Agenda and minutes

*O&S 89                    

Apologies for absence for this meeting were received from Cllrs J R McInnes, T G Pearce and P J Ridgers.

Committee Meeting held on 27 February 2018

*O&S 90        

The minutes of the Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 27 February 2018 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 91        

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 92        

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, 4 May 2018 to ensure that the lead officer(s) are aware of this request in advance of the meeting.

*O&S 93        

During consideration of the most recently published Hub Committee Forward Plan, the Committee made reference to:-

(a)   the anticipated length of the next Hub Committee meeting agenda.  Some Members highlighted the number (and significance) of the agenda items that were currently scheduled for consideration by the Hub Committee at its meeting on 5 June 2018.  In accepting the point, officers agreed to raise this matter with the Leader and relevant lead Hub Committee Members;

(b)   the IT Procurement agenda item.  Prior to its final presentation to the Hub Committee, the request was made for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to have the opportunity to consider the IT Procurement agenda item first.

*O&S 94        

The Chairman welcomed the Business Development Manager and the Business Manager from Fusion Lifestyle to their first Committee meeting since the Leisure Contract had been awarded and invited them to introduce their annual review presentation.  In so doing, the representatives made the point that, since this was the first annual presentation, there were no comparative baseline figures available.

Upon conclusion of the presentation, the following points were raised:-

(a)   The representatives informed that the difficulties that had been experienced with regard to the ease of making bookings on the website had been a massive challenge to the organisation.  Indeed, the representatives recognised that the deficiencies with the website throughout the final quarter of 2017 had been the single biggest failure of the organisation;

(b)   It was acknowledged that the issues in relation to the air handling unit at Parklands had now been fixed.  Other specific issues relating to Parklands were also highlighted that included:

-       the reasons for the works being re-tendered;

-       the design of the turnstiles;

-       some surprise being raised that the Centre had only received a QUEST accreditation of ‘good’ during its last assessment.  The Fusion representatives informed the meeting that this was expected progression during the first year of the contract;

-       some concern being raised amongst the User Group over the limited information that was available for future meeting dates and times.  In reply to a formal request being made for an annual schedule of consultation meetings to be produced, the representatives gave a commitment to look at this matter outside of this Committee meeting; and

-       the on-site public toilet provision.  In reply to some concerns over the provision for only one public toilet for the local park and community users, the request was made for this to be reconsidered, with feedback then being provided to Members in due course.

(c)       With regard to OCRA (Okehampton Community Recreational Association), the representatives commended the contributions made by the organisation.  In addition, the representatives advised that the two organisations had already developed an excellent working relationship and it was recognised that OCRA would be instrumental in progressing the community outreach work that Fusion was so keen to enhance;

(d)       Specifically regarding the ‘sugar smart’ and ‘Tavistock Health and Wellbeing Alliance’ initiatives, the representatives gave a commitment to discuss these matters further with a Member outside of this Committee meeting;

(e)       A Member who attended the Meadowlands User Group meetings highlighted the positive approach of both the Leisure Centre staff and users and asked for his positive comments to be noted and fed back to staff;

(f)        In respect of the customer satisfaction and performance information, it was agreed that the reporting format would be amended for future reports and would also be annotated with explanatory notes;

(g)       A Member questioned whether the current number of GP Referral cases was a cause of concern for the representatives.  In reply, the representatives acknowledged that there was scope for improvement and, whilst emphasising that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94.

*O&S 95        

A report was considered that presented the performance measures for Quarter 4.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)       the % of Benefits change of circumstances completed online.  The Committee was advised that the target remained challenging and a social media campaign would be used to increase numbers.  In the ensuing debate, a Member was of the view that, in many instances, those residents who were financially challenged did not have the capability to register online;

(b)       an inaccuracy in the published papers.  Members were informed that the number of calls answered within five minutes should have read ‘75%’ and not ‘65%’ as was suggested in the published agenda papers;

(c)       long term sickness absence.  By way of an update, officers confirmed that the Council currently had no members of staff who were absent through long term sickness;

(d)       planning enforcement statistics.  A Member reiterated his previously raised concerns relating to the upward trend of planning enforcement cases and questioned whether the targets set out in the adopted Planning Enforcement Plan were appropriate.  Whilst it was noted that a Member Planning Enforcement session was to be held in the upcoming weeks, the Committee nonetheless still wished to review the targets prescribed in the Plan at a future meeting;

(e)       a review into the performance measures.  In the event of the revised Corporate Strategy being approved at the Annual Council meeting to be held on 22 May 2018, the Committee felt it would then be timely to revisit the appropriateness of the performance measures (and supporting targets) that were currently being reported to Members. 

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 96        

As a Member of the Joint Local Plan (JLP) Joint Steering Group, Cllr Parker introduced the update and particular reference was made to:

-        the recent Member Briefing session held on 17 April 2018.  It was noted that Member attendance at this session had been high and it had seemingly been well received;

-        the current status of the JLP.  Whilst it currently did not have the full status of an adopted Plan, the Committee was advised that a recent appeal decision had made reference to the emerging JLP.  Members acknowledged that this was a significant milestone in the process;

-        the interim findings from the Examination in Public.  It was intended that the interim findings would be received by mid-June 2018;

-        governance of the process beyond adoption of the Plan.  In terms of the need to monitor the Plan, it was currently being proposed that approval would be sought to establish a Monitoring Group to supersede the JLP Joint Steering Group;

-        the five year land supply.  The Committee was informed that the position remained unchanged from the most recent update that it had received on 27 February 2018 (Minute *O&S 84 refers);

-        potential revisions to the Neighbourhood Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) regulations.  Having been informed that some revisions were currently being considered by Government, clarification was being sought from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in this regard.  For their information, Members also requested receipt of a copy of the response that had been sent to the MHCLG to the consultation exercise on these potential revisions.  In hoping that these revisions would have no impact upon the JLP, a Member highlighted that the MHCLG had been very supportive throughout the JLP process;

-        resourcing to support the Neighbourhood Planning process.  When questioned, officers advised that the Council had just recruited a temporary (twelve month) resource to support the process.  Furthermore, the Council was also intending to upskill its Locality Engagement Officers in order to provide additional support.

(a)   Partnership Grant Funding Review

*O&S 97                    

(a)       Partnership Grant Funding Review

The Chairman of the Group made reference to:-

-        the poor Member response rate to the recent Member Survey.  In emphasising the importance of all Members completing the Survey, it was agreed that a reminder would be circulated to all Members;

-        the intention still being for the Group to report its final recommendations to the Committee meeting on 26 June 2018;

-        the Commissioning Manager being in the process of writing to partners to inform them that the Council was undertaking a review in light of the future funding uncertainties that the authority was facing.

*O&S 98        

During the update, reference was made to:-

(a)   the Connecting Devon and Somerset Programme Board.  The Group Manager – Support Services and Customer First informed that he was now a member of the Board and it was his intention to invite the Programme Manager to provide a full update to the next Committee meeting;

(b)   new development sites.  In reply to a specific request, it was agreed that the lead officer would seek to clarify whether or not all new development sites (regardless of size) required adequate Broadband provision as a pre-requisite.  In addition, the officer agreed to raise at the next Board meeting whether or not the additional £5 million funding would be targeted towards improving provision within the most deprived areas.

*O&S 99        

The Chairman introduced the latest version of the Work Programme for the next 12 months.  In discussion, the following points were raised:-

-        In making reference to a future Work Programming meeting to be held on 15 May 2018 between lead officers and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Members were asked to feed any initial views that they had into that meeting;

-        Members were of the view that a Garden Waste Service Update should be considered by the Committee at its 31 July 2018 meeting;

-        It was agreed that a proposal to establish a Task and Finish Group to review Performance Measures and Targets should be presented to the Committee at its next meeting on 26 June 2018.

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 100      

In discussion, reference was made to future Member IT Provision.  Since this had been the first ‘paperless’ Committee meeting, Members suggested some minor improvements to make the process more user friendly.  Looking further ahead, it was acknowledged that the wider issue of Member IT Provision would need to be refreshed in time for the May 2019 elections.