Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

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, and any Party Whip.

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

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee from 8^th June 2023 will be considered at this meeting.

The minutes of the meetings held on 8^th June 2023 were submitted for Members’ consideration.

RESOLVED that

the Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 8^th June 2023 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chair.

To invite members of the public who have registered in advance of the meeting to address the Committee. Please note that the deadline to register to speak at this meeting is 12 noon on Tuesday 18^th July 2023.

There were no public speakers on this occasion.

This report will follow in an Additional Papers pack once the report has been published for consideration of the Executive Committee (due for publication on Monday 17^th July 2023).

The Deputy Chief Executive presented the Worcestershire Housing Strategy 2040 for Members’ consideration. During the presentation the following was highlighted:

·       This was a high level strategy for the County until 2040 and was the culmination of many months of work undertaken by the Worcestershire Housing Strategy Board chaired by the Chief Executive of Redditch Borough Council. The strategy provided the foundation for a more detailed Local Action Plan that would be focussed on Redditch and prepared by Officers.

·       Councils across the County had been involved in the development of the strategy recognising that decisions currently being made would have significant impact on housing in the future. There had a been an extensive amount of consultation across all stakeholders during the preparation of the strategy.

·       The vision would be delivered through four priority areas which were identified as follows:

o   Economic growth and jobs

o   Quality and standards

o   Health and wellbeing

o   Net zero carbon and climate change.

It was noted that the above priorities were also considered Council priorities and would be looked at as part of the Council Plan refresh due to take place later in the year.

·       As the strategy set out a 20-year ambition, the proposals would be delivered in three levels of detail:

1.     A 100-day plan to create momentum and promote awareness.

2.     A 5-year action plan setting out key priorities across each of the four priority areas. These actions will be delivered through Countywide delivery groups.

3.     A twenty-year road map outlining how the components of the strategy would support the delivery of the vision.

Finally, it was reiterated to Members that this was a high level strategy for the County which was underpinned by a significant amount of data. A more detailed plan would be developed and tailored towards the needs of Redditch and its residents.

During a detailed discussion the following areas were considered by Members:

·       The 100-day plan to create momentum and promote awareness – had work on this area already started? Officers explained that they were not aware of the specific date when the 100-day plan would be available. However, Members were reassured that this piece of work would not be done in isolation and a number of service areas would be involvedincluding, Housing Strategy and Planning. It was anticipated that a draft 100-day plan would be available fairly quickly and that Officers were already undertaking preparatory work in this area.

·       The membership of the Worcestershire Housing Strategy Board – Members queried who was the Council representatives on this Board. It was confirmed, as outlined earlier in the meeting that the Chief Executive of Redditch Borough Council had chaired the Board. Members were informed that a working group sat underneath this Board and that the Council representatives had included the Head of Community and Housing Services, the Housing Development & Enabling Manager and the Strategic Housing Officer. It was confirmed that these Officers would also be managing housing projects and helping to develop the programme going forward.

·       Community Engagement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Councillor Khan presented the Topic Proposal in respect of the Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group. In doing so, he highlighted the idea of the Task Group would be to assess what the Council was currently doing to reduce the levels of fly tipping in the Borough. He indicated that fly tipping was an issue raised regularly by residents and that recently there had been seven incidents reported in one day.

It was suggested that by establishing this Task Group it would help to fulfil one of the Council’s Strategic Purposes regarding providing residents with a green and safe place to live.

Members discussed the Topic Proposal and agreed that the latest version of the Topic Proposal was a more acceptable proposal; and would ensure that the Task Group outcomes would be based on evidence collected during the investigation. It was noted that during these investigations it was important for Members to use evidence based research to better understand the topic.

The Environmental Services Manager stated that there was a large amount of statistical information available in respect of fly tipping and bulky waste and this could be provided to Members of the Task Group when required.

Councillor Khan was nominated as the Chair for this Task Group and on being put to the vote it was

RESOLVED that the Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group be established, and that Councillor Khan be appointed Chair.

This report will follow in an Additional Papers pack once the report has been published for consideration of the Executive Committee (due for publication on Monday 17^th July 2023).

The Interim Director of Finance presented the Establishment of a Programme Office report for Members’ consideration; and in doing so informed Members that this report had been prepared as a result of the recommendations from the Audit Task Group investigation that had taken place at Bromsgrove District Council earlier in the year. The recommendations from the Task Group had been agreed at the Executive Committee meeting held on 13^th June 2023. One of the agreed recommendations included the establishment of the Programme Office and this report provided more information on the proposals going forward.

The number of organisational projects that were either underway or planned had recently been reviewed by the Corporate Management Team (CMT) and 59 projects had been identified. However, of these, 29 had been moved to Business as Usual. These projects were placed into four main categories:

o   Economic Development and Regeneration

o   Housing

o   ICT Related

o   Organisational Change Related

Members were informed that Public Realm projects already had a governance structure in place under the Project Governance Group. This was chaired by the Chief Executive of Redditch Borough Council. It was clarified that this group covered projects managed by North Worcestershire Economic Development and Regeneration (NWEDR) on behalf of the Council. The group met on a 6-weekly basis and managed the projects that involved large infrastructure projects.

There would need to be a Housing Board established to look at all Housing Projects including the General Fund and HRA. The largest area to look at was highlighted as ICT and Organisational Change projects where additional resource would be needed to prioritise projects, prioritise resource for these projects, coordinate interdependencies across these projects and ensure these projects were delivering.

It was envisaged that all projects from the four main categories highlighted above would be collated it a monthly report to CMT at its monthly Assurance meeting.

It was noted that there was a difference between specific Project Managers and Programme Managers. It was highlighted that there were already Project Managers at the Council, however a Programme Manager, would look to manage a range of projects already in place and in the future. From a financial perspective as the projects that the Programme Manager and Programme Officer would be coordinating covered a number of service areas, the salary costs for these positions would be covered as part of the project costs across shared services. It was anticipated that due to the added efficiencies these roles would deliver, a reduction of financial costs would be seen in future years.

Following the presentation of the report, Members queried the following areas in more detail:

1.     Project Monitoring – Members queried how Members could monitor these projects. The Interim Director of Finance stated that they would be monitored through the Quarterly Finance and Performance monitoring reports and by CMT at its monthly Assurance meetings.

2.     Career Progression – Officers explained that ideally there would be some Officers from within the Council who would apply for these roles, particularly those who  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

The Committee reviewed the items that had been identified at the Overview and Scrutiny Training event that had taken place in June 2023. Members agreed this had been a useful event that had identified a large number of areas which could be considered for scrutiny at future meetings.

The report provided to Members included three groups of issues identified at the training event and Members were asked to outline which they felt were the most suitable for future scrutiny.

During a detailed discussion, the following comments were noted:

1.     Third Sector Support

a.     How did the Council work with Third Sector partners?

b.     Could this area be looked at in conjunction with County Lines and Drug Use including cuckooing?

2.     Domestic Violence

a.     this would be a welcome opportunity to have a positive effect within the communities of Redditch and for those experiencing Domestic Violence.

3.     Road Safety and Speeding

a.     There was already a Task Group due to be undertaken in this area and Worcestershire County Council (WCC) were also undertaking some work in respect of this issue. It could potentially be difficult to make significant changes in this area, as it was dependent on whether WCC agreed to any recommendations made by a Task Group.

4.     Social Housing Repairs

a.     This was an area that Members could potentially have a direct impact as this was a Redditch Borough Council function.

b.     Potentially this could be looked at towards the end of the municipal year in order to allow Officers to undertake the plans they already had in place.

Following the debate, it was agreed that the following items would be looked at in further detail.

1.     Third Sector Support particularly looking at Domestic Violence – Main Committee (as soon as possible)

2.     County Lines and Drug Use – to be looked at by the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel in November – specific presentation.

3.     Social Housing Repairs – Main Committee - this will be considered towards the end of the municipal year to allow Officers to carry out some the work they had planned.

RESOLVED that as detailed in the preamble above, the items agreed by Members would be discussed over the remainder of the municipal year.

[Following consideration of this item the meeting was adjourned, and a brief comfort break was taken between 20:25 to 20:30]

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme was submitted for Members consideration.

RESOLVED that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme be noted, and any additional items identified during the course of the meeting be added to the Work Programme for consideration at future meetings.

a)          Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Kane

b)          Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Holz

Updates on the Task Groups and Working groups were provided as follows:

a)    Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Kane

A meeting of the Budget Scrutiny Working Group had been scheduled and was due to take place on 24^th July 2023.

b)    Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Holz

Councillor Holz informed Members that a meeting of the Performance Scrutiny Working Group was due to take place on 4^th September 2023.

An update on the Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group would be provided once the first meeting had taken place.

RESOLVED that the Task Groups, Short Sharp Reviews and Working Groups Update Reports be noted.

a)          West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council representative, Councillor Marshall;

b)          West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council representative, Councillor Marshall;

c)           Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) – Council representative, Councillor Marshall.

Councillor Marshall presented three External Scrutiny Bodies reports. It was particularly noted that Members of the Worcestershire County Council Health and Overview Committee (HOSC) had been able to visit the new Accident and Emergency Department at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. Members were informed that it was very high tech and would provide a great service to local communities.

RESOLVED that

the External Scrutiny Bodies updates be noted.

The minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Tuesday 13^th June 2023 have been attached for Members’ consideration. The latest edition of the Executive Committee work programme is also attached.

The Executive Committee minutes from the meeting held on 13^th June 2023 were considered and noted by Members.

The Committee requested that the following items be added to the Committee’s work Programme as pre-scrutiny for consideration at future meetings:

·       Town Hall Refurbishment – Final Decision

·       Council response to Local Plan Consultations; Birmingham Development Plan, South Staffordshire Local Plan and South Worcestershire Development Plan

·       Matchborough and Winyates Regeneration Proposals

·       Playing Pitch and Built Facilities Strategies

·       Future Plans for Auxerre House

It was confirmed that the following items would be considered at future meetings of the Budget Scrutiny Working Group:

·       Treasury Outturn Report 22/23

·       Draft Council Tax Support Scheme 2024/25

·       HRA Rent Setting 2024/25.

As some of these items already appeared on the Committee’s Work Programme, Members requested that for future meetings Officers provided information as to which items from the Executive Committee’s Work Programme had already been identified as reports to be pre-scrutinised. Officers undertook to provide this information in the future.

RESOLVED that as detailed in the preamble above, the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be updated with items from the Executive Committee’s Work Programme.</AI12>

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