Agenda and minutes

None received.

None.

To receive questions / statements from the public, if any.

None received.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 17^th July 2019.

Minutes of the meeting held of 17^th July 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To determine any other items of business which the Chairman decides should be considered as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

None received.

Members are asked at this stage to declare any interests that they may have in any of the following items on the agenda. The Code of Conduct for Members requires that declarations include the nature of the interest and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

None declared.

To consider any petitions received from members of the public.

The Democratic Services and Governance Officer (Scrutiny) informed the Committee that a petition by the name of ‘Save the Splash Leisure Centre in Sheringham’ had been received. It was noted that whilst the petition had received 2142 signatures, only 429 were from within the district of North Norfolk. As a result, the petition had not met the threshold of 750 signatures from within the district to be debated by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, or the 1500 signatures from within the district to be debated by Council.

To consider any requests made by non-executive Members of the Council, and notified to the Monitoring Officer with seven clear working days’ notice, to include an item on the agenda of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

None received.

To consider any responses of the Council or the Cabinet to the Committee’s reports or recommendations.

None received.

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS AS REQUIRED BY LAW

(Papers relied on to write the report and which do not contain exempt information)

Contact Officer, telephone number and email: Duncan Ellis, 01263 516330, Duncan.ellis@north-norfolk.gov.uk

The Report was introduced by the Head of Finance and Asset Management, who explained that it was the first Budget Monitoring Report of the year. Members were informed that at present, there was a predicted full year overspend of £141,156, though this would continue to be monitored by officers.

Questions and Discussion

The Head of Finance and Asset Management informed Members that part of the current overspend was the result of demand led budgets such as Planning, that had not yet produced the expected income, though this was dependent on the number of applications received. In contrast, it was reported that Car Parking revenue had improved and was doing better than forecast.

Members were reminded that a Report was presented in the 2018/19 financial year regarding the successful draw down of remaining funds from the insurance pay-out for the 2013 storm surge, that had subsequently been placed in reserve for works to Cromer Pier. The Head of Finance and Asset Management informed Members that the Report asked for the release of these funds, totalling £468,954 in order to fund the remaining structural repair works to the Pier.

RESOLVED

To commend the Report to Council.

Contact Officer, telephone number and email:

Emma Denny, Democratic Services Manager

01263 516010

Emma.denny@north-norfolk.gov.uk

The Democratic Services and Governance Officer (Scrutiny) introduced the Report and informed Members that the Statutory Guidance for Councils and Combined Authorities on which it was based, had been published by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in early May. It was stated that the recommendations in the Report were taken from the guidance, and it was hoped that they would help to improve the working practices of the Committee.

Questions and Discussion

The Democratic Services and Governance Officer (Scrutiny) informed Members that the recommendations included in the Report would put in place a number of actions to improve the efficiency of the Committee. These included; the introduction of a selection criteria and scoring system for scrutiny topic selection, consideration of resource implications when establishing sub-Committees, the introduction of a scrutiny guide, and the creation of an executive/scrutiny protocol. The Chairman added that in order for the Committee to make the best use of its time, a structured and focused approach was required, and it was right therefore to provide guidance on these issues.

Cllr H Blathwayt suggested that he would be interested in reviewing the legal advice given regarding Cromer Tennis Hub payments. The Chairman replied that this would certainly be an issue that could be considered, though the scoring system would need to be put in place first, to determine whether the issue was appropriate for consideration by the Committee.

Cllr J Toye asked how the scoring system would rate topics for consideration, to which the Chairman replied that whilst the criteria had not yet been considered, issues would need to pertain areas in which the Council had influence. This would be the Council’s own services, or a select number of external organisations that provided services in the district. The Chairman added that consideration could also be given to whether the Committee was addressing the presenting or underlying issues. The Democratic Services and Governance Officer (Scrutiny) confirmed that the Council’s own services would be given the highest scoring in the criteria, but noted that the Committee was required to cover crime and disorder amongst other district-wide issues, that would require external bodies to be taken into consideration.

Approval of the recommendations was proposed by Cllr T Adams and seconded by Cllr W Fredericks.

RESOLVED

1.    That a criteria/scoring system is introduced to assist in scrutiny topic selection.

2.    That resourcing implications are considered when establishing Task and Finish Groups or other sub-Committees.

3.    That a Scrutiny Guide is produced to provide Councillors, Officers and members of the public guidance on the role of the Committee, the purpose of scrutiny, where it fits into the Council, who can be involved, and how it works.

4.    To recommend to Cabinet that an executive/scrutiny protocol is implemented to support early and regular engagement between the executive and scrutiny.

To note the upcoming Cabinet Work Programme.

The Democratic Services and Governance Officer (Scrutiny) informed Members that the Cabinet Work Programme was up to date, although the Corporate Plan would need to be approved before substantial items of business could be added.

To receive an update from the Scrutiny Officer on progress made with topics on its agreed work programme, training updates and to receive any further information which Members may have requested at a previous meeting.

The Democratic Services and Governance Officer (Scrutiny) informed Members that whilst the Work Programme was up to date, some items may be pushed back, such as the waste contract and medium term financial plan. It was confirmed that the Police and Crime Commissioner had confirmed that he would attend the November meeting, alongside a senior police officer from within the district, to provide a briefing on the difficulties of tackling rural crime in North Norfolk.

The Democratic Services and Governance Officer (Scrutiny) reminded Members that in June 2019, the Committee had made a recommendation to the Road Safety Team at Norfolk County Council. He added that whilst the restructuring of the Team had delayed the implementation of that recommendation, they had agreed to it in principle. It was stated that the Norfolk Parking Partnership at NCC had also picked up on concerns of illegal or dangerous parking, and had as a result introduced a zero tolerance policy on illegal parking in restricted areas, whilst also reducing the observational period required to take action from ten to five minutes. The Democratic Services and Governance Officer (Scrutiny) informed Members that whilst the Sheringham Primary School Parking Task and Finish Group was established on a time limited basis of three months, concerns were raised that the disbanding of the Group remained ambiguous. Cllr T Adams proposed that with NCC now working to tackle the issue, the Task and Finish Group was no longer necessary and should be formally disbanded. Cllr J Toye seconded the proposal.

The Corporate Director (SB) commented on the timing of the waste contract on the Work Programme, and informed Members that at present, it was expected that it would go to Council for final approval on 21^st November, meaning that the Committee and Cabinet would review the contract earlier in the same month. The Chairman noted that there was a unique gestation period for the waste contract, in that whilst it had taken several years to reach this point, the remaining time for review was short. As a result, he informed Members that the Committee would need to focus more on the process of procurement than the details of the contract itself. It was confirmed that it would not be possible to make substantial changes to the contract at this final stage, but Members were reassured that the opportunity had been given for the Committee to provide input prior to the May election.

RESOLVED

That the Sheringham Primary School Parking Task and Finish Group be formally disbanded.

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS AS REQUIRED BY LAW

(Papers relied on to write the report, which do not contain exempt information and which are not published elsewhere)

Contact Officer, telephone number and email:

Linda McElligot

01263 516242

Lynda.Mcelligott@north-norfolk.gov.uk

The Major Projects Manager introduced the Report and informed Members that he and the other Work Stream Leaders in attendance had worked with SROs and Cabinet sponsors to form the high level framework of the plan, which stemmed from the administrations six key priorities. He explained that the Corporate Plan provided an outline of the Council’s aspirations for the next four years and beyond, under which delivery and action plans could be set in place to implement projects.

Questions and Discussion

The Major Projects Manager identified the six key themes of the Corporate Plan as; affordable housing, boosting business growth, customer focus, environment, financial sustainability and quality of life. It was explained that underneath these six key themes, underlying challenges had been identified, with responses and areas for action, which Cabinet had chosen to share with Members for consultation. As a result, the Committee was required to determine how to proceed, in order to provide adequate scrutiny and positive input to the existing framework. The Major Projects Manager stated that there was still work to do, but this was the first step, and whilst the Work Stream Leaders were not certain of their requirements, they were happy to continue their involvement, if capacity allowed.

The Chairman stated for those new to the formulation of a Corporate Plan, that it was essential to stress the importance of the document as the foundation of all of the Council’s work going forward within the term. He added that the Plan would be underpinned by documents such as the Local Plan and Medium Term Financial Plan, and it was crucial therefore, that Members understood how it would feed into these. The Chairman stated that with the purpose of the Corporate Plan explained, it was for the Committee to decide how best to proceed, though it was clear that a structured approach with sufficient time to undertake a full review was a necessity. The Chairman therefore proposed that a review day be held in early October in order to undertake a focused review of the existing Draft Corporate Plan Framework. It was stressed that the review would need to stay at a strategic high-level approach to avoid discussing action or delivery plans, that would come at a later stage. The date of the review was stressed as equally important, as it would need to allow time for Members and groups to review the existing framework to formulate questions and have these answered by the Work Stream Leaders, SROs and Cabinet sponsors prior to the meeting.

Cllr A Brown asked whether the review process could take place at Full Council or an additional O&S meeting. Cllr S Bütikofer stated that she wanted all Members to be involved and expressed support for a one day O&S review, but warned that due to time constraints, it would need to take place early in October to meet the November deadline. The Corporate Director (SB) clarified for Members that the intention was for the final version of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

To pass the following resolution, if necessary:

“That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph _ of Part I of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act.”