Agenda and minutes

1.         This meeting is to be webcast. Members are reminded of the need to activate their microphones before speaking.

2.         The Chairman will read the following announcement:

“This meeting will be webcast live to the Internet and will be archived for later viewing. Copies of recordings may be made available on request.

By entering the chamber’s lower seating area you consenting to becoming part of the webcast.

If you wish to avoid being filmed you should move to the public gallery or speak to the webcasting officer”

The Chairman reminded everyone present that the meeting would be broadcast live to the Internet, and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings.

Decisions required:

To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 15 October 2013.

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2013 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

It was noted that Councillor J Lea was substituting for Councillor B Rolfe.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member conduct.

To consider the attached report on the consultation by Essex County Council on their Children’s Centres.

Attending the meeting to answer any questions will be Henrietta Barkham, the ECC Area Commissioner Early Years & Childcare and Stacy Randall, Spurgeon’s Regional Manager.

The Chairman welcomed Stav Yiannou the Essex County Council’s Lead Strategic Commissioner for Early Years Education and Learning and Stacy Randall, Spurgeon’s Regional Manager, accompanied by Gill Wallis, EFDC’s Community Development Officer.

Ms Wallis noted that Essex County Council was currently undertaking a formal consultation on the future provision of Children’s Centres in Essex which would end on 5 December 2013. The consultation was about the need to make £2.5m of savings from the Children Centre Budget from 2014/15.

The County Council’s Children’s Centres offered a wide range of services for families and others caring for children under five. Each Children’s Centre was different, offering a variety of services according to the needs of local families. Activities were delivered from either a main site, a delivery site, or through a range of outreach venues. All Children’s Centres work closely with health, schools, GPs and other local service providers.

Essex County Council had proposed that the Little Buddies Children’s Centre in Buckhurst Hill be closed and merged with the Sunrise Centre in Loughton. The reasons stated for this proposal were that “it is in an area of lesser deprivation compared to neighbouring Epping children’s centres; and they were trying to prioritise resources to areas of greater need.

The site suffers from accessibility issues as it is on a busy high street with limited parking. Neighbouring centres in Epping Forest are easier and safer to access. Good transport links between Buckhurst Hill and neighbouring centres in Loughton and Debden would also serve to minimise the effects of this closure.”

Officers had met with the Portfolio Holder and other members to discuss the issues and had prepared a draft council response.

The ECC officers acknowledged that the district of Epping had eight children centres and that they proposed that four main centres would remain. They would have outreach services, targeted one to one support in the home and on-site pre-school and nursery provision would continue to be delivered. As part of this provision they were proposing to close Little Buddies in Buckhurst Hill and merge it with the neighbouring Sunrise Children’s Centre, Alderton, which would continue as a Main Site.

A public speaker, Mr Neville, made a short statement about the location and ease of access of the Little Buddies centre in Buckhurst Hill. That it had a large catchment area and that many of these people were not well off, some of them could not afford the train and bus fares to travel to other centres and so would have to walk a long way to get there. This could be dangerous as they would have to cross busy main roads etc. He also noted that at present Little Buddies was oversubscribed. Also, travelling further may increase the use of cars in the area.

Councillor Girling commented that he thought that the consultation was kept under the radar, especially for parents and many head teachers of primary schools. They had no awareness of the consultation process. It seemed that only enough paper  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

In 2012/13 this Committee had requested an annual presentation from the Youth Council giving an update on the developing Youth Council programme.

Members of the Youth Council will attend the meeting to outline:

(i) achievements from the last year;

(ii) the plans for the Youth Council for the coming year; and

(iii) new youth engagement and volunteer initiatives for 2014-15.

The Committee welcomed members of the Youth Council who were there at the request of the Committee to give their annual presentation, updating members on the work carried out over the last year and their developing Youth Council Programme.

Ten members of the Youth Council were in attendance. They noted that Youth Volunteering had been a big theme for them this year. They were passionate about encouraging young people to volunteer and were behind the Council’s Youth Volunteer Programme which was being taken up by all secondary schools in the District. Many of the young people who had participated in the Council’s volunteer days enjoyed it so much; they have asked to do more in their spare time.  They also discovered that it was not so easy for young people to volunteer if they were under 18, there being all sort of issues with insurance, health and safety etc. This led them to produce a Young person’s Guide to Volunteering. The guide contained helpful tips and advice for young people interested in voluntary work.  The guide was funded by successfully securing funding from the O2 Think Big Fund and the Jack Petchey Foundation. They also obtained funding from the Council, with Councillor Whitbread agreeing to fund enough guides for all pupils aged 14+ in the district.

They developed an inter-generational project to tackle the barrier between older residents and the young people.  Another high profile event this year was their Youth Conference here in the Council Chamber, with 71 pupils from years 8, 9 and 10 representing ten secondary schools from in and around the Epping Forest District. They consulted about the main issues affecting the lives of local young people,  possible solutions and also gathered innovative ideas on how to improve the local community. Additionally they were keen to promote the importance of local democracy to pupils. They identified three main concerns which were the negative stereotyping of young people; concerns about alcohol and drug misuse and thirdly, bullying. They asked the members to consider what they do to help the youth councillors lobby for these issues to be addressed. Their finding would be sent to the LSP and they hoped that the people holding the purse strings would take notice of what local young people were saying. Also at the Youth Conference they facilitated a debate on whether the voting age should be reduced to 16. The ‘Yes’ vote won.

The Youth Council had also contributed to 13 different consultations this year and they also have a representative on the Epping Forest Youth Strategy Group.

By far the most successful project this year had been the planning and delivery of their Celebration of Youth Groups event last month.  One of their aims was to try and transform the Council Chamber into more of a youth friendly space. On the night they had entertainment from some fantastic local young artists and welcomed organisers and teenagers from 18 different youth groups across the district. They set up a market stalls  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

RECOMMENDATION:

To consider any items to be raised by the Chairman at the Cabinet meeting on 2 December 2013.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). Under the Overview and Scrutiny rules the Committee is required to scrutinise proposed decisions of the Executive. The Chairman is also required to report on such discussions to the Cabinet.

The Committee is asked to consider the 2 December 2013 Cabinet agenda (previously circulated) to see whether there are any items that they wished to be raised at the Cabinet meeting.

The Committee then considered the Cabinet Agenda for their meeting to be held on 2 December 2013.  Councillor Murray commented on agenda item 9, ‘the sale of Church Hill Car Park’. He was surprised that the report said that it was an un-kept site that would benefit from a tidy up as he noted that we were the owners the site. He also wanted assurance that 40% of affordable housing be maintained and that it would also be helpful to have a meaningful definition of what was meant by affordable housing. 

Councillor Angold-Stephens commented in relation to agenda item 10 – ‘potential strategy options for council property assets’. He wanted an assurance that the ward councillors would be consulted on this before it went to the Cabinet Committee.

Councillor Chambers commented on agenda item 17 – ‘safeguarding audit and resource requirements’.  He thought that the recommendations were slightly too rigid and wondered if the council could look at sharing services, such as sharing safeguarding officers with other authorities.

(Director of Corporate Support Services) To consider the attached  report. This went to the Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel on 19 November 2013.

The Chairman of the Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel, Councillor Philip introduced the report on the review of Premises Licences arrangements that went to his Panel on 19 November 2013. This was a review of the first six months of the new licensing arrangements of having single evening meetings for premises licences. He recognised that this review had been carried out a bit earlier than normal but also that it was necessary because of the budget considerations. He also recognised that the new system brought in a lot more meetings.

He noted that the council had taken on the responsibility for licensing scrap metal dealers and the corresponding amount of work that this would entail for the licensing section. It was noted that only police and other regulatory bodies may object to an application for a scrap metal dealer’s licence. Because of this the Panel agreed that they should be heard during the daytime.

Further, because of the larger amount of work and extra cost involved it was agreed by the Panel that it should recommend that all licensing hearings revert back to being held during the daytime. But, that the Chairman of the Licensing Committee be authorised to determine whether any hearing would be better held in the evening in view of significant public interest. This could be done in consultation with ward members and/or other representations received.

However, the Panel supported  the continuation of the wider consultation introduced in the trial and that the Panel were also in support of the need of a CSB growth bid to cover costs resulting from these extended licensing arrangement; this was to be added to the draft 2014/15 budget pending the outcome of this review.

On consideration the Committee agreed the recommendations made by the Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel.

RESOLVED:

(1)          That all Licensing hearings revert to being held during the daytime subject to 2 below;

(2)          That the Chairman of the Licensing Committee be authorised to determine whether  any hearing would be better held in the evening in view of significant public interest and that the chairman could determine  this by liaising with the relevant ward members and/or representations made;

(3)          That the wider consultation procedures be continued; and

(4)          That the Cabinet be made aware of the Committee’s agreement of the CSB growth item to cover licensing costs resulting from these new licensing arrangements, including additional staffing, and that this be added to the draft 2014/15 budget the outcome of the review.

(Deputy Chief Executive) To consider the attached report.

The Deputy Chief Executive, Derek Macnab introduced the report on the Corporate Plan Key objectives 2013/14, the quarter 2 progress. This is the Council’s key planning document, setting out service delivery priorities over a four year period from 2011/12 to 2014/15 with strategic themes reflecting those of the Community Strategy for the district. It was noted that key objectives for 2013/14 were adopted by the Cabinet at its meeting on 11 March 2013. Progress against the key objectives was reviewed and monitored on a quarterly basis. At the end of the second quarter of the year, 18.5% of the individual actions supporting the Key Objectives for 2012/14 had been achieved.

This report would also be considered by the Cabinet at its meeting to be held 2 December 2013.

Councillor Philip noted that a lot of objectives were marked as being in the red, especially around the Local Plan. The longer it took to get a local Plan in place the more it became an issue of risk with respect to planning appeals etc.

RESOLVED:

That the review and progress in relation to the achievement of the key objectives for 2013/14 for the first six months of the year be noted.

To consider the final report of the Overview and Scrutiny Review Task and Finish Panel.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Review Task and Finish Panel introduced their final report to the Committee. They were set up to review the O&S arrangements within the Council with particular reference to working relationships with the Cabinet. He thanked Ian Willett, the lead officer, for his help during the review.

He noted that they covered a large range of topics starting with the appointment of the Chairman for Overview and Scrutiny, consulting with the Leader, improvement of the work programme and the scrutiny of external organisations. They also looked at the Scrutiny Panels and had a discussion on call-ins and made some suggestion on their arrangements. They noted that the County was responsible for the scrutiny of the NHS, but the Panel felt that for particular items of local interest, EFDC would like the option to approach County to ask if we could scrutinise our own area.

They Panel noted that they would like the public profile of O&S raised and that any training requirements for O&S should be arranged early in the new municipal year. They also looked at the constitutional changes needed and this was shown as an appendix to the report. If approved, this report would then go on to Council for agreement.

Councillor Jacobs queried the part of the report that suggested that the Finance and Performance Management Scrutiny Panel should not get involved in the detailed scrutiny of budget matters but look at the overall policy matters. Councillor Angold-Stephens said that there was too much duplication between the Finance Cabinet Committee and the Scrutiny Panel.  They would like the Scrutiny Panel to take a more strategic, wider view of finance.

Councillor Murray noted the recommendations of who should be the chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. He would still like it to be a member of a minority group. He endorsed the view that the various Portfolio Holders should be encouraged to attend the respective Scrutiny Standing Panels and noted that the Housing Portfolio Holder was very good at doing so. Also, that the word ‘Standing’ be omitted from the name of the Panels. Councillor Angold-Stephens replied that they had discussed the Chairman at some length. O&S should be a non political process and to this end they would need someone with the correct skills and experience regardless of which political group they were members of. Councillor Murray agreed that the Chairman should not be an overtly political position.

Councillor Chambers commented on the NHS scrutiny proposals. He noted that the NHS was scrutinised by other bodies and that we should be cautious about this. We should make more use of our representatives on the County and West Essex Committees. Councillor Angold-Stephens replied that members would value scrutiny at a local level or have comprehensive feedback from our representatives at County.

Councillor Philip noted that the O&S Committee need not always consider the PICK forms. Mr Willett commented that eventually all PICK forms  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

RECOMMENDATION:

The Committee is asked to consider, comment on and note the report.

Attached is the report of the sub-committee of the Finance and Performance Management Standing Panel set up to look at Cross Charging (recharging) in the council. A copy of that report is attached along with a report from Peter Maddock answering some of the questions raised by the sub-committee’s report.

Councillor Lion introduced the Finance and Performance Management Scrutiny Panel’s sub-committee report on recharging. It was noted that the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee had asked if the Finance Scrutiny Panel could look into the levels of recharging and how this made it difficult to determine if the service was providing Value for Money.

A small sub group was set up under the chairman of the Finance and Performance Management Scrutiny Panel to investigate the issues with a view to defining the problem and to understand the methodology for cross charging.

This was an interim report looking at support costs and the spending control process. It was noted that a lot of the cross charging was allocated by finance and was not readily available for scrutiny.  They were looking to see if there was a better way to do this and how it could be understood. This interim report will be taken to the Cabinet Committee as it had originated from their request.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the allocations of costs report by the Finance and Performance Management Standing Panel Sub-committee report be noted; and

(2)        That the report be considered by the Finance Cabinet Committee as it was originally requested by the Finance Portfolio Holder.

To consider the attached report on the six monthly work programme.

Mr Hill, the Senior Democratic Services Officer took the Committee through their current Work Programme reviewing the 6 months of work carried out so far. He reported that all the recommendations made so far by this Committee had been adopted during the last six months. He noted that the work programme process would be reviewed in February in light of the Overview and Scrutiny Review Task and Finish Panel’s report.

(a)        Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The Committee noted the work covered so far, and that:

·         The Work Programme was on target for completion;

·         That no Task and Finish Panels had been set up this year; and

·         That there were two issues pending; officers were awaiting the PICK forms.

(b)       Housing Standing Panel

The Chairman of the Housing Standing Panel, Councillor Murray took the meeting through their recent work programme. The Committee noted that they were tasked to review parking enforcement which would be looked at in January.

(c)        Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel

The Chairman of the Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel, Councillor Philip took the meeting through their recent work programme. It was noted that this meeting had already covered the report on Licensing and that the report on the Vice Chairman of Council should be coming to the January meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The petition scheme would be considered later on in the year. Councillor Philip noted that he would be producing a PICK form on the constitutional position on questions at council and those without notice. He noted that the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee would not be held until after the next Constitution and Member Services Panel meeting and suggested that the Committee send this directly to his Panel to look at, as the issue was clearly and constitutional matter. This was agreed by the Committee.

AGREED: That the impending PICK form looking at the constitutional position on questions at Council be added to the work programme of the Panel.

(d)       Safer Cleaner Greener Standing Panel

The Chairman of the Panel Councillor Lea, took the Committee through the recent work of her Panel, noting the changes in CCTV that was published in the Member’s Bulletin, that recycling in flat blocks had now mostly been rolled out. She noted that the work of the Highways Panel was progressing very slowly and that the Panel was also looking at the minutes of NEPP meetings.

(e)       Planning Services Standing Panel

The Committee noted the progress made by this Panel during the year.

(f)        Finance and Performance Management Standing Panel

The Chairman of the Panel Councillor Lion took the committee through their recent work. He noted they had received the financial issues paper at their last meeting and that the need for more saving was highlighted. They had a discussion on future fees and charges and noted that the only viable way to raise revenue was by raising parking fees. They had looked at the ICT strategy and the cost of a new IT licence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

RECOMMENDATION:

To agree the nomination of Councillor H Mann to the Finance and Performance Management Standing Scrutiny Panel.

To appoint a member to the Finance and Performance Management Scrutiny Standing Panels in accordance with the pro-rata rules. This is the result of the vacancy left by the late Councillor Finn. The Committee is asked to agree the nomination of Councillor H Mann to fill this vacancy.

The Committee agreed to the appointment of Councillor Mann to the Finance and Performance Management Standing Scrutiny Panel to fill the vacancy left by Councillor Finn.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Mann be appointed to the Finance and Performance Management Standing Scrutiny Panel.