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:

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

If you are seated in the lower public seating area it is likely that the recording cameras will capture your image and this will result in the possibility that your image will become part of the broadcast.

This may infringe your human and data protection rights and if you wish to avoid this you should move to the upper public gallery”

The Chairman made a short address to remind all present that the meeting would be broadcast on the Internet, and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

It was reported that Councillor Mrs R Brookes was substituting for Councillor K Angold-Stephen.

Decisions required:

To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 6 November 2008 (attached)

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2008 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). 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 & Scrutiny 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 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 11 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.

Pursuant to the Council's Code of Member Conduct, Councillor C Whitbread declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 by virtue of being the father of one of the Youth Councillors. 

(Youth Council Representatives) At the meeting on 10 November 2008, the Cabinet received a report on funding for the Youth Council for 2009/10. The Cabinet have requested the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to receive a presentation from the Youth Council giving an update on developing the Youth Council programme.

Representatives from the Youth Council will attend the meeting. A copy of the original funding report to the Cabinet is attached by way of background.

The Cabinet had asked that the Youth Council report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on their proposed funding bid for 2009/10, giving an update on developing the Youth Council Programme.

Youth Councillor Ms C Gilbert informed the meeting that this was the first ever Youth Council for the District. They had a lot that they wanted to do and make happen. In the last 11 months, the Youth Councillors had received initial training soon after their election to enable them to carry out their tasks as professionally as possible; they had agreed their mission statement and established their priorities under five broad headings. They were:

• Activities / things to do for young people;
• Safety and Social issues relating to young people;
• Transport;
• The Environment; and
• The Stereotyping of young people.

Their EFYC mission statement was:

“To voice the views of young people and see that they are put into action.”

They had established their own Webpage to get their message out into the public arena.

Since then, they had been contacted through the website by a number of young people wishing to use the Youth Council as a consultation sounding board and seek their member’s support and involvement.

They had, since the summer, developed sub-groups looking into four of the five priorities areas:  Activities, Transport, Environment and Safety issues.

They saw more face-to-face work in the community as a vital component of their second year success. Some councillors had worked very hard to raise the expectations of their School Council and hold them to task in promoting young people’s initiatives. In the second year, they wanted to build on the good work of local schools partnerships by holding Youth Councillor drop-in surgeries at lunchtimes and after school; and to get more young people engaged in local issues and the opportunities that were out there.

To date, Epping Forest Youth Council had been successful in securing external funding to the sum of £11,132.

However, without the funding from Epping Forest District Council, to a similar sum of approximately £12,000 to support their training, meet transport and general revenue costs they would have been unable to run this year. On behalf of all their Members, Ms Gilbert thanked Epping Forest District Council for their support and formally requested that the same level of support, to the sum of £12,000 be made available for the Youth Council in the next financial year.

The other members of the youth council present, Ms H Whitbread, Ms A Martin and Ms G Compton then reviewed the work of the various sub-committees looking at the activities of young people in the district, their transport problems, their thoughts on the environment and on safety and social issues. It was noted that about 63% of young people felt that their achievements were not sufficiently recognised enough in the local community; that young people’s achievements tended to be better recognised in schools than in the wider community; and that most young people felt that both local and national media  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

To receive a presentation from Peter Sadler, the Principal of Epping Forest College. The reason for this invitation is that the Committee wanted to review the strategic direction of the college, its vision for the future and its relationship with the community. The original request to review the College by Councillor Angold-Stephens is attached  for information.

The College came to scrutiny 2 years ago but much has changed in the meantime, including changes to Government policies, the new build at the college and a new principal. It is understood he is developing a new ‘vision’ and significant changes to the curriculum and the relationship with the local community.

The Committee welcomed Peter Sadler the new principal of Epping Forest College (EFC). He was there to speak to the Committee on the strategic direction of the college, its vision for the future and its relationship with the community. His presentation is attached to these minutes.

Mr Sadler started by clarifying the position that EFC held in the education system. It stood in the middle between school and university, taking students between 16 and 19 years old. They provided mainly vocational and ‘A’ level courses.

Approximately 34% of students came from the Epping Forest area, the rest from Enfield and other London boroughs. Students generally came from within 10 miles from around the college; their objective was to get more students from the Epping Forest district.

The college also had about 140 students aged 14 who undertook vocational training. Their primary objective was to prepare people for work or full time learning.

Currently the college was in a difficult financial position. They had just taken over a £38 million building. They had to sell one third of their land and had to take out a bank loan for £8 million. There was a national problem, with national hidden debts for colleges of around £2 billion. The college had wiped out all of its cash reserves.  Its income stream was currently £8.5 million from the Learning and Skills Council for 16 to 19 year olds and about £1.5 million for adults. Among other grants they also received about £1.2 million in learning support and earn about £500,000 in fees. Their total income was about £12.8 million this year.

The College had been through a great deal in recent years and there was a history of under-performance. They had poor buildings and a poor reputation in the community. Mr Sadler took over as principal in September 2008 and the college had to undergo an OFSTED inspection in December, the outcome of which he expected not to be very good. They had done a self assessment report in which they had graded themselves as being ‘unsatisfactory’, with which the OFSTED inspector agreed. They would be required to improve their quality of management and the learning needs of the college.

The College currently employed about 350 people, not all of them full time. The Payroll budget was roughly £8.5 million.

The College had a new building and would have a new management team in the New Year to move the college forward. They plan to cut out all the deadwood and to progress only with their strong areas. They hoped to see some improvement by next September (2009) by improving the quality of management, meeting local needs and supporting local schools. They also wanted to improve social inclusion for people with learning difficulties in the district. The college was working hard to improve its reputation.

The Debden Community Sports Centre was past its useful life. The College were looking to sell it, have its covenants removed and then to provide new sports facilities.  They  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

(Lead Officer / Chairman Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel) Report attached.

The Chairman of the Constitution and Member Services Standing Scrutiny Panel, Councillor Mrs McEwen introduced the report on the review of Contract Standing Order C13, provision of appointment of consultants. An officer working party had reviewed arrangements for recruitment of consultants.  This review was carried out because of concerns expressed about the process for recruiting consultants being used in various directorates of the Council.  These concerns focus on the following aspects:

            (a)        that consultants are being engaged for extended periods often to cover establishment posts;

            (b)        that there is not always evidence of adequate market testing in order to demonstrate value for money in these appointments;

            (c)        that consultants are often engaged and retained at high cost which may adversely affect the number of staff hours available to the Council.

The officer review had concluded that the term “consultant” has not been clearly defined.  Therefore, if Contract Standing Orders were to apply to the procurement of such persons, they would need to define what a consultant is.  The review also highlighted the fact that there were occasions when the term “consultant” was often used in the context of temporary members of staff which must be dealt with in a completely different manner.

Councillor Mohindra asked how the 20% limit above the maximum scale point was derived. He was told that if a director had a hard to fill vacancy he could fill it with temporary staff, which would normally be paid the same as a permanent member of staff. He could now go up to 20% above the maximum of that grade, but would have to have the budget available to cover it.

            RESOLVED:

That a report be submitted to Council recommending that the revised Standing Order, C13 (attached) be adopted.

Recommendation:

To receive and consider the first draft of the “Safer, Cleaner, Greener” Strategy document and to make recommendations to Cabinet.

(Director of Environment and Street Scene) The Safer Cleaner Green Standing Panel considered this strategy document at their meeting on 9 December and a verbal report on their deliberations will be given at this meeting.

The Committee are asked to comment and endorse the Strategy Document to the next Cabinet meeting.

A copy of the covering report that accompanied the strategy document to the Safer Cleaner Greener Standing Panel is attached for information.

The strategy document will be circulated separately.

This  strategy document was withdrawn. It was noted that it would be submitted to a future meeting.

(Chairman of Task and Finish Panel). To consider the Final Report of the Panel (attached).

The Chairman of the Customer Transformation Task and Finish Panel, Councillor Rolfe introduced the final report of this Panel. The Panel had looked at the Council’s reception and other customer contact areas, the Council’s internal communications and the telephone operators, the Council’s website and the Council’s magazine ‘The Forester’.

They had concluded that the reception areas should be reorganised along with the telephone centre and that a Customer Relationship Management system should be developed to improve the Council’s services and help meet the requirements  of National Indicator 14. They also recommended that the an additional two website support officers be recruited at an estimated cost of £48,860 and that the Forester be reviewed.

            RESOLVED:

That the following recommendations of the Customer Transformation Task and Finish Final Report be endorsed and submitted to the Cabinet for adoption:

THE COUNCIL WEBSITE:

i)       That given the increasing importance of the Website with respect to communication, information and electronic interactions, consideration is given to increasing the level of dedicated resource to the maintenance and development of the Council’s Website.

ii)      That a CSB Growth bid is submitted to fund an additional two, Range 5 (subject to job evaluation) Website Support Officers as part of the Budget Process 2009/10, at an estimated cost of £48,860.

PROVISION OF RECEPTION SERVICES AT THE CIVIC OFFICES:

i)       That a re-organisation should take place at the Civic Offices to enable customers to access the majority of Council Services at a single reception/customer services area of the ground floor.

ii)                        That further detailed feasibility work is undertaken to establish the costs of the new single customer services/reception area to include innovative use of information technology, for which provision should be made from the existing allocation of funds within the capital programme.

TELEPHONE ENQUIRIES

i)                    That the Council develops and deploys a Customer Relationship Management System to provide accurate and timely information to enquires.

ii)                   That any such Customer Relationship Management System be capable of providing accurate management and monitoring information, not only to meet the requirements of NI14, but also to drive customer satisfaction levels higher.

PUBLIC INFORMATION – THE FORESTER

i)              That the results of the Forester consultation are considered by Overview and Scrutiny Committee prior to any fundamental design changes or content.

NATIONAL PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 14 – AVOIDABLE CONTACT

i)              That in line with our recommendations in respect to Telephone enquiries, that a Customer Relationship Management System is developed capable of efficiently collecting data to improve services and meet the requirements of NI14 – Available Contact.

ONE STOP SHOPS/CONTACT CENTRES

i)              That the Council pursue the establishment of a Corporate Customer Services, front office model such as “Contact Harlow” where the maximum number of enquiries and transactions completed at the first point of contact.

ii)             That the Corporate Customer services facility is achieved by the utilisation of existing staffing resources being brought together to become “generalists” as per the ‘Contact Harlow’ model.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive) to consider the attached report.

The report on the proposed Joint PCT Scrutiny in West Essex was introduced by the Senior Democratic Services Officer. It was noted that at County level the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee had the statutory duty for health scrutiny. However, recently Harlow members had expressed an interest in undertaking a piece of health scrutiny jointly with Uttlesford and Epping Forest on a service level basis. Officers and members from the three authorities had recently met to discuss how such a review might take place.  The issues for such a joint group were:

(i)         how to ensure that the participation of the PCT in a worthwhile review could be secured and be mutually beneficial;

(ii)        making sure that any review did not duplicate either work undertake by or on behalf of HOSC;

(iii)       that the structure did not eventually fall foul of any changes envisaged by the government on joint scrutiny committees following recent consultation scheduled for April 2009; and

(iv)       that there was capacity to complete the review within a reasonable timeframe.

An identical report had been presented to Harlow Overview and Scrutiny Committee recently where they expressed some concerns about avoiding duplication of work with the County Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. They had also asked for more information on what topics may emerge. Officers had arranged a meeting with County about health scrutiny in January 2009 following which the county’s views on how such local health scrutiny could operate would be apparent. At present, all this committee could do was to suggest some areas that the joint scrutiny can look at and agree in principle to the joint scrutiny.

The committee thought that the following subjects would be worth looking at:

• Care in the Community;
• Mental Health;
• Hip Fractures (was this area worse than other parts of the county in dealing with these);
• Epilepsy and other such conditions, they appear to have no targets, hence less money.

In principle the committee expressed the view that they were happy to participate in a joint health scrutiny exercise.

            RESOLVED:

(1)               That the Committee were content, in principle, to consider a joint health review with Harlow and Uttlesford Councils; and

(2)               That the following subjects be raised as suitable to be reviewed by the proposed joint health committee:

·         Care in the Community;

·         Mental Health;

·         Hip Fractures (was this area worse than other parts of the county in dealing with these);

·         Epilepsy and other such conditions, they appear to have no targets, hence less money.

(a)               Updated Schedule

The Committee are asked to note the updated schedule. This reflects the work programme proposed by each Panel. Any changes made under preceding items will be amended in the programme accordingly

(b)              Reserve Programme

Recommendation:

To consider a new work request from Councillor Mrs Cooper (attached).

A reserve list of scrutiny topics is required to ensure that the work flow of OSC is continuous.  Members can suggest items for the work programme at any time.

OSC will ‘pull out’ items from the list and allocate them accordingly once space becomes available in the work plan following the completion of existing reviews.

Members can put forward any further suggestions for inclusion in the reserve list either during the meeting or at a later date.

Existing review items will be dealt with first, then time will be allocated to the items contained in the reserve work plan.

Once existing work plan items have been dealt with, scrutiny time will be focused on the items contained in the reserve programme.

(a)        Work Programme

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The following changes were noted:

• Item 6 (Scrutiny of Epping Forest Local Strategic Partnership) had been moved to March 2009, as there were a lot of items already down for January 2009.

• Item 12 (Health and Inequalities), a report updating the Committee would be presented in March 2009.

• Item 13 (Scrutiny of Essex Police – Community Policing Initiative), would be moved to a later date.

• The Deputy Chief Executive asked that members submit questions before hand for any future presentations to be given, so that the speaker could research and prepare the answers in advance.

• The Youth Council to be asked if they wished to supply questions for Councillor Hume, when he visits the Committee in January 2009.

Safer Cleaner Greener Standing Panel

The Committee received an update on the Panel’s recent meeting from its Chairman, Councillor Matt Colling.

The Chairman of the standing panel asked that their terms of reference be amended to include “Highway accidents within the District to include specifically, data on accidents resulting in death or serious injuries.”

The Committee agreed that this could be added to the Panel’s Terms of Reference.

Noted that:

• The draft Safer, Cleaner, Greener Strategy Document be amended and then brought back to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

• The Panel had asked that a special meeting be organised in the new year to consider the Epping Forest Transport Survey. It was agreed that the date of the special meeting be put into the Members Bulletin along with a copy of the questionnaire and the consultation document.

• They had received an update on the latest Dobbs Weir traffic situation.

• They had considered the Waste Service Development Plan.

• And had been informed of the new powers available to the Council on Anti Social Behaviour, from 1 December 2008. These powers made it possible for the Police and Council, in partnership, to seek the closure of any premises (including owner occupied and tenanted houses) where they were the cause of major and on-going antisocial behaviour.  It was clear that the powers were likely only to be used in extremis, but they did provide another tool in the toolkit for dealing with the most difficult of circumstances.

RESOLVED:

That the Safer, Cleaner, Greener Standing Panel’s Terms of Reference be amended to include: “Highway accidents within the District to include specifically data on accidents resulting in death or serious injuries.”

Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel

It was noted that:

• The Panel would consider the government consultation for time-off for employees who wished to take up Civic Duties. Because of timing difficulties the response would go directly to the government and not come to the O&S Committee.

• They would respond to the government on reducing the age of voting from 18 to 16 by the end of January. An item would be put into the member’s bulletin and the Youth Council asked for their comments.

• The review of O&S and members training was due in January  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

RECOMMENDATION:

To consider any items to be raised by the Chairman at the Cabinet meeting on 15 December 2008.

(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 15 December 2008 Cabinet agenda (previously circulated) to see whether there are any items that they wished to be raised at the Cabinet meeting.

It was noted that there was nothing to report to the next Cabinet.