Agenda and minutes

*O&S 1          

Apologies for absence for this meeting were received from Cllr P J Ridgers.

*O&S 2          

The minutes of the Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 26 March 2019 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 3          

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 was none made.

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

*O&S 4          

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 5.00pm on Thursday 6 June 2019 to ensure that the lead officer(s) are aware of this request in advance of the meeting.

*O&S 5          

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

(a)  the Coastal Concordat agenda item.  In response to some questions, the Committee felt that it would be helpful to receive a formal update at its next meeting on the Coastal Concordat;

(b)  the Community Housing Capital Financing agenda item.  Members requested that they receive further information specifically in respect of Design Principles and Building Standards at the next Panel meeting on 9 July 2019.

O&S 6            

The lead Hub Committee Member for Customer First presented a report that detailed the progress that had been made since April 2019 on improving customer satisfaction levels.  The report also included recommended next steps to continue to improve the customer experience by further honing the Council website to pre-empt customer needs and manage expectations.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)  the 2019 Customer Satisfaction Survey.  The Committee asked that the full results of the 2019 Survey be presented to its meeting on 19 November 2019;

(b)  call volumes.  Whilst some emphasis was given to waste and recycling, officers confirmed that there was a month on month reduction in telephone calls being received by the Council across all of its service areas;

(c)  obtaining customer feedback.  The overriding view of the Committee was that customer feedback was more important than locally generated performance measures in making improvements in customer satisfaction levels.  In terms of feedback already gleaned, there were common themes around officers not keeping customers sufficiently informed and the need for the Council to develop a ‘get it right first time’ culture;

(d)  receiving quarterly updates.  Whilst Members were supportive of the suggestion that they receive quarterly progress updates in the future, officers did assure the Committee that this could be revisited again should it be felt necessary to increase the frequency of reporting.

It was then:

RECOMMENDED

That the Hub Committee be RECOMMENDED to:

1.     note and comment on the progress made to date in improving customer satisfaction (as detailed in section 3 of the agenda report presented to the Committee); and

2.     endorse the next steps (as outlined in section 5 of the agenda report presented to the Committee).

*O&S 7          

The Committee considered a report that provided Members with the opportunity to agree and comment upon the Food Safety Service Plan 2019/20.

In discussion, the following points were raised:-

(a)  Members paid tribute to the team’s performance in maintaining a 100% food safety inspection rate in each of the last two years.  In so doing, the Committee was also informed that very few local authorities achieved this level of performance;

(b)  With regard to the emphasis being placed on public health, whilst Devon County Council (DCC) had primary responsibility, officers confirmed that the Borough Council was committed to working closely with DCC to make progress in this area.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

1.     has had the opportunity to agree and comment upon the Food Safety Service Plan 2019/20; and

2.     acknowledges the excellent performance of the Food Safety Team that is demonstrated by the achievement whereby 100% of food safety inspections had been carried out in 2018/19.

*O&S 8          

The Committee considered its first draft version of its Work Programme for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.  In discussion, it was agreed that:

-        After the first Joint Local Plan update had been presented to the Committee meeting on 9 July 2019, then consideration of this matter on a quarterly basis would be sufficient;

-        It would be timely for the Member Development Steering Group to review the effectiveness of the 2019 Member Induction Programme, with the Group findings then being presented to the Committee at its meeting on 19 November 2019;

-        In advance of the ‘Peer Challenge Action Plan – Progress Update’ agenda item being considered at the Committee meeting on 9 July 2019, it was requested that a copy of the Peer Review Concluding Report and Action Plan should be circulated to all Members;

-        Such was the significance of the issue, that the Committee requested that officers produce an update report on the ‘A386 Transport Corridor / Tavistock Rail’ for consideration at its next meeting on 9 July 2019.  Members felt that, depending on the outcome of the debate on this agenda item, it may then be appropriate to invite Devon County Council representatives to attend a future Committee meeting.