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.

Councillor Harvey declared that the report at Minute Item 69. Playing Pitch and Built Facilities Strategies named the school where she was employed. However, it was confirmed that no further interest existed than coincidental naming of the school in the report. Therefore, Councillor Harvey remained in the room and took part in the debate during the consideration of the above item.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee from 4^th January 2024 will be considered at this meeting.

The minutes of the meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 4^th January 2024 were submitted for Members’ consideration.

During the consideration of the minutes, progress on actions following on from the last meeting were discussed.

RESOLVED that

the Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 4^th January 2024 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 noon on Tuesday 30^th January.

There were no public speakers registered to speak at this meeting.

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 29^th January 2024).

It was announced that this item was withdrawn from the Executive Committee Work Programme and was therefore no longer available for pre-scrutiny.

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 29^th January 2024).

The Development Services Manager presented the report on the Playing Pitch and Built Facilities Strategies business plan and in doing so drew Members’ attention that these were the two outstanding strategies arising from the Leisure and Culture Strategy that was presented to Overview and Scrutiny, and subsequently approved by the Executive Committee in October 2022.

The Playing Pitch and Built Facilities Strategies covered the following points:

·       How many of these facilities did Redditch have?

·       What was the quality of these facilities?

·       Were these facilities accessible?

·       What was the current demand?

·       What was the future demand up to the final year of the Local Plan in 2040?

These documents were designed to assist the Council in making decisions with regard to playing pitches and built facilities. It was highlighted by Officers that physical activity levels were relatively low in Redditch and it was therefore imperative that appropriate interventions could be designed to encourage people to be physically active, particularly groups which faced barriers to taking part in physical activity.

Officers presented the recommendations of the report. It was explained that the first recommendation asked that both strategies be endorsed, the second recommendation asked that the authority be delegated to the Head of Planning, Regeneration and Leisure, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Leisure, to implement the first tranche of recommendations as listed in the report recommendations.

Officers reported that with respect to the Executive Summary for Playing Pitch Strategy (Appendix D), this had to be republished subsequently to the publication of the papers as the original version contained an error in the listing of the recommendations. The correct version was printed at Additional Papers 4 to the agenda for this meeting.

Following the presentation, Members discussed the contents of the report. The following points were raised:

-        Transport from South of the Borough to sports and leisure facilities – Officers noted that this would be addressed through recommendation 8 of the to be addressed through recommendation 8 of the Built Facility Strategy which proposed that the Council’s Development Services Team to focus their resources on areas where most transformative impact could be made. This aligned with the national strategy for local authorities to address physical inactivity through cross-departmental work and through work with partners and stakeholders. This would include working transport providers to allow appropriate access to facilities.

-        Integrated operational leisure management across Redditch and Bromsgrove – It was noted that this Recommendation 2 of the Built Facility Strategy could only be implemented once appropriate governance changes within Rubicon had taken place.

-        External Funding Sources – It was noted that the Council was awaiting news as to whether it would be eligible to have access to a place-based national funding pot from Sports England (£250m) within the next 2 years.

-        Public Use of Schools’ Sports Facilities – Officers noted that discussions would be taking place to enable use of schools’ facilities by the public outside school hours through Community Use Agreements with the schools where plausible.

-  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

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 29^th January 2024).

The Chair introduced this report and in doing so noted that the Performance Scrutiny Working Group had made a recommendation with respect to this report at their meeting on 8^th January 2024. The recommendation read as follows: that tree and hedgerow planting be added to the list of performance measures in the Carbon Reduction Strategy.

The Climate Change Manager and the Strategic Housing Services Manager jointly presented the report. Members were advised that when the Carbon Reduction Strategy was approved by Members in autumn 2022, it had been agreed that there should be an annual review of the strategy and the Council’s progress with achieving carbon reduction targets. Following the Council’s declaration of a climate emergency, the authority was aiming to achieve net zero by 2040. The aims and objectives detailed in the strategy would enable the Council to address this objective.

In terms of the eleven targets detailed in the report, seven had already commenced or been completed whilst four remained to be started. In particular, there had been a significant amount of work undertaken in respect of Local Authority Delivery Phase 3 (LAD 3), to retrofit properties in the private sector for low income households. The Town Hall improvement works that had already been undertaken as well as a reduction of 41 per cent in car mileage for staff employed by Redditch Borough Council had also had a significant impact on the progress with the Strategy that had been achieved to date.

It was noted that work on targets 5, 6 and 9: relating to creation of performance dashboard measures for carbon savings from streamlining operations, energy audit of server rooms, and energy assessment of shop mobility hub at Kingfisher Centre would commence this year.

Following the presentation, Members discussed the report and the following matters were raised:

• Carbon Reduction Strategy Performance Dashboard – Officers noted that once the dashboard is finalised, it would first be available internally to Officers only. When Officers had finalised the suite of measures, it would be released publicly, subject to elected members’ agreement. It was anticipated that the Performance Dashboard would be finalised by end of year two of the current Strategy (i.e. February/March 2025).
• Trial of eScooters in Redditch – It was confirmed that this would no longer be going ahead.
• Complete Carbon Literacy training for Corporate Management Team, 4^th Tier Managers and Councillors – It was noted that roll-out of this training was almost complete. Sessions to elected members would again be delivered in the new municipal year.
• It was requested by Members that at the next review a revised version of the Plan be provided with updated numbering and dates as the version provided included target dates that were now out of date. Officers undertook to correct this in the next iteration of the Plan.
• Members thanked the Officers for bringing the Carbon Reduction Strategy to Overview and Scrutiny. It was noted that this was the third time the Strategy was scrutinised this year, following scrutiny at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

This report is due to follow in an additional papers pack.

The Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report was submitted for Members’ consideration.

During the discussion, Members commented on the lateness of the reports submitted to this Committee meeting and the confusion caused by the large number of additional paper packs. The Committee Officer apologised for any inconvenience caused by the large amount of papers submitted for this meeting.

The Chairman noted that the Annual Report highlighted that scrutiny had considered and scrutinised a wide range of topics during this municipal year. The Chairman thanked all Members of the Committee for all of their hard work over the course of the current municipal year.

RESOLVED that

Draft Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2023-24 be approved.

The Executive Work Programme was submitted for Members’ consideration.

RESOLVED that

the contents of the Executive Committee’s Work Programme be noted.

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

RESOLVED that

the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be noted.

a)          Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Kane

b)          Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Holz

c)           Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group – Chair, Councillor Khan

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

a)    Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Kane

Councillor Kane reported that the next meeting of the Working Group was scheduled for Monday 5^th February 2024.

b)    Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Holz

Councillor Holz reported that a meeting took place on 8^th January 2024 at which recommendation was made with respect to Carbon Reduction Strategy, which was endorsed earlier in the meeting. There were to be a further two meetings of the Working Group over February / March 2024.

c)     Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group – Chair, Councillor Khan

Councillor Khan reported that the next meeting of the Task Group was due to take place on 8^th February 2024.

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 had submitted written reports on the following meetings of external scrutiny bodies she attended:

• West Midlands Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 29^th January 2024
• West Midlands Combined Authority Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny – 22^nd January 2024
• Worcestershire Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee – 9^th January 2024.

The Committee thanked Councillor Marshall for providing comprehensive reports from the meetings of these external bodies.

During the discussion, reference was made to the ‘state of the region’ report of WMCA and the fact that across the West Midlands region, there was reduction in people taking up apprenticeship and a relatively low educational attainment by young people. It was noted by Members that data from WMCA would be important in the context of the proposal for a short, sharp review of post-16 education in the Borough (which would be discussed at the next Overview and Scrutiny meeting on 19^th February). Councillor Marshall noted that Officers from WMCA could be invited to a meeting of the Short, Sharp Review Group if this was felt to be necessary.

RESOLVED that

the External Scrutiny Bodies updates be noted.