Agenda and minutes

*O&S 48                    

Apologies for absence for this meeting were received from Cllrs J R McInnes, D E Moyse, P J Ridgers and D K A Sellis.

Committee Meeting held on 17 October 2017

*O&S 49         

The minutes of the Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 17 October 2017 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman 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 50         

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 51        

There were no issues raised during the Public Forum session at this meeting.

If any Member seeks further clarity, or wishes to raise issues regarding any future Hub Committee agenda item, please contact Member Services before 12 noon on Friday, 3 November 2017 to ensure that the lead officer(s) are aware of this request in advance of the meeting.

*O&S 52        

The most recent Hub Committee Forward Plan was presented for consideration.

The Chairman advised that the ‘Productivity Plan Joint Committee’ and ‘Housing Position Statement’ reports were intended to be presented to the meeting of the Hub Committee scheduled for 28 November 2017.

*O&S 53    

Cllr Musgrave, in his capacity as the Council’s representative on the Community Safety Partnership, presented a report that provided Members with the opportunity to scrutinise the work of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) as defined by Sections 19 and 20 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 and the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations 2009.

The Senior Community Safety Officer (SCSO), South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership, highlighted several areas within the report and responded to questions.  She also raised two areas not listed in the report, the first of which was a methodology for the trafficking of drugs which targeted vulnerable young people and as such was a focus for the Partnership.  The second issue was the prevalence of gang culture within one of the towns in the South Devon and Dartmoor area. 

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)  the likelihood of continued funding.  In response the SCSO advised that the funding was guaranteed for a further year however there was uncertainty arising from the proposed merger between Devon and Cornwall Police and Dorset Police Authorities;

(b)  that the frontline Police were very supportive, albeit within resource constraints;

(c)  that Members would appreciate a training session on the issues that the Partnership dealt with.  All Members supported the request for training and it was agreed that it should be included in the recommendation;

(d)     that the Partnership provided very good value for money.   

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.    That the report be noted; and

2.    That training for Members be arranged on issues relevant to the Partnership.

*O&S 54        

The Lead Member for Strategic Planning and Housing gave a verbal update on progress with the Joint Local Plan (JLP).

Key areas included:

§   A timetable for the examination of the Plan would be circulated to Members;

§   The Inspector had built in time to enable discussion on matters that may arise;

§   There was a comprehensive Local Plan Library as the Inspector was concerned that members of the public could access any documents;

§   There had been representations from people with sites that had not been allocated.  Alternative sites would only be looked at if sites within the Plan were unsustainable;

§   In terms of a five year land supply, full details would be made available to the public on 29 November 2017.

In response to a question on how performance of the Plan could be measured, the Lead Member confirmed that the JLP Steering Group had turned its attention to that and the Plan contained a series of measures.  It would be important to agree which were the key measures to monitor.  The five year land supply figures would be reviewed annually.  It would also be important to monitor and reflect on the performance of the delivery of the Plan itself.

Another Member raised the problem of planning permissions being granted but not actioned, so questioned whether there was any mechanism to enforce.  The Lead Member responded that there were a range of actions that could be taken at a local and national level, but that West Devon did not perform badly in terms of housing delivery.  The JLP would be a 20 year programme, some sites would come forward sooner than others and the key would be to identify sites that could be in trouble.

One Member asked if proposals to standardise the methodology for assessing housing need could affect the numbers of houses that the authority was required to provide.  The Lead Member responded to the question in detail and concluded that within the JLP area, the Group had added together the requirements and then looked at the most sustainable way to provide those houses across the three authorities.

The Chairman thanked the Lead Member for his update and agreed that it would now be appropriate for a short update on progress of the Plan to be presented to the O&S Committee at each meeting.

*O&S 55        

The Lead Member for Support Services presented a report that set out the performance levels against target as communicated in the Balanced Scorecard and the performance figures supplied in the presented background and the exception report.  Member’s attention was drawn to a new indicator, percentage of Change of Circumstances benefits claims received online.

During discussion, reference was made to the following:

1.      The length of time taken to process new benefits claims being back within tolerance;

2.      Whilst it was accepted that not all benefits claimants had access to a computer, encouraging channel shift would ‘free up’ call handlers to assist those who needed to contact by phone;

3.      The indicator for percentage of enquiries resolved at first point of contact no longer being collected.  This led to a wider discussion on the Customer Contact Centre and Members were advised that the Centre was set up in such a way that the Customer Contact Centre Manager was able to quickly more resource within teams to respond to changing levels of demand;

4.      The way that sickness absence was recorded was not helpful and this would be reviewed to reflect the single organisational workforce.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the performance levels against target communicated in the Balanced Scorecard and the performance figures supplied in the background and the exception report be noted.

*O&S 56         

The Lead Member for Support Services presented a report that considered the Local Government Ombudsman’s Annual Review Letter 2017 regarding complaints received against the Council for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017.  As part of his introduction, he set out how the level of complaints had decreased over the previous four years indicating a steady improvement in service levels.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the Ombudsman Annual Letter for 2017, as presented at Appendix A, be reviewed, corporate lessons learnt and whether service improvements are required had been considered.

*O&S 57        

The Lead Member for Support Services presented a report that outlined the changes that the Council would need to implement in order to achieve compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by 25 May 2018.  He advised that progress would be reviewed on a regular basis. 

The Support Services Specialist Manager advised Members that the Information Commissioners Office had been in touch in respect of the need for Members to be registered as data controllers.  As part of their role, they collected data relating to residents.  He advised that it was likely that the Council would cover the cost of ensuring all Members were appropriately registered.  He also confirmed that training for town and parish councils on Data Protection Regulations was being considered.  Members welcomed this information and requested that they be included in any training sessions that were arranged.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the approach to General Data Protection Regulation readiness ahead of implementation in May 2018 was supported, and that Members should be fully trained in the implications and responsibilities of the regulations. 

(a)   Discretionary Grant Funding Review; and

(b)   Performance Measures

* O&S 58       

(a)    Partnership Grant Funding Review

The Chairman confirmed that this group had not met yet, and also advised that the name of the group should be Partnership (not Discretionary).  They would meet in time to bring a report to the January 2018 meeting of the O&S Committee.

(b)   Performance Measure

By way of an update, it was confirmed that joint working with South Hams District Council was currently on hold.  The outcome of this piece of work was not needed until April 2018.

*O&S 59        

The Chairman introduced the latest version of the Work Programme for the next 12 months and the following updates were highlighted:

-         Following recent incidents where the Ambulance Service were reported to have failed to provide an appropriate level of service to residents, a Member asked if they could be invited to attend a future meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to have the opportunity to outline how they were facing public sector challenges.  The Committee agreed to this request and asked that they attend the meeting scheduled for 27 February 2018;

-         JLP Update would now be a standing agenda item for every meeting.

                       PART   TWO ITEMS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS ON THE GROUNDS THAT EXEMPT INFORMATION IS LIKELY TO BE DISCLOSED (if any)

If any, the Committee is recommended to pass the following resolution:-

“RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the Meeting the grounds that exempt information may be disclosed as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

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 darryl.white@swdevon.gov.uk

*O&S 60        

The Chairman advised the Committee that a trainer had been sourced to deliver the Overview and Scrutiny related training and this would take place on the morning of 5 December 2017 commencing at 10.00am.

In addition, the Committee noted that, further to items earlier in the agenda, training sessions would be arranged on the Community Safety Partnership and Data Protection.