Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 May 2016.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2016 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors John Clark, Tiffany Osborne and Garry Shortland.

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (adopted July 2012), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the Agenda for this meeting. A DPI is defined in The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012 No. 1464) and Appendix 3 of the Council’s Code of Conduct.  A personal interest is defined in paragraph 2.8 of the Code and a prejudicial interest is defined in paragraph 2.9. In the interests of complete transparency, Members of the County Council, who are not also members of this committee, are encouraged to declare any interests they may have in any matters being discussed even though they may not be under any obligation to do so under any relevant code of conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no members of public at the meeting.

This is an opportunity for Members to question the progress on issues arising from previous meetings.  However, this does not allow for the re-opening of a debate on any item not forming part of this agenda.

There were no issues raised from previous meeting.

Councillor Sue Steele welcomed Councillor Amanda Broom to Scrutiny Committee.   She stated there was no update from the Transformation Board as it had not met since the last Scrutiny Committee meeting, the next Transformation Board meeting is scheduled for 6 July 2016.

Members noted the update given by the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee.

The Scrutiny Committee considered the reports contained in the District Executive Agenda for the 2 June 2016 and made the following comments:

SSDC Annual Performance Report 2015/16 (Agenda item 7)

Having reviewed the Council Plan 2012-2015 final monitoring report members’ sought an update on the action being taken to progress Action  C1.12 – regenerate the former ACI site and the Boden Mill site by 2013 and asked for clarification of the risks if the Development Agreement expires.

The interim Chief Executive and Cllr Jo Roundell Greene Deputy Leader and Portfolio holder for Economic Development explained:

-          The agreement is still in place and that they hope to see a planning application come forward in the autumn.

-          Henry Boot has been commissioned to undertake this piece of work; we are in regular contact with them.

-          This is a very difficult climate to be working in

-          The funding from the HCA was used to purchase the site

-          There is no danger of losing funding.

Members spoke of their concern for Economic Development, given there are numerous Council Plan actions that are at partially completed. Whilst members appreciate that the actions are impacted on by external influences such as the financial climate recognising the priority of Economic Development in both the last Council Plan and the new one, Scrutiny Committee members felt it would be beneficial for the Economic Development Team to attend Scrutiny Committee to outline the issues they face.  The committee want to work with the team to identify any obstacles and potential solutions and make sure there are adequate resources within the team to deliver on these high priority actions.

The committee understand there are already a number of reporting mechanisms such as Regeneration Boards and Portfolio Holder Briefings and do not wish to cause officers to duplicate work but felt these other boards and meetings are not an alternative to Scrutiny and the role it has to play.

In response to members’ concerns regarding the performance monitoring data for PI031 – percentage of calls to the contact centre resolved in contact centre not being able to be provided the Performance Manager advised:

-          The data regarding call monitoring was not available using the new telephone management system, an alternative solution has been found.

Scrutiny Committee members voiced their concerns with regard to the time it has taken to resolve the issues with the telephones and the reputational issues it could cause, members sought re-assurance with regard to:

-          The lack of data and the issues this causes the management.

-          How the authority will manage the technical challenge of implementing entire new technical solutions as part of transformation – We must ensure we have the appropriate skills and resource in place?

Members requested a definite list of all the issues and the scheduled fix date.

In response to members’ questions regarding PI032- Working days lost due to sickness absence per Full Time Employee the following information was provided:

-          The target for working days lost  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Members were updated as follows on the progress of the Task and Finish Groups currently underway:

Council Tax Reduction Review 2017

The Scrutiny Manager explained that this Task and Finish group had met again and are going to review:

·           The impact of the changes to Council Tax Support for working age people that have been amended for pensioner age and for those in receipt of Housing Benefit.

·           The costs of collection.

·           Analyse those cases that are in arrears.

·           Review case law surrounding Council Tax Support.

·           Revisit all aspects of the scheme to ensure the scheme is working as members intended.

·           Look at Council Tax Support schemes across the Country.

·           Consider external evidence regarding Welfare benefits, low income households.

Discretionary Housing Payments

This group has now met for the first time and Cllr Cathy Bakewell has been appointed Chair. The group will be looking to develop a comprehensive SSDC DHP Policy to ensure the best use of resources and a consistent, equitable approach to administering payments. The group will be meeting with SHELTER and CAB as part of their research and will also be ensuring their work feeds into the ongoing work of the CTR Task and Finish Group.

Consent to Dispose of Housing Stock / Local Connections Allocation Policy

The Scrutiny Manager explaineda joint evidence session was held in mid-May and was attended by senior Directors of our 5 largest Housing Providers. The meeting was a valuable opportunity for members to discuss their concerns directly with the Housing Providers and identify possible solutions for further investigation. The groups will now meet separately to consider their recommendations.

NNDR

NNDR discretionary relief policy review – the changes from the revised policy have taken affect from 1^st of April, this has resulted in some more feedback from ratepayers, the Task and Finish group will review this and changes in legislation regarding mandatory relief to ensure the policy still achieves what it set out to do and that the impact of the changes to mandatory relief are taken into account.  This group has yet to be formed invitations to all members will go out shortly.

The Scrutiny Manager explained that Scrutiny Training had been arranged for the afternoon of 5^th July with a trainer from the Centre for Public Scrutiny.  There was discussion regarding the training scope to ensure the training would aid the committee and in particular their work for the forthcoming year with regard to major change in terms of Transformation, Strategic Alliance and Income Generation.

Members discussed how and when the committee could effectively contribute to the Transformation, Regeneration, Strategic Alliance and Income Generation Boards.  It was agreed that the committee would request a report or presentation to come to the next meeting explaining:

·           The terms of reference and governance for each board.

·           The approach/process each board is planning to adopt.

·           How the work programme and progress of the boards will be shared with Scrutiny Committee and all members.

·           How priorities and the allocation of resource will be agreed across the boards? Is Social Return on investment going to be used as a measure to help make decisions, if not what method will be used with regard to Social Value?

Members noted the next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee would be held on 5 July 2016, in the Main Committee Room, Brympton Way.