To authorise the Chair to sign the Minutes of the meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 24 April and 24 May 2023 as correct records of proceedings.

The Chair was authorised to sign the Minutes of the meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 24 April and 24 May 2023 as correct records of the proceedings.

The Chair 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.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor S.B. McGurk.

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:

Maynard          Agenda Item 6 – Personal Interest as an Executive Member of East Sussex County Council.

Osborne          Agenda Item 8 – Personal Interest as a landlord.

As part of the Member Induction process for 2023, a report outlining each Committee’s roles and responsibilities would be presented to the first ordinary meeting of each Committee in the new municipal year. The report of the Deputy Chief Executive outlined the role and functions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC), in addition to documenting the recommendations of the Scrutiny Improvement Review (SIR) that concluded in January 2023.

During the last administration, the Council commissioned the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) to carry out a review and evaluation of the Council’s scrutiny function, as one of the recommendations that came out of a review of the Council’s Constitution conducted during 2021/22.  The CfGS commenced the review in July 2022, which involved evidence gathering in person and online through conversations with Members and officers.

As part of the feedback stage, a facilitated workshop was held with Members and officers in January 2023 to reflect on the review and to discuss options for improvement.  Given that the make-up of the OSC had changed significantly since the elections, it was suggested that the OSC meet informally to consider in detail the outcome and recommendations of the SIR and agree future working arrangements in light of the review’s findings.  Members of the Committee were happy to agree to an informal meeting and a date in the autumn would be confirmed in due course.

RESOLVED: That:

1)   the report be noted; and

2)   the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meet informally to consider in detail the outcome and recommendations of the Scrutiny Improvement Review and agree future working arrangements in light of the review’s findings.

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive on the Performance Report of the Fourth 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 fourth financial quarter (1 January 2023 to 31 March 2023) 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 four, one measure had met its target (Homelessness Prevented and Homelessness Relieved) and four measures had not met their target (Number of all households in temporary accommodation (TA), Number of households on the Housing Register, Number of affordable homes delivered (gross) (supply target: end of year) and Cost of TA). 

Finance Performance:  During quarter four, both measures had met the target (Net income from all investment assets and Additional Income Generation).  The increase to the Income from all assets budgeted figure of c£550,000 was mainly due to the expected rental income from the Sainsbury's purchase in April 2022.  This was less than was reported in the third quarter report, when the estimate was £2,566,126.  The expected purchase for 16-18 Beeching Park estate had not yet completed, so full rental budget of £36,000 for these properties would not be realised in the current year. The additional income was higher than expected due to overhead recharges to Rother Housing Company.  

Economic Development and Poverty: During quarter four, 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 97.66% at the end of March 2023 compared to 98.01% for the same period last year; the Business Rates collection rate was at 97.83% at the end of March 2023 compared to 96.99% for the same period last year.

Environment:  During quarter four, 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 Council was currently in the process of inviting residents to renew their garden waste annual subscription for July 2023/2024. Garden waste tonnages were included in the recycling tonnages, and so very much contributed to the overall recycling and composting percentage of collected household waste, as garden waste weighed more than dry recycling.

Planning: During quarter four, both measures had not met the targets (Major Applications weeks/calendar days to process and Minor Applications days to process). Figures for the period April 2022 to February 2023, indicated some improvement with 100% of majors determined in time, between 50 to 96% of minors determined in time and between 69 to 78% of others  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC23/8.

Members received the report of the Head of Housing and Regeneration, which provided details of the new draft Housing Allocations Policy (HAP), which was attached at Appendix A to the report. The Policy provided a transparent framework for the effective and equitable allocation of social housing in the Rother District, having regard to the statutory guidance as set out in s.196 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Localism Act 2011. In addition, the purpose of the HAP was to support the Corporate Plan Priority to reduce the housing list, as well as the objectives of the Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019-24.

Social housing was in very limited supply and accounted for only 10% of the total housing stock in Rother; this percentage was below the national average of 17%. Therefore, only those with the highest housing need, with a local connection to the area, were likely to obtain social housing.

The demand for social housing continued to exceed supply, with the Council receiving on average 60 new housing register applications every month. There was a total of 2,072 households on the register which compared to only 218 available properties in the previous year, meaning that over 90% of households were unsuccessful in bidding for properties; of the 10% that were, the majority were homeless households to whom the Council owed the main housing duty.

The current HAP was written in 2014 and subsequently reviewed in 2019, but the revised HAP approved in 2019 was never formally implemented. In developing the new draft of the HAP, a market research exercise was conducted where officers examined the policies of several other local authorities, under guidance from the Council’s Specialist Advisor within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The exercise helped to identify areas of good practice to support the development of a policy that better enabled the Council to achieve its Corporate Plan priority to reduce the number of households on the Housing Register. A multi-agency stakeholder collaboration event was then held in which the research undertaken was reviewed and stakeholders collaborated with one another to develop the draft HAP.

The purpose of the officer-led review and stakeholder collaboration event was to ensure that the draft HAP continued to meet its objectives effectively. The main objectives of the revised HAP were to:

•           continue to provide a transparent and clear method of awarding priority for social housing that met the needs of local residents, particularly the most vulnerable;

•           ensure compliance with statutory obligations and changes in legislation, particularly regarding eligibility and the Homeless Reduction Act (2017);

•           reduce the number of clients on the housing register from its current total of 2,072, in accordance with the stated Corporate Plan Priority, and the Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019-2024;

•           reduce the use of TA through improved homelessness prevention; and

•           ensure that households identified as having urgent housing needs due to their health or housing conditions were suitably prioritised.

The Council was obliged  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC23/9.

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive detailing the Annual Work Programme for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC).

Members were reminded that any Councillor could make a request for an item to be placed onto the Council’s Scrutiny Committee Work Programme.

The following additions to the Work Programme were noted:

•           10 July 2023 – Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Council Tax Premium Review; and

•           16 October 2023 – Digital and Customer Services Strategy.

The following additions to the Items for Consideration were noted:

•           Development of the new Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy;

•           Development of the new Corporate Plan; and

•           Update report from the Climate Change Steering Group.

It was suggested that an informal meeting of the OSC to consider the outcome and recommendations of the Scrutiny Improvement Review be held at the conclusion of the Committee meeting scheduled to take place on 11 September if the agenda remained light.  This would be confirmed at a later date.

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

(When it first became apparent, Councillor Osborne declared a Personal Interest in this matter as a landlord and in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct remained in the meeting during the consideration thereof).