*O&S 29
The Chairman introduced this agenda item and
highlighted that, in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny
Procedure Rules, three Members of the Committee had invoked a
Call-in on Hub Committee Minute HC 15 ‘Northern
Outreach’.
Upon the conclusion of the debate on the
Call-in, the Chairman advised that there would be three options
available to the Committee. These
were:
1.
that the Committee was content with the original Hub
Committee resolution and the decision would therefore take
immediate effect;
2.
that the Committee refer the decision back to the
next Hub Committee meeting (on 10 September 2019) for further
consideration; and
3.
that the Committee opt to refer the decision to the next full Council
meeting (on 17 September 2019).
At this point, the Chairman invited the Member
who was representing the three signatories of the Call-in to
explain their reasoning behind this decision. In so doing, the Member made particular reference
to:-
-
the
main
concerns relating to the ability of local communities in the north
of the Borough to access the Council and its services. As a result, the Members were strongly of the view
that the withdrawal of the northern outreach service should be
considered at the same time as the proposed option appraisal on the
future of Tavistock Reception. Whilst
not his own personal belief, the Member stressed that there was a
widespread view amongst residents living in the north of the
Borough that the Council was too Tavistock orientated and he
requested that the need for the Council to take steps to overcome
this perception be noted;
-
the Hub Committee being divided when making its
original decision;
-
a number of residents were not digitally enabled
and, whilst improvements had been made, there did remain some
issues with call waiting times in the Contact Centre;
-
it
was the
wish of the signatories for the original Hub Committee decision to
be referred to the Council for further consideration at its meeting
on 17 September 2019.
The Chairman then proceeded to
invite the lead Hub Committee Member for Customer First to respond
to the points raised. During which, the
lead Member informed that:-
-
great strides had been made to Contact Centre
performance and the Council website;
-
Mobile Locality Officers would continue to offer to
carry out personal visits to vulnerable residents;
-
the
current
Northern Outreach service did not represent good value for
money. In support of this statement,
the lead Member advised that it was costing £8,000 per year
to resource the outreach office one day each week and, as a guide
in August 2019, there had been only 11 visits, with the majority of
the enquiries raised not relevant to the Borough
Council;
-
he
had
recently attended a meeting with the Vice-Chairman of the Committee
and the lead officer at Okehampton Library to discuss the
possibility of the facility providing a signposting service for the
Borough Council. Upon the conclusion of
this meeting, the Library representatives had confirmed that they
would be happy to provide a signposting service.
During the ensuing debate, the following points were
raised:-
(a)
Some Members were of the view that there was a
general lack of awareness that the current outreach service was in
existence. In addition, the local ward
Members stated that they had previously been discouraged from
promoting the service. To counter these
comments, the lead Hub Committee Member stated that, in his
opinion, the outreach service had been well publicised via Council
press releases (that had subsequently been picked up by both the
Okehampton Times and Devon Live) and a poster being on prominent
display in the previous office window at James’ Street,
Okehampton;
(b)
Local Ward Members expressed their disappointment
that they had not been made aware of the meeting that had recently
been held at Okehampton Library;
(c)
Support was expressed for the point made by the
call-in signatories whereby the withdrawal of the northern outreach
service should be considered at the same time as the proposed
option appraisal on the future of Tavistock Reception. Moreover, a number of Members felt that the
decision should be referred to the Council meeting on 17 September
2019 for further consideration.
It was then:
RESOLVED
That the Committee has debated
the Call-in on Hub Committee Minute HC 15 ‘Northern
Outreach’ and requests that it be considered at the next
Council meeting on 17 September 2019.