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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Aquila House, Breeds Place, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3UY
Contact: Michael Courts on 01424 451764 email: mcourts@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Declarations of Interest
Minutes:
The following Councillors declared an interest at the meeting:
Councillor
Minute Number
Interest
Forward
9 – Quarter 2 2016/17 Performance and Financial Monitoring
Personal – she leases a property to the social lettings agency, which is within the selective licensing area.
Rankin
9 – Quarter 2 2016/17 Performance and Financial Monitoring
Personal – he owns a property within the selective licensing area
Chowney
9 – Quarter 2 2016/17 Performance and Financial Monitoring
Personal – he owns a property within the selective licensing area
Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 13 September 2016 PDF 66 KB
Minutes:
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 13 September 2016 be approved as correct record
Quarter 2 2016/17 Performance and Financial Monitoring PDF 122 KB
Additional documents:
- Briefing by Director of Operational Services , item 9. PDF 76 KB
- Briefing by Director of Corporate Services and Governance , item 9. PDF 146 KB
- Full Quarter 2 Performance Monitoring Update , item 9. PDF 349 KB
Minutes:
The Director of Corporate Services and Governance presented a report which advised members of the performance against the 2016/17 targets and performance indicators in the corporate plan for quarter 2. The report also updated on other key areas of activity over the last quarter and provided a summary of financial information.
The Director of Corporate Services and Governance advised that the quarter 2 target to increase the percentage of council tax and non-domestic rates collected in year had not been met. She explained that this was partly because more customers were now choosing to pay over 12 months rather than 10 months. The profiles for each quarter would be revised for next year.
Discussion took place regarding the implementation of welfare reforms locally, including the benefits cap and the roll out of Universal Credit, which was due to take place on 14 December 2016. The Director of Corporate Services and Governance said that the council had been working closely with people affected by the benefits cap to help them review their spending habits. Members noted that there had been delays in payments of up to eight weeks for claimants when they move onto Universal Credit in other areas, and this would need to be monitored closely in Hastings. Because of the additional workload for the Revenues and Benefits team in implementing the welfare reforms, projects to develop online landlord portal and bailiff portal had been delayed.
The committee were advised that the Assistant Director, Financial Services and Revenues, continued to monitor progress with the internal audit. Capacity within the Internal Audit, Investigation and Procurement service had been affected by the long term sickness of a member of the team, however, additional resources may be provided to ensure the internal audit was completed on time.
At their quarter 1 meeting, the committee had received a detailed update on the council’s ongoing organisational transformation programme. A further update was planned for later in the year on the channel shift from traditional telephone and face to face interactions as an increasing number of council services were made available online.
Following an earlier boundary review, the Electoral Services team were carrying out a review of polling places in the Borough. The team were also administering the annual canvass period ahead of the publication of a revised Register of Electors in December. The Director of Corporate Services and Governance commented that, given the lack of funding to support promotional activities during annual canvass, members would need to play a role in highlighting the importance of voter registration to their residents.
The Director of Corporate Services and Governance agreed to circulate additional information regarding the cost of work to the Town Hall to the committee.
Consideration was given to the council’s selective licensing scheme. The Assistant Director, Housing and Built Environment, advised that take up of the early bird offer, which offered reduced rates to landlords who registered their properties in the first year of the scheme, had been higher than expected. The selective licensing team ... view the full minutes text for item 9.
Briefing from the Task and Finish Group to Review the Council's New Website PDF 73 KB
Minutes:
The Corporate and Democratic Services Officer updated the committee on the work of a task and finish group of overview and scrutiny members who had been reviewing the council’s new website.
At their annual meeting in July, members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had noted that a key aspect of the council’s organisational transformation programme was to make a number of council services available online. The Customer First Communications Champion and his team had work with services across the council to review the content and overhaul the layout of the website.
The members of the task and finish group were Councillors Howard, Rankin and Dowling. The group had tested the customer journey on the new website carrying out a range of transactions. The group’s recommendations had then been followed up by the Customer First Communications Champion and his team. Members requested further information about the monitoring of the new website that would be undertaken over the coming months.
The committee welcomed the work of the task and finish group. It was noted that the use of practical exercises could have applications to other overview and scrutiny work.
Update on the 2016/17 Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme PDF 206 KB
Minutes:
The Continuous Improvement and Democratic Services Manager updated the committee on progress on the key work programme activities they had agreed at their annual meeting. He noted that a number of the updates they requested had now been scheduled.
Councillors Howard, Webb, Cooke and Rankin agreed to form a review team to consider the effectiveness of the council’s new structure for overview and scrutiny.
Members requested an updated on the implementation of the recommendations of an earlier review of educational attainment in the town.
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