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.

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

There were no substitute Members for the meeting.

(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.

Councillor Mrs M Sartin declared a personal interest in agenda item 7 as she was the council representative on the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority. Councillor Bassett also declared a personal interest as he was a Deputy EFDC representative on the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority.

Decisions required:

To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 31 May 2011.

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 31 May 2011 be agreed.

The Chairman updated the meeting on Key Objective 11 (to continue to increase the Council’s recycling performance) mentioned in minute item 4, saying that the Council already collected food waste on a weekly basis.

(Acting Chief Executive) To receive a presentation from Peter Tollington, General Manager of the Central and Waterloo Line and Stephen Jones, from London Underground Limited. They will give a presentation updating their latest work plans for the District and will also be taking questions from the Committee and other members in attendance.

The Chairman welcomed Peter Tollington the General Manager for the Central, Waterloo and City Lines and his colleague Michael Graves the group station manager for stations between Epping and Stanmore.

Mr Tollington gave a short presentation to the meeting (slides attached) saying that this was the second busiest and the longest line on the underground. It was fully automated and was modernised in the 90’s. The Central Line had enjoyed a surge in demand since then, with an understandable dip in 2002, after the Chancery Lane derailment. It serves about 650,000 people every week day. There has been a large improvement in peak capacity since 2003 and by 2008 they were at the limit of what the line could provide, using 79 of the 85 trains in the fleet at peak hours. Stratford Station now carried more people on Saturday afternoons that it did at the rush hour in the late 90’s.

They have a customer service improvement plans in place to provide Oyster vending machines with pre-loaded value at stations, more wide aisle gates and more service information, they were working hard to provide information remotely and have regular accurate announcements. They also have staff deployment reviews and coaching and they were proud to have higher levels of staff than other comparable stations in the UK.

They also have a ‘reliability programme’ but they were finding cable theft a major problem and this reduced reliability.

Their upgrade plan was looking to bring in air conditioned articulated trains when capital allowed. They were currently looking to rebuild the busiest stations on the Central Line such as Tottenham Court Road, Victoria, Bond Street, Bank and Paddington. Stratford Station had been transformed where they had put in a new ticket hall and had opened an extra platform to set it up as a one way station, with passengers getting off on one side of the train and passengers getting on from the other side. They are also upgrading other stations with CCTV and better communication systems.

They were had increased capacity by 30% through line upgrades, new trains, track and signalling. They were currently refreshing their fleet of trains by replacing their windows (the old ones used to let in water) and their seats. The Metropolitan Line was getting new trains that were air conditioned and articulated.

They would be putting on extra staff for the upcoming Olympic Games; they already have the capacity for the games and are currently refining their plans in readiness for next year.

Mr Tollington then went through the questions that the committee wished to be considered at their last meeting.

Capacity on trains, specifically rush hour on trains and train stock improvements - Mr Tollington said the line was presently working to capacity and he did not know where any extra space would come from. They were relying on the new ‘Cross Rail’ development to take some of the excess people from the Central Line. They could not increase the number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

(Acting Chief Executive) To consider the attached report.

The Committee received a report on the London 2012 Olympic Bid and the legacy benefits for our region especially regarding the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA).

They noted that:

• The East of England had the highest level of public support for the games across the whole of the United Kingdom;
• Experiences of other host cities, indicate that there were significant social benefits to be realised, such as increased sports participation, volunteering, tourism and cultural opportunities;
• Apart form the White Water Rafting, Essex will also host the Olympic Mountain Bike Event at Hadleigh Castle in Castle Point. LVRPA will have responsibility for the velodrome as well as the White Water Rafting;
• Business breakfasts had been organised for local businesses to contend for contracts. A number of local companies have gained contracts through this event. The Town Centre Manager had also organised a similar event for local businesses and we have also gained apprenticeships for local people from these events;
• The Games are looking for 70,000 volunteers and it is anticipated that a number of event volunteers will be recruited locally to support the actual operation of the Olympic canoe event at Waltham Abbey;
• A multi-agency partnership Olympic Legacy Board has been established and, to provide focus and capacity, the Board created a temporary 2 year Olympic Officer post to maximise the legacy potential. A consultants report had been prepared for the legacy board on development and regeneration opportunities, and we are awaiting an official copy;
• With the White Water Rafting venue, it was anticipated that other specialist facilities would be needed around it, the World Championships are coming up (in 2015) and this would be a bigger event than the Olympics;
• The British Canoe Union estimated the value to the local economy of this event to be some £1.7million;
• During the period of the games the Town Centres would not benefit from the mass influx of spectators as they would be strictly controlled being taken directly to the venues and back again. However, officers are trying to get the Park and Ride buses to leave later to encourage people to spend some money at Waltham Abbey;
• There will also be a Cultural Olympiad, celebrating the games through arts and festival events that will be running up to the games. Council staff are promoting a number of these Cultural events.

Asked what Broxbourne were doing, the Acting Chief Executive, Derek Macnab, said they were developing a walkway from Waltham Cross and improving Waltham Cross Station. They also have other plans to regenerate Waltham Cross.

Councillor Sartin noted that the White Water Centre had held a free Schools event recently, which was very successful. Children from every borough n London attended and this had generated future bookings from these boroughs.

Councillor Brookes said that the sports development team were under funding pressure, this was a chance to promote activities to children over the summer months. Mr Macnab replied that they already have an extensive holiday programme, which was already sold out.

            RESOLVED:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

(Councillor D Stallan – Chairman, Constitution and Member Services Scrutiny Panel) Because the Panel had not met as this agenda went to print, the report for this item will follow.

The Chairman of the Constitution and Members’ Services Standing Panel, Councillor Stallan introduced their report on the recent referendum and elections held in May 2011.

They noted that referendum was held under a different management and accountability structure compared under an election. A Chief Counting Officer was responsible for certifying the overall result and the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Jenny Watson, was appointed to this position. It was necessary to comply with some 207 directions given by the Chief Counting Officer. In order to abide with the directions some 87 polling stations had to be provided on the day, with the appointment of over 80 Presiding Officers and around 150 Poll Clerks.

A total of 9540 Referendum Postal vote packets were issued, many including District Council ballot papers and some Parish/Town Council ballot papers. Approximately 74% were returned.

The Police response was very good this year with all Polling Stations receiving regular visits. No formal complaints had been received regarding an alleged breach of electoral law.

Councillor Bassett said it was disappointing that only 20% of Parish Councils had enough candidates to warrant an election.

Councillor Jacobs asked if we have ever had to provide so many staff before. He was told that the Returning Officer would not have done it this way if he was in control, but the directions had been dripped fed to him over a period of time. The electoral commission gave directions after the bill went through Parliament, about 11 or 12 weeks before. This was a short time frame.

Councillor Waller commented that it was unusual to have no public area for people to come and see the count taking place. He was told this was due to a combination of a number of things like the size of the hall, the number of different types of counts gong on and for reasons of security. They would reconsider allowing the public in future counts, but they really needed a bigger hall.

            RESOLVED:

That the review of the Referendum and Elections held on 5 May 2011 be noted.

(Councillor D Stallan – Chairman, Constitution and Member Services Scrutiny Panel) Because the Panel had not met as this agenda went to print, the report for this item will follow.

The Chairman of the Constitution and Members’ Services Standing Panel, Councillor Stallan introduced their report on the limits of jurisdiction of the Complaints Panel.

Currently, certain types of complaints fall outside the limits of jurisdiction of the Panel and cannot therefore be considered at Step 4. These exclusions are:

(a)  a complaint about a situation which arose more than 12 months before it was brought to the attention of the Council (unless new information has since been identified which would justify a further review of the complaint);

(b)  where an alternative and formal right of appeal exists (e.g. Planning Appeal; Housing Appeal; Benefits Tribunal) and for which the complainant failed to exercise his/her right to appeal within the specified timescale, or has not yet appealed, or has already made such an appeal;

(c)  matters which would best be dealt with by the Courts, e.g. Human Rights issues;

(d) matters which would affect the majority of the people in the Epping Forest District, e.g. a complaint that "the Council Tax is too high";

(e)  complaints for which a resolution could only be achieved through a change in the law or a change in the policies of another organisation;

(f)  complaints about policies currently subject to a review, or about matters for which it has already been agreed that a policy needs to be reviewed or formulated. (Note -  this exclusion does not preclude the consideration of a complaint about the way a policy has been administered, e.g. an allegation that a policy had been administered unfairly, or that the Council had fettered its discretion);

(g) complaints about the frequency of delivery, or the level of a service which is subject to contract conditions (again, a complaint about the way a contract service has been delivered could still be considered by the CP);

(h)  where the customer elects to pursue legal action as a means of determining their complaint. (Note - this would not preclude the CP considering non-legal elements of a complaint, e.g. an allegation of unreasonable delay by the Council in undertaking a statutory or agreed course of action).

In recent years, other types of complaints have been made for which consideration by the Complaints Panel was found to be inappropriate. It is therefore recommended that the limits of jurisdiction should be extended to encompass these as well.

RESOLVED:

(1)               That revisions to the limits of jurisdiction of the Complaints Panel be approved; and

(2)        That a report be submitted to the Council recommending that Annex 1 (section 1) to the terms of reference of the Complaints Panel be amended as set out in paragraph 3 of the report and published in the Constitution.

(Councillor D Stallan – Chairman, Constitution and Member Services Scrutiny Panel) Because the Panel had not met as this agenda went to print, the report for this item will follow.

The Chairman of the Constitution and Members’ Services Standing Panel, introduced their report on revision of the member substitution rules at Committees. Currently a substitution has to be notified to Democratic Services by 10.00am on the day of the meeting by an authorised member of their group. The Panel looked to see if more than one member of a group should undertake this role and if the notification time be extended.

Councillor Stallan reported that a last minute change had been made to the report and instead of a notification being made no later than 30 minutes before the commencement of the meeting concerned, it should be 60 minutes before the meeting.

            RESOLVED:

(1)        That Procedural Standing Order 14(4) (i) and (ii) be amended as follows:

(a)      to permit a Leader, Deputy Leader or other appointed member of a political group to notify the Assistant to the Chief Executive of any substitute members to attend a meeting;

(b)      to require that any political group member so appointed be notified to the Assistant to the Chief Executive at the beginning of each Council year;

(c)      to amend the deadline for notifying substitutes from “not later than 10.00 a.m.” to “not later than 60 minutes before the commencement of the meeting concerned”;

(2)        That a report be submitted to the Council recommending that approval be given to these alterations and their publication in the Constitution;

(3)        That, if possible, the substitution notification deadline be included on every agenda where this is permitted under the Constitution; and

(4)        That this process be reviewed after 1 year.

(Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel) To consider the attached report.

The Committee reviewed the Constitution and Members’ Services Standing Panel’s draft work programme. They agreed to add the review of the Audit and Governance Committee - appointment of Deputies; a report of the external Auditor; report of the Remuneration Panel on District Council allowances; webcasting; Council Meetings – reporting by Scrutiny Panel Chairmen; and member reports on Outside Bodies at Council meetings. They also agreed that two extra meetings would also be needed to contain these extra bits of work.

            RESOLVED:

(1)               That the six extra pieces of work be added to the work programme of the Constitution and Member Services Standing panel; and

(2)               That two extra meetings also be agreed.

(a)                To consider the updated work programme

The current Overview and Scrutiny work programme is attached for information.

(b)               Reserve Programme

A reserve list of scrutiny topics is required to ensure that the work flow of OSC is continuous.

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.

(a)  Work programme

(i)         Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Noted that items10 (Broadband access), 11 (Corporation of London), 12 (Police and Fire Rescue Services) and 18 (To meet ECC in connection with Children’s services) all had to have dates attached to them.

Also there were two presentation set for the September meeting one from the LSP and one on the Police reform proposals for Essex.

(ii)        Housing Standing Panel

Noted these were mostly cyclical reports.

(iii)       Constitution and Members’ Services Standing Panel

Noted that this has been dealt in the previous agenda item.

(iv)      Safer Cleaner Greener Standing Panel

The Chairman of the Panel reported back on their first meeting of the year which mainly consisted of 6 monthly updating reports.

(v)       Planning Services Standing Panel

Noted that the Planning Panel were looking to revise their Terms of Reference and that Councillor Lion would be drafting appropriate terms for the Panel to consider.

(vi)      Finance and Performance Management Standing Panel

Councillor Jacobs, the Chairman of the Panel informed the Committee on the work covered  at their first meeting. These included reports on avoidable contact, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the KPI targets of 70% for the year, a presentation on the new corporate strategy tool, equality and diversity, sick absences, Consultation plans, the future of public audit and the Capital and Revenue outturns.

The Chairman informed the Committee that he would be attending an Essex Scrutiny Chairs meeting at the end of July and asked if members wanted him to bring up anything at that meeting. Councillor Stallan would like to know what other authorities did about scrutiny. The Chairman said he would report back at the next meeting of the Committee.

RECOMMENDATION:

To consider any items to be raised by the Chairman at the Cabinet meeting on 18 July 2011.

(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 18 July 2011 Cabinet agenda (previously circulated) to see whether there are any items that they wished to be raised at the Cabinet meeting.

The Committee reviewed the Cabinets agenda for their 18 July meeting but there were no specific items that the Committee wanted to be brought to their attention.