Agenda and minutes

(Director of Communities) To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

There were no substitutions made for the meeting.

(Director of Governance). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a pecuniary or a non-pecuniary interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 9 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a non-pecuniary interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 9 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

Councillor Murray declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 5, review of Epping Forest Careline Services, due to his mother being a user of this service. He considered that his interest was not prejudicial and he would stay for the consideration of the item.

(Chairman / Lead Officer) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed the Terms of Reference of this Committee. This is attached along with an ongoing work

programme. Members are asked at each meeting to review both documents.

(a)          Terms of Reference

The Select Committee’s Terms of Reference were noted.

(b)          Work Programme

The Select Committee’s Work Programme was noted.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director Housing Operations, Mr Wilson, introduced the report setting out options for the future of the Council’s Careline Monitoring Centre, based at Parsonage Court, Loughton. The service was introduced in June 1984 and offers a twenty-four hour, 365 days per year, emergency alarm monitoring service to older and disabled people living within the District. The Service was also offered to other vulnerable groups including victims of domestic violence and younger people with disabilities. There were currently 2,572 properties (representing around 3,500 people) in the District linked to the centre in this way.   

Around 1,380 of the connections were private sector dwellings, which were connected via a dispersed alarm, which has an associated neck worn radio trigger. A range of various sensors were offered such as on line smoke alarms, fall and flood detectors. The user paid an annual rental to the Council for the service; in 2015/2016 the Council received a total income of around £185,000, inclusive of associated sensors. The Council worked in partnership with Essex County Council which funds the first 12 weeks rental for the user.  

The charges made by the Council were very competitive compared to other authorities in Essex.

Careline has a Disaster Recovery Plan which is an essential back up system.  In the event of the systems being faulty at the Careline Monitoring Centre, all calls could be diverted and handled at the equipment manufacturer’s own control centre in Yorkshire until the service was restored, where clients’ information is securely stored and was regularly updated should this alternative system be needed.

It was noted that as the Careline Monitoring Centre had expanded in terms of the number of private sector connections and the advances in technology, the management and operational aspects of the service had become more complex.  In addition, there have been difficulties in recruiting staff due to the nature of the work and the salary level.  This had led to additional pressures on existing staff that have had to cover, not only vacant posts, but also annual leave and sickness absences.  Also, all new staff completes an 8 week training programme prior to commencing full duties, which adds to the burden of covering shifts.

In 2011 the Careline Monitoring Service became Telecare Services Association (TSA) accredited.  TSA was a nationally recognised standards body for the delivery of technology enabled care and support services in the UK.  The Council’s Careline Service has to date met all of the Audit requirements.   

Importantly, the TSA have recently brought to the attention of the Council and authorities nationally the British Standard (BS8591), extracts of which currently states:

“There should be a minimum of two operators in an ARC [control centre] at all times, capable of carrying out all operational procedures, at least one of whom should be at their workstation at all times”.

TSA have also confirmed that the above standard was under review and should be brought in line with the European Standard. Although 2 Operators on duty at all times was expected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report.

The Director of Communities, Mr A Hall, introduced the six monthly review of the HRA Financial Plan for 2016/17, part of the HRA Business Plan. The Cabinet had asked the Communities Select Committee to review the HRA Financial Plan twice each year. In addition, senior Housing and Finance officers also reviewed the Plan in July and January each year.

SDS Consultancy had acted as the Council’s HRA Business Planning Consultants for many years and had undertaken its six month review of the current HRA Financial Plan to take account of the Council’s current financial position and national and local policies and their six monthly report was attached as an appendix to the report.

The Select Committee was asked to consider this report and comment on or raise any concerns it found.

The review took account of the changes to the key assumptions and investment requirements since the February 2016 review and the annual Financial Plan. It was noted that there was currently a lot of uncertainty on the government requirements on the sale of higher value voids.

As a base principle, all income and expenditure forecasts would increase by the assumed RPI which was assumed at 2.5% throughout except where otherwise indicated. Also, in line with the Government’s latest social rent policy, existing tenants would see their rent reduce by 1% each year over a four year period. This commenced in April 2016.

It was noted that the first half of 2016/17 had seen an increase in the number of Right to Buy sales. Some 23 properties had been sold already, compared to 11 for the same period last year and 16 the year before. Therefore the Right to Buy sales projection for 2016/17 had been increased to 40, from the budgeted 20, which would result in lower rental income.

Following the self-financing settlement in March 2012 loans were taken out with the Public Works Loans Board by this Council. Given that the vast majority of the loan value was fixed, officers were certain of most of the interest that would be charged to the HRA. 

When self financing was introduced in March 2012, it was estimated that the Council could afford to provide an annual provision of £0.770 million for service enhancements throughout the life of the Financial Plan. Since 2012 approximately £0.2 million of improvements and service enhancements have been subsumed into the management budgets of the HRA for ongoing services.

New build acquisition expenditure had decreased from £52.569 million to £50.270 million for Phases 1 to 6 from 2015/16 onwards.

The Council also held a Self-Financing Reserve with the intention of building up balances within it, sufficient to repay the loans identified. Due to the increased levels of capital expenditure for the next few years against the backdrop of reduced revenue, SDS Consultancy had considered two options of either continuing to keep the Reserve in order to repay the loan due in Year 7 or utilise the balance in order to fund the Capital Programme over the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report.

The Director of Communities introduced the Six Month Progress Report on the Key Action Plan for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). This section of the HRA Business Plan is the Key Action Plan which sets out the proposed actions the Council would be taking, primarily, over the year. It was good practice that the progress made with the stated actions was monitored by this Select Committee during the year.

The Committee went through the Key Action Plan’s actions listed in the report and noted their progress or outcomes. They had no specific issues that they wanted to raise or comment on.

RESOLVED:

That the six month progress report for the Key Action Plan contained within the HRA Business Plan 2016/17 was considered and noted.

(Director of Communities) Report to follow.

The Director of Communities, Mr Hall, introduced the report on the Quarter 2 Key Performance Indicators (KPI) within the Select Committee’s area of responsibility.

The KPIs provide an opportunity for the Council to focus attention on how specific areas for improvement will be addressed, and how opportunities will be exploited and better outcomes delivered.

A range of 37 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2016/17 was adopted by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee in March 2016. The aims of the KPIs were to direct improvement effort towards services and the national priorities and local challenges arising from the social, economic and environmental context of the district, that are the focus of thekey objectives.

The overall position for all 37 KPIs at the end of the Q2 was as follows:

(a)       28 (76%) indicators achieved target;

(b)       9   (24%) indicators did not achieve target, although

(c)       2 (22%) of these indicators performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator.

(d)       31 (84%) of indicators are currently anticipated to achieve year-end target and a further 4 (11%) were uncertain whether they would achieve year-end target.

10 of the Key Performance Indicators fell within the Communities Select Committee’s areas of responsibility. The overall position with regard to the achievement of target performance at Q2 for these 10 indicators was as follows:

(a)    8 (80%) indicators achieved target;

(b)    2 (20%) indicators did not achieve target, and

(c)    0 (0%) of these KPI’s performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator

(d)   9 (90%) of indicators were currently anticipated to achieve year-end target, and a              further 1 (10%) was uncertain whether it would achieve year-end target.

The Committee then went through the various relevant indicators and commented as necessary.

COM002 – on average, how many days did it take us to re-let a Council Property – officers were hopeful that it would achieve its target by the end of the year.

COM006 – how many of the key building components required to achieve the Modern Homes Standard were renewed – officers were hopeful that that the target would be achieved within the next two quarters.

RESOLVED:

That the Select Committee reviewed and noted the Quarter 2 performance of the relevant Key Performance Indicators for 2016/17.

(Director of Communities) Report to follow.

The Director of Communities introduced the Quarter 2 Progress Report on the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2016/17. The Corporate Plan is the Council’s key strategic planning document, setting out its priorities over the five year period from 2015/16 to 2019/20. The plan is supported by Key Objectives which provided a clear statement of the Council’s overall intentions for the five years.

The Key Objectives were delivered by an Annual Action Plan, with each year building upon the progress against the achievement of the Key Objectives for previous years. The Annual Action Plans contain a range of actions designed to achieve specific outcomes and as working documents were subject to change and development to ensure the actions remain relevant and appropriate, and to identify opportunities to secure further progress or improvement.

There were 49 actions in total, for which progress updates for Q2 were as follows:

·         29 (59%) of these actions have been ‘Achieved’ or are ‘On Target’

·         14 (28%) of these actions are ‘Under Control’

·         2   (4%) are ‘Behind Schedule’

·         4   (8%) are ‘Pending’

16 actions fell within the areas of responsibility of the Communities Select Committee. At the end of Q2:

·         6 (38%) of these actions have been ‘Achieved’ or are ‘On-Target’

·         7 (44%) of these actions are ‘Under Control’

·         3 (19%) of these actions are ‘Pending’

·         0 (0%) of these actions are ‘Behind Schedule’

Mr Marshall of the Tenants and Leaseholders Federation commented that it was sad to see that the relocation of the Housing Repairs Service from the Epping Depot to alternative suitable premises had been postponed yet again. Mr Hall said that the move was now not only dependent on the signing of the St John’s Road contract, but also the outcome of the Strategic Accommodation Review. He further explained that, in the meantime, the possibility of a temporary depot move was being evaluated. 

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the Quarter Two progress of the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2016/17 in relation to its area of responsibility.

To consider which reports are ready to be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its next meeting.

The Committee thought that a short report back to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee should be given on outcome of the Careline Alarm Monitoring Report and on the monitoring of the finances of the Housing Revenue Account.

The next meeting of the Select Committee will be held on Tuesday 17 January 2017 at 7.00p.m. in Committee Room 1 and thereafter on:

Tuesday 14 March at 7.00p.m. in Committee Room 1.

The Committee noted the dates for their future meetings.