Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Simon Peaple.  Councillor John Faulkner attended the meeting as Councillor Peaple’s substitute.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11th July 2018 were approved and signed as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor P Standen and seconded by Councillor S Goodall)

There were no Declarations of Interest.

(Update on working groups)

The Chair gave the following updates:

The Prayers to Full Council Working Group Report which had been considered and recommended by this Committee at its meeting on 11 July would be considered by Council at its next meeting under Matters referred to Council in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.

There had been a slight delay on the consultation proposed on the Live Streaming/Webcasting Working Group.

There had been some progress made by the sub-groups for Support for Members Working Group which would be reported to a future meeting.

Forward plan July 2018 to October 2018

The Committee considered the Forward Plan for 2018/19.

The Committee agreed that a hyperlink would be attached to the agendas for future meetings such that the most up to date version of the Forward Plan was available.

(Report of the Leader of the Council)

The Leader of the Council provided the Corporate Scrutiny Committee with a performance and financial health-check. The report would be considered by Cabinet on 6^th September 2018.  Councillor Cook invited questions from the Committee.

The Committee sought clarification on a number of areas in the report which included:

• the utilisation of discretionary benefit awards,
• the Government’s proposals on non-domestic rates retention,
• retaining control over any services if consideration were to be given to sharing services,
• external borrowings.

It was noted that there had been an increased number of business properties occupied whilst growth had remained constant.

RESOLVED that:  

1. the Committee endorsed the Quarter 1 Performance Report 2018/19 and its presentation to Cabinet.
2. the Leader of the Council provide an update to members on the detail behind the increase in rent arrears, the impact of Universal Credit and the impact of work to reduce the utilisation of B&B in favour of more suitable accommodation.
3. it be recommended that future versions of the report include reference to completed / implemented items before such items were removed from the following quarter’s report, so completion of items were visible and recorded.
4. the improvement in the performance measures for crime and incidents of anti-social  behaviour be noted.
5. clarification be provided on the data protection performance measures within the report.
6. an update be provided on the staff attitude survey by the Leader of the Council.

(Moved by Councillor J Oates and seconded by Councillor S Goodall).

(Review of previous Cabinet minutes)

The Chair reported that the Committee had received the Cabinet minutes from the previous twelve months in order to review the decisions made by Cabinet and to support the identification by the Committee of any items for scrutiny by this Committee or to make recommendations to another scrutiny committee for its review. 

The Committee considered the minutes and identified various items for further review by a scrutiny committee.

RESOLVED that:

1.    Installation of Fire Sprinkler Systems to Leasehold Flats and Flats at Eringden (Cabinet Minute item 21) would be considered by this Committee on 10^th October 2018

2.    Private Sector Housing – Housing Enforcement Policy (Cabinet Minute item 32) would be considered by this Committee on 10^th October 2018

3.    Customer Portal (Cabinet Minute item 38) Councillor Pritchard would be invited to a future meeting of this Committee

4.    Increase Disabled Facilities Grant  (Cabinet Minute item 31) would be recommended for a written update to the Health and Wellbeing Committee

5.    Castle HLF Project Update (Cabinet Minute item 41) would continue to be considered by the Infrastructure Safety & Growth Scrutiny Committee

6.    Public Space Protection Orders (Cabinet Minute item 50) would continue to be scrutinised by the Infrastructure Safety & Growth Scrutiny Committee

7.    Council Tenants Fire Safety Strategy (Cabinet Minute item 51) an annual review would be recommended  for consideration by the Infrastructure Safety & Growth Scrutiny Committee

8.    Anti-Social Behaviour Policy (Cabinet Minute item 52) would continue to be considered by the Infrastructure Safety & Growth Scrutiny Committee

9.    Festive Ward Grant Proposal (Cabinet Minute item 53) a working group of Councillors Simon Peaple, Simon Goodall, Richard Ford and Martin Summers be formed to report back to this Committee

10.Tamworth Borough Council CCTV Resilience and Development (Cabinet Minute item 78) would be considered by the Infrastructure Safety and Growth Committee

11.Future meetings of the Committee would consider a review of the senior management restructuring, the constitutional working group and the corporate investment strategy. 

(Update & discussion on work plan)

Corporate Scrutiny Work Plan