The Cabinet of South Holland Council were scheduled to discuss a range of topics at their meeting on 8 July 2025, including preparations for Awaab's Law¹, an anti-social behaviour framework, tenant satisfaction, a regeneration plan for Spalding, and a finance update.

Plan for Neighbourhoods

The Cabinet were scheduled to consider a report regarding the Plan for Neighbourhoods, formerly known as the Long Term Plan for Towns, for Spalding. The report requested that the Cabinet approve and delegate to the Director of Economic Development the release and expenditure of allocated capacity funding provided by MHCLG² to develop a new Regeneration Plan submission for Spalding.

Spalding was selected to receive funding through the Long-Term Plan for Towns programme, with £2 million per year for 10 years to be invested in the town. The Minister for Local Growth suspended the deadline for submitting Long Term Plans, and the Budget Statement on 30 August 2024 confirmed that Long Term Plans would be retained and reformed into a new regeneration programme.

The new prospectus has amended the focus of the previous programme to prioritise three key themes:

• Thriving Places: Revitalising local areas with better amenities and high-quality infrastructure
• Stronger Communities: Rebuilding relationships and fostering a sense of belonging
• Taking Back Control: Empowering local people to shape their community's future

The report stated that the Council is required to have submitted and agreed a 10-year vision and initial 4-year investment plan for Spalding by 28 November 2025. The total funding allocation is up to £20 million of new investment over a ten-year delivery period. A separate capacity funding revenue pot has also been made available to enable local areas to embed the necessary governance structures and build local capability.

The report stated that all funding is to be managed through South Holland District Council as the accountable body. A local Town Board will work in partnership with the Council co-producing the Regeneration Plan working with the local community.

The Council has received £250,000 in capacity funding to support the development of a new regeneration vision and investment plan for Spalding. MHCLG confirmed a further capacity fund payment of £200,000 would be made to the Council within the current financial year. A further allocation of £150,000 of capacity funding is anticipated in Year One of the delivery programme (FY26/27). This will create a total budget of £600,000.

The intended allocation of capacity funding is:

• £60,000 for Spalding Christmas Lights 2024
• £50,000 for work undertaken as part of 2024 Long Term Plan submission
• £170,000 to deliver engagement, consultation, events, capacity building, project development and other related activities
• £70,000 to develop the Regeneration Plan and Investment Plan for Spalding
• £20,000 match funding contribution to help secure Spalding Gentlemen's Society's grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop plans for expanding its Broad Street museum.
• £80,000 for the delivery of a hot spot policing pilot with Lincolnshire Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Spalding town centre.

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Framework for the Housing Landlord Service

The Cabinet were scheduled to consider a report asking them to adopt the ASB Framework 2025-2027.

The report stated that the Council is the largest provider of social housing in the district and plays a vital role in ensuring that estates and neighbourhoods are safe, inclusive, and welcoming for all residents. The Housing Landlord Service must continue to strengthen its approach to preventing and addressing anti-social behaviour (ASB), with a focus on early intervention and community-based solutions.

The introduction of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 brought forward new Consumer Standards, including the Neighbourhood and Community Standard. This standard requires registered providers to work collaboratively with local authority departments, the police, and other relevant agencies to deter and tackle ASB and hate incidents in the areas where they provide housing.

The Council commissioned an external Consumer Regulation Health Check in 2023, which identified several areas for improvement in the Council's approach to ASB, including case management, investigation processes, and the working relationship between the Housing Landlord Service and the Community Safety Team. These recommendations have been incorporated into the Housing Transformation and Service Improvement Programme.

The Regulator of Social Housing and the Housing Ombudsman Service have both strengthened their oversight and enforcement activity in response to landlord failings, particularly in relation to ASB.

The proposed ASB Framework reflects the learning from these reports and demonstrates the Council's commitment to a risk-based, victim-centred approach that meets regulatory expectations.

The framework is built on four priorities:

• Prevention and Early Intervention
• Working Together
• Risk Management and Victim Support
• Putting Tenants First

Formal tenant consultation was held between 23 April 2025 and 8 June 2025. The feedback demonstrated strong overall support for the framework's clarity, priorities, and approach to tackling anti-social behaviour. Notably, 91% of respondents found the framework easy to understand, and 94% agreed it clearly explained what ASB is and how to report it.

Preparedness for Awaab's Law

The Cabinet were scheduled to be informed of the requirements and timeline of Awaab's Law and how the Housing Landlord Service is preparing for the change in legislation.

In 2022, a coroner determined the death of a child as a direct result of exposure to mould in their housing association home. In December 2022, the Regulator of Social Housing required all large social landlords to submit data on the extent of damp and mould in the homes they manage and how they are tackling this issue.

In March 2024, Cabinet adopted a Housing Damp, Condensation and Mould policy focussed on the learnings from the death of Awaab Ishak and recommendations of the Spotlight Report on Damp and Mould.

In January 2024, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities consulted on the implementation of Awaab's Law, which requires social landlords to investigate and address reported health hazards within specified timeframes.

MHLCG published a phased implementation timeline for Awaab's Law:

• October 2025: address damp and mould hazards that present a significant risk of harm to tenants within fixed timescales and address all emergency repairs as soon as possible and within no longer than 24 hours.
• In 2026: Requirements will expand to apply to a wider range of hazards such as excess cold and excess heat; falls; structural collapse; fire, electrical and explosions; and hygiene hazards.
• In 2027: Full implementation covering all hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating Scheme³ (HHSRS), excluding overcrowding.

The Council currently provides an emergency response to a repair where the hazard would:

• Put people in danger
• Make the property unsafe
• Cause damage to the property that is costly to repair
• Make existing damage worse
• Create unreasonable risk, suffering or difficulty.

During 2024/25, the Council responded to 671 emergency repairs.

At present, the organisation does not include damp, condensation and mould (DCM) in the unreasonable risk, suffering or difficulty definition of an emergency repair. In accordance with Awaab's law, the Council's definition and strategy for addressing emergency repairs must include issues related to dampness, condensation, and mould.

Officers are exploring options for provisions to be made within the Housing Repairs Service to encompass emergency cases of DCM into the emergency repairs response. The following steps are being taken towards being compliant with Awaab's Law:

• Discussions with the out of hours service provider to triage reports of DCM (over the telephone) and escalate emergency cases to on-call Repairs Operatives.
• Revisions to internal procedures followed by the Housing Repairs Team to encompass DCM into the emergency repairs response.
• Discussions with the Homelessness Reduction Manager to incorporate emergency cases of DCM into their decant procedure.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures 2024/25

The Cabinet were scheduled to receive an update of the 2024/2025 Tenant Satisfaction Measure outcomes.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard requires all Registered Providers of social housing to collect and report annually on their performance using a core set of defined measures known as Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). Introduced for 2023/24, the TSMs must meet requirements set by the Regulator of Social Housing.

The Measures provide tenants with greater transparency about their landlord's performance and support the Regulator in assessing a Registered Providers' ability to deliver a housing service that meets the consumer standards.

TSMs consist of 22 performance measures, covering five themes. Ten of these are measured by landlords directly, and 12 will be captured through Tenant Perception Surveys. The performance measures, including the survey questions, are prescribed by the Regulator and cannot be deviated from.

ARP Research completed the Tenant Perception Surveys on behalf of the Council in accordance with the Regulator's requirements during 2024. As per the Regulator's stipulations, 522 households were surveyed by telephone. In addition, 28 tenants with a preferred contact method of written communication were sent a paper copy, 2 of whom returned it.

74% of tenants surveyed were satisfied with the overall service received from the Council. 86% of respondents felt safe in their homes and 83% of tenants felt the Council treat tenants fairly and with respect.

Tenant perceptions of the Council's management of anti-social behaviour cases has increased from 50% for 2023/2024 to 69% of tenants reporting satisfaction with the Council's approach to complaints of anti-social behaviour.

The remaining ten TSMs report on the Council's performance in anti-social behaviour, complaints handling, repairs and maintenance, and the health and safety of homes.

Officers are pleased to report that performance for gas safety checks, fire risk assessments, asbestos management surveys, legionella risk assessments and communal passenger lift checks was 100%.

For 2024-2025 the Council is reporting 1.6% of properties are consider non-decent compared to 2.5% for 2023-2024.

Complaint handling performance has improved drastically from 48.65% to 95.45%, with 94.84%% of stage one complaints responded to within Housing Ombudsman Service timescales, 100% of Stage 2 complaints have been responded to within the timescales.

ASB Cases have fallen slightly from 29.0 cases opened per 1000 properties to 26.85 for 2024/2025 and same for Number of anti-social behaviour cases that involve hate incidents opened per 1,000 homes from 0.5 to 0.26.

Performance of responsive repairs delivered within target has remained consistent with a return 91.3% compared to 91.0% in the previous year.

4/25 Draft Outturn Finance Update

The Cabinet were scheduled to receive a report on the Council's Finances as at 31 March 2025.

At 31 March 2025, the general fund draft outturn position was an underspend of £317,000. Budget pressures experienced by the services, largely a result of the inflationary environment and outstanding efficiencies targets, were offset by additional investment income earned due to high interest rates.

The total General Fund Capital Programme for 2024/25 was £6.116m, actual capital expenditure for Q4 2024/25 is £4.829m.

The HRA revenue outturn position as at 31 March 2025 was a net surplus of £13,000.

The total HRA Capital Programme for 2024/25 is £21.851m with actual capital expenditure of £14.816m at 31 March 2025.

General Fund and Specific Reserves at 31 March 2025 had balances totalling £7.408m. The General Fund Reserve Balance remains at £2.078m.

HRA reserves are £15.198m as at 31 March 2025.

The Council's 2024/25 budget for investment income is £1.544m, the draft outturn position for investment income at Q4 is £1.990m.

The higher levels of investment income compared to the budget is due to increased balances available for investment resulting from an increased cashflow surplus and increased interest rates.