Agenda and minutes

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

There were none.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 30 August 2017, (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED

(i)              that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30 August 2017 be received.

Minute No. 352 – 2017 – 2018 Programme of Work

The declaration under Provision of Healthcare Services should read “Councillor Mrs P A Channer declared that she was a member of the Maldon Health Hub Partnership Board”.

The reference under Provision of Healthcare Services to “John Ryland” should read “John Niland”.

The declaration under Planning Enforcement should read “At this point Councillor Mrs P A Channer CC reiterated her earlier declaration being the Chairman of the Planning and Licensing Committee and a member of the South Eastern Area Planning Committee”.

Councillor S J Savage declared a non-pecuniary interest as a Member of the Central Area Planning Committee and provided an update on how the Central Area Planning Committee dealt with the quarterly planning enforcement reports.

Minute No. 355 – Election Update

Councillor Channer had asked that it be noted, that the Council were lucky to have Lynda Elsegood, a very experienced Election Officer, who was always very helpful and knew her field very well, but this had not been recorded in the Minutes.

RESOLVED

(ii)            that subject to the above amendments the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30 August 2017 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 were 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).

There were none.

To receive and note the report of the Director of Resources, (copy enclosed).

[1]The Chief Executive provided an update on the work programme of this Committee for 2017 / 18 on behalf of the Director of Resources.

Councillor Mrs P A Channer declared an interest as the Chairman of Planning and Licensing Committee and as a member of the South Eastern Area Planning Committee.

Councillor S J Savage declared an interest as a member of the Planning and Licensing Committee.

There was some discussion around what the Council could do with regards to the district surgeries advising they couldn’t take on any more patients on their own register but could accept more patients that were funded differently.

Councillor Mrs Channer declared an interest as a patient of the Burnham Surgery.

The Chief Executive advised that she would invite GPs, the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and National Health Service (NHS) England to the December Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee meeting.

In response to a question, the Director of Customers and Community explained that the Primary School Education report had been moved to the January 2018 meeting as Tim Elbourne couldn’t attend the October meeting.  It was important for Mr Elbourne to attend so that the schools and the Council could work closely together.

Councillor Mrs Channer declared an interest as she was an Essex County Councillor.

In response to a question, the Chief Executive explained that the Council was still waiting for a response from the Royal Mail with regards to their investigation on postal votes not being delivered for the General Election in June 2017, and that once this was received it would be bought back to the committee.

The Chairman informed the committee that Simon Quelch, the Senior Solicitor, was completing a review of the enforcement action process and would this would be brought to the committee in spring 2018. 

To receive and note the report of the Director of Resources, (copy enclosed).

[1]The Director of Customers and Community updated Members on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee project reviewing the procurement and delivery of the 2016 / 17 Capital Programme, on behalf of the Director of Resources.

There was a robust discussion around the St Cedd’s project and the level of overspend on the project.  Various Members of the Committee raised their serious concerns at the £60,000 (60%) overspend and criticised the apparent poor management of the contract leading to this overspend.  The Chief Executive stated that no-one was to blame for this.

Concern was also voiced at the reduction of capital reserves over the last few years from £12 million to under £4 million.  The Chief Executive stated that these reserves would soon be spent and then it would be necessary to borrow money to continue funding capital projects.

A member asked for clarification on whether the Council had permission for lighting, as the original planning consent did not include lighting.

The Chief Executive advised the committee that a full in-depth report on the St Cedd’s project, with recommendations, would be bought to the Committee in December.

The Committee requested they would also like to see the original St Cedd’s project brief.

It was agreed that the Committee would receive a further more detailed report about the Capital Projects.  This report should include details of capital projects from previous years with related figures, a review of the controls and processes for capital projects and details of the related investment, so that the authority does not get into a similar situation as St Cedd’s.  It was questioned how those projects transferred over from a previous year were prioritised and details of the individual costs related to such projects were requested.

It was requested that a report be brought back to the Committee to show a breakdown in the moorings and berths in the ownership of the Council at Burnham-on-Crouch, fees chargeable for each, whether they had been collected and whether the vessels had the necessary insurance cover.  It was agreed that Councillor P G L Elliott would be the leader Member for this piece of scrutiny.

It was requested that a report be brought back to this Committee to cover the Council’s approach to Internal and External Communications.  The scrutiny will include the Email System, telephone communications via the Council’s contact centre; how the Council could improve its website and include some examples of other authorities’ approach to communication and the Council’s Digital strategy.  It was agreed that Councillors M S Heard and S J Savage would be the lead Members for this piece of scrutiny.