Items
No. |
Item |
7. |
Minutes PDF 367 KB
To approve as a correct record
the minutes of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny
Committeemeeting held on 9 June
2020.
Minutes:
The minutes of the Corporate
Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 9 June 2020 were approved
as a true and correct record.
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8. |
Items of Urgent Business
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.
Minutes:
There were no items of urgent
business.
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9. |
Declaration of Interests
Minutes:
There were no interests
declared.
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10. |
Local Council Tax Scheme PDF 328 KB
Minutes:
The Strategic Lead Revenues and
Benefits introduced the report and stated that the report outlined
the Local Council Tax Scheme (LCTS) including how pension-age
people were protected under the scheme, and how the scheme
considered those of working age. He stated that section 3 of the
report outlined the current scheme, and section 4 outlined the
proposed consultation, which would run until December and include
an LCTS Summit in November. He stated that the results of the
consultation would be analysed and brought before the Committee in
January.
The Chair welcomed the report as he felt the LCTS needed a review
and was pleased this would be taken for public consultation. He
also supported the proposal that the consultation results would be
brought back before committee. He highlighted section 4 of the
report and questioned if the consultation criteria could be
expanded, for example if the criteria surrounding number of
dependants in a household could be consulted on. The Strategic Lead
Revenues and Benefits responded that the only restrictions on the
scheme were the protections surrounding pension-age residents and
other vulnerable groups, as well as ensuring that going to work
pays, but every other aspect of the scheme could be consulted
on.
Councillor Hooper asked how the LCTS Summit would be held, if
restrictions remained in place regarding COVID-19. The Corporate
Director Finance, Governance and Property replied that this has not
been decided on yet, but could potentially be held remotely via
Microsoft Teams. He mentioned that the Deputy Leader was keen to
build on the success of the Fair Debt Summit, and added that he
would be working with the communications team to ensure residents
were aware of the consultation and could respond. Councillor Ralph
expressed his concern over the format of the consultation during
COVID, particularly as the most vulnerable residents might not be
able to access online consultations, but could be most affected by
the proposed changes. The Director of Strategy, Communications and
Customer Service responded that they would work with voluntary
sector groups across Thurrock and use their networks to make
residents aware of the consultation, as well as signposting through
the contact centre. Councillor Ralph asked if assistance could be
provided for those with disabilities that wished to respond to the
consultation. The Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer
Service stated that the team could provide assistance on request,
such as large-print hard copies of the consultation, and the
contact centre would try to facilitate these arrangements. She
added that assistance with consultations could also be provided in
local libraries and hubs.
Councillor Rigby added that the wording and format of the
consultation needed to be considered to ensure it was
user-friendly. She stated that there was also a proposed adult
social care consultation, and wanted to ensure that there was no
confusion for residents between the two consultations. The
Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property answered that
this would be considered before it was released, and that residents
would have the maximum consultation time ...
view the full minutes text for item 10.
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11. |
Financial Update PDF 255 KB
Minutes:
The Corporate Director Finance,
Governance and Property introduced the report and stated that this
was an update from the report that was brought before Committee in
July. He drew Members attention to 3.2-3.4 of the report which
showed additional central government grant support, of which
£0.5billion was not ring-fenced and was for general spending,
and the rest ring-fenced for specific purposes. He highlighted
point 3.6 of the report which outlined the general grant position,
which was £9.2million in July and had increased to
£10.757million since then. The Corporate Director Finance,
Governance and Property outlined point 3.8 of the report which
described £58.3million in business rate relief, and
£23million as part of the discretionary grant scheme that had
been directed out to businesses. He described section 4 of the
report which summarised direct COVID pressures on the council, such
as expenditure on food parcels during the height of lockdown and a
reduction in income. He stated that these pressures equated to
£12.9million, of which £10.7million could be offset
with a central government grant, leading to a deficit of
£2.2million as a result of direct COVID pressures. He stated
that a Cabinet report had been published today which outlined other
indirect pressures.
The Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property described
section 5 of the report which focussed on council tax, the hardship
fund and LCTS. He stated that the collection of council tax was
currently holding, but the finance team had seen an increase in the
number of LCTS claimants. He added that although council tax was
currently stable, the country had not yet seen the peak of economic
downturn, so the Council were expecting more redundancies, which
would lead to a reduction in council tax collections and a larger
increase in LCTS claimants in 2021/22 and 2022/23. He added that
the Council’s collection of debt was currently decreased, and
the longer people were in arrears, the more likely they were to
default on payments. The Corporate Director Finance, Governance and
Property outlined section 6 of the report and stated that the
figure of £15mn deficit next financial year had been revised
since the report was published, and was currently £20mn
deficit, with a further £7mn deficit in 2022/23. He stated
that the Cabinet report updated Members on the financial outlook
for this financial year and next, but did not focus on how to close
the deficit. He added that a report on how to close the deficit
would be brought before Corporate O&S in November, before going
to Cabinet next year.
The Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property commented
on the Housing Revenue Account, which was still balanced due to
other housing development income, but the finance team were
watching overall rent collection closely, as resident’s
inability to pay rent due to COVID was not yet showing. He stated
that the Capital Programme was currently being completely reviewed,
including capacity and inflationary issues. He added that all
non-essential spend and recruitment had been halted for this
financial year. He summarised ... view
the full minutes text for item 11.
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12. |
Quarter 1 (April to June 2020) Corporate Performance Report 2020/21 and End of Year Corporate Performance Summary 2019/20 PDF 656 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Director Strategy,
Communications and Customer Services introduced the report and
stated that this covered the first quarter of 2020/21 from April to
June, which was during the height of national lockdown and the
COVID pandemic. She stated that services had been impacted by the
lockdown measures both directly and indirectly, and included some
services stopping completely. She highlighted that 66% of key
performance indicators (KPIs) still hit their targets, although
this was down from 74% between April-June 2019 and the 2020/21 end
of year figures. She drew Members attention to point 3.6 of the
report which described which services had been impacted and
commentary surrounding any mitigation. She outlined the current
positon as some services had now resumed, but some services would
see a longer-term impact, which would continue to be monitored and
mitigation sought. She summarised and stated that the report also
contained the 2019/20 end of year summary, although the main focus
was 2020/21 Quarter 1 and the COVID impact.
The Chair opened debate and thanked all Thurrock Council staff for
their hard work in continuing to deliver services wherever possible
during the pandemic, even during difficult circumstances and severe
limitations. He stated that a large proportion of KPIs had been
impacted by COVID and felt that no firm conclusions could be drawn
from the data. He asked if there were any services whose missed
target was not related to COVID. The Director Strategy,
Communications and Customer Services replied that the team were
focussing on KPIs which had been below target at end of year
2019/20, but potential mitigation to improve these services might
not have happened because of the pandemic. She gave the example of
waste collection as the Waste Management Working Group had achieved
significant work that had not been implemented yet because of the
pandemic. She stated that she hoped to see immediate improvement in
some KPIs in quarter 2. The Chair highlighted page 41 of the agenda
and asked if the proportion of household waste collected and
recycled had increased during the lockdown, as more people worked
and stayed at home. Councillor Ralph, as a member of the Waste
Management Group, replied that the proportion of waste had
dramatically increased due to people working from home and doing
more shopping, and waste collectors had described it as
‘Christmas everyday’. He mentioned that before the
lockdown waste collection trucks would complete one shift before
needing to go to Bywaters to empty their trucks, but were now
having to drive to Bywaters twice during a shift. Councillor Ralph
thanked the waste collection staff for their hard work during this
difficult period, in particular his local waste collector Paddy who
had worked very hard and deserved recognition.
Councillor Duffin stated that even though there had been a
pandemic, there was still numerous KPIs which had met their target,
including the KPI regarding apprenticeships. He felt pleased to see
that there were clear route to greens for KPIs which had not met
their target. Councillor Hooper echoed ...
view the full minutes text for item 12.
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13. |
Work Programme PDF 253 KB
Minutes:
The Chair stated that a
financial update report would be added to the Work Programme for
November’s meeting, to which the Committee agreed.
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