Minute of North of Scotland Regional Network 1
Meeting held on Friday, 20th November 2020 at 11.00 a.m.
via Zoom
Present:
Cameron Grant |
Vice Chair |
CG |
Leonora Montgomery |
Secretary/Treasurer |
LHM |
Steve Byrne |
Committee Member |
SB |
Colin Stewart |
Committee Member |
CS |
Patricia Millar |
Committee Member |
PM |
Gerald Low |
Committee Member |
GL |
Tom O’Brien |
Committee Member |
TO |
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In attendance:
Islay McLauchlan |
Scottish Government |
IM |
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Apologies:/Absent:
Bill Chapman |
Chair |
Absent |
Susan McLellan |
Scottish Government |
Apologies |
Alasdair Mackenzie |
Committee Member |
Apologies |
Derek Wilkie |
Committee Member |
Absent |
Ruth Fraser |
Committee Member |
Absent |
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Item |
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Action |
1.
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Welcome, Apologies and Declarations of Interest All were welcomed to the Meeting and Apologies were given as stated. Declarations of Interest – CS gave his for being on the SHR Board. |
CG CS
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2.
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Minute of Meeting held on 21st October 2020 and Matters Arising This were proposed by GL and seconded by SB as an accurate record of the Meeting. Matters Arising – None.
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3.
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Treasurer’s Report LHM advised that as there had been no expenditure during October the Balances remain at £1,651.40 Cr in the Bank Account and £32.05 Cr in Petty Cash. |
LHM |
4.
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Business Matters • How are Landlords Involving their Tenants/Tenant Groups in Consultations – PM wanted to raise this following on from her issues stated at our last two Meetings and advised that they were no further forward on with this, despite Tenants complaining and writing a letter to the Minister (to which they have not even received an acknowledgement let alone a reply). They feel that Angus City Council has totally abandoned them and their telephone calls go unanswered. TO advised that he totally agreed with all PM had said although he had been one of a few invited to take part in a virtual Rent Consultation – at which he had been the only one to turn up! GL advised that it was the same with Perth and Kinross Council and it seems that it’s the same situation with a number of Local Authorities however, RSL’s seem to be better at this by involving all by a variety of methods as it should be. CG suggested they write another letter of complaint to the Council, and PM added that they had no dedicated TP Officer which was another problem. We await to hear the outcome of these Letters of Complaint. • Age, Home and Community Group Report – SB advised that he had, on behalf of this Group raised at the Chairs and Secretaries, the issue of private home owners receiving a leaflet through their door from an electrical company stating that the new Smoke/Heat Detector/Carbon Monoxide Alarms had to be installed by 1st February 2021, as per Scottish Government Legislation. This turned out to be a nationwide concern which several MSP’s raised at the Scottish Parliament with the result being that this has now been deferred for one year until February 2022. LHM pointed out that the Legislation does in fact say from 1st February 2021 and not by as quoted in the leaflets. Some Landlords, both RSL and Local Authorities, have already commenced installing these. SB pointed out that at the moment this is not enforceable by law but could affect Insurance Claims. • Website Update – CS confirmed what we already knew that this is up and running and that he had a Meeting with Civic next week to finalise the few small outstanding issues. SB wanted it minuted that his sister, who helped produce the Disability Act, couldn’t praise the Website enough and wished all others were the same. Congratulations were given to CS for all his hard work during this long struggle! CS advised that he wanted one person from each Region to take on the task of keeping their Region up to date although he would still be over- seeing it all. LHM asked if anyone present was interested in taking this on but then CG and LHM were suggested by SB and all agreed. • Newsletter – CG asked if there was an update on this and IM is therefore going to find out the latest on this.
PM had to leave the Meeting at this point (11.47a.m.).
• Chairs and Secretaries Group Report – LHM, at the request of CG, read out what had been on the Agenda for this, all of which are on our own Agenda for today. • SHR Liaison Group Report – LHM, at the request of CG, read out what had been on the Agenda for this, most of which was again on our own Agenda for today. LHM further advised that the Group name was going to be known now as SHR/Regional Network Liaison Group. CG stated at this point that at the SHR Liaison Group Debrief, a number of Members had questioned the need for the two Tenant Board Members to be in attendance at every Meeting and the decision had been taken to invite them to two Meetings per year and a letter was to be sent in this respect. CS, who is one of the two Tenant Board Members in question, advised that he had no objection to not being invited to every Meeting as they were there as Observers only unless invited to speak. CS further stated that he would look to be invited to as many Meetings as possible as he felt it was beneficial to all concerned. • SHR EESSH Consultation Response – All had received a copy of this and answers were provided to all the questions asked. LHM is therefore tasked with forwarding this as soon as possible. • HRA Scrutiny – This had been spoken about at the Chairs and Secretaries and all the paperwork from Hugh McClung forwarded to all Members. LHM advised that she had been expecting a follow up email from the TP Team detailing the questions but had received nothing. IM checked up on this and this is to follow shortly. • Rent Setting in Areas – LHM advised that this was another item from the Chairs and Secretaries and all had been sent the paperwork related to this and the list of questions from the Scottish Government. LHM stated that all had to complete this individually but was overruled so a collective response was obtained after much discussion and LHM will forward this to the TP Team by 30th November 2020, as requested.
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PM
SB
CS
IM
LHM
LHM
CG
CS
LHM
IM
LHM
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5. |
A.O.C.B. • Vote of Thanks - SB proposed a Vote of Thanks from us all to IM as this was to be her last Meeting with us before moving onto to pastures new. • Time of Meetings – After discussion it was agreed by all that as our Meetings will be virtual for some time to come, it would be more beneficial to start these at 10.00 a.m. |
SB
ALL
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6. |
Date, Time and Venue of Next Meeting – Friday, 8th January 2021 at 10.00 a.m. via Zoom. All were wished a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. |
ALL |