Agenda and minutes

This meeting is to be webcast and the Chairman will read the following announcement:

“I would like to remind everyone present that this meeting will be broadcast live to the internet and will be capable of subsequent repeated viewing, with copies of the recording being made available for those that request it.

By being present at this meeting, it is likely that the recording cameras will capture your image and this will result in your image becoming part of the broadcast.

You should be aware that this may infringe your human and data protection rights, and if you have any concerns then please speak to the Webcasting Officer.

Please could I also remind Members and Officers to activate their microphones before speaking.”

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.

To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

There were no substitutions reported at the meeting.

To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a pecuniary or a non-pecuniary interest under the Council’s Code of Conduct, Members are requested to pay particular attention to paragraph (11) of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a non-pecuniary interest in any matter before Overview & Scrutiny 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 (11) of the Code of Conduct does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an Overview & Scrutiny meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 23 January 2024.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2024 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To consider any matters arising and outstanding actions from the minutes of the previous meeting(s) that are not covered elsewhere in this agenda.

The Committee noted there were no outstanding actions and no matters were raised.

(Democratic & Electoral Services Team Manager) To receive questions submitted by members of the public and any requests to address the Committee, in accordance with Article 6 (Overview and Scrutiny) of the Council’s Constitution.

(a)       Public Questions

Members of the public may ask questions of the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee at ordinary meetings of the Committee, in accordance with the procedure set out in the Constitution.

(b)       Requests to address the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Any member of the public or a representative of another organisation may address the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on any agenda item (except those dealt with in private session as exempt or confidential business), due to be considered at the meeting.

The Committee noted that no public questions or requests to address the meeting had been received.

(Democratic & Electoral Services Team Manager) To consider any matter referred to the Committee for decision in relation to a call-in, in accordance with Article 6 (Overview and Scrutiny) of the Council’s Constitution.

The Committee noted that no executive decisions had been called-in for consideration since the previous meeting.

To receive an annual progress report on the work undertaken by the Community, Culture and Wellbeing Team with the Epping Forest Youth Council.

The Epping Youth Council outlined the success of the recent Youth Council election and the induction, training and team building events that took place through their tenure as Youth Councillors. An overview of the work carried out and the key priorities were highlighted as:

·         Tackle alcohol and substance misuse, as part of the Epping Forest Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

·         Support schools to successfully deliver the new RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) and to support the health and wellbeing and safety of its students through the Broadcast Roadshow. EFYC had successfully secured funding for this programme.

·         Carry out and participate in a variety of surveys to ensure the voice of young people was heard.

·         Communicate the work of the Youth Council through a variety of mechanisms including social media.

·         Youth Councillors were representatives on a range of Community Groups.

·         Raised over £16,000 in external funding for 2023/24.

·         Held a Youth Conference, that linked to the costof living priority, ensured pledges from schools and provided priorities for 2024/25.

·         Substance abuse and misuse including Vapes identified as a priority for 2024/25.

The Committee and all members welcomed and thanked the Youth Council for their presentation. The Youth Councillors responded to several queries and

·         Suggested that the issues facing young people were a lack of space for young people to ‘hang’ without taking part in an activity, especially for 13 to16 year olds, and improved public transport across different parts of the district.

·         Explained the training and induction regime.

·         A survey helped to develop the priority as 50% of response suggested substance misuse and abuse as a priority.

·         Communication from schools to the Youth Council varied between schools.

·         AI should not take away from creativity and interaction between people.

Officers were thanked for supporting and developing the Youth Councillors.

Resolved:

That the Committee commended the work of the Youth Council and noted the contents of the report.

To consider the Quarter 3 Budget Monitoring Report 2023/24,

Andrew Small, Corporate Director and Section 15, Officer outlined the  2023/24 General Fund and Housing Revenue Account budget positions, for both revenue and capital, as at 31st December 2023 (“Quarter 3”).

The General Fund revenue expenditure showed a much-improved position compared to previous quarters with a forecast underspend of £0.584 million, a significant pressure in relation to planning application income was highlighted. The Housing Revenue Account was projected to record a small budget overspend in part due to the increasing costs of major void repairs.

The General Fund Capital Programme had a forecast outturn of £33.059 million underspend, the re-profiled spend within Commercial and Technical was the most significant variance; and the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme had a forecast outturn underspend of £40.848 million, slippage on Housing Development was the biggest factor.

The Committee

·         The increased costs of housing repairs were due to increased materials cost and using the opportunity when properties became void for major upgrade.

·         Queried if the HRA underspend could have been used for improvement, The Director of Housing, S Balu, advised the committee that stock survey and inspection would feed into a plan of action for repairs, this would support the approach to plan and assess priorities in different estates, any underspend would be reviewed and suitably allocated. The Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr H Whitbread, also suggested that unallocated funds could be allocated to smaller projects and schemes that had could have a significant positive impact on local areas and communities.

·         An explanation of the reserve levels was provided to the Committee.

·         Confirmation was provided that the contract hire of waste vehicles, as part of the new waste service, had provided the best option to the Council.

·         The IT programme had been reprofiled, in line with the ICT strategy, and this would be supported by effective project management and monitoring.

Resolved:

That the Committee noted the end of Quarter 3 position (31 December 2023) 2023/24 for:

1.         The General Fund revenue position, including actions being undertaken or proposed to ameliorate the position, where significant variances had been identified;

2.         The General Fund capital position;

3.         The Housing Revenue Account revenue position, including actions proposed to ameliorate the position, where significant variances had been identified;

4.         The Housing Revenue Account capital position; and

5.         The wider position on Financial Performance and Risk

To review the attached FY 2023/24 Quarter 4 Corporate Performance Report.

The Committee considered the performance report and received the following responses to their queries:

·        Call wait times would become a KPI, as the customer service indicators had been reviewed.

·        There was now a suitable supply of bins, stock management had been transferred to EFDC and provision to ensure continuity in supply for the new operation had been made.

·        Homelessness had increased, a factor had been the closure of a hotel.

·        The opening of a new commercial fitness centre had a detrimental impact on the Loughton Sports Centre subscription, however membership in January to March 2024d increased.

·        The overall tonnage of household waste had decreased.

·        Reports of fly tips were recorded by the service area.

·        The Planning Advisory Service (PAS) report would be presented to Cabinet on 28 May 2024. The quality of decisions in relation to Major applications been highlighted as the level of decisions overturned at appeal was close to that that could involve intervention and the classification of the Council as a standards authority.

·        Staff had been encouraged to self-declare for ethnicity.

The Committee were advised that the format and content of the report was under review, to ensure that this was relevant and meaningful.

Resolved:

The Committee reviewed and commented on the Quarter 4 performance report 2023/24

To consider and comment on the year 1 actions and progress of the People Strategy.

The Service Director for Corporate Services, P Maginnis provided an update on theh progress made against the People Strategy (2023-2037).  Objectives had been set  and the progress made against the three pillars of work: Maximising organisational capacity and capability; Effective and inspirational leadership, values, and culture; and Enhancing employee experience and engagement, was detailed in the report.

The progress and positive outcomes of the apprenticeship programme were highlighted. This programme has been developed to cover high level apprenticeships to support the Council in areas of that were difficult to recruit.  The apprenticeship levy was fully utilised, for employment and training and development. 

The Well-Being Hub and staff was launched in December 2022, this offered a wide range of support and an employee discount scheme which had a large take up by staff.

The Committee:

·         welcomed investment in staff development and well being and recognised that staff were one of the most valuable assets for the Council.

·         received clarity that a number of diversity and inclusion projects had taken place, including support for an employee forum , training sessions and the development of a network of equality and inclusion specialist across several Councils. The Council continued to develop the approach to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

·         were advised that the Disability Confident Status Level 2 covered a range of measures, including reasonable adjustment, support, training, equality of access for staff with disabilities, no barriers to recruitment.  Disability for the community was covered as a protected characteristic and Equality Impact assessments were carried out on all key policies and decisions.

Resolved:

The Committee considered and provided comment on the progress of the People Strategy.

(Chairmen of the Select Committees) To report to the meeting on progress against achievement of the current work programme, as required under Article 6 (Overview and Scrutiny) of the Constitution, and for any recommendations for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

For information: the current work programme for each select committee is attached as an appendix to this agenda.

The Chairman of Communities Scrutiny, Cllr A Patel, provided detail of the good progress on the work programme through the 2024/25 municipal year and highlighted that the Housing compliance policies and been an important element of the work.  The presentations by the Heath and Wellbeing Being Partnership, and the Police and Safer Community Partnership Board had been welcomed by the Committee.  The Chairman suggested that the future work programme should be balanced across the remit of the Committee.

The Chairman of Place Scrutiny, Cllr H Kane, highlighted the items covered on the work programme through the 2024/25 municipal year, which had been informative and interesting.

Both Scrutiny Committee Chairman thanked their Vice-Chairman, members of their respective committees and officers for their support.

Progress towards the achievement of the work programme for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is reviewed at each meeting.

(a)          Current Work Programme

The current work programme for the Committee is attached as an appendix to this agenda.

(b)          Reserve Programme

A reserve list of scrutiny topics is developed as required, to ensure that the work flow of overview and scrutiny is continuous. When necessary, the Committee will allocate items from the list appropriately, once resources become available in the work programme, following the completion of any ongoing scrutiny activity.

Members can put forward suggestions for inclusion in the work programme or reserve list through the adopted PICK process. Existing review items will be dealt with first, after which time will be allocated to the items contained in the reserve work plan.

No comments were received on the work programme for 2023/24.

Recommendation:

That the Committee review the Executive’s current programme of Key Decisions to enable the identification of appropriate matters for the overview and scrutiny work programme and the overview of specific decisions proposed to be taken over the period of the plan.

Resolved:

That the Cabinet’s current programme of key decisions be noted.