This report provided Members with a progress update on the work to date to deliver the Council’s Improvement and Recovery Plan. This was the first in what would be quarterly reports to allow Members the opportunity to receive updates, scrutinise and provide constructive challenge to the delivery of the plan and Council’s recovery overall.

The following points were raised:

·       Member welcomed the report and that the report would be presented more regularly and asked for more substance. Noted the speed at which the managing director had set up the senior leadership team, the biggest challenge being faced was finance, the council required a radical change.

·       Member touched on governance, scrutiny, and culture, with the best value inspection report referring to a lack of openness and transparency it was evident that this still existed within the council.

·       Members referred to the cabinet pink paper reports being discussed in  private session with some members not knowing what those parcels of land were and proved the council was not moving on from a culture of secrecy and insularity.

·       Member and Officer relationships were improving but there were still member and member relationships which were just not good enough.

·       Member referred to “recovery” which had to be more profound, the council needed to be reinvented and to reimagine what the borough meant, this would need a specific plan for growth. Such as businesses coming to Thurrock, developers building new homes for the future, growth of people who want to come to Thurrock to train and learn new skills.  

·       Thurrock residents sought confidence in the council and it was vital to get the small things right otherwise residents would not believe the council was able to get the big things right.

·       Member compared Thurrock to Essex County Council where they achieved larger scale accomplishments, as they got the lower tiers right first.

·       The council had to move itself from constantly focusing on urgent decisions to move the council to focus on important decisions.

·       Member stated that most members and residents wanted to see a recovery plan and to see somebody brought to account.

·       Member welcomed the report and a commitment by the chief executive and commissioners to ensure update reports were brought quarterly until the end of the intervention.

·       Member suggested a traffic light scheme so members and residents could see what progress was being made and could possibly gain the trust of residents.

·       Members agreed there had to be no more secrecy.

·       There were lots of challenges ahead for the council, with the budget requiring to be reduced by half over the next five years.

·       Member raised concern on the slippage of the budget that was promised to be completed over the summer months to ensure engagement of all 49 members. The pace required to be quickened and an action plan on how that would be rolled out.

·       There had been concern raised by the shadow portfolio holder on the failure of the strategic investment advisory panel to meet as promised.

·       Member also questioned what the consequences were and what action was currently being taken against the companies or people to recover some of the monies that had been taken illegally from the council. The Leader reassured members that everything possible was being undertaken, it was frustrating that these things took a long time, but officers and commissioners were taking steps to recover as much money as possible. Some money would be coming from the investments and hoped to bring news to full council shortly.

·       Member questioned whether as part of the government bailout a small team of specialists would be employed to sell off assets for example parcels of land owned by the council. The Leader confirmed the council did from time to time employ people to provide professional advice to ensure the right decisions were being made. In regard to asset disposal, advise was being sought from those professionals to ensure the best value for Thurrock taxpayers.

·       Member referred to the parcels of land that could be identified as substantial plots for social housing and questioned the plans to tackle the social housing needs of Thurrock residents.

·       Member referred to the strategy and questioned how the vulnerable would be protected. The Leader stated that residents would get the chance to make decisions about the kind of council they wanted and moving forward going out to communities to identify what council services they would like.

·       Member asked whether the secrecy of the parcels of land be dropped and revealed this evening. The Leader stated that in the future any assets that came forward for sale would not be presented on pink paper with all ward members being notified before they were put up for sale.

·       Member referred to the Leader’s reference to the “road to recovery” and questioned whether there was any measurable evidence of this. The Leader stated the council was working towards a budget, working towards divesting the investments, paying down the debt, restructuring of senior officers and member briefings. The Leader reminded members this could not be achieved overnight but there had been some real positive changes. With staff also seeing some physical changes on how the council was being run.

·       Member requested more engagement from commissioners, asking them to attend briefings, discussion groups and to engage with all members. 

·       Member questioned whether the parcels of land could be lost to London boroughs to which the Leader replied they would only be lost if they actually purchased them from the council.

·       Leader summed up by stating members would have the opportunity to contribute to the budget debate. Being more aware of how pink papers were used to ensure openness and transparency. The Leader assured members that himself and the Chief Executive had visited the community, listened to residents and members of staff. The local plan would address developing new homes some of which would be social housing.

RESOLVED

That Full Council:

1.       Noted the progress made on the Council’s improvement and recovery.

2.       Agreed to receive quarterly reports on progress.

3.       Noted the work to develop an enhanced Improvement and Recovery Plan.

4.       Noted the comments from Commissioners found at appendix A.

Members were informed that an email would be sent the following day that would outline the nine parcels of land. The consultation would also be extended a further five days to ensure all comments could be captured.

The meeting adjourned at 9.15pm.

The meeting reconvened at 9.25pm.