Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee - Thursday 10 July 2025, 11:00am - West Yorkshire Combined Authority Webcasting

Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee
Thursday, 10th July 2025 at 11:00am 

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  1. Ms. Salma Arshad
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  1. Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council
  2. Mr Tamsin Hart Jones (Private Sector Representative)
  3. Richard Butterfield, Advisory Representative (Historic England)
  4. Rachael Dennis
  5. Ms. Katie Kavanagh
  6. Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  7. Guilherme Rodrigues Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  8. Carl Makin
  9. Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative)
  10. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  11. Liz Hunter, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  12. Ms. Salma Arshad
  13. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
  14. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
  15. Liz Hunter, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
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  1. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
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  1. Guilherme Rodrigues Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion)
  3. Guilherme Rodrigues Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  4. Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council
  5. Guilherme Rodrigues Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  6. Carl Makin
  7. Richard Butterfield, Advisory Representative (Historic England)
  8. Carl Makin
  9. Mr Tamsin Hart Jones (Private Sector Representative)
  10. Rachael Dennis
  11. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  12. Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative)
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  1. Jennifer Robson
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  1. Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative)
  2. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  3. Carl Makin
  4. Jennifer Robson
  5. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
  6. Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority
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  1. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
  2. Stephen Moore
  3. Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  4. Jennifer Robson
  5. Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion)
  6. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  7. Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council
  8. Richard Butterfield, Advisory Representative (Historic England)
  9. Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  10. Ms. Katie Kavanagh
  11. Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative)
  12. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  13. Ms. Katie Kavanagh
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  1. Stephen Moore
  2. Jennifer Robson
  3. Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  4. Ms. Katie Kavanagh
  5. Carl Makin
  6. Cllr Jessica Lennox
  7. Liz Hunter, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  8. Kate Thompson Head of Regeneration
  9. Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion)
  10. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  11. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
  12. Rachael Dennis
  13. Kate Thompson Head of Regeneration
  14. Mr Tamsin Hart Jones (Private Sector Representative)
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  1. Ms. Katie Kavanagh
  2. Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion)
  3. Rachael Dennis
  4. Ms. Katie Kavanagh
  5. Richard Butterfield, Advisory Representative (Historic England)
  6. Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative)
  7. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  8. Liz Hunter, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  9. Stephen Moore
  10. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
  11. Kate Thompson Head of Regeneration
  12. Jennifer Robson
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  1. Rachael Loftus
  2. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
  3. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  4. Rachael Dennis
  5. Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion)
  6. Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative)
  7. Jennifer Robson
  8. Rachael Dennis
  9. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  10. Rachael Dennis
  11. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  12. Rachael Loftus
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  1. Ms. Katie Kavanagh
  2. Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council)
  3. Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council)
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  1. Webcast Finished

1 Apologies for Absence

Ms. Salma Arshad - 0:00:00
And I'm Mars Larington committee services officer
Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council - 0:00:06
Council Moses cook come deputy leader at Kirkley's and also cabinet member for housing and transport
Thompson heart Jones assistant regional director at homes England
Mr Tamsin Hart Jones (Private Sector Representative) - 0:00:15
Richard Butterfield, Advisory Representative (Historic England) - 0:00:20
Everyone I'm Richard but field punch machine leader for Yorkshire and advisory rep for historic England
Rachael Dennis - 0:00:27
Hi everyone, I'm Rachel Dennis, I'm chief executive of in communities and also the chair of the West Yorkshire housing partnership
Ms. Katie Kavanagh - 0:00:34
I am a policy manager for remediation and also covering housing policy today at the
combined authority.
Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 0:00:44
Good morning everyone, I am Jess McNeil, I am head of home energy West Yorkshire at the
combined authority.
Guilherme Rodrigues Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:00:51
I am Guy, research and intelligence, economic analyst at the combined authority.
Hello, I am Rachel Loftus, head of regional health partnerships, a joint pointy between
the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Carl Makin - 0:01:06
Hello everyone, I'm Carl Macon, Housing Policy Officer at the Combined Authority.
I'm Jen Connolly, I'm Associate Director for Improving Population Health jointly appointed
between West Yorkshire Combined Authority and West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board,
but here today representing Nadra Mirza who is the newly appointed Chair of, Interim Chair
of West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.
Good morning everybody. My name is Fatima Kansha and I am the West Yorkshire Inclusivity Champion,
an advisor to the Mayor on the agenda of equity and social justice,
and also maintaining the pattern of a joint appointment between the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership.
Morning everybody. Stephen Moore, Private Sector Representative.
I'm a National Operations Manager for CityFiber.
I
Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative) - 0:01:57
Go on at least a little fair. I'm also a private sector representative city director and mama don't
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 0:02:04
Counselor Sarah Courtney, I'm lead member for a generation and transport called our council, but not deputy leader
Morning this one's a director of policing about a place at the combined
Liz Hunter, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:02:11
Thank you for that.
So we've got quite heavy genders, so we'll move straight on to apologies, Miles, if we
got any to record.
Ms. Salma Arshad - 0:02:36
For apologies, we have Councillor Jeffrey of Wakefield Council, Councillor Ross Shaw
of Bradford Council and Councillor Lennox from Leeds Council.
Thank you Salma. If there are no further apologies then we'll move on to the next item which
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 0:02:50
is declaration of disposable pecuniary interests. If any colleagues do have interest to declare
related to funding, bidding, your organisation, please do declare those now.
No? Okay, thank you. Item three is exempt information possible exclusion of the press
and public. I'm of the understanding there are no items which would require the exclusion
of the press or public this morning. So we'll move on to item four which is the minutes
of the meeting on the 6th of March. If we can review and agree those. I wasn't present
so I'm relying on others for this please. Thank you Sarah.
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 0:03:25
I propose those. Colleagues in agreement with that. Thank you.
We'll move on to item five then. Liz over to you for governance arrangements.
Thank you. This is the usual paper that we bring to the committee after our AGM that
Liz Hunter, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:03:40
was held in June. It reiterates our terms of reference for this committee which are
broadly unchanged. So for those of you who have sat around the table before, these are

3 Exempt Information - Possible Exclusion of the Press & Public

to be fairly familiar and update in terms of the membership of the committee. So I won't
say too much more, I'm happy to take any questions, but otherwise this is to note the governance
arrangements as agreed by the CA previously.
Any comments on that one? Okay we'll move on then. Thank you Liz.

4 Minutes of the Meeting of the Place, Regeneration & Housing Committee held on 6 March 2025

Chairs updates there's not much to add from me just to note as Liz has

6 Chair's Update

highlighted the changes to committee membership so from Wakefield Council I'll
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 0:04:19
be replacing Councillor Graham as our nominee on that committee now thanks to
Councillor Graham for his contributions and then we have a couple changes in
terms of private sector reps. I understand Ben Aspinall stepped down from the
committee and we pass on our thanks to Ben I understand he was a very valuable
member of this committee and we also want to welcome Nathan Spencer as a
newly appointed private sector rep for the committee and Nathan is a managing
director at UK Reef so it'd be great to have his input onto projects we're
working on. We've also got Carl Oxford with us who we're hoping will be deputy
chair of this committee at some point. Thank you Carl for joining us this
morning over in the audience there and there were the only changes really to
note for the committee there's nothing else from chairs updates so if
colleagues are content with that, we shall proceed on to the next item, which is the
housing dashboard and monitoring indicators.
Guy, over to you.

7 Housing Dashboard & Monitoring Indicators

Guilherme Rodrigues Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:05:10
So the monitoring indicators paper, as the name says, changed slightly its structure
from now on, so we'll continue on updating the state of the region's indicators previously
agreed, but we also update new indicators that are including a newly created housing
dashboard that is divided in under four objectives, which are boosting the right homes in the
right places, increase the provision of truly affordable, accessible and adaptable homes,
improving quality of existing homes and creating resilient places that support well -being for
residents.
I'll just cover some of the indicators of three of those objectives.
So under boosting the right homes at the right places,
I would like to highlight that housing delivery
in the last years has been broadly in line
with the housing needs set by NPPF.
So in the last three years,
more than 20 ,000 homes were delivered,
which is 40, sorry, 24, 94 % of the numbers defined in NPPF.
There are differences across districts,
some of them have delivered above the target and others dumped and
It is important to highlight that the current government has set the ambition of building
1 .5 million homes in this Parliament and this would require an uplift or somewhere between
1500 and 2500 homes a year based on recent performance
In terms of the delivery pipeline in terms of an
And implemented planning permissions we have in 23 24
roughly
49 ,000 homes
Which 20 % of them are in brownfield land, but in the same year in completion we see the invert
Relationship between brownfield and greenfield so 65 % of the homes completed that year
were in greenfield land and these these highlights the challenges and costs we developing in brownfield and why
it requires interventions often.
In terms of affordability, when we look at the ratios
between house prices and earnings, housing affordability,
they improve slightly in 2024 as earnings grew by 6 %
and median house prices too mostly stable.
The ratio has been relatively unchanged
in the last four years and Leeds and Kirkleys
are the local authorities with the lowest levels
of affordability, so higher prices compared
with workplace earnings.
Historically, West Yorkshire affordability ratios have been lower than the ones in England,
have been more affordable.
But it's important to highlight one caveat, that when we look at the specific subset of
houses that are newly built, which we see more or less as a controlling for the quality
of the housing stock, affordability in West Yorkshire is closer to England's average,
with leads on Calderley, they're slightly above it.
So some of the main metrics has to do with quality.
So it's not as positive as you may look at first.
But still, most of the authorities are still below England's average.
In terms of rental affordability, so the relationship between rents and
income, on average, twenty nine percent of the relationship between mean rent
percent and mean income, which is within the affordability definition of one third, with
Leeds being the only local authority above it.
So 36 percent on average is the rent income ratio.
Time of rental growth in the last 12 months, rents grew by 3 .8 percent in West Yorkshire,
significantly below the rate of growth in England, 7 .4, so half of the rate of growth.
But that said, when we look at the longer period, let's say since 2016, rents still
grew at a faster place in West Yorkshire than England. So that's good news, but in the longer term
Rents are slightly growing above it in terms of housing quality
the latest English housing survey from 2023 shows that 82 % of all homes meet decent home standards
With Wakefield being the only district with a level above the English average of 86 %
It's a bit difficult to compare the surveys but it suggests
mostly in change levels compared with previous years. There are around 200 ,000
private homes, so 21 % of all dwellings with safety one category hazards, twice
the rate of England, which is concerning, and relative to energy efficiency. 42 % of
dwellings have EPCC or above in March 2024. This is three percentage points
better than the previous year and still remains the gap with England, so we are
still below. It needs to take into consideration that not all dwellings can
be improved to EBCC or above and we are doing ongoing work to understand
exactly how we differ from England on that sense.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you,
Giggi. Interesting report there. Any questions on the monitoring?
Fatima, over to you.
Really helpful overview. I suppose as the inclusivity
champion one of the things I'm particularly interested in is
the breakdown of the analysis of data in groups
that experience disproportionate inequalities.
It would be helpful to have a bit more data
maybe outside of this meeting of some of the risks
that you've identified, but how they particularly
impact those protected groups, and also what mitigations
are in place to ensure that we're not perpetuating
that inequality.
Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion) - 0:11:02
Absolutely, I think that's a really important point, Fatima.
I'd give you a case to pick that one up.
Guilherme Rodrigues Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:11:08
In terms of data and analysis, we could do
a deeper analysis on it mostly will be based on the census which means we cannot
do it as often as we do the monitoring indicators we can provide a picture on
how we look 2021 it's fairly recent also. Thank you. Moses over to you. Thanks chair I just
Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council - 0:11:30
want to make a comment really I mean in I wasn't sure I quite followed numbers
under 3 .6 whether the percentage of the extended planning commission was correct
I really wanted to comment on the increasing unaffordability of housing because the rent
increases above national trends and our wage increases below national trends mean that
additional pressure is being imposed on particularly social rent and housing providers across the
region.
So I wanted us to note that and focus on delivery not only of affordable homes, whatever that
I wasn't quite sure I followed here because we talk about affordability as percentage
of income here and often affordability in housing context is as a percentage of local
cost of housing, which is slightly different, but in either case I think that we need to
have a focus and maintain a focus on production of or increase of supply of social rented
homes, particularly across West Yorkshire.
And I certainly in Kirk Lees, those pressures that you identify here in this paper have
to an increased presentation of households with homelessness issues and our capacity
to meet that challenge is really difficult. That notwithstanding I did want to point out
I think it's under 3 .23 we're talking about the number of households in temporary accommodation
increasing whereas in Kirklees we've been reducing the number of households we have
in temporary accommodation through a change in policy. In fact we've gone down from a
of 480 households a year ago to 378 as of the end of June which I think is really positive
and worth noting and our modelling shows that had we not changed our policy on that we would
have been up to about 530 households now which obviously imposes a cost pressure but is also
about the quality of life for those households so just wanted to make that point, thank you.
Thank you, do you want to come back on that Gui at all?
Very quickly, so the housing affordability, the ratios don't capture the old reality,
so we have other metrics, for example, temporary accommodation to give us their picture and
we are starting with the dashboard also covering a bit on the delivery side of it, what is
being done on affordable homes, how much are in the pipeline, so on and so forth.
Guilherme Rodrigues Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:13:45
So we're trying to make the picture as complete as possible in that sense.
Got Carl and then Richard.
Carl, over to you.
I know there have been some recent reductions in Coakley's.
Carl Makin - 0:13:57
The data here is based on national data there's quite a lag between when that's released and
reconciled and we rely on the national data.
That's why you see that here.
Hopefully you'll see that in future reports as well.
Thank you.
Richard.
Yeah, I just wanted to just following up on Pat's question really just follow up in terms
Richard Butterfield, Advisory Representative (Historic England) - 0:14:16
of the way that the quality of existing homes is assessed because if you've got overcrowding,
basement living or loft living and so on in properties, adding to condensation and living
in sort of damper and more kind of climate vulnerable parts of a house, is that considered
in the assessment of whether existing homes meet the decent standard or in terms of the
overcrowding creating more challenges around the suitability of homes.
So I guess my point is, is it a problem with the building that needs addressing or is it
wider issues in terms of the type of housing stock that's available and size and so on?
I think Cal's wanting to respond to that.
Carl Makin - 0:15:12
Yeah, the current methodology doesn't say it's based on the decent home standard modeling
that's done in the English housing service.
That doesn't.
There is a consultation out at the moment,
but that wouldn't address that.
So it's still very much about the fabric of the building.
The current focus is on component parts as well,
so kitchens, bathrooms, those kind of parts.
The new model will move away from that
towards understanding and disrepair a bit more generally,
but it doesn't look at those contextual points.
I suppose that's a sort of housing management point.
It looks more at the fabric of the building
rather than the kind of wider picture.
And we pick up on some of that in the housing and health point.
I think it's a wider inequality piece.
Overcrowding is a metric that we can look at. But, yeah, that is doing the decent home
standard statistics.
Thanks, Calvin.
Mr Tamsin Hart Jones (Private Sector Representative) - 0:15:57
Thank you. I'm sure committee members will have all seen but I just thought it was particularly
to speak to Councillor Crook's point earlier on spending review government announced the
affordable housing delivery in England. So that is obviously a real critical component
of that is social rented property. So it sets a minimum of 60 % would be social rented. So
I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about that in time to come. But I think it's just
worth saying in terms of delivery there's a real signal of intent there.
Thank you. And just to build on Tamsin's point about
Rachael Dennis - 0:16:42
the recent announcements, and again, Councillor Crook's point about affordability and the
trend, the government is consulting on rent convergence, which means that rents in social
homes are going to increase by to get to the ones that are below target rent by one or
pounds a week depending on where that consultation goes.
That will have an effect longer term on affordability metrics but it's also worth thinking about
the fact that when that comes in it will be just getting properties to target renters.
And so the figures will look different as they go forward but it's important from an
affordability point of view for us to have that on our radar.
I think.
Definitely, thank you, Rachel.
Any further, yeah, Sarah.
Yeah, I don't know if this is sort of more,
more should come into sort of the last,
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 0:17:32
the later agenda item around healthy homes
or health and housing, but I think there's that
massive interplay, isn't there, between health and housing,
but also transport and health and housing.
And I suppose because I sit on several committees
and within my portfolio we're looking at regeneration
and transport, so economic factors as well as regeneration and transport.
It's just about how, and I know that we've got health on here, but just wanted to make
sure that within the combined authority all of these different things are really joined
up to look at those sort of determinants of inequality and determinants of health.
Because I think it's like if you're living in a maybe not best quality house, but you're also on a main road where air pollution is poor, the air quality is quite poor.
The air quality inside your home will also be quite poor, not just outside the home.
And all of these things really interplay, don't they?
And I suppose it's just about making sure that there's not silo working and that everything is really being sort of thought about in the round.
Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative) - 0:18:55
and you get paid to live with affordable housing, either as a
So if anybody had any thoughts as to why it was driving that,
I was surprised to see it.
Have you found it?
It was page 43 in the pack and slide 15.
So private rental price growth.
Yeah, I mean, it's a hard one to kind of guess why they'd.
I think this case of it is rental growth
we're looking at there.
So I think it's just that we've seen a plateau of growth.
Yeah. Probably a mixture of post -COVID pent -up demands kind of calmed down a little bit. I think

8 Retrofitting & Decarbonisation - Home Energy West Yorkshire Update

there's been less mobility within the market so we're seeing people stay in place. So there's a
thing about what these figures capture and when they capture sort of change of tenancy growth
versus in tenancy growth that's a lot harder to capture. I think the point we made is actually
Jennifer Robson - 0:20:04
it's about the cumulative growth over five years. That's you know we may have year to year where
actually it's slightly lower in West Yorkshire than the national average. What we see from 2018
onwards is significantly above national average growth cumulatively and that's
why we try and look at that cumulative growth rather than just the ups and
downs year on year but hopefully that gives some context as to why we think
there's also probably a point of there's only a sort of there's a certain level

7 Housing Dashboard & Monitoring Indicators

of parade optimality right where there's only so much people will pay as well so
you know with wage prices at wage rates having sort of plateaued as well you'll
see that fee through interim prices so there's a relationship there that we're
I think.
Thank you.
Can I just ask a really quick question?
Yeah, go.
All right.
Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative) - 0:20:42
Thank you.
And has anything sort of around holiday lets and short term, very short term lets been
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 0:20:58
factored in at all into how that might affect rental prices?
So for example, and it might be very specific, I suppose it might be sort of specific to
sort of quite popular areas, but just sort of around the loss of long term rentals and
the increase of short term rentals and what that might do to then the housing market within
those areas.
I don't think I want to add anything to this, but it's not something we've looked at regionally.
Carl Makin - 0:21:23
I think there's probably, it is quite a cold air pressure probably compared to it, but
there are probably smaller pockets within the region that will see that, but it's not
something we've looked at majorly.
I don't think it's a significant driver from conversions to family homes into holiday lights.
But it's something we can take away, I think, and just have a look at the stats.
I don't think we see that driver as much as other regions would see.
Thank you. I'm going to bring Jen in. Thank you for waiting, Jen.
Jennifer Robson - 0:21:47
Thank you. It was just to pick up on Councillor Courtney's point about the interplay of those building blocks of health.
I'm really pleased to hear you recognise that and raise that in the committee.
I think we are taking an approach to embed that thinking, that sort of health in all
policies of the combined authority approach so that we have that join up between those
things that really keep as well, create our health in communities and build the communities
and the health in that respect. So yes, we have that approach across the combined authority.
Thank you for raising that.
That's been a really good discussion. Can we agree to note the contents of the report
and move on? Thank you all. Thank you, Guy. Thank you,
Carl. We'll move on to item 8, which is retrofitting
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 0:22:34
and decarbonization. And we have Jess leading on this item. Over to you, Jess.
Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 0:22:41
Thank you, Chair. So the paper in front of you provides a comprehensive overview of the

8 Retrofitting & Decarbonisation - Home Energy West Yorkshire Update

live workstreams across home energy West Yorkshire to reduce carbon emission, energy inefficiency
inefficiency from domestic homes, working towards our net zero target by 2038 and addressing
fuel poverty across the region. The updates include delivery across the social housing
retrofit programmes, the ongoing outputs from our loan product, the final outputs from the
residential collective buying scheme which is now going through evaluation and the development
of our custom advice and information portal. I'm conscious of time and the full agenda
so I'm not proposing to go through the paper in detail, you have that in front of you,
but I did want to update you on further progress since the paper was drafted.
We have now signed the grant funding agreement with DESNEZ for the 25 .6 million government
funding through the warm homes plan and this will unlock a contribution of 26 million co -funding
from West Yorkshire registered housing partners and mobilisation work is now underway to deliver
retrofit measures to just over 5 ,000 social homes across the region in the coming years.
We have also signed the contractual agreement with the managing agent who will run the customer advice and information service, the one stop shop.
Initiation and introduction meetings with the managing agent and contractors designing the Home Energy West Yorkshire website and customer portal and those developing the customer relationship management system have taken place.
The managing agent contract secures a minimum of 27 ,000 contacts with residents across West
Yorkshire to raise awareness and understanding of retrofit and energy efficient measures,
sign posts to information and provide support across all tenures. Retrofit surveys will
be available to those seeking a clear understanding of what measures are suitable and possible
for their individual property. Residents can secure guided end -to -end support or under
self -driven actions and live activity across a number of work streams is progressing at
pace to bring forward this service later in the year.
Activity on our low interest loan continues and a further seven loans are in pre -approval
stage with a lending value of 107 ,000 which is in addition to the data provided at 3 .46
in your report. To note the business case at the time of developing the loan product
and the loan pot of 1 .5 million felt that could support around 93 loans with an average
loan value of 16 ,000. The loan values coming through are smaller at between 6 ,000 and 7 ,000,
which will allow for a significant increase in the numbers of loans and numbers of households
being supported to deliver retrofit measures to their homes, which is currently being forecasted
at 193. We're also now well underway with evaluation of products and pilot programs
across the Home Energy West Yorkshire projects and those data are coming through and those
are being fed into our developing Home Energy West Yorkshire long term plan.
Thank you Jess, really welcome this report and I've been keeping an eye on it through
the climate committee which I was a member where there's been some really positive discussion
and great to see it being progressed. Any questions or comments on this one for Jess?
Yeah, it was you, Stephen.
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 0:25:55
Thank you for this.
I suppose it's just one observation really and a question, and that is, do we know how
Stephen Moore - 0:26:06
we are on target in terms of delivering, what I'm thinking is the time scale between somebody
wanting to do something and then that being implemented and the benefits realised.
And I'm thinking of it from a supply chain and skills perspective because I know it's
mentioned somewhere else in here.
I'm just thinking even anecdotally do we think that the skill shortage is preventing us from reaching those targets and if so then that's possibly something that can be supported or flagged and supported somewhere else within the combined authority and local authorities.
Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 0:26:41
We do have live work streams within the team working closely with our skills team and they
are identifying what are exactly the skills gap from a retrofit perspective.
It fits in that broader construction perspective.
But where we have skills existing for residents where people can fit a gas boiler, how are
they transferring those skills to potentially building or infitting a heat pump.
So we're doing some work at the moment to understand exactly what is the skills gap? What are the industry saying to us?
What's their nervousness around investing in skills to scale up that ability to react and respond?
To the demand that we're looking to generate through our one -stop shop and our targets are ambitious
You can see those in the report in terms of numbers. It's not something that we will deliver in isolation. It's a collaborative approach
We need to work with partners and stakeholders a supply chain the private sector to bring those
capacity and investments forward to deliver our retrofit ambitions.
Lovely, thank you, because I'm thinking as well there's also if we run those other enterprise
or business growth programmes or some of those other schemes to be able to support the growth
of those businesses feels like an opportunity as well to get benefit elsewhere, but you
know not just the end benefit but the benefit to the business growth as well and the creation
of jobs. But thank you.
Thank you. I've got Fatima next.
I've got loads of questions because I was so excited about reading this report and I
think it's such an incredible good news story of investment in our region.
So my first one was I was really pleased to see the inclusive growth indicators and how
Jennifer Robson - 0:28:17
they were framed.
Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion) - 0:28:23
I suppose my question is are we targeting specific groups in the interests of increasing
equity and making sure that the people that need it the most, the people that are most
furthest away are accessing it?
and how do we know we're getting there
and how long do you think it'll take?
And you may not be able to answer those questions,
but it's just to sort of stimulate the thinking.
The other bit was, is there an opportunity
with the incredible Fair Work Charter
to be embedded as part of the take -up of this?
If we're getting organisations to sign up to it
and we're creating jobs, what an incredible opportunity
to really sell the Fair Work Charter.
I was fortunate enough to go to the Women
in Manufacturing event, which the Secretary of State
also attended and there was an incredible group of diverse women that are working in
the sector and adding real value and I think there's something about how we harnessed the
sort of you know non -intentional inclusive indicators as a consequence of this to amplify
the journey of us creating a fairer West Yorkshire. And then the one stop shop which I'm very
interested in, is that a mechanism that is only available online or is there some sort
given to inclusive access because I also chaired the inclusive digital group here at the combined
authority. And then my final one, I was really pleased to hear about the equality impact
assessment. I suppose I have interest as the inclusivity champion, it would be helpful
to understand a little bit about what it says and some assurance about the mitigations but
I suspect Jessica could take that outside. Thank you, Chair.
Thanks Fatima. I think Jessica will take all the other feedback and then come back to you
because we have a few things to come back. Sarah?
Thank you. Yeah, I think this is really interesting because I think sustainable growth is the
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 0:29:55
main part of national economic growth at the moment. So it's really good to be seeing this
and to be encouraging this because actually this is leading economic growth. And I know
that certainly the thing around skills and green skills definitely comes up at the economy
committee and also at the business board and stuff as well. So again, I think it's part
of that everything being interlinked and interrelated thing.
I had a question from a Councillor, which I probably just do by email, but I'm not sure.
Is there going to be a rerun of the solar panel scheme at all?
Because I think that was really popular, so I know that that's being evaluated at the
moment.
Is there more for that in the future?
Any other questions or comments?
Moses, over to you.
Thanks very much.
Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council - 0:30:47
I wanted to identify the scale of the problem really, particularly retrofitting social
homes and wanted to check that we understood the scale of the problem.
If you've got 183 ,000 social homes in West Yorkshire alone, the financial obligations
related to that are considerably above where the budget is by orders of magnitude and I
I think the way we are looking at it is that we are looking at the
potential of the
electric vehicle and the vehicle that we are hoping to
deliver these changes through but unless we have a seismic
change in funding and or approach I can't see a way that
we will be able to deliver. We deliver really good pilots but
we don't deliver at scale.
So I think with some experience in the industry I think what we
need to do is standardise and approach and roll it out at pace
in a way that I don't see really identified here.
from the stockholder and I think that will be very challenging from a council stockholding
perspective because we're already running on the edge to deliver against the consumer
standards for example to make sure the quality of housing is where it should be.
And then I had just one very specific point about heat networks.
I think there's a mention in here about using distributed heat networks to deliver heat
to housing potentially but I think as ETS expands to include energy from waste schemes
By 2028, we might see the economies of that type of scheme changing, and also given that
energy from waste is now the most polluting form of energy in the country since we've
moved away from coal, I suspect the writing might be on the wall longer term.
So big investments in digging the ground up to put pipes in that we then, that's then
stop being economically viable or even ecologically viable might not be the best way to go.
Thanks Moses.
I've got Richard, then I'm going to ask Jess to feedback.
Yeah, thanks.
I mean, it's a really impressive set of reports,
I have to say.
Richard Butterfield, Advisory Representative (Historic England) - 0:32:43
There's a whole load of work coming forward there,
and I'll credit the team for bringing all of that
work forward, and it also feels like it's moving on
to actual delivery at scale.
So all of that is really, really impressive.
I think the part of the context, I suppose,
that remains risky and concerns around would be,
as you've noted in the report, the number,
the large proportion of pre -1919 buildings
that we've got in the district
and the challenges which they present.
Historic England, we advocate taking
a whole building approach when it comes to retrofit
and in particular to endeavor to address existing issues
like damp and so on before implementing retrofit issues.
You change one thing and it changes the dynamic
of the heating and cooling in the whole home.
I think I'm also just mindful that you've had
a pilot scheme in Manningham that's been really interesting
and useful in terms of identifying both
the practical challenges of doing retrofit measures
to historic properties there,
but also the social challenges of getting a message across,
and I think you've highlighted in your report
some of that sort of resistance from people,
lack of confidence about what these measures
would actually entail and what kind of disruption
would be associated with that.
So I guess my question is how are you kind of looking
to kind of manage those kinds of measures
just to help provide, I suppose, more assurance
around the project, I think both for,
at the kind of the policy level,
but also to householders as well who are considering signing up to schemes like this.
Thanks Richard. OK, we've covered a lot of ground there Jess, so do respond to what you can and then we'll have to wrap things up on this item.
So, over to you.
Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 0:34:49
Thank you, Chair. I'll start with some of the easier ones. So, Councillor Courtney, yes, we are looking at doing another residential collective fine scheme.
I'm keen that it's an enhanced scheme from the one that we've just previously concluded.
So we're looking to understand how we can do solar panels PV plus, looking at some of
the measures that didn't quite work in this scheme and how we can ensure that we address
those on a future product.
So that's in the very early stages, but yes, the data certainly showed us that where residents
are given a tool and opportunity, we're very keen to engage.
So we've exceeded the outputs on this.
There's definitely a reason to bring another scheme forward.
In fact, very much so.
Inclusive growth and ensuring that no one is left behind
is a central thread to all that we're doing.
So we have, as part of our long -term plan,
we've got a Just Transition plan,
which is looking at how we ensure
that we engage all parts of the community.
We've learnt a lot through some of our pilot projects
around some of those social approaches, language barriers,
people that don't have access to technology.
We need to make sure that we're giving all residents
the tool to be engaged. I have just transitioned plan will be very central to that and I'd
really welcome a conversation with you around how we ensure that that's fit for purpose
reflecting the demographics and the communities that we support in West Yorkshire. Just in
terms of your question around the one stop shop it will be multi accessible. There will
be a large online presence very much so but residents can have a phone call, they can
speak to somebody face to face. We will be running numerous consultation and community
events across all communities across West Yorkshire that will give people the opportunity
to come forward. We will have a lot of translation language support in that. Again, making sure
that we're reaching out to all areas of our communities across West Yorkshire. Absolutely,
I will certainly take your comments back around the Fair Work Charter and how we introduce
that into some of our contracts. Some of our contracts are very expensive in terms of what
we are committing to in terms of public funding so how are we getting the best out of that
in terms of ensuring that our investment is more than just the outputs in the contract.
It's broader than that and wider than that very much so.
Just coming down to some of your comments, Councillor Crooks, around the scale of social
housing funds, absolutely. It's a challenge. At the moment the funding we have had to bid
for that. We are hoping that some of that will be released a little through integrated
settlement but at the moment it also has specific measures that we have to adhere to and abide
by so it doesn't give us that fluidity or flexibility that we would like to see in terms
of social housing and retrofit. National policy and broader funding is very much needed in
order for us to achieve our objectives there. Very much, you know, we're looking at technology
and deliverability and heat networks is one solution that we're currently looking at for
one area -based scheme, but the technology is always changing, so what works now might
look very different in five or ten years' time. So we need to be mindful of what we
do now and ensure that we're investing in for the long term, but also for the scalability
of impacts that we need. And Richard, just coming back to your point around the properties
and the environmental challenges that we have across West Yorkshire, absolutely we have
a significant percentage of pre 1919 homes. We are doing some pilot projects and that's
affording us some really valuable learning. But what we're also doing at the moment is
working with the University of York around how is social messaging improving people's
willingness and wantingness to be engaged. Very much in certain communities where friends
and family have undertaken works that has afforded a greater take up of people bringing
forward and so there's a collaboration there around how we work with our communities in
those very high intense population but how they can also be part of the solution in terms
of those messaging of bringing people forward to create action for change.
Great, thank you for that Jess. Are we ok to note the contents of the report?
Chair, could I just say apologies, we have a ministerial visit to the region today so
I'll need to leave at 12 .30.
Apologies I won't be here for the full meeting.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We'll move on to item 9, which is the housing strategy implementation plan.
Katie, over to you.
Thanks, chair.
Ms. Katie Kavanagh - 0:39:16
So we'll take this paper as read, but it's essentially a summary of activity against
the housing strategy since the last committee meeting.
So we've adopted the structure that was agreed at the last meeting and it sits quite nicely
alongside the housing monitoring indicators report.
Much of the work that is captured in this update is captured in other papers today as well, so we won't go over all of it, I just wanted to highlight a couple of things that aren't directly referenced elsewhere.
So the development of our strategic housing pipeline is ongoing and that's supporting discussions relating to our integrated settlement and our evolving relationship with Homes England.
It will also support work on the future tools which are discussed in the housing delivery paper.
We had a workshop a couple of weeks ago that we facilitated between the local authority
homelessness services and the west Yorkshire housing partnership.
That is intended to lead to the production of a joint action plan to support the work
of our partners in addressing the pressures relating to homelessness and temporary accommodation.
And finally, a new regional place advocates network has been set up with a focus on building
consensus on place making in west Yorkshire.
I'm happy to take any comments or questions relating to the content of the paper.
Thank you for that Katie.
Do we have any comments and questions on this item?
Lisa?
Thank you.
Yeah, it's great stuff, thank you.
Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative) - 0:40:32
I just really welcome the establishment of this place, Advocates Network.
It's the first time I've heard about it, reading this paper, so I've just been, maybe we can
take that offline Katie, but I'm really interested to hear a bit more about that and what it's
doing, who's involved.
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 0:41:00
make a forty eight buck and you asked what kind of stage would that be, and you described
So, I think that's really important to involve our residents and potential residents.
Yeah, that's work ongoing, so it's very good, thank you.
Thank you, Sarah. I'm thinking by the lack of other questions that colleagues are content
with the plan and the direction of travel and that one. So, any final comments before
we look to agree? Yeah, Fatima.
I don't have loads of questions for this.
But I do have an offer, really, which is I think there's a really great opportunity for
us to embed some inclusive working practices within the work that you do and just an offer
to have a convo outside of this meeting to see what we could do together.
Absolutely.
Thank you for that.
Ms. Katie Kavanagh - 0:42:03
I'll take your phone, then.
Thank you.
Thanks, Fatima.
Okay, then, colleagues, can we agree and note that report?
Thank you.
We'll move on to strategic regeneration updates.
Thank you.

9 Housing Strategy Implementation

Thank you, chair.

10 Strategic Regeneration Updates

So the report provides an overview of progress of the major strategic projects identified
in the local growth plan as aligned to the three corridors of opportunity, which those
of you in the room can see the large map at the end of the committee room there.
Stephen Moore - 0:42:34
And for those online, there is a smaller version in the pack.
Jennifer Robson - 0:42:41
We have previously discussed those corridors of opportunity at this committee.
Jessica McNeil West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 0:42:45
Ms. Katie Kavanagh - 0:42:49
So I won't go through the full detail of the report but just to pull out a few highlights
in terms of progress. We've had the approval of the outline business
case for Bradford City Village alongside funding already committed by our strategic partner
Carl Makin - 0:43:07
in homes England and the recently completed active travel scheme in the city which has
Cllr Jessica Lennox - 0:43:12
significantly enhanced the public realm and landscaping and that was a 45 million investment
Liz Hunter, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:43:17
by the combined authority. Planning application for phase 1 of city village
Kate Thompson Head of Regeneration - 0:43:23
will be submitted we anticipate next month by developer ECF.
We've also in central Bradford got the opening of Dali street market today.
We've had the submission of the strategic outline case for the National Poetry Centre
in Central Leeds and that is currently in appraisal so we hope for an update on that
in the autumn.
Leeds City Council has also recently agreed its regeneration vision for the south east
of the city anchored by Leeds United Stadium expansion plans.
We have witnessed the practical completion of the Emily Sidon building in Huddersfield
which forms part of the National Health Innovation Campus, together with the announcement of
MEWS places as Wakefield Council's strategic development partner and works nearing completion
on the combined authorities enterprise zone site in South Kirby.
So those are the key highlights in the report. I'd also like to correct a small but significant
in the paper at paragraph 3 .7 which refers to the quantum of office and commercial space
to be unlocked through the Leeds transformational regeneration partnership initiative. So the
figures quoted should be in square feet rather than square metres. So, Chair, through yourself,
I'd be grateful if that could be noted in the minutes.
I'm sure we can agree and note that. Easy mistake to make. Thank you for that, Kate.
Do we have any questions on the regeneration updates?
Fatima?
No, not a question, Chair, just a reflection.
So I had the privilege of going to the Marmot celebration event in Leeds on Monday, two
Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion) - 0:45:06
years on, and they were showcasing some specific examples of regeneration through the lens
of equity and inclusion, which were part funded by the combined authority, and the story was
just incredible.
it was just for committee members to sort of note, I think that the report is published
online but also maybe some learning for other corridors to consider in regards to the fact
that regeneration doesn't need to be just for the purpose of regeneration, there can
be by -product benefits that I think we should harness.
Point well made, thank you. Sarah.
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 0:45:38
Yes, probably on a completely different scale to Fatima's point but I think it's brilliant
and large scale regeneration was obviously really, really important but I also think,
and it was talking about the library and the Centre for Poetry and everything, but there
are also some very small scale but very important centres of excellence as well across the whole
region which, while they don't produce maybe the same volume of traffic but in terms of
recognition of the area and putting the area on the map, so places like, and it's really
tiny but places like Lum Bank, the Arvin Foundation which is Ted Hughes' former home and they
run writing courses for example and it's with world renowned writers and artists and those
sorts of things, that's one example, but those sorts of things are dotted all around the
whole of the Combined Authority region, these little things and I think actually celebrating
some of those things also helps with wider regeneration because it's just like, oh, Caulfield
and people know, sorry, the Combined Authority,
West Yorkshire region, you know,
people know the different areas,
the different things that are happening
puts different places on the map
and I think that sort of work with the LVAP
and stuff as well just to help that regeneration
I think is useful, even though they're really small scale,
I think that they're useful in raising profile
which then can bring in investment on a larger scale.
Absolutely agree with that.
So I know in Wakefield's experience
we have the wonderful facility out at South Kirby Production Park where adolescence was
filmed it's really put that area on the map but we need to use those strengths to drive
the regeneration of other areas as well.
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 0:47:16
Yes Rachel, over to you.
Thank you.
Rachael Dennis - 0:47:22
I'll just reiterate the very exciting plans and if you, the Dolly Street Market opening
today I absolutely recommend you go, it went to a pre -opening on Tuesday, very exciting.
But on a more serious note, as thrilled as the housing, social housing sector has been
about the funding announcements for housing recently, one of the things that it's been
fairly quiet on is housing that regeneration and where that funding might come from.
And we know that with all of the money that's allocated, that isn't going to be something
that's going to be forthcoming.
However, it is something that we know that we need to face into.
I'm part of a going down to Westminster on Monday where there's a parliamentary working
group talking about what can be done and the importance of housing led regeneration because
without any additional funding we have been talking about it in the retrofit as well there's
a lot of housing stock that is very out of date very much in need of investment and without
investment there will be one of my fears is particularly when we're talking about Bradford
it is what I would call a donut of deprivation around.
We have really exciting and tangible city center improvements with southern gateway
coming through to improve.
But if we don't do something about the housing, the much needed housing that exists, we will
have potential sort of rub issues there.
So as a housing sector we are advocating very much for what can we do in the absence of
tangible funding.
the housing and housing fund. I'm not sure if you can see it.
Just to come back with some early things that we've noted being more quietly announced perhaps
than the 39 billion. We've seen that there's an announcement of
Kate Thompson Head of Regeneration - 0:49:15
a new national housing delivery fund which was referenced in a written ministerial statement
and also by the chair of Homes England, Pat Ritchie, in a recent statement. And that includes,
as far as we can work out at this moment in time, $5 billion of new grant funding for
infrastructure and land, a grant to complement investments made by the National Housing Bank,
which will be a Homes England vehicle, as you'll know. And that is to work alongside
mayoral strategic authorities, like ourselves, supporting their housing and regeneration
goals. So we can see a broadening out hopefully there and the fund to be operational from
the first of April 2026. So we're awaiting more detail on what those funds might actually
mean for our region in practice, but I think there is a sign there of intent in the broader
regeneration field.
Thank you.
Mr Tamsin Hart Jones (Private Sector Representative) - 0:50:23
I was going to touch on the other tools, but I think I just wanted to flag that Bradford
City Village is a really good example of where we have collectively invested upfront in basically
the development of something that is investable. So that's both through the combined authorities
funding, revenue funding, housing accelerator fund and through Homes England as well as
Bradford themselves. So I just wanted to stress I guess that point of it's really important
in West Yorkshire we make the most of the funds that are available but we really need
to be investing upfront in really developing those propositions. So it's a great example
of us doing that. Thank you, Tamsin. Any final reflections on
that item? Do you want to come back on that, Katie? Okay. If we can note that report, then,
thank you, colleagues. We'll move on to item 11, which is housing delivery. And this one's

11 Housing Delivery

over to you again, Katie. Thanks, Chair. So we've already heard a lot
Ms. Katie Kavanagh - 0:51:31
about some of the targets and progress being made against housing delivery through the
monitoring indicators report. There is significant need across the region for housing and particularly
affordable housing as we all know. This paper provides an update on some of the tools we
are using to help unlock our place based ambitions in relation to housing delivery including
the Brownfield housing fund and the housing accelerator fund. The paper outlines the potential
for further revenue funding through a future housing accelerator fund and committee are
to share their views on the thematic focus areas which are outlined at paragraph 3 .24
and endorse work on the business case to take that forward. We also outline possibilities
for a potential impact investment fund and ask committee to comment on the focus and
critical success factors that are outlined in the paper at paragraph 3 .30 to 3 .34 as
well. This is all set alongside the recent spending review announcements which are summarised
in the paper as well but it's important to note that we do not yet know the shape and
and the funds that will be available to us through the single settlement.
That's it for me. Thanks.
Thank you, Katie. I was drawn to Section 317, some really, really positive figures there,
shown that we're significantly exceeding target with what's forecast.
So just to congratulate the team for all the hard work that's going into that, it's clearly bearing fruit.
Any questions or comments on this report from colleagues?
Fatima?
I did try and wait, see if somebody wanted to come in first.
Because it's my first meeting up, I've just got loads of questions.
So the first one is regarding the process, is there any interoperability with the health sector?
Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion) - 0:53:12
So things like, you know, GP practices and the proximity to those, the size of them, the infrastructure for health services,
Is that something that is considered when locations are being chosen?
And it might be that we talk about that outside of the meeting.
The second one is I had the privilege of facilitating a roundtable on behalf of the combined authority
with carers of people with complex needs.
And one of the bits that always comes through is the adaptability of the housing, so the
design and also the long -termism of it being adaptable for people as their conditions change.
and we know that more and more people sadly are becoming unwell as a sort of consequence.
My third question is about the fact that we are starting to work really proactively with the faith sector
because of their different contributions to parts of civic society and many people have told us about the importance of proximity to faith
venues being really important when it comes to choosing where they live. Is that something that we could consider in the future?
and then the final one is when we're thinking about the criteria and selection process,
is there an opportunity for us as a combined authority to be quite courageous in the criteria
and prioritisation of certain groups that may need it more than others and how feasible
would that be? And it may be that this isn't the time to discuss that but it's just to
stimulate the thinking chair. Thank you.
Thank you. Do you want to come back and respond, Katie?
I think it's probably the same response to most of those questions, to be honest, in
Rachael Dennis - 0:54:45
terms of the allocation of land, so that sits with local authorities rather than the combined
Ms. Katie Kavanagh - 0:54:48
authority. In terms of the projects that we support, at the moment that is generally led
by sites that have been identified through our strategic priority areas, through our
strategic place partnership focus areas and through the local growth plan and the areas
that have been identified in there. That's not to say that we can't explore what some
of those specific areas and what opportunities there are in those.
So I definitely think it's worth the conversation I find in terms of how we can align closely
with those points.
Thanks.
Thank you.
I have Richard and then Lisa.
Yeah, just a quick point from me.
Richard Butterfield, Advisory Representative (Historic England) - 0:55:26
I just wondered the extent to which you're kind of considering repurposing existing buildings
within your Brownfield Housing Fund strategy.
I suppose really just reflecting on the opportunities that that presents to contribute to the broader
region objectives and reinforcing a sense of place rather than investment being in the
mindset of new build solely.
I just wonder if there were any thoughts in terms of how that might be progressed further
on.
In terms of the housing fund, we've been quite restricted, I would say, to date by the terms
of the fund which are imposed by central government. I think as we move forward into single settlement
status and we understand what the scope and flexibilities might be afforded to us through
that status, I think there's more of an opportunity for us to pick up on some of the broader aspects
that the committee are discussing at the moment, whether that be the points that Fatima has
already raised or the ones, Richard, that you've just raised there. We do have some
small examples of repurposing through the Brownfield Housing Fund where we've been able
to make the conditions of the fund work. A good example of that is the repurposing of
and Town Hall, for example, in Corderdale, that is one of our Brownfield Housing Fund
schemes. There are one or two buildings in Branford as well, some of which we're working
on with Homes England, one for example that we know as Canal 30. So there are small examples
of that where we can make it work, but clearly more that we can do and there might be a discussion
in the future perhaps with this committee about how you would like to see us focusing
some of perhaps our own regional conditions, if you like, as to what we would see from
any investment that we put into a particular project or program.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair. Just to your point there Fatima, I just wanted to mention a piece of
Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative) - 0:57:49
I'm leading at the moment with the City Council as Councilor Phoenix isn't here, working on
their transformational regen area which is obviously one of the strategic regen projects.
They have commissioners to do a piece of work looking exactly at what you're saying about
proximity to amenity and making sure that any growth in the transformational regen area
all those, I can't remember the figure, is it 20 ,000 or 50 ,000 new homes in that area
are supported by the right level of amenity.
So we've gone from identifying where they are,
and now we're looking at capacity and headroom,
and say we're talking about GP surgery,
talking about schools, places of worship.
So I'd really love to show you some more about that.
Okay.
Thanks Lisa, Sarah.
Yeah, just I think sort of almost bringing
those two points together that Richard has made as well.
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 0:58:40
So I think lots of our town centres and in different parts of the region and town and
civic centres have got old buildings which would be right for repurposing into apartment
living and then also which contributes to the regeneration of those town centres because
then you've got more people around during the day, it's very close to amenities that
already there, very close to transport links already, and all of that sort of stuff, can
be good for evening economy, can help with the safety of the feeling. And I think there
are so many benefits of actually encouraging people to be able to live within our town
and city centres that are really positive. And so I suppose that I think we'd be really
interested in seeing whether it's accelerator money or what other help can be given, potentially
to both RPs and private developers to be able to help smooth that along and encourage that,
because actually I think it's in everyone's interest. I think town centre living can have
lots of really good benefits, so I'd be really interested in that.
I'm going to bring Liz in and then we'll wrap this up.
Thank you. Just to add a couple of things.
Liz Hunter, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:00:10
So as Kate was mentioning about we might have a degree more flexibility through the integrated settlement.
We didn't find out at the spending round how much we might get or the criteria around it.
We were expecting that sometime in September, October.
I think we mentioned before about having maybe a workshop with yourselves around that time to do exactly as Kate's saying,
to dive into a bit more detail about if once we know a bit more what then might we want
to kind of prioritize. So watch that coming into your diaries. I think we might go for
October and cross our fingers that we might know a bit more by then in order to have a
useful conversation. Secondly, Fatima, you mentioned about kind of adaptability of homes.
I don't know you've been involved in the dementia friendly kind of readiness, which this committee
has really helped create and drive forward.
And I was reminded by our team
that whilst we're talking about it being dementia friendly,
actually many of the attributes of that,
of those criteria actually support many other
kind of the flexibility in the home for different needs.
So just to remind the committee
because you've been really helpful in driving that forward
and we can bring updates back on that piece of work.
And then just very quickly and lastly,
A couple of the comments there I've been talking about,
that kind of early working with developers
or the ability to be in early in projects.
And this is a bit of an age old problem
between the kind of revenue and capital split
that we often get from government
and will often have more capital funding
and kind of less revenue funding,
which means that some of the good stuff
that Tamsin was talking about,
we haven't, we're sometimes constrained
with what we can do early.
So I suppose, Rachel, if you're talking to governments
in Westminster next week there is that opportunity to make sure we've got a good balance of both
I think will help with that early stages what you need to do to bring forward appropriate
kind of master planning there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yes, Steven.
Just make a really quick point as well.
In terms of that mapping exercise, can that include community provision as well?
Because I'm just conscious that that often gets forgotten in terms of the space for community
centres essentially.
Thank you.
Just on Liz's point.
Stephen Moore - 1:02:15
I think there's clear appetite for that workshop across the room so look forward to hearing
more on that one.
Are there any final comments or questions before I ask Kit to perhaps come back with
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 1:02:23
any final reflections?
If I could pick up, Chair, just to we've discussed quite a lot around the housing accelerator
Kate Thompson Head of Regeneration - 1:02:32
fund, touched on the Brownford housing fund.
If I could just side post the committee to the emerging work on a potential impact investment
fund that's contained within the paper and seek endorsement to the proposed critical
success factors and focus of that emerging fund, lots more work to do on that and we
will bring it back to committee. So those are included in the pack in this report at
paragraph 330 to 332.
So if colleagues can just have a look at those and see if you're content or if there's any
comments arising from that. Thank you, colleagues. If we can endorse the content of that report
and then we'll move on to item 12, which is health and housing. Over to you, Jennifer.
Thank you. Just to do a very brief introduction and then I'll hand to Rachel who will take

12 Health & Housing

Jennifer Robson - 1:03:34
you into the paper. This was an item that we've brought forward on previous requests
from the committee when Cathy Elliott was the chair of the ICB. We're also taking the
same paper through West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Board next week because of
that key alignment between these two agendas.
And I think it's just really helpful to set this paper
the context of the discussions that have been had today,
so that understanding of the key relationships between health
and housing, that interplay of different factors,
but also the commitment to health and housing activity
through the housing strategy.
So it's really shining a spotlight
on the work that exists already and really seeking
the contributions of the committee and how we take that forward in a somewhat challenging
environment for this kind of work. I'll hand it to Rachel to take you in.
Thanks, Jen. We could make an apology for the length of the appendices but we probably
won't because we really genuinely only touched the very surface of the multiple and interconnected
and interconnected ways that health and housing
are playing out in our region.
We thought it was really important
to kind of really surface some of the specific health issues
that are emerging because of the houses
and the homes that people are living in,
the exacerbation of housing,
sorry, of health issues that's been caused by housing,
and then also that kind of lifetime of ill health
that can be stored up because of it.
So we often see kind of acute and exacerbated conditions now in our acute hospitals and
trusts, but actually what we're seeing more and more also is that GPs are having to deal
with the long -term impact of people not being in the right house for them and their family.
And this is something that we're seeing both as an acute presentation right now, but we're
We're also predicting a much longer term arc in that kind of unwellness caused or exacerbated
by the housing situation that we've got.
Alongside that, and has been trailed perfectly by all of the items today, the quality of
our housing stock is a challenge for us.
The number of people living in temporary accommodation, many of whom have got families of vulnerabilities,
and the length of time that people are staying in temporary accommodation is now again causing
health delays in getting treatment so we're seeing people who are having to delay getting
treatment in hospital because they don't have somewhere safe enough to recover in and we're
seeing people being admitted to hospital and then not being able to be returned home because
Rachael Loftus - 1:06:27
even though every health professional will tell you the best place to recover is at home
for many people, that's not an option.
So this kind of combined stress in both the housing system
and in the health system is causing a real serious
and long -term impact for the people of West Yorkshire.
And we really wanted to host this joint conversation
because oftentimes, health colleagues will talk
about the blindness that they have
towards what goes on in the housing system.
And I absolutely know that our housing colleagues
would say the same about the health system in terms of where they, you know, what they
can see and what they know and understand about it.
And so there's a bit of kind of resetting our ambition, which is we know that these
two things are interconnected and cannot be separated, both in terms of people's lives
and in the ways that we run our organisations, but possibly for too long the national framework
has separated out health and housing as though they can be dealt with separately, and that's
no longer an option really given the numbers that we are looking at and the factors that
we are seeing. So the idea of having these two separate conversations was actually about
having a single integrated conversation and saying actually what can we do. You will see
through the papers we are doing so many great things and I had the privilege yesterday to
meet with some of the other mayoral authorities and I would say we are doing as much in West
and yet still we are not turning the curve because the scale of the ability to react
to the situation is nothing compared to the trajectories of what we are seeing, the lived
reality in West Yorkshire. So the idea really is to come to you guys and say what are the
things that you think we could most scale into and that's the, I think somebody mentioned
the moment event, that's a big thing, coming out of the Institute for Health Equity, which
is it's no good having brilliant solutions if they're not at the right scale for the
problem. So there's a bit of that. And then also there's the kind of we are dealing now
with a lack of prevention probably for the last 10, 15 years, which means that even though
oftentimes we talk about going further upstream, we're actually dealing with the lived reality
of not having been upstream soon enough.
So in terms of that mitigation, in terms of that ability
to go in and target our interventions,
using health data, using housing data combined.
These are things that we can do,
but we don't have the resources and the scale
to do that at this point.
So really it's over to you in terms of coming back
with the things that you think you've got an appetite for,
things that you think you might like to see more of or are there other questions or other
things that aren't included in the very lengthy papers.
Thank you Rachel, yeah a really vital piece of work and just before opening up for discussion
I was really shocked to see under 3 .1 the scale of the mental health impacts as well.
I think with poor housing we often think of the physical impacts on people's health but
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 1:09:40
the mental health impact is clearly absolutely massive and something we really need to deal
with as well. Any questions or comments on this discussion, please?
Sarah and then Rachel.
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 1:09:58
Yeah, thank you. This is so important. I talked about this at the beginning. And I think on
so many levels, so as I mentioned sort of air quality earlier and air quality within
people's terms, not just damp, not just sort of mould and stuff, but actually other sort
of issues around air quality contributing to it.
And I've been recently asked to do some presentations
in a couple of primary schools around air quality.
And so I did a bit more reading up.
And actually, the fact that poor air quality
can lead to particulate matter being lodged
in children's brain, which actually reduces their,
which affects their learning and therefore has equalities
impacts for the rest of their lives.
you know, this is really, really massive stuff.
So, and obviously there are quite a lot of different issues
that we could be working on from within local authorities
with our health colleagues.
But in a way it's almost so massive
that it feels like do we need to maybe prioritize
and really sort of hone some things down
and think about some initial deliverables
so that we make sure that there is an effective response
because I think, you know, as you sort of said,
it's like you look at the figures and just go,
oh, it's a bit overwhelming.
So I think one of the biggest challenges working
with each other is that sort of not knowing what's going on
in the different sectors and also the fact
that it's different in different authorities.
So some authorities own their own housing stock,
other authorities don't, we use registered providers.
So I think, yeah, I don't know if it's worth
sort of thinking about maybe focusing on one or two
key issues and getting those delivered, partly to help explore the way we could work systemically
within different organisations and then that can be like, and then once we've tackled one
or two issues maybe then it will be easier to tackle other issues because there will
be those pathways and ways of working. So I don't know, that's an initial thought.
Rachel next.
Thank you.
Rachael Dennis - 1:12:06
I really like what you're saying actually because I think that, you know, it occurs
to me as you're speaking Rachel that, you know, there's a universal acceptance of the
importance and the complexity of the issues that we've got and the people who are working
separately don't want to be working separately but they don't know how to work their way
through the system.
And so looking at your, you know, your appendix of the opportunities that are there, you know,
So on the one hand, it's overwhelming.
And so your point about picking some things
and working about how we navigate that, I think,
is a really good idea.
Because we all can look at that and go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But then just be unable to sort of get from off the kind
of starting block.
And I mean, we are, from a housing perspective,
all of these issues we see daily,
there are some things that actually are self -fulfilling
in terms of causing problems sort of in the housing system.
when we talk about people with complex needs,
that ties up so much of our resource that actually,
and we're looking at a housing sector going,
how can we partner with people?
But actually, if there are just some solutions to that
and some pathways through that we can universally agree on,
then you sort of unblock so much in terms of a housing
and a resource perspective, but also you really help people
in a way that is meaningful to them.
So, you know, sort of I really welcome the way
that you brought this together.
I think I'm particularly interested in that sort
of the opportunities pages, but I think that your point
about picking some things and actually effecting some change
so that we can see how to make it happen,
because I think this is a conversation that goes round
and round and round if we don't actually find ways
of doing something.
And I'm not savvy enough with the system to know how
to make that happen, so I think you just have
to get the right people around the table to do something
at the top so that the people who are really wanting to work together but don't know how
to make it happen can unlock things for it.
Thank you, Rachel.
So I'm probably going to regret saying this, but as the system leader who works in both
systems, who recognises the equality implications, I'm really keen to offer some strategic leadership
to this.
Fatima Khan-Shah (Inclusivity Champion) - 1:14:22
I think it's appalling some of the inequalities that we witness and while it's really great
that we've got the best of intentions, I think the time has now come for us to start talking
less and doing more. I've already instigated conversations before I knew this paper was
coming with some colleagues working in the sort of directors of public health circles
to see what good practice we've got and how we can amplify it. I suppose what I'm saying
in a very Fatima -like way is there's an offer here for me as the inclusivity champion to
use the mayor's convening power to start putting some oomph and energy behind this. And then
as a board member of the health and care partnership to start moving some of this through, I suppose
my question is, you know, some support from the committee behind the operability and making
some of this happen. But also, like Councillor Courtney said, some clear direction about
prioritization. And I think what Rachel alluded to about, you know, effective discharge, about
some of the temporary accommodation challenges, et cetera, I think we could get some quick
sequence very quickly by scaling up some existing good practice.
Thank you Fatima. Lisa.
Lisa Littlefair (Private Sector Representative) - 1:15:30
Thank you. Just a sort of, well it's completely related but it's on a slightly different topic.
I was just pondering about how this could provide fantastic evidence in terms of making
the case for funding for all of these schemes,
from the strategic to the detailed around housing,
if we can prove that link between housing and health
and prove the impact that it has on health outcomes
in delivering better housing, delivering better region,
that's amazing.
And if we can make sure it gets accounted in Green Book
benefits and all the rest of it that's that would be something I would I would
be really interested in getting involved in actually. Thanks Lisa, Stephen. Thank you
chair and I'm just looking at appendix one again I think there's a lot of a lot
of that ambition and that logic is actually embedded in there I think we
can all see it it's going back to that earlier point picking you know don't let
getting away a good, getting those objectives and using the framework which is so articulately
putting those bullet points with data, with sharing of information about targeted points
I think is a really clear way of doing it. I think the roadmap is there, it just needs
that, the hooks to hang things on. Thank you.
Jen?
Jennifer Robson - 1:17:01
Yeah, thank you and that's the exact intention of this paper really, is to set out, as Rachel
the data is there in terms of the evidence of the impacts and the harms and so on in
appendix two and in that appendix one the kind of opportunities and so really welcome
the idea around that focus on prioritisation that's really if there are any things that
the committee particularly wants from that longer list that we would particularly like
to see prioritised, that will help inform and we will have a similar discussion in the
partnership next week, the health and care partnership next week about from their perspective
direction on priorities within that longer list, that would be particularly helpful.
Thank you.
Do we have any initial thoughts on what those priorities should be or would colleagues like
more time and perhaps share them after the meeting subsequently.
Rachel?
I feel a bit greedy really.
Rachael Dennis - 1:18:04
But the last two points I think, I mean I was talking about the extent to which people
with complex mental health needs are, and that contributes not just to a blockage of
the housing system but to homelessness as well.
And it's probably one of the more complex ones so I think if we go up the list we probably
could get some more quick wins, but that and supported living. And it feels like there
could be a quick win. Liz, you made the point about the dementia -friendly thing linking
well to aging well and living well in older age. I feel like there may be a quick win
in that as well to sort of combine those. So those are my initial thoughts. I think
people probably want to reflect, but I thought I would just get in there while I'm here.
Thanks, Rachel. Sarah?
Yeah, I think those are all really good points.
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 1:18:55
I think also, though, thinking about asthma, children, you know, and that sort of air quality type thing,
I think it's also because, I think partly because, you know, we know it can be fatal, you know,
but also those longer term, the way that that bakes in inequalities in the long term.
So a child who's suffering poor health partly because of
or exacerbated by their housing is also then
going to be missing school and all
of that sort of contributory effect.
So I think, I mean, I would say that that would sort of thing
around sort of air quality.
And I think something like air quality as well could be,
I talked earlier about that roundness of all of these different things being so massively
interconnected.
So if we're thinking about air quality within the home, but that can also be part of and
have links in with wider air quality issues which links into carbon reduction and climate
change and also increased public transport.
We're about to launch into bus franchising and stuff like that and actually we need to
drive people into buses and out their cars or encourage people to increase bus patronage
and stuff like that. And all of these things are really interrelated. So I don't know,
I would put a bid in for something around air quality, asthma and that sort of stuff.
It's not mutually exclusive though, is it?
No, not at all. I think that there's an opportunity to also link that with the existing focus
on retrofit.
So there are some win -wins in there where we can go,
we are already doing this great big thing,
but let's add to that in the same way
Rachael Dennis - 1:20:46
when we're talking about sort of dementia
and bringing in sort of living well in older age.
So I think there's stuff that's happening
that actually maybe that can help get momentum
around wider issues that could be helpful.
Thank you.
Sarah, yeah.
And in fact, I mean, in Colvedale,
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 1:21:03
we are already working around asthma.
you know, that's something that we are focusing on,
sort of asthma and building links with the health system
and landlords and making sure that we are supporting
families who have got people who've got severe asthma
within those families.
So I guess that's probably why I'm sort of focused on it
because we are already doing work around that.
But yeah, I think that's a really good point,
building on the retrofitting sort of stuff as well,
which also helps inequalities
because of fuel poverty, et cetera.
I think some really good suggestions there. Rachel, Jen, I don't know if you want to wrap things up for feedback.
Rachael Loftus - 1:21:44
Yeah, one pilot that's working really well at the moment is a combined risk around respiratory illness and home indirect quality.
So it may be that, for example, a child might have mild to moderate asthma but is actually living in a situation that's making it severe
versus a child with severe asthma,
who's actually living in the perfect home environment
to manage that.
So that combination of housing environment
plus severity of asthma and being able to do that
and our respiratory consultants are doing that.
What they've been able to do so far though
it's for children who've been admitted to hospital
because of their asthma,
because the ability to do it is limited.
So they've prioritized that way.
But they're the ones saying we would love to extend this
to adults, we would love to extend this to primary care presentations around asthma and
being able to do that. The reality though is that for all of those children who might
or for all those people who might end up with a severe asthma or a combined risk assessment
score, we don't have the homes to move people to. So we can do a lot of mitigation, mechanical
ventilation, air purification, things like that, and through neighbourhood health which
may well be the opportunity that we can do a lot more of that home -based mitigations
which we currently aren't able to manage in an acute setting.
Those are the kind of things that we really can scale, but again, the investment is not there
for us to be able to do that because it takes time and you have to work with families.
The other example obviously is asthma friendly schools has been phenomenal in terms of
reducing the number of school days lost because of asthma.
Because actually, you've got a school environment
that understands around air quality and monitoring
and went to open windows, went to closed windows,
all of that kind of education and advice.
So all of these things are really, really important.
But that's just one example of something
that could be taken to scale very quickly had we
the resources to do it.
I think you've also rightly pointed out on the other end,
We've got some really high tariff, high cost interventions
for people who are just in the wrong place for them
and we don't have the right number of supported living
and secure supported living accommodation for us.
So these are the choices that we're going to be making,
which is large scale, low cost interventions versus low
numbers but high cost interventions.
And I think, yeah, this is our challenge,
as well as getting right in there
in terms of the retrofit priorities.
And there are other things that we can do
to build in health.
And probably the other thing to mention obviously
is AWAP's law, which will be coming in
for housing providers, will actually really focus
on that indoor air quality piece a lot more
and give us much more tools to do it.
But again, the scale and the pace
that we would need to go at to match that
is gonna be quite a challenge.
Thank you, Rachel.
I think you've got clear support from the committee
for this really important piece of work and just to add if colleagues do have further
reflections or suggestions if they can share those on to you, I think that would be appreciated.
Thank you. Thanks, colleagues. We'll move on to item 13, which is the remediation strategy.

13 Remediation Strategy

Katie. Back to me again. Thanks, Chair. So we've
Ms. Katie Kavanagh - 1:25:02
previously updated committee on the work government has asked us to do around speeding up remediation
on medium and high rise buildings. This paper provides further update as we move towards
formal publication of our local remediation acceleration plan or LRAP for short. We're
specifically seeking the committee's views on the content of the revised LRAP and how
the implementation of the plan can support delivery of the government's three objectives
which are fixing buildings faster, identifying all buildings with unsafe cladding and support
residents. Aligned to these objectives the paper poses three questions for discussion
today so those are how can local authorities best contribute to fixing buildings faster
and how can the combined authority best support. Considering the identified capacity constraints,
how can we collectively work to identify all buildings with unsafe cladding and national
guidance sets clear requirements for responsible entities to keep residents informed. What
might local authorities and the combined authorities do to support residents. Thanks.
Thanks, Katie. Any comments or questions on this report?
Sarah? Just comment on some of the things that we're
Cllr Sarah Courtney (Calderdale Council) - 1:26:17
doing in Calderdale. I'm sure other authorities are doing similar stuff. We have a fire safety
working group which is held between Calderdale Council and partner organisations which meets
on a quarterly basis and proposals are being drawn up for an event to test response and
and evaluation procedures and together Housing, who's one of our registered providers, is
reviewing its high -rise strategy in line with the Building Safety Act to strategically consider
the long -term status of tower blocks and engaging with key services to ensure proposals meet
the wider aspirations of the Council in terms of regeneration and sustainable housing delivery.
So I think that's a couple of things that we're doing in Colvedale around this.
Any other comments or questions?
Are we content with the general direction of the strategy?
Okay, thank you, Katie.
Short and sweet, that one.
Right, then that brings us on to the last item, which is the date of the next meeting,
which I understand will be held on the 6th of November.
And just to reiterate, there's going to be a private workshop as well, as Liz has alluded to,
Cllr Jack Hemingway (Wakefield Council) - 1:27:24
which will look to take place in October, at least this year.
Thank you all for your attendance this afternoon.
Thank you.
Rachael Loftus
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
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Carl Makin
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
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