Council and democracy

To approve as a correct record the minutes of General Services Committee meeting held on 14 June 2022.

The minutes of the General Services Committee held on the 14 June 2022 were approved as a correct record.

To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business.

There were no declarations of interest.

The report presented to Members set out the options for Members to consider regarding the future implementation of Independent Remuneration Panels at Thurrock.

Councillor Worrall questioned with the proposed changes of the constitution working group, scrutiny panel, possible changes to committees and membership of those committees whether there would be a risk to the interview process that roles could change before any decision had been made.

Councillor Gledhill stated that one of the reasons would be to make this process more independent for Thurrock to agree those changes which would allow the council to move forward.

Councillor J Kent agreed to maintain the four yearly cycle for the Independent Renumeration Panel, that the panel should be locally based looking at Thurrock’s needs and therefore recommended that option 3 of paragraph 3.1 be moved forward.

Councillor Gledhill agreed the future operation of an Independent Remuneration Panel should be solely for Thurrock and with that recommended that paragraph 3.1, option 3, “Establish a new panel solely for Thurrock” be approved. Councillor Gledhill also agreed to maintain a four yearly cycle for the Independent Renumeration Panel.

RESOLVED

1.       To establish a new Independent Renumeration Panel solely for Thurrock.

2.       To maintain a four yearly cycle for the Independent Renumeration Panel.

Councillor Coxshall welcomed Roger Harris, Director and Chair of Thurrock Regeneration Limited Board who provided members with the following update:

A progress report will be provided every six months to the General Services Committee on the up-to-date progress of Thurrock Regeneration Limited. Thurrock Regeneration Limited are in a better position in terms of wider governance, having appointed two additional directors, both had extensive experience in terms of housing development, having worked for local authorities and had brought a high degree of both private and public sector housing experience to the board. There were still two vacancies on the board with recruitment starting soon with the board keen to extend the local representation on the board and to look at wider issues around diversity. Thurrock Regeneration Limited has one scheme in operation in St Chads with the Board of Directors being fully independent of the council which would put Thurrock Regeneration Limited in a much stronger position. Belmont Road was also owned by Thurrock Regeneration Limited with the planning application process being resubmitting. Lessons had been learnt in terms of consulting with and working closely with the community as part of that development. Cabinet had agreed that the Culver Centre should be a Thurrock Regeneration Limited scheme and was pleased to announce that planning permission had already been agreed with the design team in place and referred Members to the timetable in the report. Keen to see Thurrock Regeneration Limited being a close partner for Thurrock in terms of the housing development options going forward, become a stronger organisation with a much stronger independent board with separate financial and legal advice. Roger Harris concluded that Thurrock Regeneration Limited was in a very strong position and looked forward to working with the council over the next few years.

Councillor Massey questioned the timescale on the recruitment of the two additional vacancies to which Roger Harris hoped to go out to recruitment in September.

Councillor J Kent stated there was a lot to welcome from the report and had been glad to see the recruitment of the two new directors and the appointment of the other two directors in due course. Thanks were given for the update on St Chads but referred to the previous attempt to develop on Belmont Road and asked for some confidence that with the same amount of housing, in the same area and same place what would be undertaken differently this time. Councillor J Kent was glad to see that a community consultation would take place and questioned who would be undertaking that and how this time would this development be acceptable for the people who lived around Belmont Road. Roger Harris stated that a lot had been learnt from the previous experience and agreed that Belmont Road would not be easy for development but was well aware of the concerns that residents had during the building stages of that site and access. An independent company would be appointed to conduct some of the consultation. Helen McCabe stated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Paperwork for this item will follow under separate cover.

The Committee considered the shortlist for the roles of Assistant Director Legal and Monitoring Officer, as well as the Assistant Director Regeneration & Place Delivery.

RESOLVED:

1.       Two candidates for Assistant Director Legal and Monitoring Officer to be progressed to interview.

2.       Four candidates for Assistant Director Regeneration & Place Delivery to be progressed to interview.