Items
No. |
Item |
24. |
Minutes PDF 93 KB
To approve as a correct record
the minutes of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny
Committeemeeting held on 20 November
2018.
Minutes:
The minutes of the Corporate
Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 20 November 2018 were
approved as a correct record.
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25. |
Items of Urgent Business
To receive additional items
that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter
of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local
Government Act 1972.
Minutes:
There were no items of urgent
business.
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26. |
Declaration of Interests
Minutes:
There were no interests
declared.
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27. |
The Overview and Scrutiny Functions and Motions Process PDF 96 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Democratic Services Manager
introduced the report and began by stating this had come to
committee due to Councillor Spillman’s motion which was
outlined on page 15 of the agenda. He clarified that Councillor
Spillman had been made aware the report was coming to Corporate
Overview and Scrutiny Committee. He outlined that the report was
divided into two sections, with the first section relating to the
overview and scrutiny function, and the second relating to the
motions process. He commented that the report found
Thurrock’s overview and scrutiny function conformed with
national guidelines, and asked what Members would like to see from
the overview and scrutiny function. The Democratic Services Manager
then drew Members attention to point 2.4.4, 3.10 and 3.11 and asked
Members to undertake a project outside of the Committee meetings
regarding overview and scrutiny. He stated that he understood
present limitations and felt this report could be the impetus to
enhance overview and scrutiny. He moved on to discuss motions and
felt that the report highlighted motions were working well and
progressed once they had been agreed on at Council.
The Chair began by stating he welcomed the report, and the
discussion around the role Members could play in the future
regarding motions and overview and scrutiny. He added that
consulting with other Members would be good, and from there
overview and scrutiny could start making effective decisions and
undertaking policy decisions. He felt that the overview and
scrutiny process could improve and go further by allowing overview
and scrutiny committees to have more decision-making power. He also
felt that recommendations were part of the shortcomings in the
process as often decisions made in overview and scrutiny committees
were not relayed to Cabinet and Council, and felt that the
executive branch should officially respond to recommendations made.
The Chair then mentioned that he would like to see a more robust
role for overview and scrutiny committees regarding the call-in
function, as often decisions could not be called in as they had
undergone a form of pre-scrutiny, even if changes had been made at
the Cabinet meeting. He added that he understood overview and
scrutiny was not part of the executive branch of government, but
felt they could delay the implementation of proposals for further
discussion and could involve a higher number of Councillors. He
commented that as Chair he had lots of support from officers and
reports were of high-quality and included feedback he had given. He
finally stated that overview and scrutiny committees could be more
active in requesting site visits, but that the capabilities they
possessed was the most important aspect.
The Chair then opened the debate to other Members and Councillor
Churchman began by drawing the Committee’s attention to point
2.4.4 and stating that he would appreciate specific overview and
scrutiny training sessions throughout the year as knowledge was
important to make decisions on committee and he did not want
Members to feel they were falling behind if they missed some
meetings. Councillor Duffin ...
view the full minutes text for item 27.
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28. |
Customer Services Strategy Progress Update PDF 87 KB
Minutes:
The Director of Strategy,
Communications and Customer Services opened the report and
described how the Customer Services Strategy had been approved by
Cabinet in 2017, and how Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee
had been asked to feed into the process and comment on the action
plan before it was agreed. She commented that the committee
regularly asked questions regarding online services and how
residents were being supported to access these, and this report
provided a focused item on this issue. She mentioned that this was
an opportune time for the report due to the significant changes to
the reception area of the Civic Offices and face-to-face areas. The
Assistant Director Customer Services stated that there was a focus
in the report on the changes in the face-to-face areas, and
described how prior to these changes, customers were seen by
advisers at individual desks. She commented that there were now 11
self-service tablets, new seated computers, and floor-walkers that
could determine the appropriate service for a person and help
vulnerable individuals see an individual specialist if they
required. She continued by stating there was a new DDA area with
rise and fall desks for disabled users and a private waiting area
for those seeking housing and homelessness advice. She stated that
since the changes there was a 50% decrease in the volume of
customers visiting the Civic Offices this month and average wait
times had decreased from 8 minutes to 1 minute in January 2019. She
added that the decreased wait times meant that more time could be
spent with vulnerable users who needed it. She summarised by
stating that only one complaint had been received regarding the
changes, and some services were now online only such as Council Tax
exemption and bulky waste collection. Finally, she added that the
customer services department were CCA accredited and had received
no non-conformities in the independent review.
The Chair thanked officers for the detailed report and recognised
the shift towards online, as computers were now a fact of life. He
added that he had some concern in making sure good access to
services was still available to all users, particularly those that
were vulnerable or elderly as he did not want online to become a
barrier. He questioned what the team were doing to help residents
with online services, and what Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
were evaluating these services. The Assistant Director Customer
Services replied that floor-walkers were there to assess
customer’s vulnerability and support them with their needs.
She commented that there had been a decrease in people visiting the
Civic Offices for basic transactions, but there was still a good
level of service to residents which had seen few complaints. The
Chair clarified that although some services were online only,
support was still available to those that needed it. The Assistant
Director Customer Services confirmed this was the case and
floor-walkers were always there to assist visitors, as they could
help residents complete forms or answer questions. She stated there
was ...
view the full minutes text for item 28.
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29. |
Draft General Fund Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy Update PDF 345 KB
Minutes:
The Director of Finance and IT
introduced the report and stated it had gone to Cabinet earlier in
January 2019 and was coming back to the Corporate Overview and
Scrutiny Committee for comment, before being reconsidered by
Cabinet and going onto Full Council in February. He commented that
the old approach had used top-down cuts which risked creating false
savings, and felt that the new approach outlined in the report
increased income through investment and taxes, saved money through
the ‘Do More For Less’ Scheme, and decreased demand
through early intervention. He felt this was a successful approach,
although overspends were still occurring. He commented there were
three main points outlined the report, these being:
1. All savings outlined in the report for next year had already
been achieved or were a continuation of current savings.
2. Cabinet had recommended a freeze on council tax for the coming
municipal year.
3. As outlined on page 49 of the report, the Council Spending
Review (CSR) had introduced corporate wide savings targets, such as
getting better contracts in the ICT digital sector, and decreasing
the amount spent on people by reducing the number of agency workers
sickness cover.
The Director of Finance and IT drew Members attention to the
figures associated with the Children’s Services budget and
stated that £1million had been invested for early
intervention and promoting in-house foster carers, rather than
foster carers through an independent agency which were more
expensive. He added that the savings from this investment would
take time to come through. He then drew Members attention to the
table on Page 53 and stated that the first column was the budget
for this municipal year, the second column was extra changes that
had been made this year due to various variances, and the fourth
column was re-balanced and showed growth, such as the extra
£1.78million in environment and highways to be able to meet,
for example, waste disposal pressures. He summarised by stating
that there had been some changes to the figures since it has been
to Cabinet due to winter pressures and employee costs funding being
allocated, and the position had changed again since this version
had been published.
The Chair stated that the suggested recommendations, proposed a
council tax freeze and felt Members had to have 2 simultaneous
ideas, as they wanted affordable council tax for residents, but
also wanted to ensure the council could provide and deliver all
services. He stated that over the course of the Medium Term
Financial Strategy (MTFS) the council would lose £2.1 million
per annum income revenue if there was a council tax freeze, which
equated to almost £11million over the course of the MTFS and
commented that this would cause a deficit in the 5th
year. He asked if the lost council tax revenue could be replaced
with commercial income, so the council could remain in surplus. The
Director of Finance and IT stated that the approach would always be
to maximise income streams, so more ...
view the full minutes text for item 29.
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30. |
Capital Strategy 2019-20 PDF 67 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Director of Finance and IT
introduced the report and stated this report was the new format for
the treasury management report which set out the parameters for
borrowing and investments. He stated it set out the capital
financing requirements for the Council’s capital programme,
investments, and Thurrock Regeneration Ltd, and built up the
notional indicator. He added that the figures would change based on
proposals, but this was a statutory requirement.
The Chair began by thanking officers for the report and saying it
was very clear. He drew the Committee’s attention to page 78,
point 2.17 and discussed the abolition of the housing debt cap. He
felt there was much cross-party anticipation to build more council
houses and asked when investment would begin. The Director of
Finance and IT replied that the Council was looking at proposals
and these would be in terms of months rather than years, but stated
that the HRA budget was extremely tight as rent had decreased for 4
years, although this would be increasing as of 2020/21. He
continued by stating the Council were looking to borrow to build
houses as the HRA did not have to repay certain loans, just the
interest on those loans. He added that this meant that some other
costs such as maintenance could be absorbed, although some could
not as the only income was from rent. He mentioned that at officer
level, a paper was being developed to consider this issue.
Councillor Duffin asked if there was scope in the budget to upscale
projects run by Thurrock Regeneration Ltd which did not have to go
through Council. The Director of Finance and IT replied that only
the parameters for 2019/20 had been set, but there was enough scope
for capacity. He added it was often time consuming to get a
business case for schemes, and then design and plan them.
RESOLVED: That:
1. The Committee commented on the 2019/20 Capital Strategy for
consideration by Cabinet at their meeting on 12 February
2019.
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31. |
Draft Capital Programme PDF 74 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Director of Finance and IT
introduced the report and stated there had been a change to
approach in the past two years, such as the creation of the future
and aspirational projects section. He outlined the changes as
follows:
1. The addition of a £2million
budget for projects that did not know their true cost or business
case. The budget was for feasibility studies which would make the
project more realistic and could then be presented to overview and
scrutiny committees and Members.
2. The creation of ‘pots’ such as property, ICT and
digital, and service review, which were of a more operational
nature to assist with issues such as replacing sprinklers or
boilers, which allowed the Council to be reactive. This also meant
that individual projects did not have to be agreed, but officers
had to persuade the relevant board to release the money.
3. Appendix 3 which described ‘new projects’ of a
strategic nature, such as east-facing slips at Lakeside and the
upgrade to Stonehouse Lane. Page 102 of the report described
schemes which needed additional funds such as the upgrades to
Stanford-le-Hope and Thameside Theatre Complex, which was to be
confirmed.
The Chair commented that there were many projects listed which
Members would welcome, such as east-facing slip roads at Lakeside.
He stated that the Committee were there to discuss the broader
governance process, rather than details of the projects, and asked
how individual capital projects had been scrutinised. The Director
of Finance and IT replied that the projects still went to the
relevant Boards, which were cross-departmental for scrutiny by
senior directors, and then went to the relevant overview and
scrutiny committee numerous times before tender. He described how
before they were tendered, they had to be presented to Cabinet, and
once tendered would be reported back to Cabinet on a quarterly
basis.
Councillor Hague then asked what role Corporate Overview and
Scrutiny were being asked to play. The Director of Finance and IT
replied that it was under Corporate’s constitutional remit to
consider the capital budget and look at the budget as a whole,
rather than individual projects. He commented that the committee
were tasked with looking at deliverability and comment on the
programme as whole, as well as the governance process. Councillor
Hague commented that it would be good to see the report in the
context of the council’s strategic plan and priorities.
Councillor Fletcher agreed with this statement. The Chair asked if
a report could come back to the committee to consider the process
and make it more transparent, as well as detailing projects and
programmes, before the next municipal year. The Director of Finance
and IT replied that he would bring the programme back, including a
piece of work on how to bring capital forward.
RESOLVED: That:
1. The Committee commented on the specific proposals set out within
the report.
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32. |
Work Programme PDF 49 KB
Minutes:
After a brief discussion it was
decided that a progress report on the Overview and Scrutiny
Function and Motions Progress would come to the March meeting, and
would be ongoing in the next municipal year. It was also decided
that a detailed report on the capital programme and a discussion on
process would come to the March meeting. Councillor Duffin asked if
a piece of work on commercialisation benchmarking and the council
tax could come to committee, and it was decided a short piece would
accompany the Work Programme at the March meeting, with more
discussion in the new municipal year.
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