Venue: Committee Room 2, Civic Offices 3, New Road, Grays, RM17 6SL
Contact: Lucy Tricker, Senior Democratic Services Officer
Email: Direct.Democracy@thurrock.gov.uk
Media
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Minutes PDF 434 KB
To approve as a correct record
the minutes of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny
Committeemeeting held on 8 March
2022.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 8 March
2022 were approved as a true and correct record.
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2. |
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. To agree any relevant briefing notes submitted
to the Committee.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
There were no items of urgent business.
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3. |
Declaration of Interests
Additional documents:
Minutes:
There were no interests declared.
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4. |
Asset Review and 3Rs PDF 413 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Interim Assistant Director Property
introduced the report and stated that it was being presented to
Committee ahead of Cabinet submission later in the month. He
explained that the report followed a Cabinet decision from July
2021, which had declared some assets as surplus and had generated
£9.3 million in capital receipts, as well as rationalising
the Council's property portfolio. He commented that the report was
split into four sections: pieces of land the council held which
were considered to have no beneficial use; operational assets such
as children’s centres; scout huts which were leased to the
Scout Association; and village halls. The Interim Assistant
Director Property explained that the scout huts and village halls
would be given to the relevant committees and trustees for a
peppercorn, which would ensure that they could access grants and
funding not currently available to them.
The Interim Assistant Director Property highlighted land in
Purfleet colloquially known as VOSA on Tank Hill Road, which could
be suitable land for housing and could be looked at by Thurrock
Regeneration Limited (TRL) or the housing regeneration team. He
explained that if the site was not suitable for housing the team
would look to dispose for capital receipts. The Interim Assistant
Director Property moved on and outlined the former landfill site at
Buckingham Hill which surrounded the civic amenity site. He stated
that the site was 52 acres and was currently fallow and could be
suitable for leasehold development. He moved on and described the
former depot site at Curzon Drive which had had buildings
demolished three years ago and was currently sat unused. He
explained that the site was relatively valuable and could generate
approximately £170,000 in terms of leasehold rental income,
and therefore would need a Cabinet decision for disposal. He stated
that the report also contained several public houses, some of which
were assets of community value or had long leases left, which meant
that the council would struggle to develop these in a profitable
way. He added that a number of leaseholders had enquired about
purchasing the sites as this would make it easier for the owners to
develop the sites. He explained that there was one site within the
Purfleet regeneration area that had been identified for short term
lease, which would not impact upon the development of the Purfleet
area, but required delegation due to the amount of revenue that
could be created.
The Interim Assistant Director Property moved on and explained that
there were also two care home sites, operated by Runwood Homes,
which the Council were conflicted on as the Council were the main
client and also freeholder, which could make the finances difficult
to manage. He added that the sites were currently under rented by
approximately £100-125,000, but the Council could dispose of
the sites to earn capital receipts whilst also remaining the main
client. He stated that the land adjacent to Essex Arena was
currently lying fallow, but also required a Cabinet decision due to
delegations, and ...
view the full minutes text for item 4.
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5. |
End of Year (April 2021 to March 2022) Corporate Performance Report 2021/22 PDF 1 MB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Strategy Manager introduced the report and
stated that 67.5% of indicators had met target, which was better
than 2020/21, but lower overall than the pre-COVID position. She
explained that in 2021/22 some service delivery was still impacted
by COVID, and this was outlined in the report. She added that it
was anticipated that future report would not include a specific
section on COVID impacts, but would be referenced in commentary if
it continued to affect specific indicators. She added that
commentary had been included for each Key Performance Indicator
(KPI) which had missed target, and, because this was the end of
year report, qualitative highlights had also been included at
3.4.
Councillor Kent highlighted page 79 and the KPI relating to the
percentage of refuse bins collected on the correct day. He thanked
the environment team for their hard work collecting bins throughout
the year, and asked how the KPI data was collected. The Strategy
Manager explained that due to the strike action that occurred, the
KPI did not include data for April and May 2022, but did include
all other months. She added that the data was based on collection
information from refuse lorries. Councillor Kent moved onto the KPI
regarding payment of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) on page 81 and
felt concerned about the lack of payment. He queried how many
people chose not to pay the FPN and went to court instead. The
Strategy Manager stated that she did not have the specific data so
would ask the service leads and report back to the Committee.
Councillor Kent queried the number of apprenticeships as outlined
on page 84 and asked how many of those apprenticeships were
completed. He felt concerned that some people were not completing
apprenticeships as they became full-time Council employees, which
meant people were not receiving the qualifications and Thurrock
Adult Community College did not receive their completion funding.
The Strategy Manager stated that she did not have the data but
would come back to the Committee. She highlighted that the figure
also included substantive members of Thurrock Council staff who
were undertaking apprenticeships alongside their roles. Councillor
Kent asked if the KPI could include numbers for people starting and
finishing apprenticeships; and to recommend to Cabinet that
apprentices who start at the Council and become full-time employees
are encouraged to complete their apprenticeship qualification.
Councillor Carter thanked officers for the report and
felt pleased to see that the majority of KPIs had met target. He
highlighted page 79 of the report and stated that some KPIs had
exceeded their target by a large amount. The Chair echoed
Councillor Carter’s comments. He felt pleased to see that
COVID was not expected to affect as many services in future, and
requested that any additional information requested be sent to the
Committee as soon as possible. Councillor Hebb, Cabinet Member for
Transformation and Performance, highlighted recommendation 1.3 to
refresh the borough vision following changes in Thurrock such as
Thames Freeport, and proposed central government changes
...
view the full minutes text for item 5.
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6. |
Work Programme PDF 98 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Councillor Hebb asked if three items could be
added to the Work Programme:
1. Analysis of enquiries which come in from residents and elected
Members, for example a report on the interactions between the
Council and elected Members/residents to identify any emerging
themes and propose any necessary recommendations. Including
customer service calls and emails; Member’s enquiries;
complaints and complements.
2. Customer Service, including the feasibility of a new Thurrock
app in the medium to long term, to report missed bin collections,
potholes, pay fines etc., whilst retaining face-to-face
services.
3. Senior officer performance framework report – outlining
how Members currently, and could further, contribute to the Chief
Executive and senior officer performance appraisals.
The Senior Democratic Services Officer stated that she would liaise
with senior officers and the Chair to include these on the Work
Programme, where appropriate.
The Chair agreed that an updated Asset Review report would be added
to the Work Programme in early 2023.
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