To authorise the Chair to sign the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 16 October 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 16 October 2023 as a correct record 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.

There were no apologies for absence.

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:

Clark               Agenda Items 6 and 7 – Personal Interest as a Member of East Sussex County Council.

Field                Agenda Items 6 and 7 – Personal Interest as a Member of East Sussex County Council.

Maynard          Agenda Items 6 and 7 – Personal Interest as an Executive Member of East Sussex County Council.

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Programme and Improvement Manager on the Performance Report of the First and Second Quarters 2023/24.  Members were given the opportunity to scrutinise progress towards corporate operations and service delivery and make any necessary recommendations to Cabinet for future service delivery. 

A summary of the Council’s performance against the selected 26 Key Performance Indicators (KPI) broken down into eight service areas was included at Appendix A to the report. Performance was compared to the previous quarter result and to the same quarter the previous year.

Environmental Health: During quarters one and two, both measures had not met their target (Percentage of scheduled food inspections that were carried out; and Percentage of service requests completed in the required timescale).

Housing:  During quarters one and two, all measures had met their target (Number of households either prevented from or relieved from homelessness; Average cost of placing household in temporary accommodation (TA); and Average weeks a household was in TA before placement).  Officers advised that verbal updates could be provided at future meetings concerning further property acquisitions for TA. The Council was on target to reach 50 units by the end of the financial year and a report would be taken to Cabinet in due course to request further funding to acquire more units.  The property acquisition target would then be increased accordingly.

Customer Services: During quarters one and two, one measure was not on target but improving (Telephone calls answered) and three measures had met their target (Percentage of enquiries that were resolved on the first contact; Average call waiting time; and Total number of customer contacts to the Council).

Neighbourhood Services: During quarters one and two, all measures had met their target (Missed bins per 100,000 collections; Percentage of public land found with unacceptable levels of litter when surveyed; Percentage of public land found with unacceptable levels of detritus when surveyed; Fly tips recorded each month, cleared from public land; and Number of fly tip fines issued).

Estates: During quarters one and two, the measure met its target (Income from all assets).

Corporate Core: During quarters one and two, the measure met its target (% of freedom of information requested answered in 20 days).

Planning Development Management: During quarters one and two, all measures had met their target (Percentage of major development applications determined in 13 weeks or agreed extension; Percentage of minor development applications determined in eight weeks or agreed extension; Major development planning appeals allowed by the Planning Inspector; Minor development planning appeals allowed by the Planning Inspector; and Total number of PS1 and PS2 planning applications).

Revenues and Benefits: During quarters one and two, two measures had met their target (Percentage of council tax owed for the year that had been collected; and Average calendar days to process a new housing benefit claim), one measure was improving towards its target (Percentage of business rates owed for the year that had been collected)  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC23/36.

Members received and considered the report of the Interim Deputy Chief Executive on the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme Monitoring as at 30 September 2023.  The report contained details of the significant variations of the Revenue Budget and updated Capital Programme and included a brief update on the Collection Fund performance.

The forecast outturn for the 2023/24 financial year was based on the position as at 30 September 2023 and indicated a forecast deficit position of £2.961m at 31 March 2024, against a budgeted deficit of £2.221m, which was a variance of £0.74m. The updated Medium Term Financial Strategy was looking to address the financial position of the Council. The Interim S151 Officer would work closely with Heads of Services and Members to reduce areas of overspend and the impact on reserves.

The Council’s Net Financing Costs had reduced due to a review of several schemes within the Capital Programme to ensure deliverability of anticipated outcomes and affordability. As a result of the review, the anticipated borrowing had not been required and interest due to be paid was lower than expected by £471k. Interest income from investments was expected to yield an additional £730k, of which £530k was in respect of an increased focus on treasury management activity and higher interest rates since the budget was calculated and £200k due in interest on loans to the housing company.

The revised 2023/24 Capital Programme budgets had been derived from reviewing the project cashflows and assessing the expected position at this time. There were a number of additions to the Capital Programme including unexpected replacement boiler costs at the Town Hall; the refurbishment of five tennis courts at Egerton Park as part of grant acceptance conditions; potential payments in respect of contributions towards dilapidations at Rye Swimming Pool and Bexhill Leisure Centre and Pool; an additional Disabled Facilities Grant allocation and changes to the Changing Places Toilet schemes approved previously.  The current budget for the Capital Programme’s for the year was £28.4m, with the forecast outturn for the year as at Quarter 2 being £19.9m, a variance of (£8.5m) or 30% of the programme. It was however noted that this was due to the intentional pause and review of the capital programme and not as a result of general slippage. 

It was noted that the collection rate as at the 30 September 2023 for the Council Tax and Business Rate parts of the Collection Fund was 57.10% and 58.62% respectively of the collectable debit, which was 0.21% and 0.43% lower respectively than the corresponding figures in 2022/23.  It was considered that the collection rates had held up well despite the squeeze on finances following the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, but a future decline in collection rates would have an adverse impact on the Council’s income.

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

•     Temporary Accommodation (TA) costs would have been far higher without the Council’s TA purchase scheme, as the budget had  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC23/37.

Members received the report of the Environment Strategy Officer, which summarised the work of the Climate Strategy refresh and provided the resulting draft Climate Strategy (CS) to be considered for onward approval and adoption.

In 2022/23, in partnership with stakeholders and the local community, a review of the Council’s strategy to reduce emissions and create a cleaner, greener, more equitable district was completed, alongside a review of the Environment Strategy 2020.  The resulting CS detailed how the Council would use its powers and influence to make the district carbon neutral and reduce its operational emissions to Net Zero by 2030. 

The report before Members detailed the findings of the Environment Strategy 2020 review, the additional evidence base required for the strategy refresh and stakeholder engagement information. The draft CS was attached at Appendix A to the report.  The layout / design of CS would be professionally completed by a graphic designer and copy editor. 

The review of the Environment Strategy 2020 highlighted the following areas for improvement: Emissions evidence-based – District and Organisational; Changes to national policy – Environment Act 2021; Rother-specific climate risks and opportunities; and Climate Action Plan – to direct delivery.

Both Rother district and operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were included in the evidence base for the CS, attached at Appendices B and C to the report. Other Council strategic documents, including the Anti-Poverty Strategy, the emerging Local Plan, annual Air Quality Assessments, and Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, also formed part of the evidence base for the CS. Appendix D to the report contained the CS Engagement Tracker, which listed all occasions when the Environment Strategy Officer had presented, discussed or otherwise engaged with stakeholders on the refresh, but did not include discussions via email.

The aim of the CS was to enable, encourage and accelerate the reduction of GHG emissions across the district to net zero by 2030.  The CS outlined its five objectives with five action areas (Buildings and Energy Efficiency, Transport, Resource Consumption and Waste, Biodiversity and Land Use and Energy Generation), which detailed the challenges and the Council’s approach. A three-year Climate Action Plan had been produced to direct delivery of the CS and was attached to the report at Appendix E; this was a working document.

The Council had considered continuing with the existing Environment Strategy, but the evidence base included in the CS refresh demonstrated the need to focus the Council’s resources on supporting emission reductions in the five action areas. The CS was a well-researched, evidence-based document that would guide the Council’s climate action and enable to Council to meet its pledge to do what was within its powers to make Rother a carbon-neutral district.

Councillor Field, Chair of the Climate Change Steering Group (CCSG) and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Environmental, Licensing, Community Safety, Climate Strategy and Joint Waste Contract thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee, and the Environment Strategy Officer for her hard work in developing the refreshed CS.  The CS proposed the Council’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC23/38.

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

No additions or amendments were made.

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