Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Charlie Stewart

Councillors Driver, Hay and Smith declared an interest in agenda item 9 as board members of Cheltenham Borough Homes and announced their intention to leave the meeting at that point.

Councillors Smith and Hay also declared an interest in the same item as council appointed trustees on the shadow board of the Leisure and Culture trust.

Approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 25 November 2013

The minutes of the last meeting held on 25^th November 2013 were approved as a correct record.

An update from the Cabinet on key issues for Cabinet Member which may be of interest to Overview and Scrutiny and may inform the O&S workplan.

Councillor Steve Jordan, as Leader presented a briefing paper from Cabinet which had been circulated with the agenda.

The Leader gave feedback on the Leadership Gloucestershire meeting he had attended earlier that day. They had considered a proposal for a joint committee of the Gloucestershire authorities to sit alongside the Local Enterprise Partnership and make joint decisions on the funding available through the LEP and economic development issues. It had been agreed that a shadow joint committee would be set up with no decision-making power at this stage.

Councillor Jordan updated the Committee on the outcome of the meeting held on the 18^th December 2013 of the County Scrutiny Group which was considering Unitary Government. District Council leaders had not come to a consensus and the proposal for a unitary authority would be unlikely to be taken forward once the scrutiny task group report had been published. It was noted, however, that the discussions had been constructive and the County Scrutiny Group would be considering how to be proactive in encouraging councils to work more closely together.

Councillor Jordan informed the meeting that the Government have launched a consultation on local authority parking policies and enforcement. Anyone could contribute to the consultation on-line. The deadline for response is 14^th February 2014.

Police and Crime Panel – the next meeting is Thursday 6 February

Health and Social Care Committee- the next meeting is 14 January 2014 

Attendance at future meetings of the Gloucestershire scrutiny group

Police and Crime Panel – it was noted that the next meeting of the panel will be held on Thursday, 6^th February.

Health and Social Care Committee – the agenda for the meeting to be held on 14^th January 2014 had been circulated to all Members by Councillor Penny Hall and she had invited them to raise any issues with her before the meeting.

Review of the summary of scrutiny task groups

The meeting reviewed the list of scrutiny task groups. The Democratic Services Manager, Rosalind Reeves, highlighted two issues in the update regarding resources. 

Re Review of Section 106 monies and enforcement: it had been highlighted that officer resources needed for the JCS work may not be available to support this review immediately. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee felt that it would be appropriate for the task group to meet to agree its scope  and terms of reference but should then delay its first substantive meeting until the JCS work was further forward.

Re Review of Public Art Governance: as there had been no nominations for membership of this task group, it was agreed that nominations should be sought again later this year.

Update from the chair of the scrutiny task group - Cemetery and Crematorium, Councillor Chris Ryder, following their first meeting on 17 December 2013

The scrutiny task group was set up by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its last meeting following concerns raised by Councillor Chris Ryder. A meeting was held on 17^th December 2013 between the task group members, officers and representatives of the site and the minutes of that meeting had been circulated in advance of this meeting.

Councillor Chris Ryder, as chair of the task group, thanked all those who had attended the meeting and explained that the staff at the crematorium had worked tirelessly to fulfil their obligation to the public. Several staff had worked over and above their normal day to ensure the smooth running of the facility when a cremator was down or not working to full capacity. It may be appropriate for the staff to receive official thanks for their work. Funeral directors using the site had expressed a lack of confidence and trust in the crematorium as there had been reported cases of bereaved families waiting up to three weeks for cremations to take place. The task group have been invited as observers to a meeting on 15^th January 2014 between the funeral directors and Rob Hainsworth, the operational manager for bereavement services.

Further to the questions and responses recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the 17^th December, 2013, Councillor Ryder informed the meeting of the following:

There are some unused greenhouses on the site which could be demolished to make room for further car parking but the task group had been advised that there are planning issues to be considered.

There is an £80,000 retention being held be the council but as the contractors who installed the cremators have gone into liquidation, the council are considering all their options.

Councillor Roger Whyborn, as Cabinet Member for Sustainability, appeared before the committe to answer questions from Members.

He explained that the council had entered into the contract with Crawfords, the supplier of the cremators, after extensive research and no problems had been identified as at March 2013. During the commissioning of the cremators the company went into liquidation. The council has taken steps to ensure that the maintenance and software suppliers are in place and are also seeking the advice of a consultant to enable the continued use of the facilities. It is more cost effective to continue with the existing equipment rather than start afresh.

A member asked about the mercury pollution and whether CBC could be fined if not compliant with the mercury abatement regulations. Councillor Whyborn responded that whilst not desirable it was not illegal to operate the facility at present although the council does have to pay financial penalties.

In response to a suggestion from a member that a capital sum should be ring fenced in the budget for the crematorium, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that it may be appropriate to consider making some provision for the crematorium costs in future budgets but it was too early to say at this stage.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Update from the chair of the scrutiny task group – ICT, Councillor Colin Hay following their meeting on 18 December 2013.

Councillor Colin Hay, as chair of the task group, updated the committee following a meeting of the task group held on 18^th December 2013. The minutes of the meeting were circulated with the agenda.

The task group had considered the ICT public service network compliance issue which had caused, in part, the rejection of CBC’s submission by the Cabinet Office who felt that CBC had not gone through the Cabinet Office’s recommended risk assessment process. The chair of the task group indicated that there had been a possibility that the Council would have been taken out of the public service network which would have had serious consequences.

Councillor Hay highlighted the following matters from the minutes:

CBC is now far more aware of its approach to corporate risk assessment and management and has engaged an external consultant to assist with the process. The Forest of Dean were conducting the same process as the Borough Council.

There are potential tax implications for councillors who use their council issued IPads for personal use and security implications need to be considered more closely.

There is a need to review the risk scorecard used by various shared services to ensure that the criteria was the same. ICT risk assessments were rated from medium to low and these were monitored by the Security Working Group. There was still work to be undertaken in respect of some of the risks, for example, the USB lockdown.

In addition to the PSN issue the task group had also discussed the recording of council meetings. Councillor Hay informed the meeting that, following requests for the Council meeting to be recorded, advice had been sought. It is clear that under the new legislation there is little scope for refusing a request to record council meetings: this will necessitate changes to the Council’s Constitution. This matter will be considered fully as part of the Accommodation Strategy and it was noted that there would be cost implications.

Update from the chair of the scrutiny task group- Deprivation, Councillor Chris Coleman, on the achievements in the first 6 months and future plans

The Democratic Services Manager advised that she had invited the chair of the scrutiny task group, Councillor Chris Coleman, to attend the meeting to provide an update. As no information was available to put before the meeting it was agreed that this matter would be carried forward to the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on the 3^rd March 2014.

An update from the Director of Commissioning, Jane Griffiths on the implementation of the recommendations arising from the scrutiny task group agreed by Cabinet in April 2013.

Jane Griffiths, Commissioning Director, presented the progress report from the Ubico Task Group which had been circulated with the agenda.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had established this task group to review Ubico. The group had made a number of recommendations, relating to both the Borough Council and Ubico, which were approved by Cabinet on 16^th April 2013. The report had been requested by the committee to ensure that the recommendations had been actioned. The officer informed the meeting that all the recommendations in the report had been actioned bar that contained in paragraph 3.1. In addition, she stated that lessons had been learned from last year’s adverse weather conditions.

A member asked about the response to the late fall of leaves last autumn. The officer responded that the council receives weather alerts and liaise with Ubico who prioritise areas in a similar way to how they prioritise snow clearance for example, footfall and hotspots.

A member asked how the council monitors complaints. The meeting was informed that both complaints and compliments are monitored and these are one of the performance indicators used in assessing Ubico’s performance. The officer agreed to include this information in the quarterly performance indicators that are presented to the Overview and Scrutiny committee.

The officer assured the meeting that the problem with the telephone system over Christmas had now been resolved.

The Bring site in Bath Road is full operational and the enforcement team is monitoring traders using the facility. The council is considering additional rotas to empty the site but this will have cost implications.

A member asked about catch up collections on a Saturday; it was noted that in some residential streets access is not an issue on a weekday as people are at work but on a Saturday there are parked cars and access is difficult. The officer would look into the matter and liaise with the relevant Councillor. 

Review of the Budget proposals 2013/14 which are out for consultation and consideration of the recommendations of the budget scrutiny working group. The budget working group is meeting on 7 January so their recommendations will follow.

Councillors Smith, Hay and Driver retired from the meeting for this agenda item (see Agenda item 2). Councillor Klara Sudbury, as vice chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, assumed chairmanship of the meeting.

Councillor John Rawson, Cabinet Member for Finance, introduced the General Fund Revenue and Capital – Interim Budget proposals – 2014/15 Consultation Paper which had been circulated with the agenda.

The Cabinet Member explained that the Budget Scrutiny Working Group had considered the budget proposals in depth with a view to determine whether the council was doing what it had said it would do. He felt that it had been a challenging and constructive review and commended the report to the Committee.

The Cabinet Member highlighted the main aspects of the proposals. There is a reduction in funding from Government and the loss to the Council is likely to amount to £844,000 which equates to 13.6%.

The Budget Scrutiny Working Group had considered the budget proposals at their meeting on 9 January 2014. As a result they had come up with a number of recommendations for this committee to consider. Councillor Rob Garnham as chair of the working group talked through their recommendations.

• BSWG recognises the approach to using New Homes Bonus funding in the past and supports increasing the use of this funding stream to support the revenue budget, particularly in view of guidance issued with the provisional settlement which confirms that councils are free to spend the bonus as they chose, including on front-line services and keeping council tax low. The proportion of money in the interim budget (64%) used to support the budget is in line with the BSWG view that a cautious approach should be taken to its use.

• The BSWG questions why the Cabinet is proposing a further Council tax freeze whilst it is warning that cuts in funding are worse than expected. It recognises however that the proposal to maintain the freeze has been influenced by the reversal of the Government proposal to top-slice New Homes Bonus funding and the provisional settlement proposal that the funding for past council tax freezes (2011/12 and 2013/14) and for the next two years freeze will be built into the spending review baseline, protecting us against a cliff edge of freeze funding falling away in due course.

• The BSWG supports the view from the Section 151 Officer that CBC should remain in the Gloucestershire Business Rates Pool based on preliminary monitoring considered by the BSWG during the course of the year. The BSWG acknowledges the complexity and uncertainty in budgeting and monitoring the pool resulting from continued issuing of government guidance and acknowledges that it will only be at the outturn of the current year that the benefit of the pool can be properly assessed. 

• The BSWG supports the view by the Section 151 Officer that, in line with the other councils in Gloucestershire, that no changes should be made to the Localised Council Tax Support Scheme (LCTS) although members had been approached by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The committee reviewed the workplan which had been circulated with the agenda.

All items listed for inclusion at the next meeting were agreed: it was also agreed that, due to the urgent nature of the situation, the Cemetery and Crematorium Task Group should report back to the committee (see Agenda Item 8 a).

A report from the Deprivation Task Force will be considered at the next meeting. 

The committee considered the proposal submitted by Councillor Colin Hay to set up a task group to carry out the decision of the Council from March 2012 to find ways to protect local public houses from permanent closure so that the community asset is not lost. It was resolved that the Public House Viability Task Group should be set up and will meet to determine its parameters, terms of reference and personnel. However, due to resource implications, substantive meetings will be delayed until the May elections have taken place.

The Committee is recommended to approve the following recommendation:

“In accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following agenda item as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph 3, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 3; Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

RESOLVED THAT

“In accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following agenda item as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph 3, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 3; Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Exempt minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2013

The minutes of the exempt business discussed at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 25^th November 2013 were approved as an accurate record.

Date of next meeting: Thursday 3 March 2014 at 6 pm

The date of the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is Monday, 3^rd March 2014 at 6pm.