Venue: Oakenshaw Community Centre
Contact: Mat Sliwinski Democratic Services Officer
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Apologies and Named Substitutes Minutes: There were no apologies for absence. |
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Declarations of Interest and of Party Whip 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. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest nor of party whip. |
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The minutes of the meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee from 14th October 2024 will be considered at this meeting. Minutes: The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 14th October 2024 were submitted for Members’ consideration.
RESOLVED that
the Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 14th October 2024 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chair. |
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Public Speaking To invite members of the public who have registered in advance of the meeting to speak to the Committee. Please note that the deadline for registering to speak is 12 noon on the day of the meeting.
Minutes: There were no public speakers registered to speak at this meeting. |
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Carbon Reduction Strategy and Implementation Plan Annual Review - Pre-Scrutiny The report will follow in a supplementary pack for the meeting after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Monday 18 November). Additional documents:
Minutes: The Climate Change Manager presented the Carbon Reduction Strategy and Implementation Plan Annual Review for the consideration of Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Members were reminded that the Carbon Reduction Strategy had been introduced two years’ previously. At the time that the strategy was introduced, Members had agreed that progress should be monitored on an annual basis and that a new strategy should be presented every three years. The next new strategy was due to be created for 2025-26.
During the presentation, the recent actions and updates from the review of the Carbon Reduction Implementation Plan were covered in detail with information highlighted including:
Following the presentation, questions were raised regarding aspects of the report. It was asked ... view the full minutes text for item 51. |
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Health Inequalities - Review of Previous Discussions by Redditch Councillors Additional documents:
Minutes: A report on the previous decisions of Overview and Scrutiny with respect to Health Inequalities Task Group was presented to Members. It was noted that in September 2022, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed to establish a Task Group titled ‘Health Inequalities within the BME Community in Redditch’. This Task Group was never launched, however, as other items around fly tipping and bulky waste were prioritised at the time.
The options that were open to Members with regard to this Health Inequalities review were outlined. It was highlighted that the responsibility over health and social care were the remit of Worcestershire County Council (WCC), therefore, the role of any task group established over this matter by the Borough Council would be advisory in nature, and although the Task Group had the power, via the Executive Committee (following prior endorsement by Overview and Scrutiny Committee), to make recommendations to external bodies, those bodies were not legally obliged to consider those recommendations.
Following the presentation, Members debated the subject and raised the following points:
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Minutes: It was requested that the following items from the Executive Committee Work Programme be added as items for pre-scrutiny at meetings of Overview and Scrutiny:
· Food Waste Business Case and Associated Waste Related Issues · Shareholders’ Committee Annual Report.
RESOLVED that
the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme be updated with items from the Executive Committee Work Programme as per the pre-amble above. |
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Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme Minutes:
The Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme was submitted for Members’ consideration.
RESOLVED that
the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be updated to include the items, as from the latest Executive Work Programme for pre-scrutiny, as agreed by Members (and detailed at Minute No. 53). |
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Task Groups, Short Sharp Reviews and Working Groups - Update Reports a) Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst
b) Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst
c) Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group – Chair, Councillor Dormer
d) Post-16 Education Task Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst
Minutes: Updates on Task Groups and Working Groups were provided as follows:
a) Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst
It was reported that due to apologies submitted by the Chair, the last meeting of Budget Scrutiny, on 21st November, was chaired by Councillor Dormer. Items discussed the budget including fees and charges (tranche 1 prior to consultation) and the revenue and performance monitoring report for quarter two 2024-25.
b) Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst
Councillor Warhurst reported that two meetings took place to date, on 16th July and 16th October. It was reported that following discussion at those meetings, Officers were due to provide answers to queries raised by the Working Group, regarding the PowerBI performance dashboard and the upkeep of verges, at the next Working Group meeting.
c) Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group – Chair, Councillor Dormer
Councillor Dormer reported that a Group held a meeting on 6th November. Officers were tasked with researching information relating to the provision of covert cameras to monitor fly tipping and data on costs of fly tipping and income of the bulky waste service in Redditch and across the other district authorities in Worcestershire.
The data requested had now been provided and the Task Group were analysing the data and seeking clarification on a number of points. The date of the next meeting would be agreed in due course.
d) Post-16 Education Task Group – Chair, Councillor Warhurst
Councillor Warhurst reported that at the first meeting of the Group, on 23rd October, the approach to this review was agreed, including the stakeholders which the Group wished to interview as part of the investigation. The next meeting was scheduled for 2nd December 2024.
RESOLVED that
the Task Groups, Short Sharp Reviews and Working Groups Update Reports be noted. |
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External Scrutiny Bodies - Update Reports
a) West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council representative, Councillor Kane;
b) West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Munro; and
c) Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) – Council representative, TBC. Minutes: Updates on the meetings of External Scrutiny Bodies were provided as follows:
a) West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council Representative, Councillor Kane
Councillor Kane reported that two meetings of this body took place since she last provided an update. Councillor Kane provided a written report on the meeting that took place on 21st October 2024, which was included in the agenda papers for this meeting.
A further meeting of WMCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee took place earlier today (25th November) and it was reported that the only item on the agenda was homelessness / rough sleeping. It was reported that WMCA had a working culture to ensure that homelessness and rough sleeping were considered and ‘designed out’ in every policy that WMCA produced. It was further reported that WMCA anticipated an increase in rough sleeping across West Midlands next year due to a combination of factors that included an anticipated rise in evictions. Councillor Kane also highlighted that WMCA as a combined authority was represented at central government level and was an important regional partner for Redditch Council.
b) West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny – Council Representative, Councillor Munro
Councillor Munro stated that there was nothing to report on this body that was of relevance to Redditch Borough Council.
c) Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) – Council Representative, Councillor Munro.
An update regarding recent meeting of this body had been provided during discussion under agenda item 6. (Minute No. 52) – Health Inequalities – Review of Previous Discussions by Redditch Councillors.
RESOLVED that
the External Scrutiny Bodies updates be noted. |