Agenda and minutes

*O&S 72          

Apologies for absence for this meeting were received from Cllr A Coulson.

*O&S 73          

The minutes of the Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 2 March 2021 were confirmed by the Meeting as a true and correct record.

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting.

If Councillors have any questions relating to predetermination, bias or interests in items on this Agenda, then please contact the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

*O&S 74          

Members and officers were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of this meeting but there were none made.

A period of up to 15 minutes is available to deal with issues raised by the public.   

*O&S 75                      

The Chairman confirmed that no formal requests had been received in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.

If any Member seeks further clarity, or wishes to raise issues regarding any future Hub Committee agenda item, please contact Democratic Services before 5.00pm on Thursday, 15 April 2021 to ensure that the lead officer(s) are aware of this request in advance of the meeting.

*O&S 76          

It was noted that no prior requests had been received in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules and that the Forward Plan had now been published as this meeting had been delayed.

*O&S 77          

The Lead Member for Resources and Performance presented the performance management report which provided a high level overview of performance across the Council. 

Following questions from Members, the following points were made:

·          The household waste recycling percentages traditionally decreased from October annually due to a decrease of garden waste in the winter months.  An explanatory note was to be added to the report to explain this trend;

·          The increase in enforcement cases outstanding was due to a large increase in cases reported during Covid lockdown being concurrent with some staffing issues;

·          The increase in missed waste collections last summer was linked to the significant increase in waste produced during the Covid lockdowns and some staff having to self-isolate; and

·          The next six monthly performance review had been scheduled for December 2021 to review the performance figures for the first half of the year and a performance review against the new corporate strategy would also be presented to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.       That the Committee note the performance figures shown in the Pentana report, and

2.    That Members have reviewed the information provided in the dashboards and provided feedback to the portfolio holder on any additional measures required to scrutinise performance.

*O&S 78          

In her update, the Hub Lead Committee Member for Environment highlighted that:

a)       all aspects of the planning process were to be reviewed, along with the enforcement service.  Reports could be viewed on Mod.Gov for detail of what the review would entail.  It was confirmed that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be able to call in any planning performance to scrutinise and that the report would initially be presented to the Development Management and Licensing Committee.  The report was also scheduled to be brought to a meeting of the Hub Committee in six months’ time;

b)       whilst delays to some planning applications caused frustration to some Members and some applicants, it was noted that these delays were partially caused by the impact of the Covid pandemic and was sometimes outside of officer control;

c)       officers had worked incredibly hard this past year under trying circumstances and with a significant increase in applications.

*O&S 79          

The Committee considered the final version of its draft Annual Work Programme for 2020/21 and noted its contents.  It was confirmed that the work programme may alter following the Full Council meeting on 25 May 2021 when the composition of Committees would be determined. 

The listing for Planning in June 2021 related to a review of the Plymouth Road report outstanding actions and might be impacted by the planning review as outlined in minute *O&S 78 above, as there was considerable overlap in these two items.

This document can be made available in large print, Braille, tape format, other languages or alternative format upon request. Please contact the Committee section on 01822 813662 or email democratic.services@swdevon.gov.uk

*O&S 80          

Members were reminded that the first meeting of the municipal year following the Annual Meeting would give the Committee the opportunity to amend and adapt its work programme.

Finally, the Vice Chairman thanked the Chair for her work this year, particularly under the strains of chairing virtual meetings.