Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Craig Warhurst.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair thanked all those present for attending the meeting of the Executive Committee at the slightly earlier time of 6.00pm.  He explained, as detailed in a written update to Members on his announcements, that he would need to leave the meeting early to attend a meeting with the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority area, Andy Street.

During consideration of this item concerns were raised that the early start time for this meeting was occurring at a time when changes were being made to other Committees, including the rescheduling of meetings of the Constitutional Review Working Party in August and full Council in September.  Members were urged to ensure that these changes did not compromise the access of Members and the public to information about decisions that were being taken through the democratic process. 

It was noted that in some of these cases changes had been made to accommodate the needs of both Members and Officers, for example the meeting of Council in September had been rescheduled to ensure that senior Officers could be present at the Council meeting.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Tuesday 10^th July 2018 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Members welcomed former Councillor, Nina Wood-Ford, who presented the findings of the Scrutiny of Care Leavers’ Short Sharp review on behalf of the group.  During the delivery of her presentation the following points were highlighted for Members’ consideration:

·                Following a notice of motion to Council in January 2018 Members had been tasked with undertaking an overview and scrutiny review of the financial support available to care leavers.

·                The group had focused on; the legal duties of local Councils towards care leavers; the position of care leavers in Redditch in 2018; the steps taken by other Councils to meet the needs of care leavers; and the options available to assist care leavers.

·                Evidence had been gathered from a range of sources including; interviewing officers from Worcestershire County Council, interviewing officers from Redditch Borough Council who managed the Council Tax service, the Wolf at the Door report; Worcestershire Care Leavers’ Strategy; and information about how other Councils were supporting care leavers.

·                The group had found that legal reforms had led to improvements to the support available to care leavers, including better planning for those aged over 18, young people remaining in foster placements for longer and personal advisors being provided to care leavers.

·                As a Corporate Parent Redditch Borough Council had a duty to have regard to care leavers when carrying out its functions.

·                Debt problems and difficulties with budgeting had been identified as problems for care leavers, though many received good advice in relation to this.

·                The government had no plans to introduce guidance as to how Councils should treat care leavers in relation to Council Tax.  This therefore needed to be determined at the local level.

·                There were 72 care leavers residing in Redditch, 28 of whom were recorded as having Council Tax liability.

·                In total 19 of these care leavers qualified for support under the Council’s Council Tax Support Scheme and nine were liable to pay Council Tax.

·                In proposing their recommendations the group had aimed to secure actions that would be cost effective, easy to administer and apply for and would be available to care leavers.

·                The proposals would require means testing of care leavers aged 22 to 25.

·                The group felt the best option for supporting care leavers would be to amend the Council Tax Support Scheme.  This was preferred to amending the Hardship Fund as that was meant to be used on a discretionary basis.  Changing the Council Tax support scheme would also be cheaper for the Council than amending the hardship fund.

·                The group had concluded that the fairest approach would be to include care leavers from outside Redditch.  However, Officers could not forecast the costs involved in extending the scheme to care leavers from outside Redditch as it was uncertain how many would move to the Borough.

·                The group’s third proposal had been made as any changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme would only come into effect in April 2019, following consultation.

·                The third recommendation proposed that assistance should be provided to care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Chair opened the item by noting that discussion of the matter had been postponed from July at the request of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Joe Baker.  This had occurred because the Executive Committee had only provided 17 days’ notice of the item in the Executive Work Programme rather than the 28 days’ notice that was legally required for key decisions.  The matter had been pre-scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, though no recommendations had been proposed and the Chair of the Committee had not taken part in the proceedings for that item.  The Chief Executive advised that the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been unable to participate as the constitution required that no member who had previously taken part in making a decision on a matter, in this case the One Public Estate regeneration of the town centre considered in March 2018, could subsequently scrutinise the issue.  In line with the 1972 Local Government Act’s guidelines in respect of chairing Council meetings Councillor Baker had left the room to ensure that another Member could Chair the meeting in his absence.

The Head of Economic Development and Regeneration for North Worcestershire presented the report and highlighted that the report in respect of One Public Estate that had been considered in March 2018 had identified a preferred site for a public sector hub; on Church Road. Officers were now suggesting that this should no longer be the preferred location due to the costs involved.  There was also a lack of market evidence that this was the most appropriate location for such a hub. Instead, Redditch Town Hall had been identified as a site that was more appropriate for a public sector hub. Members were advised that the Council would continue to work with partner organisations and work on existing proposals in relation to the railway quarter and relocation of the library into the hub.

Following the presentation of the report the Committee discussed a number of matters in detail:

·                The new evidence that had emerged in respect of the most appropriate location for a public sector hub in the town centre.  Officers advised that this was based on an assessment of the market conditions, with the market for office accommodation in Redditch being quite weak.

·                The extent to which partner organisations were supportive of the change to the proposed location for the public sector hub.  The Committee was informed that the partner organisations had indicated they were supportive of these proposals.

·                The potential for the Town Hall to act as a public sector hub and the reason why other options were not being explored.  Officers advised that it was important to maintain footfall around the area of the Town Hall.

·                The potential for residential properties to be included in the regeneration of the town centre and the reasons why a residential zone was no longer explicitly referred to in the report.  Members were advised that this would be considered but was not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

Officers confirmed that there were no outstanding recommendations for the consideration of the Executive Committee.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5^th July 2018 be noted.

To receive and consider any outstanding minutes or referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Executive Panels etc. since the last meeting of the Executive Committee, other than as detailed in the items above.

Officers confirmed that there were no further referrals for Members’ consideration.

Members are invited to provide verbal updates, if any, in respect of the following bodies:

a)    Constitutional Review Working Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer;

b)    Corporate Parenting Steering Group – Council Representative, Councillor Gareth Prosser;

c)    Grants Panel – Chair, Councillor Greg Chance;

d)    Member Support Steering Group – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer; and

e)    Planning Advisory Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer.

Members provided verbal updates in respect of the following bodies:

a)        Constitutional Review Working Party – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer

In the absence of Councillor Dormer Officers advised that the following meeting of the Constitutional Review Working Party would take place on Tuesday 21^st August and would start at 6.30pm.

b)        Corporate Parenting Board – Council representative, Councillor Gareth Prosser

Councillor Prosser advised that he had attended the first meeting of the Board the previous week.  During this meeting a presentation had been delivered by a group of young people who were living in care across Worcestershire.  The main issue that had been raised during this meeting had been the frequency with which social workers moved on and it had been reported that there was an issued with the retention and recruitment of social workers.  This was in the process of being addressed by Worcestershire Social Services.

Every member of the Board would be attending a training session on 20^th September.  In the meantime Members were advised that the Board’s annual report could be viewed online, though a paper copy could be accessed at reception in Redditch Town Hall.

c)         Grants Panel – Chair, Councillor Greg Chance

Councillor Chance reported that during the latest meeting of the panel Members had considered a number of grant applications.  Members were keen to review how decisions were made by the Panel, though it was important to ensure that decisions were based on consideration of the applications.  The cross-party panel was working well, as in previous years, and Councillor Chance welcomed the contribution of the new Members who had been appointed in 2018/19.

d)        Member Support Steering Group Party – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer

In the absence of Councillor Dormer Officers advised that the following meeting of the group would take place in October 2018.

e)        Planning Advisory Panel Party – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer

In the absence of Councillor Dormer Members were advised that the meeting of the Planning Advisory Panel that was due to take place in August had been cancelled as the lead officer was on leave.

The Chair confirmed that the Planning Advisory Panel would be invited to consider plans for the regeneration of the town centre during meetings in 2018/19.