Minute of North of Scotland Regional Network 1
Meeting held on Friday, 5th March 2021 at 10.00 a.m.
via Zoom
Present:
Cameron Grant |
Acting Chair (from 10.09) |
CG |
Leonora Montgomery |
Secretary/Treasurer |
LHM |
Steve Byrne |
Committee Member |
SB |
Colin Stewart |
Committee Member |
CS |
Gerald Low |
Committee Member |
GL |
Alasdair Mackenzie |
Committee Member |
AM |
Tom O’Brien |
Committee Member |
TO |
Derek Wilkie |
Committee Member |
DW |
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In attendance
Susan McLellan |
Scottish Government |
SM |
Apologies:/Absent:
Bill Chapman |
Chair |
Absent |
Ruth Fraser |
Committee Member |
Absent |
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Other initials |
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Patricia Millar |
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PM |
Alice Bovill |
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AB |
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Item |
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Action |
1.
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Welcome, Apologies and Declarations of Interest LHM welcomed all to the Meeting. There were no apologies. Declarations of Interest – CS gave his for being on the SHR Board. |
LHM
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2.
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Minute of Meeting held on 8th January 2021 and Matters Arising This was proposed by CS and seconded by GL as an accurate record of the Meeting. Matters Arising – Item 4 – (From 20/11/20 and 8/1/21 Meetings) • PM had contacted LHM with an update on this for the Committee. PM had received SM’s letter and had written to both her and the TP Officer at Angus Council, refuting the untruths the latter had told SM re the contact – no reply has been received. PM has now drawn a line under the whole business although she is burning with the injustice of it. |
LHM |
3.
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Treasurer’s Report LHM advised that as there had been no expenditure during January or February 2021 the Bank Account Balance remains at £1,651.40 Cr Petty Cash Balance at £24.25 Cr. |
LHM |
4.
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Business Matters • Age, Home and Community Group Report – SB advised that there still had been no Meeting but he had attended an Affordable Housing Summit and raised numerous questions to which he is still awaiting a response. Re the BT issue raised last month – BT sent him a list of connection speeds but no answer to the question about household contributions so will contact them again if this is not forthcoming. • Website Update – CS advised that this was all up and running and only had the Gallery and Subscription details to add. Showed us how to transfer an email to Basecamp. • Chairs and Secretaries Group Report – CG/LHM/AM/GL all attended this and CG advised that we began with a minute’s silence for George McGuinness and Bill Tennant, both long time members, who had passed away recently. We had a presentation on Participatory Budgeting showing the difference this makes to a Community. We then went on to discuss Rent Consultation and Affordability with Terry Kirby and HRA with Hugh McClung which resulted in both being requested to write to the Housing Minister with their concerns. Finished with Group updates and next Meeting is on 4th May 2021. • SHR Liaison Group Report – LHM advised that she was the only Representative from Region 1 to attend a very good Meeting where we heard about the SHR’s Annual Risk Assessment; National Report on the Charter 2019-2020; Monthly Dashboard; Updates on Statutory Action and Engagement Plans; Publications; Planner Update and ended with Regional Networks Updates. Next Meeting 11th May 2021. • Communications Group – SB was unable to attend so CS advised that he had given training to two of the Regions on adding things to their page. Newsletter is in progress. • Meeting with the Minister – LHM and CS managed to attend this with less that 24 hours notice! CS advised that it was a very good Meeting which was only supposed to be for 30 minutes however, the Minister extended this to one hour and we ran out of Questions for the first time ever! Questions on the HRA; Rents; Rent Arrears; Affordability; Fuel Poverty; Local Housing Allowance; Mandatory Smoke Alarms and |
SB
CS
CG
LHM
CS |
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Cladding were all answered in full. LHM added that the Minister began by mentioning the passing of George McGuinness and followed this by thanking the Regional Networks for all their hard work as he had really enjoyed meeting with us even though we sometimes gave him a hard time! The Minister was also most interested to hear about the formation of our Rent Focus Group and looked forward to hearing more from us about this. LHM ended the session by thanking the Minister most sincerely on behalf of the Regional Networks for all the time he had given us during his term as Minister and wished him all the very best. • Rent Focus Group – CS and TO are our Representatives on this and had their Meeting yesterday. They meet monthly and at the next one they will be deciding their remit, strategy, etc. which will look at all household costs not only rent. • Draft Heat and Buildings Strategy Consultation – As this is 185 pages long with 70 Questions, LHM asked SM her advice on how we should tackle this. SM advised that they had asked the Company doing Workshops if they could do a separate one for all the Regional Networks only and was still awaiting a response but will get back to us as soon as.
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CS
LHM
CS/TO
SM |
5.
6.
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A.O.C.B. • AGM and Constitution – LHM advised that she had received an email from BC stating that he was stepping down and thanked the Committee for all their work over the years. Although not unexpected, all were very sorry to hear this as Bill had been an excellent Chair and will be sorely missed. All thanked him and wished him well.
SM advised that she had been unable to contact RF however, CS had managed to speak to her and she is no longer involved in any TP so will also be stepping down.
SM also advised that TIS would be sending out the invitation and forms this year for this virtual event on Saturday, 15th May 2021 from 11.00 a.m. to 12 noon.
After discussion on the Constitution, a couple of amendments are required so SM will do this and send to us for approval. As per the Constitution we have one third of the Committee standing down and these will be BC/RF/PM/AB. All present indicated their intention to stay on for another year however, TO was unsure where he would stand as he is the only one left on his Group at the moment although they are trying to recruit more. We await to hear further on this. • Short Term Lets – GL advised that publication of the Guidance for this has been postponed until after the Election and further advised that the rumour about Perth and Kinross running down their TP is untrue. • TPAS Certificate for TP and Community Development - CS raised this which is for both Staff and Tenants and costs £350 for Members and lasts 12 weeks. Details on their Website. Date and Time of Next Meeting –
Friday, 30th April 2021 at 10.00 a.m. via Zoom.
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LHM
CS
TO
GL
CS
ALL
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