Agenda and minutes

The Chairman drew attention to the list of notices published on the back of the agenda.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor I E Dobson.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 6 June 2018 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED

(i)              that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 06 June 2018 be received.

The Chairman advised the Committee that it had been agreed at the full meeting of the Council held on 28 June 2018 the following amendments to the minutes:

Minute No. 144 – Moorings, Leases and Licences Update

Rewording to minute recommendation (ii) of this minute  “that the Planning and Licensing Committee be recommended to request that the Director of Planning and Regulatory Services look into increasing the interest in using the Blackwater and Crouch Rivers”.

Minute No. 147 – Office Accommodation and Lease

An amendment to the second paragraph of the report so that it read “…interest as he occasionally worked at Maldon Police Station and did not return to the meeting[1].”.

The Committee agreed the amendment to the following minute:

Minute No. 141 – 2017/18 Programme of Work Update and 2018/19 Programme of Work

Rewording of the minute (i) to read “That an update…” in place of “Than an update…”.

RESOLVED

(ii)            that subject to the above amendment the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 06 June 2018 be confirmed.

To receive the views of members of the public on items of business to be considered by the Committee (please see below):

1.               A period of ten minutes will be set aside.

2.               An individual may speak for no more than two minutes on a specific agenda item, the time slots to be allocated on a “first come first served” basis.

3.               Participation may take the form of a statement, or alternatively a question to be addressed to the Chairman.  There will be no discussion on questions put unless it is formally moved.  In line with the current scheme applied to other Committees, the questions must:

·                 not be defamatory, frivolous, vexatious or offensive;

·                 not be the same or substantially the same as another question to the same meeting or anything so put in the last six months;

·                 not involve the disclosure of confidential or exempt information.

4.               Anyone wishing to speak must notify the Committee Clerk between 7.00pm and 7.20pm prior to the start of the meeting.

There was none.

To disclose the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, other Pecuniary Interests or Non-Pecuniary Interests relating to items of business on the agenda having regard to paragraphs 6-8 inclusive of the Code of Conduct for Members.

(Members are reminded that they are also required to disclose any such interests as soon as they become aware should the need arise throughout the meeting).

Councillor M S Heard disclosed a pecuniary interest in Agenda Item 11 – Office Accommodation and Lease Update, as he works at the Police Station, and advised that he would withdraw from the chamber for this item.

To consider the report of the Director of Resources, (copy enclosed).

The Committee received the report of the Director of Resources confirming the Committee’s Work Programme for 2018/19, as attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

Following receipt of the report Members made comments on the following items:

·         Provision of Healthcare Services - It was agreed that the CCG would be invited to provide an update at a future meeting of the Committee.

Residents within the Maldon District had received a letter from Nick Alston, Chairman of the Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust (MEHT).
It was agreed that a copy of the letter was to be provided to the Director of Resources, and Councillor N R Pudney will report back to a future meeting of the Committee following his next meeting with the Trust.

·         Internal and External Communications – A briefing with the Deputy Monitoring Officer is being arranged, Councillors S J Savage and M W Heard would be invited to attend as email communications would be discussed.  The Director of Resources advised that this will take place over the weeks following this meeting.

·         Staff Sickness – this item was discussed and noted under Minute 280 of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, 17 July 2018.

Members were requested to suggest new items of scrutiny for future meetings of this Committee, and it was agreed that the following items would be considered for the Programme of Work:

·         Review on the Provision of Fire Services - Concern was raised that the Fire Authority was looking into closing fire stations within the Maldon District, i.e. Tillingham and Burnham-on-Crouch.  It was noted that were this to happen the closest Fire Service to the Dengie would be located at South Woodham Ferrers.

·         Provision of Car Parking - Members raised concern over the lack of car parking within the town centre and noted the recent impact that this had on residents within the vicinity of Promenade Park.  The Director of Resources advised the Committee that this was being looked into and on the agenda for a future meeting of the Asset Management Working Group (AMWG).

·         Crematorium - The Director of Resources advised members that a report was to be provided to a future meeting of the Council meeting in August.

·         Waste Disposal within the District - In response to Members questions the Director of Resources advised that the contractor was being scrutinised following issues surrounding the reliability of vehicles and the impact on the delivery of service.  A report would be provided for a future meeting of the Committee, and include feedback on the size and reliability of vehicles.

·         Delivery of Tourism - Following a query on the pending closure of the Burnham Tourist Information Centre (TIC), it was requested that the delivery of tourism within the Maldon District was added as an item for scrutiny and the best strategic and operational delivery looked into. 
The Director of Resources to confirm this would not be a duplication of work undertaken by other Committees before adding this as an item for scrutiny.

Members complimented the Burnham TIC  ...  view the full minutes text for item 279.

To consider the report of the Director of Resources (copy enclosed).

The Committee received the report of the Director of Resources confirming the attendance management levels for 2017/18 financial year, and quarter one of 2018/19.

It was noted that attendance in quarter one for 2018/19 had improved and, inclusive of long term sickness, the total annual days lost per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) had improved on previous years and was the lowest since 2014/15.  Members were directed to section 3.8 of the report which addressed concerns previously raised on supporting Managers on dealing with absence.

Members stated they were pleased to see a reduction in the loss of days.  It was queried whether injury types (as laid out in figure 3.4 of the report) were localised to certain departments within the Council.  The Director of Resources confirmed for Members that there was no obvious link to work related injury, and it was also worth considering that significant changes in the workplace could impact levels of sickness across the authority.

The Director of Resources confirmed that although the figures from the previous year had been impacted by the flu pandemic, the Council had also implemented stronger internal controls.  This included an improvement in managing medium to long term sickness, reporting of short term sickness, looking at patterns of absence, provision of hand gels, changing the cleaning regime, and providing staff with the option to have a flu vaccination.

It was recommended that the Committee continues to observe the item, and the report for Quarter Two 2018/19 to be brought to this committee.

RESOLVED that the report and subsequent actions, as outlined above, be noted.

There was none.

To resolve under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as definded in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, and that this satisfies the public interest.

RESOLVED that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, and that this satisfies the public interest test.

To consider the report of the Director of Resources (copy enclosed).

Councillor M S Heard left the meeting at 20:15, due to a potential conflict of interest as he occasionally worked at Maldon police station, and did not return to the meeting[1].

The Director of Resources delivered a report in response to questions raised at a previous meeting of the Committee. 

Members discussed the report and asked further questions which the Director of Resources duly answered.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.