To authorise the Chair to sign the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 23 January 2023 as a correct record of proceedings.

The Chair was authorised to sign the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 23 January 2023 as a correct record of the proceedings.

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.

Apologies for absence was received from Councillors J.J. Carroll, C.R. Maynard and M. Mooney.

It was noted that Councillor Mrs M.L. Barnes was present as substitute for Councillor Maynard.

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.

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

Barnes             Agenda Item 9 – Personal Interest as Chair of Etchingham Parish Council.

Clark                Agenda Item 7 – Personal Interest as a Director of Rother District Council Housing Company Ltd.

Field                Agenda Item 8 – Personal Interest as an elected Member of East Sussex County Council and a member of the Planning Committee that considers Traffic Regulation Orders.

The Head of Environmental Services, Licensing and Community Safety outlined the annual report to Members which provided information on the work of the Rother Community Safety Partnership [known as the Safer Rother Partnership (SRP)] for the Committee to review, scrutinise and make reports or recommendations to the responsible authorities of the SRP, in line with the Council’s statutory responsibilities under the Police and Justice Act 2006.  The Chair welcomed Chief Inspector Jay Mendis-Gunasekera and the Council’s Community Safety Coordinator to the meeting who were present remotely to answer Members’ questions.

Members were advised of the key initiatives delivered during 2022/23 to reduce crime, the impact of crime and Anti-social Behaviour (ASB), which included: Making the Streets and Businesses safer by tackling street related crime and ASB; Protecting Vulnerable People (not tolerating modern slavery and human trafficking and not condoning violence against women and girls); and Identifying Those at Risk of Harm (by ensuring those with substance misuse issues were supported and not condoning domestic abuse to all (White Ribbon)).

The joint Board met quarterly to identify changes in crime and ASB of strategic significance to both areas, wider trends and review the work delivered against these priorities. The Rother Joint Action Group (JAG) (an officer group) met monthly to oversee the delivery of the local priorities for Rother which in 2022/23 included: ASB and youth crime; rural crime (linking in with East Sussex priorities and cross border work with Wealden and Kent); and drug related harm (including drug supply (both local and county lines) and the impact on the local community).  Work on domestic abuse and road safety was also included as a focus for work, but not as specifically identified priorities.

The Rother JAG continued to support and deliver work to address issues that were business as usual through the work of partnership agencies and were priorities, such as cuckooing; domestic abuse (including the White Ribbon Campaign); high and medium risk ASB and all hate crime cases; modern slavery; and road safety. In addition, work that came about through the work of the partnership agencies and were priorities such as Operation Radcott (Camber) Herbrand Walk, Serious and Organised Crime, Safeguarding, Multiple and Complex Needs, Civil Parking Enforcement, Fly Tipping, Criminal Damage, Fire setting were also supported.  The work plan for the Rother JAG for 2022/23 was attached to the report at Appendix D.

There were 5,590 crimes in Rother reported to Sussex Police during the 12 months to the end of January 2023, which was 363 more than in the previous year. This was a similar pattern across East Sussex and Sussex.  Rother had the second lowest percentage increase in reports (6.9%) in East Sussex, with Hastings having the lowest (4.6%) and Wealden the highest (11.2%).

Rother District had 12 CCTV Cameras (Public Facing/Static) which were monitored by Sussex Police.  The Council paid for the transmission, maintenance and the electricity supply for these cameras as part of a partnership arrangement with Sussex Police, Local Authorities including some parish councils  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC22/54.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director – Place and Climate Change on the Performance Report of the Third Quarter 2022/23.  Members were given the opportunity to scrutinise progress towards the Council’s stated aims, outcomes and actions in the Corporate Plan and make any necessary recommendations to Cabinet for future service delivery. 

A summary of the Council’s performance against the selected Key Performance Indicators (KPI) five themes (Housing and Communities, Finance Performance, Economic Development and Poverty, Environment and Planning) at the end of the third financial quarter (1 October 2022 to 31 December 2022) was set out in the report.  Performance was compared to the previous quarter result and to the same quarter the previous year.

Housing and Communities:  During quarter three, three measures had met their target (Number of affordable homes delivered (gross) (supply target: end of year), Homelessness Prevented and Homelessness Relieved) and Cost of Temporary Accommodation (TA)) and two measures had not met the target (Number of all Households in TA and Number of Households on the Housing Register.  The Council had a limited ability to influence the various factors that increased homelessness and the number of households in TA and Members were advised to focus on homelessness prevention measures as an indicator of performance for the Housing Service. 

Finance Performance:  During quarter three, both measures had met the target (Net income from all investment assets and Additional Income Generation).  There were no changes to the income from assets to report however, there was an increase in additional income generation from £55k to £93,856.  This included the previously reported income from renting the second floor of Amherst Road and the new fairground attraction.  The additional income was from third party works by the maintenance team and the re-charging of Council staff’s time to the Housing Company. 

Economic Development and Poverty: During quarter three, all three measures met the target (Number of Council Tax Reduction Claimants, Council Tax Collection Rates and Business Rates Collection Rates).  The Council Tax collection rate was at 84.13% at the end of December compared to 84.54% for the same period last year; the Business Rates collection rate was at 84.57% at the end of December compared to 77.72% for the same period last year.

Environment:  During quarter three, one measure had not met its target (East Sussex County Council Waste re-used, composted and recycled, reported one quarter in arrears), the other measure did not currently have a set target (Carbon Baseline); the summer drought had also affected garden waste tonnages.  Several actions were being taken to improve recycling and re-use rates including closing the most contaminated bring sites, improved communications around small electrical item recycling and the introduction of food waste collections in the future would no doubt have a significant impact. The ability for residents to place additional recycling material next to their recycling bin on collection day was not considered to be widely known.  

Planning: During quarter three, both measures had not met the  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC22/55.

Members received and considered the report of the Chief Finance Officer on the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme Monitoring Quarter 3 2022/23. The report updated Members on the Council’s finances as at the end of December 2022 and projected provisional outturn for 2022/23.  The Revenue Budget, Capital Programme Statements and impact of the forecast on the Council’s reserves were summarised at Appendices A, B and C to the report respectively.

At the end of Quarter 3, the Revenue Budget showed a surplus of £0.133m, against the approved budget drawdown from reserves of £3.187m which would reduce the reserve drawdown to £3.054m at the year end.  The report detailed the material variances and the forecast was summarised at Appendix A to the report.

Since Quarter 2, there was an increased deficit of £29,000 within the Financial Stability Programme which was attributed to a review of existing agreed savings, with a deficit of £531,000 in total.  Work to identify savings was on-going with Service Managers including looking at reductions in service which had a low impact on customers.  A reshuffle of the staffing structure was currently taking place to ensure that effective project and programme management was in place to enable efficiency and continuous service improvement to meet the savings required in the FSP; Members would ultimately decide where the savings would be made. 

The revised Capital Programme budget was £136.7m, the actual spend as at December 2022 was £17.2m.  It was noted that the Beeching Road Hotel and Food Store Development was in its initial stages and was scheduled to progress in the next financial year.  The Barnhorn Green GP Surgery was progressing well, and planning permission was submitted in December 2022 but would not be submitted to the Planning Committee until after the elections.  A high-level review of the projects within the Capital Programme was being reported to the Audit and Standards Committee in due course.  The Property Investment Panel would continue to monitor all projects. 

The Council Tax collection rate at the end of Quarter 3 was 75.55% of the collectable debit, which was 0.16% lower than the corresponding figures in 2021/22.  The Business Rates collection rate at the end of Quarter 3 was 77.69% of the collectable debit which was 12.413% higher than the corresponding figure in 2021/22.  It was noted that the collection rates continued to hold well despite the cost of living crisis.  The next few months would provide a clearer picture on the impact of the current economic crisis on the Collection Fund rates.

The Capital Programme was forecast to underspend by £114.7m against the revised budget with slippage relating to schemes in 2022/23.  The Chief Finance Officer and Heads of Services would review and carry forward slippage into future financial years, if required.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Members considered the report of the Off-Street Car Parks Task and Finish Group (OSCPT&FG) which summarised the work since the last report in January 2022 and final recommendations of the Group in reviewing usage of Manor Gardens car park and East Sussex County Council’s (ESCC) response to the Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) annual review.  Since February 2022, officers had met monthly on an informal basis with the Chair of the OSCPT&FG to review progress, and then with the OSCPT&FG on 26 September 2022.

The Group had reviewed Manor Gardens car park data and received a general update on revenue collected since the payment machine was installed in November 2021.  The Group agreed that the payment machine had improved service and would prove a popular method of payment. A moratorium remained in place for school ‘drop offs’ and ‘pick ups’ and local Doctors’ surgery flu clinics, which worked well. 

In March 2022 the Council had responded to ESCC’s on-street CPE first year public consultation that had concluded that CPE was felt to have been well received in the town centres and feedback from the Police was positive.

Following the public consultation process ESCC completed an informal public consultation (which ran from 22 July until 12 August 2022) on their proposed changes to the existing parking restrictions and the introduction of additional measures, such as double yellow lines where appropriate.  Members of the OSCPT&FG were encouraged to submit their responses to the proposed changes directly to the ESCC Rother Parking Review, and to the OSCPT&FG for discussion at their meeting on 26 September 2022.

The Group agreed that many  points raised had been addressed and included in the proposed changes but concerns were raised by some Members, as detailed in the report.  Clarity had since been sought from ESCC on three of the points raised and ESCC’s response was shown in the report.

Attached at Appendix A to the report was Rother’s proposed formal response to the ESCC changes and includes reference to the areas of concern for their further consideration. 

ESCC had received an overwhelming response (some 1,300 submissions) to the informal consultation, which following review, would form the proposals for the formal consultation; any unresolved objections would go to ESCC Planning Committee, scheduled to take place in June 2023. 

As the Group’s Terms of Reference had been fulfilled it was agreed to recommend that the OFCPT&FG be disbanded.  All other issues relating to the day-to-day operational management of car parks would be dealt with as “business as usual”, liaising with and responding to concerns of local Ward Members.  The annual ‘fees and charges report’ submitted to Cabinet in December each year would provide the mechanism for the review of car park charges. 

The Chair of the Group, Councillor Cook thanked the Members and officers for the excellent work carried out by this Member-led Group; a minor amendment to recommendation 2) concerning signage was proposed and agreed.  It was also requested by the local Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC22/57.

Members considered the report of the Health and Well-Being Task and Finish Group (H&WB T&FG) which summarised the work and final recommendations of the Group in identify opportunities for promoting healthier, more active lifestyles, and how Council operations and strategies might be better aligned to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for residents.  The Chair of the Group, Councillor Cook had produced the report before Members and thanked the Members and officers for their contributions to the work of the Group. 

The Group had met on five occasions, receiving presentations on the Impact of the Emerging Local Plan; Public Health Strategic Alignment; Current Leisure Provider; Role of Parish and Town Councils; and the Environment Strategy.  The Group had considered that the issues that affected health and well being focussed around the following:   

•     Accessibility: whether for financial, or physical or mental reasons.

•     Inequality: in finance and location rural villages and smaller hamlets compared to towns.

•     Lack of connectivity: between towns and villages and the impact of out-of-area shopping outlets affecting high streets and corner shops, plus the new trend to shop online and the white van syndrome.

•     Unhealthy eating habits: increase in takeaway shops and online ordering service for delivery.

•     Isolation: post-pandemic reluctance for many to be out meeting in groups, to access leisure facilities or entertainment venues. Bereavement, isolation and loneliness contributed to a range of mental health issues which in turn affected physical health.

It was considered that there were many cross overs with the Council’s Anti-Poverty Strategy, the Environment Strategy and the Leisure Facilities Strategy and it was therefore proposed that this strategy should sit alongside these and that all four strategies should form the foundation stones of both the Corporate Plan and Local Plan.

It was noted that whilst the report had stated there were no financial implications to the proposals contained within the report, there would be cost implication in terms of officer time in supporting and enabling the recommendations within the report, dependent on what was agreed moving forward.  How this work would be progressed was very much dependent on the new administration that would form following the elections in May 2023. 

The role of the Local Strategic Partnership as a key stakeholder in the monitoring of and delivery of this strategy was also considered and this would need to feed into their work programme in the future, with improved reporting to the Council. 

It was also agreed to strengthen recommendation 6) to include specific reference to the provision of swimming facilities and the Council’s community leadership role in creating effective partnerships to deliver this for the communities it represented.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet be requested to consider that:

1)      health and well-being be a foundation stone of the next Corporate Plan and Local Plan;

2)      a partnership with agencies such as ESCC, NHS Sussex and the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise sector be developed and built on a whole systems approach to avoid  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC22/58.

The Planning Policy Manager outlined the report and recommendations of the Bexhill Town Centre Conservation Area Task and Finish Group (BTCCAT&FG) following the one-day Task and Finish Group meeting.  The Terms of Reference for the Group was to review the draft Technical Advice Note 3 (TAN) – Windows in Bexhill Town Centre Conservation Area (BTCCA) and took place on 22 February 2023. 

The Group had received presentations from a number of interested parties and officers including Bexhill Heritage (BH), Bexhill Chamber of Commerce and Tourism (BCCT), Councillor Bayliss as a Ward Member for Bexhill Central, Planning Policy Team Leader and Conservation Officer.   

The report outlined the key points considered by the BTCCAT&FG following the evidence gathering from stakeholders and expert advisors.  The following points were noted during the debate:

•     all features, including decorative mouldings that were on many of the Edwardian buildings in the Conservation Area were already covered by the Conservation Area status; this piece of work had solely focussed on windows;

•     the Edwardian architecture within Bexhill-on-Sea should be promoted more as a tourist attraction; and

•     wooden framed windows were very costly to maintain and there was a limited supply of good quality, locally grown timber.

The Chair of the Group, Councillor Madeley thanked the Members and officers for the excellent work carried out during the evidence gathering session and all had been supportive of the recommendations before the Committee.  Councillor Bayliss wished it to be noted that the sentence attributed to her about the Article 4 direction within the Minutes of the Group’s meeting held on 23 February (BTC22/05), should be disregarded as it had been taken out of context.

The Director – Place and Climate Change was hesitant about the recommendation regarding free pre-application advice to applicants within just the Bexhill Conservation Area and could foresee issues with regard to other Conservations Areas across the district and other “protected” environs such as the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  

RESOLVED:  That Cabinet be requested to agree that:

1)   the draft Technical Advice Note 3 – Windows in Bexhill Town Centre Conservation Area not be published;

2)   the Bexhill Town Centre Conservation Area be retained;

3)   policies relevant to the Bexhill Town Centre Conservation Area, and its specific issues, be considered and examined through the Council’s Local Plan review;

4)   enforcement be increased within the Bexhill Town Centre Conservation Area, particularly regarding shopfronts and replacement windows on the front elevations of buildings;

5)   subject to understanding cost implications, the Council provide free pre-application advice to applicants which related to the shopfronts and windows on the front elevation of buildings within the Bexhill Town Centre Conservation Area; and

6)   all potential funding opportunities to support improvements to the Bexhill Town Centre Conservation Area be explored in collaboration with Bexhill Heritage and the Bexhill Chamber of Commerce and Tourism.

Members considered the report of the Anti-Poverty Task and Finish Group (APT&FG) which summarised the work and final recommendations of the Group to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

At Council on 21 September 2022, a Motion from Councillor Coleman was considered in respect of the Cost of Living Emergency which requested that the former APT&FG be reconvened to give consideration to voluntarily adopting the socio-economic duty to affirm the Council’s commitment to preventing and combatting hardship, with particular considerations to any impact on those with protected characteristics as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.  The APT&FG reconvened for a one-off meeting on 5 January 2023.

Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 introduced a socio-economic duty on public bodies that required them: “when making decisions of a strategic nature about how to exercise its functions” to “have due regard to the desirability of exercising them in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage”.

By voluntarily adopting the duty, the Council would strengthen the ongoing anti-poverty work, support an inclusive economy, and equalities approaches, and contribute to the ‘levelling up’ agenda.  The Council would need to amend its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and processes, including the Equality Impact Assessment process and in doing so, ensure socio-economic inequality was considered in all future policy development such as the new Corporate Plan the new Corporate Plan, Regeneration Strategy, and Housing Strategy. It would also be necessary to ensure appropriate training was in place for Members in having due regard to the duty in decision-making and officer training in how to apply the duty to inform new projects, service, and policy changes.

Since the adoption of the Anti-Poverty Strategy in September 2022, the multi-agency Anti-Poverty Steering Group, governed by the Rother Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) and resourced by the Rother Voluntary Association, had been meeting routinely.  The LSP would take a more active role in developing future iterations of the Strategy and its vison, together with ensuring its objectives were achieved.

The APT&FG had also received an update from the Digital Transformation Project Manager on the performance of the Cost of Living page on the Council’s website, which had been promoted on MyAlerts and through social media platforms as well as a Facebook advert.  The APT&FG were pleased to note the effectiveness of the promotion, as the page had yielded a good level of views and was in the top 25 most viewed pages of the Council’s website. 

RESOLVED: That Cabinet be requested to recommend to Council that:

1)   the Council adopts the socio-economic duty and has regard to it when making decisions and that relevant policies and procedures be amended to reflect this; and

2)   the socio-economic duty be reflected in the new Corporate Plan;

AND

RESOLVED: That progression of the delivery of the Anti-Poverty Strategy Action Plan and the effectiveness of the Cost of Living page on the website be noted.

Consideration was given to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme.  It was noted that the Chair of the Climate Change Steering Group would be providing an update to the Committee at its April meeting, as its first item.  It was also intended to bring a report on items that the new in-coming Overview and Scrutiny Committee may wish to consider, with the benefit of this Committee’s considerations and thoughts. 

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