TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE HOUSING STRATEGY BOARD

1. Eastleigh Borough Council will as the Statutory Housing Authority continue to have a legal duty to produce and submit an annual Housing Strategy to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. They will therefore retain the Chair of the group and servicing responsibilities.

2. The group will provide representation to, and report to the Eastleigh Local Strategic Partnership on an annual basis and members of the group will be responsible for ensuring consultation and adoption by their individual organisations including the commitment of resources and expertise in delivering agreed actions.

3. A number of smaller groups may be set up by the Housing Strategy Board at different times to undertake specific work. Progress and key actions from these groups will be reported back to the partnership as and when appropriate

4. Where appropriate, the Board will lobby on National / Regional issues, which are relevant to the interests of the residents of the Borough. This will include making regional representations to maximise investment opportunities in the Borough.

5. The Housing Strategy Board will work alongside and with other groups within the Eastleigh Local Strategic Partnership particularly the Health Action Group and the District Inclusive Forum.

6. Members may be required to represent the Housing Strategy Board at other groups or to undertake consultation with particular groups of people.

7. Members of the Board embrace Equal Opportunities policies and commit to promoting the vision set out in the Race Equality Code of Practice for Housing Associations.

8. A clear set of priorities will be agreed by the Board and widely disseminated to the local community

9. An action plan for a three-year period will be agreed and approved by members of the Board. Key actions for individual partners will be identified and monitored regularly

10. Where opportunities arise the Board should seek to maximise them to the benefit of local people. To do this the group will need to work in partnership: namely sharing information in order to work together to solve problems

11. All actions and decisions should be taken within a best value framework and should be informed by the views of users, other stakeholders and the wider community

12. The forum will meet 6 times a year with meetings agreed in advance. Where members are unable to attend they should where possible send a deputy.

13. Agendas and items for consideration will be sent out in advance and members of the Board will put forward agenda items where appropriate.

14. Where information is sensitive and/or confidential, members are asked to be explicit about its status and disclosure outside of the group is not permitted.