Issue - meetings

The report details the amendments to Appendix C - Private Sector Housing Approach to Investigation and Enforcement of the Corporate Enforcement Policy following the introduction of new legislation and associated Government Guidance.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the amendments to Appendix C - Private Sector Housing Approach to Investigation and Enforcement of the Corporate Enforcement.

2.    Delegate authority to the Assistant Director: Leisure, Culture and Place, in consultation with the portfolio holder, to reformat Appendix C to ensure it is as user friendly as possible.

Reasons for the decision

To ensure that South Kesteven District Council met its statutory function and was compliant with associated statutory guidance.

Other options considered

None – statutory guidance had been published alongside new duties under the Renters Rights Act 2025 that the Local Authority must follow and enforce.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the amendments to Appendix C - Private Sector Housing Approach to Investigation and Enforcement of the Corporate Enforcement.

2.    Delegate authority to the Assistant Director: Leisure, Culture and Place, in consultation with the portfolio holder, to reformat Appendix C to ensure it is as user friendly as possible.

Other options considered

None – statutory guidance had been published alongside new duties under the Renters Rights Act 2025 that the Local Authority must follow and enforce.

Reasons for the decision

To ensure that South Kesteven District Council met its statutory function and was compliant with associated statutory guidance.

A major review of the Corporate Enforcement Policy was carried out by Cabinet, and several Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs). Further amendment to Appendix C of the Policy was required following the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.

The differences between the current policy and the proposed policy were summarised as follows:

• Item 4 in the table on page 3 of the revised policy had been amended from the current policy to include reference to the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and the wording in the action column amended to include the revised maximum penalty amount from £30,000 to £40,000.
• The penalty matrix and associated guidance on the current policy in Appendix 1 on pages 22 to 28 have been completely replaced to incorporate the new changes as set out on pages 5 to 25 of the revised policy in Appendix 2.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had published statutory guidance for Local Authorities in relation to setting penalties. This must be followed when setting a penalty matrix and issuing such penalties.

Statutory guidance meant that the Council’s existing penalty matrix needed amending to incorporate the new mandated penalty levels and the new offences included in the Renters Rights Act 2025.

The Association of Chief Environmental Health Officers (England) (ACEHO) have produced a policy that met the requirements set out in the statutory guidance for Local Authorities to adopt. This policy was developed as part of project “Jigsaw” which was the project funded by MHCLG to help deliver training and associated assistance to Local Authorities to prepare for the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.

The Environmental Health Manager was thanked for his efforts on compiling this report.