Items
No. |
Item |
32. |
Minutes PDF 244 KB
To approve as a correct record
the minutes of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny
Committeemeeting held on 21 January
2021.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Councillor Rice highlighted
pages 14 and 15 of the agenda, and stated that he had asked a
question regarding the draft capital programme and the
Stanford-le-Hope Interchange project, and asked if he could receive
an answer. The Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property
replied that this was an outstanding action, but a response would
be provided.
The minutes of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee held
on 21 January 2021 were approved as a true and correct
record.
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33. |
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.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
There were no items of urgent
business.
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34. |
Declaration of Interests
Additional documents:
Minutes:
There were no interests
declared.
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35. |
Memorandum of Understanding - Local Government Reorganisation PDF 277 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair stated that
Councillor Gledhill would be presenting the report in his role as
Leader of the Council, and thanked him for his attendance at the
meeting.
Councillor Gledhill introduced the item and stated that a
discussion had taken place at the previous Cabinet meeting in
February regarding the proposed Memorandum of Understanding with
Basildon Council, which related to proposed local government
reform. He stated that in between lockdowns in 2020 the government
had proposed local government reform and devolution, which had been
a long-term manifesto commitment, and had decided upon three trial
local authorities in September 2020, which had required full Member
consent. He explained that proposed local authority reorganisation
now only required majority Member consent, and stated that any
potential reorganisation would not take place for the next few
years. Councillor Gledhill then described how Thurrock had become a
unitary authority in 1998, and as a unitary authority had
responsibility for all income and expenditure, including for adult
social care. He stated that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
would open the conversation between Thurrock and Basildon regarding
any future reorganisation, and would explore the positives and
negatives of any proposed merger. He stated that a merger between
the two local authorities would double the resident population,
which could increase business rate income, but would also increase
expenses for adult social care, as currently Basildon was not
responsible for this area of expenditure, and instead paid a
precept to Essex County Council.
Councillor Gledhill commented that the MOU would look at all
aspects of any proposed merger, including potential costs and
impact on services for residents and businesses. He felt that there
were currently a lot of unknowns regarding any potential merger,
and more information was needed which would be sought through the
signing of the MOU. He felt that a merger of the two local
authorities could be a positive endeavour, but highlighted that
both councils wanted as much information as possible. He explained
that any proposed merger would not begin now, but felt that central
government were pushing for local government reform, and Thurrock
needed to be moving forwards.
The Chair thanked Councillor Gledhill for this presentation and
report, and questioned the broader context for a merger. He asked
whether the current local government operating processes would not
be viable in future. Councillor Gledhill replied and stated that in
2020 central government had felt that unitary authorities should
have a resident population of 300-500,000, and Thurrock would be
able to reach this figure if a merger took place with Basildon
Council. He highlighted that he could not speak for central
government, but felt that there was currently no rush for local
authority mergers or any central government commitment to scrap
current local government organisation. The Chair asked if local
government reorganisation would be a medium term goal for central
government, and questioned what would happen if the Council did not
act immediately. Councillor Gledhill responded and stated that
Thurrock wanted to be on the front foot ...
view the full minutes text for item 35.
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36. |
Communications Update PDF 138 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Director of Strategy,
Communications and Customer Service introduced the report and
stated that it provided an update to the Communications Strategy as
well as the Local Government Association (LGA) health check and
action plan implementation. She stated that the draft strategy
would be coming to the Committee in June and welcomed Member
comment and feedback which could be included in that report. She
explained that the LGA had let independent peers look at the
Council’s communications approach, including speaking to
internal and external stakeholders, as well as helping Thurrock to
learn from best practice.
The Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer Service
highlighted some of the positives from the report, which included
good crisis communications; good stakeholder relations during the
COVID-19 pandemic; and a flexible team who were proactive,
committed and responsive. She added that the health check had also
shown that internal communications had improved since 2017 when the
last LGA health check had been completed, and communications were
now more campaign-led. She stated that the report also included
some recommendations for improvement, such as commissioning a
‘who reads what’ survey to better understand how
residents consumed their media and received their information,
which would help develop the strategy and provide a deeper level of
insight.
The Chair thanked the Director of Strategy, Communications and
Customer Service for her hard work on the report, and felt it
provided a good level of detailed feedback. He thanked the
communications team for their hard work during the COVID pandemic,
and felt pleased to see constructive feedback and the accompanying
action plan. He stated that in previous years the Committee had
invited local editors to their meeting, and welcomed the
recommendation to improve the speed of responses and to introduce a
more streamlined process. He emphasised how important it was for
the communications team to build good relationships with local
editors, which could be partly achieved through providing timely
responses to their questions. He also felt it was good to see the
team were trying new approaches and new ways of working, such as
video briefings and the use of social media. The Director of
Strategy, Communications and Customer Service stated that some
other local authorities provided online briefings for local media,
for example when there was a drastic change to a service, and
explained that this allowed local media editors to do a question
and answer session with service representatives, which could
provide a more immediate response compared to a press release. She
stated that as part of the health check, the LGA had spoken with
local media editors to understand what was working well and what
areas needed improvement, which was something that the
communications team would continue to explore going forward. She
added that the team were also considering new ways of using
technology, for example technology which had been developed due to
the pandemic. The Communications Strategic Lead added that the use
of online briefings and video briefings would be considered as an
option, and utilised by ...
view the full minutes text for item 36.
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37. |
Quarter 3 (April-December 2020) Corporate Performance Report 2020/21 PDF 579 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Director of Strategy,
Communications and Customer Service introduced the report and
stated that it covered the period from April to December 2020, and
that 66% of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were on target, and
50% were the same or better than in 2019/20. She highlighted that
this report was similar to the Quarter 1 Corporate Performance
report as they both covered periods of lockdown and increased
restriction, compared to Quarter 2 when restrictions had been
eased. She explained that this would continue into Quarter 4, which
began in January 2021 and was again characterised by a period of
national lockdown. She described how the report set out which KPIs
had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and these had been
provided with a ‘route to green’ where appropriate. She
summarised and stated that this report was not necessarily a
reflection on service performance, but was rather a reflection on
national circumstances.
The Chair thanked the Director of Strategy, Communications and
Customer Service for her work on the report, and stated that it was
clear to see the impact that COVID-19 had had on some KPIs. He
highlighted the KPI on page 57 regarding fixed penalty notices, and
felt it was understandable that performance was lower this quarter
due to the pandemic and continued leniency, but asked when normal
enforcement would return. The Director of Strategy, Communications
and Customer Service replied that this KPI was currently under
review, since the Prime Minister’s roadmap announcement. She
explained that all services were now considering how their KPIs
aligned with the proposed roadmap, and feedback on this would be
provided during the End of Year/ Quarter 4 Corporate Performance
Report.
Councillor Ralph felt that this was a good report that clearly
showed the impact COVID-19 had had on some services. He questioned
the KPI on page 53 regarding the number of volunteer placements in
the Council, and questioned how volunteers were classified, and if
this included COVID specific volunteer roles. The Director of
Strategy, Communications and Customer Service replied that she
would look into this query and reply to the Committee in writing.
She stated that staff from some services that had been closed, for
example in libraries, had been redeployed to help with the Thurrock
Coronavirus Community Action (TCCA), and some services had not been
able to offer volunteer placements due to the pandemic.
RESOLVED: That the Committee:
1. Noted and commented upon the performance of the key corporate
performance indicators, in particular those areas which are off
target and the impact of COVID-19.
2. Identified any areas which required additional
consideration.
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38. |
Financial Update PDF 948 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Corporate Director –
Finance, Governance and Property introduced the report and stated
that it was the final financial update for the 2020/21 financial
year, and reflected previous reports. He explained that Corporate
Overview and Scrutiny had the overall remit to look at the budget,
but specific service issues would be scrutinised by the relevant
overview and scrutiny committee. He then highlighted the table at
section 4 of the report, which showed the impact of COVID-19 on
various services, and explained that COVID-19 had cost the Council
approximately £17million in increased expenses and reduced
income. He stated that the Council had received £14.2million
in government grants, and a further £2.1million towards the
furlough scheme and income compensation scheme. He explained that
some services had underspent this year, but some services had seen
service pressures, such as Children’s social care which had
seen an increased number of high need placements. The Corporate
Director Finance, Governance and Property summarised and stated
that the Council were currently predicting a breakeven position,
but had had to use surpluses to achieve this, and had therefore
removed any future surpluses.
The Chair stated that the Committee had regularly reviewed and
debated the financial position of the Council, but felt pleased to
see new information pertaining to detailed service level spend and
their outturns, as it was good to see individual service pressures.
He highlighted page 73 of the agenda regarding the Children’s
social care overspend of £851,000, and the Children and
Family Services overspend of £1.5million, and questioned
whether these were driven by placement costs. He stated that
although the Children’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee would
look at this in detail, he questioned how this position was being
managed, and sought assurance that the Council was providing a
quality service whilst also getting best value for money. The
Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property responded
that the children’s services team was being challenged on
their finances both internally and externally. He stated that the
children’s finance team had been strengthened in terms of
numbers and seniority to check and challenge the children’s
services and procurement teams. He added that the service also held
weekly placement meetings with the Corporate Director, who was very
hands on with placements, and other senior officers to ensure these
were monitored. He stated that there was also a regular independent
review of placements, from other officers within the wider
directorate. He explained that the communications team were also
running regular campaigns to increase the number of Thurrock foster
carers, which reduced the need for more expensive external foster
care agencies.
The Chair highlighted point 6.5 of the report and questioned
whether the recruitment freeze would lead to an increase in the
need for expensive agency staff. The Corporate Director Finance,
Governance and Property responded that 90% of all current posts
which were being recruited came from the Adult Social Care and
Children’s Social Care teams, as these were seen as essential
posts. He explained that social workers were often from
... view
the full minutes text for item 38.
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39. |
Asset Disposals PDF 250 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Corporate Director –
Finance, Governance and Property introduced the report and stated
that the Committee had raised a point regarding capital receipts
and Member involvement in January 2021, and this report responded
to those comments. He explained that in 2016 the Council had agreed
the 3Rs policy, but since then the process had not moved quickly.
He stated that because of the financial pressures from COVID-19,
this process would now be commenced and assets would be brought
forward in three categories which included; operational assets such
as the Civic Offices and libraries; community assets such as
community halls; and other assets which did not fall into either of
these categories. He explained that these other assets were being
reviewed now, followed by operational assets in the next few
months, and finally community assets, which would be looked at
separately. He commented that the team were currently looking at
surplus land, and stated that ward members would be informed of any
disposals that were being proposed in their area. He stated that
the assets included in the report had largely been included as they
were assets that current, in-situ tenants wished to purchase. He
stated that the site at Dell Road had been included as it had
previously been agreed for disposal, but the sale had fallen
through, and was now being brought forward again to ensure full
transparency. He mentioned that the Constitution had also been
changed the remove officer delegation for any disposals, and
explained that disposals under £200,000 had to be agreed by
the Leader, and disposals over this figure had to be agreed by
Cabinet. He summarised and stated that the proposed asset disposals
would be brought forward in tranches, and any operational asset
disposals would be included as part of the budget, which would be
scrutinised by overview and scrutiny before being brought to
Cabinet, to ensure full transparency.
The Chair welcomed the report and felt pleased to see that Members
were being included in the process. He questioned whether residents
would be able to have their say on any disposals, and asked if this
would form part of the communications approach. He also questioned
whether local amenities such as parks and open spaces would be
protected from disposal. The Corporate Director Finance, Governance
and Property replied that any asset proposed for disposal would
need to go through the relevant consultation. He added that parks
were usually protected from disposal without due process and
thorough rationalisation, including looking at the state of repair
of the park. He stated that the asset disposal team were currently
only focussing on surplus assets, as some of these were not being
used and costing the council money.
Councillor Ralph thanked the Director for bringing the report to
scrutiny, and emphasised the need to get market price on any assets
that were being disposed of. He then queried if there was a
difference in classification between a park and an open space. The
Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property replied
... view
the full minutes text for item 39.
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40. |
Work Programme PDF 271 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair asked for an item
regarding future ways of working be included on the Work Programme
in the next municipal year, including how to use remote working in
the future and learning outcomes.
Councillor Duffin also requested regular updates regarding the
Communications Strategy and action plan. The Director of Strategy,
Communications and Customer Service replied that detailed report
was coming to Committee in June, but regular verbal updates could
be provided throughout the next municipal year.
The Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property stated that
the Committee would again consider any financial reports in January
2022, but stated that a report would also be brought before
Committee in June 2021 to consider the future financial and
budgetary approach. He stated that dependent on when Cabinet and
Corporate O&S meetings fell in June, an extraordinary meeting
may be necessary to consider this report.
The Chair stated that this would be his last Corporate Overview and
Scrutiny Committee meeting, as he was not standing for election in
May. He thanked all the Officers and Members for their hard work
throughout the years, and particularly thanked the Senior
Democratic Services Officer for her hard work, both with the usual
Committee proceedings and also with the scrutiny review. Councillor
Duffin thanked the Chair on behalf of the Committee for his hard
work and dedication over the past four years, and felt they had
been an excellent Chair and Vice-Chair team.
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