Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and details of any Councillor (or co-optee substitute) nominated to attend this meeting in place of a member of this Committee.

Apologies were received on behalf of Councillors Anita Clayton, Andrew Fry and Bill Hartnett.  There were no named substitutes.

Apologies were also received on behalf of Councillor Juliet Brunner who was due to deliver her Portfolio Holder Annual Report for Community Safety and Regulatory Services.

To invite Councillors to declare any interest they may have in items on the Agenda and any Party Whip.

There were no declarations of interest nor of any party whip.

To confirm the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as a correct record.

(Minutes attached)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 23rd March 2011 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To note the contents of the Overview and Scrutiny Actions List.

(Report attached)

Members considered the latest version of the Committee’s Actions List.

The Committee was informed that the date of the next Joint Worcestershire Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs Network meeting, at which the Joint Worcestershire Hub and Joint Worcestershire Scrutiny Framework were to be raised for discussion, had yet to be confirmed.   

All of the other actions had been completed.

RESOLVED that

the Committee’s Actions List be noted.

To consider whether any Key Decisions of the Executive Committee’s most recent meeting(s) should be subject to call-in and also to consider whether any items on the Forward Plan are suitable  for scrutiny.

(No separate report).

There were no call-ins and no items were identified on the Council’s Forward Plan as suitable for further scrutiny.

To consider any scoping documents provided for possible Overview and Scrutiny review.

(No reports attached)

There were no draft scoping documents for consideration.

To consider progress to date on the current reviews against the terms set by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The current reviews in progress are:

1.                  Road Gritting – Chair, Councillor Robin King;

2.                  Work Experience – Chair, Councillor Peter Anderson.

(Oral reports)

The Committee received update reports in relation to the following reviews.

a)            Road Gritting – Chair, Councillor Robin King

The final report of the Road Gritting Short, Sharp Review was considered under a later item.

b)            Work Experience Opportunities – Chair, Councillor Peter Anderson

The Chair informed Members that the Group had made good recent progress and was expecting to soon start work on its final report. 

RESOLVED that

the reports be noted.

To consider a petition containing 19 signatories regarding the removal of barriers at Yardley Close in Winyates.

(Petitions correspondence and procedure attached)

The Committee considered a petition regarding the removal of a pedestrian barrier from Yardley Close in Winyates approximately two years ago. The removal of the barrier had been undertaken to provide a disabled resident who used a wheel chair with access to the doctor’s surgery at the Winyates Centre.

The Chair invited members of the public to speak to the petition. The Committee were advised that the removal of the pedestrian barrier had enabled motorcycles and skateboarders to gain unimpeded access to Yardley Close. This had reportedly resulted in regular noise pollution which was especially disconcerting for the elderly residents who lived on the close. The petitioners also explained that fencing had been damaged due to anti-social behaviour. The petitioners advised the Committee that the disabled resident would not object to the barriers being re-erected if the Winyates Centre was accessible at the opposite end of Yardley Close.

The Committee noted the concerns of the petitioners. It was proposed that a meeting involving the petitioners, the disabled resident, local police, and relevant Council Officers take place to resolve the issue satisfactorily.

RECOMMENDED that

Officers meet with the petitioners, the disabled resident from Yardley Close and representatives from the Police to discuss potential compromise solutions; and

RESOLVED that

the petition be noted.

To receive a presentation from the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Regulatory Services, Councillor Juliet Brunner, based on the questions proposed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 

(Report attached)

Apologies were tendered on behalf of Councillor Brunner due to illness.  Members expressed disappointment that the Portfolio Holder would be unable to deliver her Annual Report during the current municipal year. It was suggested that in future the Committee should not arrange to receive a Portfolio Holder’s Annual Report for the final meeting of any municipal year. This would ensure that an annual report could be re-scheduled in the event of a Portfolio Holder being forced to submit his/her apologies.

The Committee instead received the annual report from relevant Officers.  Firstly, a brief presentation was delivered that showcased the work of the Redditch Community Safety Partnership during 2010/11.  In particular, this presentation depicted: the work of Redditch Roadway Arts, including pictures of the artwork that had been displayed on local bus shelters and pedestrian subways; the work of the partnership on the secure access system at Winyates district centre as part of the area of highest needs project; the Redditch Home Security guide; and the accreditation recently achieved by the CCTV service.  

Members were also provided with responses to the Committee’s list of questions as detailed below:

1)           What is being done to address drugs misuse and its implications for community safety in Redditch?

A recent report from the Worcestershire DAAT (Drug and Alcohol Action Team) stated that individuals from Redditch were more likely to leave adult drug treatment either drug free or having cut down their drug usage compared to other districts in Worcestershire.  Available data also indicated that there had been a fall in drugs offences during the year.

The Worcestershire DAAT had recently re-commissioned all of its drugs and alcohol services for the county in an attempt to further reduce drug and alcohol abuse.  New integrated alcohol and drug treatment programmes were to be delivered in Redditch under a “Pathways to Recovery” service from 1st April 2011.  This service was to combine a range of alcohol and drug services and would provide a holistic approach to substance misuse with a strong focus on abstinence and recovery.  The Employment, Training, Education, and Volunteering Service would help individuals overcome any barriers to work and employment following their treatment from drugs misuse.

Members were advised that a misleading report on the subject of a recent short-term police exercise, Operation Vellum, had appeared in the local press.  This operation was in fact designed to target a small number of individuals involved in alcohol related anti-social behaviour in the Church Green area and did not indicate an increase in drugs misuse in Redditch.

2)           How is the Council working with the Police to mitigate the affects of police budget cuts and an expected reduction in police force numbers on community safety?

Detailed information had yet to be received on how the police budget cuts would impact on police force numbers. The Council was working hard to ensure that the affect of reduced resources for partner agencies on community safety was minimised. Indeed, many Council services were already working closely with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 228.

To consider the Children and Young People’s Plan for pre-scrutiny

(Draft Plan and Presentation attached)

The Committee received the draft Children’s and Young People’s Plan 2011-14 for pre-scrutiny and an accompanying presentation. It was explained that the plan had been produced by the Worcestershire Children’s Trust as the single plan for all children and young people in Worcestershire aged up to 19 years, and some groups of vulnerable young people up to 25 years.

Members discussed the plan and expressed concerns that the proportion of funding that was likely to be allocated to Redditch based activities (£189,000) was insufficient.  Members also commented that there was a focus on academic achievement at the expense of other forms of achievement at the national level.  It was suggested that this focus did not help to address the proportion of young people who are not in employment, education, nor training (NEET) in any given area.

It was suggested that parental support was as important to a child’s success as the support provided by mentors and school governors and there was a need to ensure that parents were engaged to support their child’s education. As such more needed to be done to help raise the aspirations and ambitions for many young people.

Worcestershire County Council Officers noted the comments made by the Committee and undertook to ensure that the Committee’s comments were noted as part of Worcestershire County Council’s consultation process for the plan.

The Chair thanked Officers for presenting the report.

RECOMMENDED that

subject to the Committee’s comments being noted, the Worcestershire Children and Young People’s Plan be approved.

To consider the Road Gritting Short Sharp Review - Final Report.

(Report to follow)

The Committee received the Gritting Short, Sharp Review Group’s final report for consideration.

Members were informed that the Committee had been unable to engage with the responsible Portfolio Holder and relevant officers at Worcestershire County Council during the course of the review. The Group were, however, aiming to submit the final report for the consideration of the County Council, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee.

Members praised the report for its thoroughness and agreed that more could be done to preserve the condition of the roads in Redditch during future periods of inclement weather.  Members commented that arrangements suitable for gritting and clearing snow in a hilly area should be applied in Redditch as many of the town’s roads were located on steep gradients. It was commented also that more action needed to be taken to mitigate the affect of inclement weather on concentrated residential areas of elderly and vulnerable people.

Instances of anti-social behaviour that had taken place on local roads during the winter were discussed. This included cars being parked at the top of hazardous roads which restricted road access for other vehicles. The report recommended that smaller snow ploughs should be utilised to clear snow on the narrower roads in the Borough, to help reduce this problem in future years.

Members were advised that Officers at Worcestershire County Council and Redditch Borough Council had worked closely during the winter in 2010/11 to help ensure that the finite resources to maintain the condition of the roads were used most appropriately.  This collaboration had been appreciated at both levels and had helped to prevent further difficulties.

RECOMMENDED that

1)           when monitoring the implementation of their recommendations Worcestershire County Council’s Environment and Economy Overview and Scrutiny Panel should observe that the following recommendations proposed in their report, Gritting: Winter Service Policy, were not fully implemented in Redditch during the inclement weather in December 2010: recommendations 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 15;

2)           the co-ordination of responses to inclement weather should be delegated to the district level; and

a)      responses should involve local stakeholders planning local solutions to local problems;

1)           Redditch Borough Council should urge Worcestershire County Council to adopt this local approach to co-ordinating responses to inclement weather;

2)           resources, suitable for local needs, should be available to access in Redditch when needed;

3)           the precautionary gritting route map needs to be agreed with district Councils to make use of local knowledge;

4)           Worcestershire County Council and Redditch Borough Council should:

a)           identify and use local private resources, including farmers’ tractors, for snow clearance;

b)           identify and use smaller, more suitable vehicles to clear snow on smaller urban roads; and

c)           identify and develop a list of emergency additional labour forces that could be used to clear snow during inclement weather;

5)           there should be a service available to deploy 24 hours a day 7 days a week locally in response to inclement weather;

6)           Worcestershire County Council should meet with representatives of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 230.

To consider the Redditch Council Plan 2011-14 for pre-scrutiny

(Reports attached)

The Committee considered the draft Redditch Council Plan 2011-14 for pre-scrutiny.

Members were informed that the plan was essentially the Council’s business plan for the following three years and explained how the Council would achieve the overall vision for the Borough as set out within the Redditch Sustainable Community Strategy.

Concerns were expressed that the implementation of the plan might provide difficult to monitor as it did not appear to contain many specific quantitative targets.

The Committee suggested that consideration should be given to the presentation of the plan to make it clearer for the public and that plain English should be used wherever possible. It was further proposed that a more digestible summary of the plan could be included on the Council website. Members were informed that the key points contained in the draft plan had already been publicised in previous versions of Redditch Matters to help explain to local residents why the plan had been produced and what the Council was aiming to achieve.

Members suggested that in cases where they were considering lengthy strategic documents like the Council Plan consideration should be given to providing Members with a longer lead in time to analyse and potentially suggest changes to the report.

Finally it was suggested that Budget Jury members should be asked about how the public would prefer to be informed about service performance by the Council.

RECOMMENDED that

Subject to the Committee’s comments being noted, the Redditch Council Plan 2011/14 be approved.

To provide members with an overview of the budget, including the achievements of approved savings as at the end of quarter 3, 2010/11.

(Reports attached).

The Committee received the quarterly budget monitoring report for September – December 2010 for comment.

Members were advised that for the period from April – December 2010, the the Council’s revenue budget showed an underspend of £815,000 compared to an estimated target of £350,000.  The main reasons for this were: higher than anticipated savings generated through vacant posts; lower than anticipated borrowing costs on investments; and the Council’s success in reclaiming £279,000 of previously paid VAT. 

Members were advised that it was unlikely that the Council could expect to achieve this level of underspend in future years.  In particular, it was anticipated that inflation would rise in the following years and this would impact on the financial position of the Council.

RESOLVED that

the report be noted.

To consider the quarterly performance report, showing indicators which have improved, declined or remained static when compared to the same period in the previous financial year.

(Reports attached)

The Committee received the quarterly performance monitoring report for September – December 2010 for comment.

Data was provided in the report for 41 performance indicators.  Performance in relation to 19 of these indicators had improved when compared to the same quarter in the previous year and performance with regards to one of the indicators had remained static.  Unfortunately, performance had declined in relation to 21 of the indicators compared to the same period the previous year.

The decline in performance for 21 of the indicators could be explained relatively easily in some instances.  In particular, this quarter had coincided with the inclement weather, which had inevitably impacted on the delivery of public services.

However, there were a number of areas of performance which were considered to be concerning.  Firstly, BV012, the number of working days or shifts lost to the local authority due to sickness absence per full time equivalent staff had increased from 6.71 days to 7.84 days.  To address this problem Officers were due to meet to review the levels of sickness absence.  

Secondly, BV079b(i), the amount of housing benefit overpayments recovered as a percentage of all housing benefit overpayments had decreased from 77.35 per cent to 73.82 per cent.  Whilst this decrease was concerning it was anticipated that the council would achieve the 80 per cent target by the end of the year. 

Thirdly, NI192, the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting had dropped from 28.68 per cent to 27.6 per cent.  This was considered to be concerning, particularly as the Council had achieved a 31.26 per cent rate on this indicator in 2008/09 suggesting that there had been a decline over a two year period.  The Council would attempt to address this trend and had ensured that improving recycling rates was a key target in the 2011/12 Business Plan for the service area.

The committee suggested that a further, useful measure, concerning the amount saved through landfill charges, could be incorporated into the quarterly performance monitoring reports.  Provision of this information would be dependent upon obtaining relevant details from Worcestershire County Council.  However, this measure would enable Members to monitor the extent to which the Council was contributing to landfill. 

Members expressed concerns about performance in relation to NI 041, perceptions of drunk or rowdy behaviour as a problem.  Members suggested that these perceptions did not correspond with the situation outlined in the annual report for the community safety portfolio.  Under these circumstances Members suggested that further action needed to be taken to communicate effectively the constructive work of the Community Safety Partnership to address the potential for anti-social behaviour and crime.

RESOLVED that

1)         performance in relation to landfill costs should be monitored as part of the Council’s quarterly performance monitoring process; and

2)         the report be noted.

To invite Members to reflect on the operation of the Committee during the 2010/11 municipal year and propose amendments to current practice if considered appropriate.

(No separate report)

The Chair expressed the view that 2010/11 had been a successful year for the Committee.  This had been evidenced by the fact that the majority of the Committee’s recommendations had been approved by the Executive Committee. The Chair suggested that the Committee could further improve in future years if the choice of issues for consideration, particularly for pre-scrutiny, was more selective.  This would help to minimise a recurrent problems during the year whereby the meeting agenda had often been relatively lengthy.

Members commented that the Committee had completed a number of excellent reviews during the course of the year.  In particular, the delivery of a lot of policy review work through short, sharp scrutiny exercise was regarded as a positive development and members agreed that it would be useful to continue to utilise this mechanism in future years. 

Concerns were expressed about the extent to which all non-executive Councillors had participated in the scrutiny process during the year.  Whilst a significant number of Councillors had acted as members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel and the various reviews that had been established during the year a few Councillors had not actively engaged in the scrutiny process.  Under these circumstances, it was suggested that consideration should be given as to how all non-executive councillors could be encouraged to contribute to the scrutiny process in future.

The Chair concluded by thanking Members for their contribution and Officers for their support during the course of the year.

RESOLVED that

the report be noted.

There were no referrals.

Members were informed that the update report on fly tipping and progress with the Worth It campaign, which the Committee had agreed to defer, would be received at a meeting on 5th July 2011.

RESOLVED that

the Committee’s Work Programme be noted