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.

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

It was reported that Councillor L Hughes was substituting for Councillor G Shiell.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 25 October 2016.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the last Committee meeting held on 25 October 2016 be signed by the Committee as a correct record subject to altering the text in minute item 31 to read ‘her’ when it refers to ‘him’ when speaking about the new principal of Epping Forest College.

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

In considering whether to declare a personal or a prejudicial interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview and Scrutiny Committee members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 11 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a personal and prejudicial interest in any matter before an Overview and Scrutiny 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 11 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an overview and scrutiny meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

(a)  Councillor B Surtees declared a non-pecuniary interest in the following item of the agenda by virtue of being the Chaplin for Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust. He advised that his interest was not prejudicial and he would remain in the meeting for the duration of the item and consideration thereon:

• Item 12 - Scrutiny of External Organisations

(b)  Councillor L Girling declared a non-pecuniary interest in the following item of the agenda by virtue of being a former employee of Transport for London. He advised that his interest was not prejudicial and he would remain in the meeting for the duration of the item and consideration thereon:

• Item 6 - Transport for London - Central Line Services and Infrastructure

(c)  Councillor D Stallan declared a non-pecuniary interest in the following item of the agenda. He advised that his interest was not prejudicial and that he would remain in the meeting for the duration of the item and consideration thereon:

·         Item 6 – Transport for London – Central Line Services and Infrastructure.

To receive a short presentation from two officers from TfL and to answer any subsequent questions. The two officers attending are: Chris Taggart, the General Manager (Central Line) and Mark Hart the Stakeholder Engagement Manager (Bakerloo, Central and Victoria Lines).

A Short background report is attached.

The Committee welcomed two officers from Transport for London, Chris Taggart the General Manager (Central Line) and Mark Hart the Stakeholder Engagement Manager (Bakerloo, Central and Victoria Lines). Mr Taggart explained that he was the leader of the operational team that carried out the day to day management of the Central Line, including Station Staff and Drivers. Mr Hart explained that it was his job to notify any stakeholders of any activity on the rail lines, or noise or if he had information to impart on station closures etc. It was his job to notify people on upcoming works or problems.

The TfL officers had received advanced notice of the topics and any questions that the Committee wanted to cover at this meeting and made the following statements in relation to the comments/questions members had raised:

(a)  Current levels of staffing on local Central Line stations, particularly with regards to ticket offices – only about 3% of journeys started at the ticket office, most of them were undertaken by the use of oyster cards. The staffing levels depended on how big the station was and on the time of day. Staffing levels were also set by the Mayor for London.

(b)  Extension of all-night services on the Central Line, currently operating as far as Loughton Station on Fridays and Saturdays to Epping – there were currently no plans to extend this to Epping. Night trains have now been running for several months and in the New Year this service would be reviewed. Stopping at Loughton allows them to turn the trains around and as there was a smaller fleet available during the night, a quick turn around was needed. British Transport Police have reported that the night tube has been a success.

(c)  The impact of the suspension of local Central Line services at weekends, to facilitate maintenance programmes – they have been doing this for maintenance work over the last 12 months and plan to continue doing this two or three times more over the coming year. This was part of their regular maintenance programme and they were also changing the way they maintained the railway so that there would be fewer closures.

(d)  The frequency of Central Line Services eastbound to Epping – they had introduced a new timetable on the Central Line in August trying to balance as best they could the service over the Central Line Services as a whole. They knew that over 10 times more customers used the Epping branch than the Hainault loop, so the recent timetable change redirected more trains to run to Epping, with more trains in the morning to bring customers into London during the rush hour.

(e)  The split of Central Line services operating eastbound from Leytonstone Station and the perception that fewer services run through to Epping than to Hainault – this was generally an issue in the evening peak with trains going to Epping and round to Hainault the demand at this time was roughly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

(Director of Governance) To receive questions submitted by members of the public and any requests to address the Committee.

(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 Council’s 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.

It was noted that there were no public questions or requests to address the committee.

(Director of Governance) To consider any matter referred to the Committee for decision in relation to a call-in.

There were no call-in of decisions to be considered.

(Director of Governance) The Cabinet’s forward plan of key decisions is reviewed by the Committee at each meeting, to provide an opportunity for the scrutiny of specific decisions to be taken over the period of the plan. Wherever possible, Portfolio Holders will attend the Committee to present forthcoming key decisions, to answer questions on the forward plan and to indicate where appropriate work could be carried out by overview and scrutiny on behalf of the Cabinet.

The Committee considered the Cabinet’s Key Decision List for October 2016 they noted that there was a legal requirement for local authorities to publish a notice in respect of each Key decision that it proposed to make, at least 28 days before that decision was made. The Committee were invited to identify any particular issues which were of concern.

Leader Portfolio

Councillor Neville asked if there would be a member briefing on the Council Offices Review. Councillor Whitbread replied that reports went to the Cabinet on a monthly basis and scrutiny may also be asked to look at this.

Planning Policy Portfolio

Councillor Sartin asked who would be taking responsibility for this area during the Assistant Director’s absence. Councillor Philip said that he would be taking the responsibility as Portfolio holder and will also be making use of Alison Blom-Cooper.

(Director of Governance) to consider the attached report.

The Committee received the report on the Council’s Corporate Plan, setting out the council’s priorities over a five year period from 2015/16 to 2019/20. These priorities or Corporate Aims were supported by Key Objectives. 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 Chairman noted that these results were for quarter 2 and that although we were now past quarter 2, the committee should review these results even though they had already been seen by the various Select Committees.

Progress against the Key Action Plan was reviewed on a quarterly basis to ensure the timely identification and implementation of appropriate further initiatives or corrective action where necessary.

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

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

·         14 (29%) of these actions are ‘Under Control’

·         2  (4%) are ‘Behind Schedule’

·         4  (8%) are ‘Pending’

Aim (i)(a) (2) – progress preparations for delivery savings for 2016/17 – Councillor Sartin queried if this should be classed as pending as opposed to on target as it was not yet due.

Aim (i)(b) (3) – Relocate the Housing repairs Service from the Epping depot to suitable alternative premises - Councillor J H Whitehouse asked what was the delay in doing this and the effect it would have on the St. John’s development. Councillor Whitbread said that they had now completed the purchase of the school site from Essex County Council and had made provision for the planning application for the depot site in North Weald. They were still awaiting the planning application for St John’s site, but he could not see any delays to that at present.

Aim (ii)(c) (5) - …investigate the possible establishment of a Museum Heritage and Culture Development Trust – Councillor Sartin asked where we were with this at present. Mr Macnab replied that they had made an appointment to the commercial manager’s post and were due to appoint the public engagement officer as well. Work was progressing on the development of the trust and they hoped to have it completed by March 2018.

(Director of Governance) Progress towards the achievement of the work programmes for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and each of the select committees, is reviewed by the Committee at each meeting.

(a)          Current Work Programmes

The current overview and scrutiny work programmes are attached as an appendix to this report.

(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.

(a)  Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The Committee considered their work programme and noted the progress to date.

Item 3 – ECC Local Highways Services and infrastructure – the committee noted that officers were still working with the County Council to arrange their attendance for the February meeting. Members will be asked at the 30 January 2017 meeting to develop suitable lines of questioning for the Highways Services.

Select Committees

Governance Select Committee

Councillor Avey noted that there was the possibility that the Select Committee was also going to speak to the Highway services but this would have been in connection with their responses to planning applications.

(b)  Reserve Programme

Item 5 – Princess Alexandra Hospital Services – noted that this was a separate item on this agenda.

(Director of Governance) to note the current position with regards to the our scrutiny of the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust.

The meeting noted that the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) NHS Trust had been invited to attend a future meeting of this Committee to respond to the concerns of the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The Trust had confirmed that its Chairman and Chief Executive would attend an extraordinary meeting of the Committee to be held on 30 January 2017.

The Committee was therefore requested to consider and agree any appropriate lines of questioning to be raised with the Trust in order that prior notice of the scope of the questions likely to be raised by members could be provided beforehand.

The following items were raised by members:

Strategic Issues

1.         Details of the Trust’s high-level plans for the improvement of the services rated by the Care Quality Commission in its inspection report of October 2016, as ‘inadequate’;

2.         Details of the action already taken by the Trust to improve services rated by the Commission as inadequate;

3.         The sustainability of the service improvements already made by the Trust in response to the findings of the Commission, and of other improvements yet to be implemented;

4.         The enhancement of the service capacity of the Trust, particularly in terms of the development proposals contained in the Consultation Draft of the new Local Plan for the Epping Forest District and the new Local Development Plan for Harlow;

5.         The possible relocation of the Trust’s services away from the current Princess Alexandra Hospital site in Harlow, and/or the development of new service facilities on the current hospital site;

6.         The support provided by Essex County Council for the enhancement of the service capacity of the Trust, particularly with regard to the possible relocation of services from Princess Alexandra Hospital or the development of new service facilities on the current hospital site;

7.         The support that could be offered by Epping Forest District Council to enhance the service capacity of the Trust,

Operational Issues

8.         How the Trust intends to address and improve the following matters identified by the Commission:

(a)       the bed pressure and capacity issues that result in patients being allocated the next available bed rather than being treated on a ward specifically for their condition;

(b)       the low levels of staff morale and service pressures within the surgery and emergencydepartments at Princess Alexandra Hospital;

(c)       the apparent ‘disconnect’ between its executive team and front line staff, to reinforce its aspirational ‘family team’ culture;

(d)       the apparent inconsistent approach to learning from incidents;

(e)       that processes for the safeguarding of children are not sufficiently robust and that staff attendance at safeguarding training sessions is inconsistent;

(f)        that processes for the induction of nursingand medical staff is not consistentlycompleted; and

(g)       that its history of cancelled operations that are notrebooked within 28 days, which shows a lack of support for people to have care re-arranged as quickly as possible, is worse than the average for England;

9.         Details of the Trust’s proposals for improvement in the recruitment and retention  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.