Venue: Exe Room, Phoenix House, Tiverton
Contact: Carole Oliphant Member Services Officer
Link: audio recording
No. | Item |
---|---|
Apologies and Substitute Members (00.01.00) To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of substitute Members (if any).
Minutes: Apologies were received from Cllr A Moore who was substituted by Cllr Mrs S Griggs and Cllr R J Stanley who was substituted by Cllr C Slade |
|
Declarations of Interest Under the Code of Conduct (00.01.14) Councillors are reminded of the requirement to declare any interest, including the type of interest, and reason for that interest, either at this stage of the meeting or as soon as they become aware of that interest.
Minutes: There were no declarations made. |
|
Vice Chairman (00.01.25) Minutes: In the absence of the Vice Chairman the Chairman requested that a Member of the Committee take the role of Vice Chairman for the meeting.
The Committee AGREED that Cllr R Evans act as Vice Chairman for the meeting. |
|
Public Question Time (00.01.52) To receive any questions relating to items on the Agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.
Note: A maximum of 30 minutes is allowed for this item. Minutes: There were no members of the public present. |
|
Member Forum (00.02.03) An opportunity for non-Cabinet Members to raise issues. Minutes: There were no issues raised under this item. |
|
Minutes of the Previous Meeting (00.02.11) PDF 76 KB Members to consider whether to approve the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 8th July 2019.
The Committee is reminded that only those members of the Committee present at the previous meeting should vote and, in doing so, should be influenced only by seeking to ensure that the minutes are an accurate record.
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 8th July 2019 were approved as a correct record and SIGNED by the Chairman. |
|
Decisions of the Cabinet (00.02.38) To consider any decisions made by the Cabinet at its last meeting that have been called-in. Minutes: The Committee NOTED that none of the decisions made by the Cabinet on 25th July had been called in. |
|
Chairman's Announcements (00.03.07) To receive any announcements that the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee may wish to make. Minutes: The Chairman explained to the Committee that he would be meeting with the Leader, the Leadership Team and the Monitoring Officer in September to discuss and agree the direction of the Scrutiny Committee.
He reminded Members that Stephen Bradford, Mid Devon Sector Police Inspector, would be attending the next meeting of the Committee and asked them to provide written questions before 9th August 2019 so that these could be sent onto the Inspector. |
|
Leaders Annual Report (00.05.34) PDF 101 KB To receive the Leaders Annual Report providing Members with an update on performance against the corporate plan and local service targets for 2018-2019. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Leader of the Council gave apologies for not attending the previous meeting of the Committee and then presented Members with a *report giving an update on performance against the corporate plan and local service targets for 2018-2019.
In response to questions, the Leader confirmed he would provide further information with regard to the weed spraying initiative giving details of where the team had already completed works, where future locations had been identified and the process for the public to highlight areas of concern and request weed spraying be carried out.
He explained that waste collection costs per household had reduced by 20% from the 2014/2015 outturn and was now just outside of target at £45.31. Members requested that the collection costs per commercial premises were provided.
There was a general discussion about allocated employment sites and the Chief Executive explained that officers were proactively visiting all allocated sites, but that the Council had an obligation to manage the relationship with any landowners who came forward regarding both allocated and non-allocated sites. He explained that there was a framework for the allocation of employment sites and officers had been in contact with many landowners across the district as part of that process.
With regard to Town Centre Improvements, Members voiced concern about the 21 empty shops in Tiverton. The Chief Executive explained that as landlords of the units in Market Walk the Council had a wider discretion on rents versus costs and therefore had more opportunities to ensure that all the units were occupied as part of that direct relationship as landlord, but in privately-owned units it would be the private landlord weighing that decision on rent levels vs occupancy. He explained that the Economy team were working to ensure that Tiverton was a welcoming place for businesses but there was a limit on the ability of the Council to fill all vacant shops which they were not directly responsible for.
Members requested that they be provided with the timeframes for the next phase of the Tiverton Town Centre Masterplan and for an update on the status on the regeneration works.
The Leader confirmed that the current administration would continue to encourage houses and living spaces to be part of the Tiverton Town Masterplan.
In response to questions about CCTV cameras being installed in Crediton and Cullompton the Leader confirmed that the Cabinet would be having discussions with regard to the provision of CCTV and the possibility any further expansion to the service. The Chief Executive explained that the challenge would be identifying who could fund additional services. There were currently conversations taking place about who should be funding this, the Police, the Town Councils or the District Council. There were also ongoing debates about the level of surveillance that should be expected in rural market towns.
The Leader confirmed that the Premier Inn in Phoenix Lane was due for completion in October 2019.
There was a general discussion about the National Apprenticeship Service and the Group Manager for Finance ... view the full minutes text for item 36. |
|
Community Safety Partnership Annual Report (00.30.19) PDF 350 KB To consider a report of the Group Manager for Public Health and Regulatory Services providing the Committee with a progress report of the Community Safety Partnership. Minutes: The Group Manager for Public Health and Regulatory Services outlined the contents of the *report and gave an overview to new members on what the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) was and who the key members were. He explained why the partnership was required and how it was funded.
He explained that the report was retrospective annual review on the activities and performance of the partnership during 2018-19. Nonetheless, it also outlines and the ongoing challenges of embedded behaviours and the issues with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and continuing priorities to consider high threat issues including drug networks, child sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and modern slavery in addition to anti-social behaviour
He informed Members that updated legislation would put further legal responsibilities on the CSP with regard to violent crimes such as knife crime and these must be incorporated within the future strategy for the partnership.
Members were interested to know how the CSP dealt with the issue of county lines and he explained that a key area of the work of the CSP was intelligence sharing. He explained that there were issues of county lines activity within Tiverton and sharing of intelligence across agencies such as housing, environmental health at MDDC and the police were helping to combat this.
With regard to the budget he explained that the Council looked to deliver the CSP within budget, however there was a small ear marked reserve to enable the Council to fund unexpected issues.
Members discussed the tensions within Cullompton in recent months and the Group Manager for Public Health and Regulatory Services explained that the focus of the CSP had been on rented properties with a high turnover of tenants and the rogue landlord initiative.
The Committee NOTED the progress of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) in delivering activities against partnership priorities and action plan for 2018-2019.
Note: Report previously circulated and attached to the minutes. |
|
Whistleblowing 6 month update (00.44.03) To receive the update from the Group Manager for Performance, Governance and Data Security that there had been no whistleblowing instances in the previous 12 months. Minutes: The Chairman stated and the Committee NOTED that there had been no whistleblowing instances in the previous 12 months. |
|
Establishment 6 Month Update (00.45.31) PDF 82 KB To receive an update report from the Group Manager for Human Resources on the Establishment. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee NOTED the Establishment update presented by the Group Manager for Human Resources who outlined the contents of the *report and stated that sickness absence was at 7.92 days lost per FTE employee and a target of 7 days per FTE employee had been set for the financial year 2019/20. In the first quarter of 2019/20 the Council had recorded a total of 1.59 days being lost per FTE employee which, if repeated, would see us hit 6.36 days lost per FTE employee. He explained that with winter coming this figure was likely to become more of a challenge in terms of the target being hit (e.g. levels of sickness would be likely to increase).
Members felt that the sickness absence figures were unacceptably high and asked what the Council would do to get this down.
The Group Manager for Human resources explained that all local authorities were dealing with high sickness rates and that officers were currently looking at how this was reported. He explained that supporting genuine absence but also reducing it across the board (particularly in light of long term absence) was a very real challenge. In addition to the measures that had been implemented in the last six months (new return to work interview practice, monthly workforce data reports) he stated that he wished to have new guidance around how sickness was reported, certified and the guideline for where the amount of sickness should become a matter of concern.
The Leader stated that the sickness rates usually reflected the happiness of the staff and that this should be being looked at.
The Group Manager for Human Resources agreed that ensuring the Council had best practice in terms of its supervision and wellbeing support was a very real priority and would be looked at in the coming weeks and months ahead.
Members felt that the Council should not just be benchmarking itself against other local council’s but be looking at the lower sickness rates in the private sector as well to see how this was maintained.
The Chief Executive explained to Members that this was about understanding what was ‘genuine’ sickness and looking to address any areas of concern. He highlighted that while the report and subsequent discussion was focusing on the number of days being taken as sick leave, the Council should be remember that the health and wellbeing of staff is the focus of much of the HR policy and that it’s not just a statistical discussion about minimising time off when it comes to supporting those staff who were genuinely sick.
Members felt that the Council should introduce more robust exit questionnaires and interviews to understand why staff chose to leave.
Note: *Report previously circulated and attached to the minutes.
|
|
Review of Customer Experience (00.58.37) PDF 57 KB To receive a proposal from the Chairman to establish a Working Group to review the customer experience.
The Committee to define and agree the scope of the Working Group and agree the membership. Minutes: The Chairman proposed to establish a Working Group to review the customer experience and asked for Members to agree membership of the Working Group.
The Committee agreed to establish a Working Group and agreed membership of the group as Cllr R J Chesterton, Cllr Mrs C P Daw, Cllr B G J Warren and Cllr A Wilce
The new members of the Working Group indicated that they did not require the first meeting to be until at least September/October. |
|
Forward Plan (01.00.33) PDF 108 KB Members are asked to consider any items within the Forward Plan that they may wish to bring forward for discussion at the next meeting. Minutes: The Committee NOTED the forward *plan.
Note: *Plan previously circulated and attached to the minutes. |
|
Identification of Items for Future Meetings (01.01.28) Members are asked to note that the following items are already identified in the work programme for the next meeting:
Police representatives Performance and Risk GESP Cost recovery & commercialisation in Growth, Economy & Delivery S106 Governance Review Cullompton Town Centre Masterplan Contract Procurement Process Statement of Community Involvment Review 2018 – pre consultation
Note: - this item is limited to 10 minutes. There should be no discussion on items raised. Minutes: In response to questions the Member Services Officer confirmed that the Cabinet Members reports were scheduled into the Scrutiny Committee forward plan and would commence at the end of September. |