Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Charman and Foster.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 8 February 2018 be approved as a correct record of the meeting.

The committee began the discussion, taking an introduction from Jane Hartnell, Director of Corporate Services and Governance. She noted that whilst it was important to address where performance did not meet targets and/or needs to be improved, it is equally important to focus on the successes and achievements that sits behind a huge amount of work.

The committee discussed the section of the report “Cleaner and Safer”. The committee raised a question in regards to the target of 110 for failed bin collections (per 100,000) and whether this could be changed to 100 as a statement of intent for the new contract to be confirmed by Cabinet. It was stated that this would be difficult to manage, as the bids for the street cleaning service contract are coming in on 18 June 2018, making them difficult to change and influence now.

Further to this, the committee asked what the response should be to  complaints about the state of cleanliness on the beach. The Lead Councillor for the Environment and Equalities Portfolio stated that there was a plan organised for detritus on the beach, but the contractor’s management team had been removed so ensuring performance was improved remains challenging. He did confirm that default issues were being issued.

Questions were raised in regards to the Kingdom Contract pilot, and the progress from this. The Assistant Director, Environment and Place stated that the staff retention for the kingdom contract had been a challenge which has impacted on their overall performance. He did continue to explain that there was really helpful information taken from the pilot – firstly on who was committing the offences, and secondly whether they were residents of the town rather than visitors. This intelligence will inform proposals about alternatives and options in regards to enforcement and the use of the Warden’s service in the town.

The Councillors discussed indicators in the report. The first was a question in regards to the 5% target on quarters one, two and four on improved street and environmental cleanliness. It was explained that this has been a longstanding indicator (NI195) and is monitored by an investigative survey, completed three times a year by a contractor who do a selection of objective criteria. The target meant that if any more than 5% of these criteria were logged, the contractor would have failed to meet their targets.

The second was on the target of 200 homes meeting a required standard in quarter four and what this means. It was explained that this 200 home target was for 200 homes to have been inspected throughout the entirety of the year.  The Director of Corporate Services confirmed that a list of indicators definitions and direction of travel information would be provided to assist with understanding of the indicators within the report.

Another discussion point on indicators was that of a regular indicator for the issuing of tickets, and whether this information was available somewhere. The answer was that there was some information on default notices and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Mark Horan, Continuous Improvement and Democratic Services Manager presented the Review of Education Interim Report. This was to update Members on Scrutiny review work with regards to Education and to propose next steps for continued Scrutiny work in this area..

He  explained that a review on education in the borough went on as part of the 2017/18 Scrutiny programme, building on previous Scrutiny reviews in the area. This review was chaired by Councillor Rankin.  Cllr Rankin suggested the review was very helpful in terms of inviting in representatives from the local education bodies to discuss issues with the quality of education in the borough. The outstanding question that the new Scrutiny committee will need to decide is the extent to which they retain a focus on Education in their 2018/19 programme. 

Questions were raised by the committee in regards to the grant from the Education Opportunities Area. There were some important facts to note, in that these grants could only be used for revenue, and not capital expenditure. Furthermore, that it was important that funds are spread out evenly between all partners in the borough, so that not just one organisation receives the funding.

It was agreed that these issues will be considered by the committee at their forthcoming Scrutiny Steering Group and that a representative from the new Scrutiny committee would work with the leader and/or deputy leader to forward plan for the quarterly Opportunities Area briefings.  The appropriate representative from Scrutiny would also need to be agreed by the committee. 

It was agreed that this would be discussed at a Scrutiny Steering group in the future.

RESOLVED that:

1.     The 2017/18 Education Scrutiny review team recommends that the 2018/19 Scrutiny Members work programme includes a continued focus on the local education landscape.

2.     That should recommendation 1 be agreed, then the 2018/19 Scrutiny chair or her/his Scrutiny nominee in conjunction with the Leader of the Council facilitate the Opportunities Area briefings to HBC Members to involve (a) chairing the briefing meetings and (b) preparing lines of inquiry.

The reason for these recommendations was:

Scrutiny has a longstanding interest in local education attainment and opportunity and this is shared with cabinet colleagues and members more broadly. It is therefore important that members have fruitful dialogue with Opportunity Area colleagues to ensure longstanding concerns are being raised and addressed in a coordinated manner where possible.

Mark Horan, Continuous Improvement and Democratic Services Manager presented an update on the Overview and Scrutiny committee’s work programme for 2017/18.

The committee welcomed a potential focus on education for the upcoming programme subject to agreement by the new committee at their annual planning meeting. The programme for 2017/18 was now complete. A Scrutiny Steering Group will be scheduled shortly to prepare for the annual planning meeting.

RESOLVED that:

The committee note the updates to the overview and scrutiny work programme for 2017/18.