Agenda and minutes

Venue: Remote Meeting

Contact: Louise Hollingsworth 

Media

Items
No. Item

OSC20/54

Minutes

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 15 March 2021 and 12 April 2021, at a later date, as correct records of the proceedings.

Minutes:

The Chairman was authorised to sign the Minutes of the meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 15 March and 12 April 2021, at a later date, as correct records of the proceedings.

OSC20/55

Apologies and Substitutes

The Chairman to ask if any Member present is substituting for another Member and, if so, to declare his/her name as substitute Member and the name of the absent Member.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Drayson and Malcolm Johnston, Chief Executive.

 

It was noted that Councillor Stevens was present as a substitute for Councillor Mooney.

OSC20/56

Disclosure of Interests

To receive any disclosure by Members of personal and disclosable pecuniary interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the Member regards the personal interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct. Members are reminded of the need to repeat their declaration immediately prior to the commencement of the item in question.

Minutes:

Declarations of interest were made by Councillors in the Minutes as indicated below:

 

Courtel            Agenda Item 5 – Personal interest in so far as he was a permit holder for a car park in Bexhill Central ward.

 

Field                Agenda Item 5 – Personal interest as a Member of East Sussex County Council.

OSC20/57

Recommendations of the Off-Street Car Parks Task and Finish Group pdf icon PDF 154 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received and considered the report of the Head of Service Neighbourhood Services which detailed the recommendations of the Off-Street Car Parks Task and Finish Group (OSCPT&FG). Councillor Cook, Chairman of the OSCPT&FG, thanked Members of the Group for their hard work and paid tribute to the officers involved for their support.

 

The OSCPT&FG was established in October 2020 to monitor the impact of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) on the level of use of Council owned off-street car parks and consider any changes to charges, hours of operation and permits, whilst taking into account the need to generate sufficient revenue to maintain the car parks.

 

The OSCPT&FG had met on four occasions during the six months since it was established in October 2020, received a number of presentations from officers advising on monthly car park income data and the current car park usage compared to previous years.  Further information was gathered from Parish and Town Councils (P&TCs), local businesses, community groups and sports clubs most likely to be impacted by CPE and the use of car parks, via a written ‘call for evidence’.

 

The ‘call for evidence’ from P&TCs, local businesses, community groups and sports clubs most likely to be impacted by CPE and the use of car parks, elicited a total of 40 responses up to the closing date of 12 March 2021.  The report summarised the main findings, but it was noted by Members that this information together with car park usage data did not provide an accurate base on which to make decisions due to the third COVID-19 lockdown being in place from December 2020 to April 2021, which had severely restricted people’s movements and therefore the level of use of car parks.   It was therefore suggested in the report that the monitoring of car parks usage should continue throughout the summer until October 2021.

 

Members of the OSCPT&FG felt that some immediate benefit may be derived from designating some less used ‘out of town’ car parks for ‘long stay’ and encouraging all day workers to use them by improving signage and bringing the parking charges more in line with nearby on-road charges. Car parks for consideration were Wainwright Road – Bexhill, Gibbets Marsh – Rye and Lower Market – Battle.

 

Users of Manor Gardens car park in Bexhill could only pay for parking using RingGo. Despite introducing payment facilities into a nearby shop, evidence collected to date showed strong demand for the ability to pay by cash or card using a payment machine in this car park; the OSCPT&FG recommended a machine be installed. The cost of purchasing and installing a pay and display terminal in a car park was approximately £6,000.  The OSCPT&FG also recommended a thorough review of the usage of Manor Garden car park be conducted and consideration be given to the appropriate level of charges.

 

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and the following points were noted during the discussions:

 

•  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC20/57

OSC20/58

Key Performance Targets 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 117 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received the report of the Head of Acquisitions, Transformation and Regeneration, previously considered by Cabinet on 1 March 2021, detailing the proposed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and their target levels of performance for the financial year 2021/22.

 

Eleven KPIs as detailed at Appendix A to the report were proposed for 2021/22 and would be reported within four themed areas, namely:

 

           Housing and Homelessness (five indicators)

           Economic Development and Poverty (three indicators)

           Waste Collection (one indicator)

           Additional Income (two indicators)

 

Other KPIs that were exceeding or significantly missing their target would be reported to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) by exception.  Members of the Committee were invited to consider and suggest any additional KPIs for monitoring, bearing in mind the impact this would have on staff time to collect and provide commentary on.  

 

The KPIs focused on key outcomes within the emerging Corporate Plan.  A Corporate Programme Board would be established to monitor the Council’s service plans and a twice annual report would be presented to the OSC to provide an update on activity and target completion.

 

The Environment Strategy 2020-2030 set out the activities and actions that were to be undertaken in response to the Council’s Climate Emergency Declaration in 2019.  Net carbon footprint for both the district and the Council would be KPIs in future years.  By March 2022, it was anticipated that a baseline exercise and measurement model would be established and completed for inclusion within the KPIs set for the 2022/23 financial year; this work would be carried out alongside ongoing work to progress the strategy.

 

Cabinet had approved the KPIs and targets and were satisfied that these provided an adequate review of the Council’s key performance areas.  Members of the OSC were requested to review the KPIs and recommend any actions / amendments to Cabinet as necessary.

 

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and the following points were noted during the discussion:

 

           concerns were raised about the length of time taken for planning decisions to be made.  The Planning Committee regularly reviewed performance, but Members requested wider scrutiny be considered by Cabinet;

           an extensive range of performance indicators were monitored by officers in addition to the KPIs, reviewed by the Chief Executive on a monthly basis;

           the KPIs were identified each year to reflect the Council’s most important areas to be focused on;

           Climate Change performance indicators would continue to be discussed by the Climate Change Steering Group for inclusion in the KPI set for 2022/23;

           the target of £107,000 for Additional Income Generation, not currently monitored, related to Garden Waste Services fees; and

           the three indicators in the theme Economic Development and Poverty would provide Members with a broader narrative of the work of the Council.

           

RESOLVED: That:

 

1)         the report be noted; and

 

2)         Cabinet be requested to consider wider scrutiny of performance in Planning.

OSC20/59

Call-in and Urgency Procedures pdf icon PDF 135 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Chief Executive on the Council’s Call-In and Urgency Procedures.  In accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Rule 17 (b) of the Constitution, the operation of the provisions relating to call-in and urgency was monitored annually through a report submitted to full Council via the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC).

 

The Call-In procedure was the mechanism by which the Council’s OSC could challenge decisions made by the Executive that were not yet implemented.  12 Executive meetings had been held during the period of the report from 9 March 2020 up until 8 February 2021.  No Executive decisions had been called-in during the period to which the report related; two decisions of Cabinet, within the approved budget and policy framework, had been deemed and resolved as an urgent decision.

 

Following discussion, it was agreed that the current arrangements for calling-in an executive decision remained satisfactory. 

 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

OSC20/60

Draft Annual Report to Council pdf icon PDF 262 KB

Minutes:

Members received the draft Annual Report to Council as submitted by the Chairman, Councillor Osborne.  In accordance with Article 6, Paragraph 6.3 (d) of the Constitution, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) was required to report annually to the Council on their workings and make recommendations for future work programmes and amend working methods, if appropriate.

 

The report covered the period from April 2020 through to the end of March 2021 and gave examples of the various subjects that the OSC had considered during this period, as well as the in-depth scrutiny reviews that had been conducted.

 

The Chairman reported that it had been a very busy and productive year and he had been pleased with the progress made in terms of improved scrutiny processes and comprehensive contributions from outside representatives.

 

Members requested that paragraph 6 be amended to include the word ‘excluded’ after ‘With 9 Cabinet Members’.

 

The Chairman thanked Members for their input into the many debates that had taken place over the year.  Members of the Committee thanked the Transformation team for their support in ensuring that meetings could take place remotely over the year and transmitted via YouTube, to enable continued public access to meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

RESOLVED: That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s draft Annual Report be approved, as amended, and recommended to Council.

OSC20/61

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 209 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme, and the following additions/amendments were made:

 

           a report on the properties accommodating the East Sussex County Council Nurseries in Bexhill be added to the 7 June meeting; and

           a report on the Post-COVID Recovery Plan be added to the 13 September meeting.

 

RESOLVED: That the Work Programme attached at Appendix A, as amended, be agreed.