award of £61,500 from the Welsh Government's Collections Management Capital Improvement Programme for storage improvements at Carmarthenshire Museum at Abergwili. The report also detailed the savings monitoring for 2024/25, indicating a £150,000 variance from the delivery target for managerial savings.

2024/25 Quarter 3 Performance Report

The committee examined the Quarter 3 performance report (01/04/24 - 31/12/24) relevant to its scrutiny. The report provided an update on progress against deliverables linked to the Corporate Strategy and Well-being Objectives. Overall performance showed that 81% of actions and measures were on target. However, several areas were noted as off target, including measures related to planning applications, the percentage of households prevented from becoming homeless, and the number of private sector empty properties returned to use. Actions related to the development of a new 10-year housing strategy were also reported as off target. Conversely, numerous actions and measures were reported as on target, particularly within the Planning, Housing, Economic Recovery and Growth, Leisure & Tourism, and Welsh Language & Culture themes.

Explanation for Non-Submission of Scrutiny Reports

An explanation was provided for the non-submission of the Pentre Awel Update Report. The chair agreed to a request from the responsible officer to defer the report to the November 2025 meeting. This deferral would allow for a report to be presented after the first phase of building has been handed back to the authority, enabling the committee to conduct a site visit.

Scrutiny Actions Update

The committee received an update on the progress made in relation to actions, requests, or referrals recorded during previous meetings. This report aimed to enable members to exercise their scrutiny role in monitoring performance. The update detailed the status of various actions, including discussions with the Health Board regarding the resourcing of the Adaptations Unit, the adoption of a new Adaptations Policy, and ongoing reporting on the operation of the New Social Housing Allocation Policy. A recommendation was made to add a report on Sheltered Housing Schemes for young people to the Forward Work Plan.