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

Susan McLellan

Scottish Government

SM

Bill Chapman

Chair

Absent

Ruth Fraser

Committee Member

Absent

Other initials

Patricia Millar

PM

Alice Bovill

AB

Item

Action

1.

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

2. 

Minute of Meeting held on 8^th 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.

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.

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 4^th 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 11^th 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

  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.

CS

LHM

CS/TO

SM

5.

6.

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, 15^th 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, 30^th April 2021 at 10.00 a.m. via Zoom.

LHM

CS

TO

GL

CS

ALL