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 16^th September 2020.

Minutes of the meeting held on 16th September 2020 were approved as a correct record, subject to the following amendments:

i.          Cllr P Grove-Jones be listed as in attendance.

ii.         On page 6 Cllr W Fredericks asked for the North Walsham HAZ project monitoring to be added to the Committee’s Work Programme.

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.

None received.

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 to report.

      i.     The DS&GOS informed Members that there were no responses from the Council or Cabinet, though Cllr E Spagnola had offered to provide an update on discussion of Ambulance Response Times that had recently taken place at NHOSC.

     ii.     Cllr E Spagnola informed Members that it was now the third time NHOSC had discussed the issue since she had joined the Committee, and the issue had had still not been resolved. She noted that questions had been asked on the actions had been taken to address the issues and the ongoing impact on staff morale. It was reported that the Committee planned to revisit the item again in six months’ time, as the Committee were determined to ensure that the issues are resolved. The Chairman stated that whilst it was encouraging to learn that the Committee continued to monitor the issue, it was important to remember that the ambulance trust was in special measures, and that larger issues might take priority.

    iii.     Cllr G Mancini-Boyle asked whether the current ambulance response times known. Cllr S Butikofer replied that she was part of a working group monitoring response times in rural parts of North Norfolk, and whilst they varied significantly, they were particularly poor in the Wells area. She added that she could provide more detailed information after the next working group meeting.

   iv.     The Chairman noted that a request had been made for an update on the single point of contact for the Planning Department, to which the CE replied that he had spoken to the individual within the last week, and could report that the arrangements were working well with good response times. He added that the Department was still determining a high number of applications, with NNDC receiving 248 applications between March and September. It was noted that this was lower than average for NNDC, but still notably higher than several authorities within the County. Cllr L Withington asked when the outcome of the project would be reported back to Members, to which the CE replied that the trial was planned to run from July until the end of October, and the outcome could be reported once complete. He added that the trial had sought to develop a better understanding of Members enquiries to the Planning Department, and use this to help improve the service. 

     v.     The Chairman asked when the all Member Digital by Design briefing would take place, to which Cllr S Butikofer replied that she had spoken to the two officers responsible some time ago, and expected it to have been arranged. It was confirmed that Democratic Services were awaiting the outcome of the management restructure, and this would now be followed up.

   vi.     The Chairman asked whether a date had been established for the income generation and savings pre-scrutiny session, to which the DS&GOS replied that this was expected in November, which was confirmed by Cllr S Butikofer.

Contact Officer, telephone number and email:

Steve Blatch, Chief Executive

Email:- steve.blatch@north-norfolk.gov.uk Tel:- 01263 516232

Cllr S Butikofer introduced the report and informed Members that due to the significant impact that Covid-19 had on the Council, Cabinet and CLT had reviewed the delivery plan to focus on key priorities. It was reported that once priority objectives were completed, then new priorities would be added from the original delivery plan.

Questions and Discussion

      i.     Cllr L Withington referred to business growth and noted that in the performance report, it was suggested that the new development plan had been deferred, and asked whether these items should be developed in unison. The CE replied that the delivery plan did contain support for tourism businesses, for which the Council had secured £330k of funding. Referring to the development plan and engaging with businesses specifically, the CE stated that the project had not progressed as anticipated due to Covid, though a successful business survey had been completed in June with over 300 responses that was now being used to inform the work of the Business Growth and Economic Development Team. He added that a number of additional actions had been taken to support businesses, such as lobbying Central Government to support field study and outdoor visitor centres that would be unlikely to host school visits until 2021. It was noted that whilst tourism businesses had suffered during the initial lockdown, there had been a significant increase in business throughout July, August and September as a result of people taking more staycations. In summary, the CE stated that business support had been tailored during the pandemic, with £55m of Government grants paid to small businesses, and £2.76m in discretionary grants delivered by the Economic Growth Team, which had limited its capacity to focus on the other priorities contained within the delivery plan. The Chairman suggested that the question sought to address whether the two pieces of work ought to happen simultaneously, to which Cllr S Butikofer replied that the performance report focused on the first quarter only, and work would now have progressed beyond what had been reported. She added that this work would likely be covered in the performance report of the second quarter.

     ii.     The CE informed Members that the performance report covered objectives set in the original delivery plan and covered quarter 1 from April to June, which had been significantly impacted by the Council’s response to Covid-19. As a result, recognising this impact meant that it was appropriate to reprioritise the delivery plan objectives to match the Council’s current capacity. It was hoped that by reducing the priorities from 90 to 18 key objectives, that the Council would now be able to fully implement the delivery plan whilst responding to the ongoing crisis, and continue to delivery over and above its statutory obligations.

    iii.     Cllr L Withington referred to the Customer Focus element of the delivery plan, and asked whether there was any progress to report on the customer charter, and whether a strategy would be used to develop the charter or vice versa. Cllr S  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

Contact Officer, telephone number and email: Steve Blatch, Chief Executive

Email:- steve.blatch@north-norfolk.gov.uk

Tel:- 01263 516232

The PPMO introduced the report and informed Members that once approved, the key priorities of the corporate and delivery plans were placed into the new Inphase performance monitoring system, alongside operational performance data. She added that the new system would soon be available for Members to use online, and suggested that she would be happy to run a briefing session to fully introduce and train all Members on the use of the software in the near future.

Questions and Discussion

  i.         Cllr G Mancini-Boyle referred to the Council’s work supporting communities during the pandemic on page 16, and asked whether this support would be scaled back in the near future. The CE replied that the community support programme had been implemented at the beginning of the national lockdown and noted that whilst the number of requests for assistance had declined significantly, the response could be stepped up at any time to respond to an increase in cases. The CE reported that the Council was also working with Community Action Norfolk to map the community support groups that worked with the Council, in order to develop a directory for future assistance.

 ii.        Cllr N Housden asked whether the Council staffing situation was in anyway depleted by the first wave of lockdown, in respect of the impact this could have on responding to a second wave. The CE replied that staff were in no way depleted at the present time. Cllr N Housden then asked if the delivery plan was available on the on the Council’s website, to which the PPMO replied that the delivery plan was available to view via Inphase hosted pages on the Intranet, and she would provide access to this following the previously mentioned briefing session.

iii.        Cllr C Cushing referred to delayed information contained within the report, and asked whether more up to date data could be gathered for each meeting. The PPMO replied that as a result of the Council’s response to the pandemic, officers had been asked to delay inputting some performance data until August, to allow high demand service areas time to catch-up. She added that once Members were given access to the Inphase system, then performance data could accessed at any point, meaning that Members could see the most up to date data available. It was noted that there could still be some delays to performance data, as it was added to the system on a pre-determined timescale. The Chairman asked how this process would impact the reports coming to Committees, to which the PPMO replied that the reports could only provide a snapshot of data, but it would be up to each Committee to determine what to review. It was confirmed that Councillors would be provided with login details at the start of the training session.

iv.        Cllr L Shires referred to the percentage of planning applications determined within the target time period on page 59, and asked whether data was available on those that had not been determined within the timeframe.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

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:

Matt Stembrowicz – Scrutiny Officer

Email: matthew.stembrowicz@north-norfolk.gov.uk Tel: 01263 516047

The DS&GOS introduced the item and informed Members that as the municipal year had started during lockdown, a Work Programme had never been formally set. As a result, gaps were beginning to appear as Covid related reports began to subside, and it was now necessary for the Committee to agree new items of business. It was reported that three key items had been suggested by Committee Members which included; the affordable housing strategy, development planning performance, and a preventative maintenance schedule for the Council’s beach huts and chalets. In addition, there were several regular items that were expected, such as enforcement board updates, waste contract monitoring, and the crime and disorder briefing. The DS&GOS noted that Committee Members should also bear in mind how to approach each item, such as pre-scrutiny or a more in-depth approach utilising working groups.

  i.         Cllr L Withington stated that whilst she agreed with the proposed items, she asked whether the beach huts preventative maintenance issue should include all Council assets. Cllr G Mancini-Boyle stated that he had requested that the Council look at preventative maintenance, as in the long-term it would likely work out cheaper for the Council.

 ii.        The DSM suggested that some items listed for discussion would be covered by the corporate and delivery plan, which meant that timing and outcomes required careful consideration.

iii.        Cllr P Heinrich suggested that the Council had good survey data on its assets, but he had never seen a maintenance schedule and agreed that the item should cover maintenance of all Council assets.

iv.        Cllr N Housden stated that looking at the performance management data using the Inphase system could generate too many questions for meetings, and asked whether a system was required for managing these questions. It was suggested that both submitting questions in advance of meetings and the use of corporate plan themed scrutiny panels could be a means of addressing any increase in workload.

 v.         Members agreed that they were happy to progress the items submitted for inclusion on the Work Programme, subject to further discussion once the required work had been completed. Members also confirmed that enforcement board updates should return to the Work Programme.

vi.        In reference to the crime and disorder update, Cllr L Shires noted that during his last briefing the PCC had referenced the seriousness of domestic violence in the County, and suggested that this could be a suitable item for the next briefing, with reference to the impact of Covid. On the planning performance item, Cllr L Shires suggested that this should coincide with a report on the outcome of the planning point of contact trial.

vii.        On discussion of website functionality, the DS&GOS suggested that some areas of the Council’s website could be improved in conjunction with the digital by design proposals, and encouraged Members to raise this at the briefing.

viii.        Items considered suitable for the Scrutiny panels were discussed and the DS&GOS suggested that if Members were keen to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

To note the upcoming Cabinet Work Programme.

The DS&GOS informed Members that the Council Tax Discount Determination and budget monitoring reports were both expected to go to Cabinet in November and as a result, would also come to Scrutiny, in addition to the existing planned items.

RESOLVED

To note the Cabinet Work Programme.

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 DS&GOS reminded Members that the waste contract monitoring report would come to the November meeting, as well as the income generation and savings pre-scrutiny session, in advance of the MTFS in December.

RESOLVED

To note the Work Programme

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.”