| Time: | 7.30pm | Place: | Council Chamber, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City |
| PRESENT: | Councillor R.L. Shakespeare - Smith (Chairman), Councillor Cathryn Henry (Vice-Chairman), Councillor Clare Billing, Councillor John Booth, Councillor Bill Davidson, Councillor Jean Green, Councillor David Leal - Bennett, Councillor Alan Millard, Councillor Lawrence Oliver (substitute) and Councillor Frank Radcliffe. |
| IN ATTENDANCE: | John Gourd (Chairman, Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership), Councillor Bernard Lovewell (Portfolio Holder for Housing and Environmental Health), Johanne Dufficy (Customer Services Manager), Brendan Sullivan (Scrutiny Officer) and Hilary Dineen (Committee and Member Services Officer). |
| ALSO PRESENT: |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
| PART I | ||||
| 67 |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Alan Bardett, John Bishop, S.K. Jarvis and Deborah Segalini. Councillor L.W. Oliver advised that, having given due notice, he would be substituting for Councillor S.K. Jarvis. |
Noted | ||
| 68 |
MINUTES Minutes RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 December 2013 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman. |
Agreed | ||
| 69 |
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS No other business was submitted for consideration by the Committee. |
Noted | ||
| 70 |
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS (1) The Chairman welcomed John Gourd (Chairman, Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership) and Councillor Bernard Lovewell (Portfolio Holder for Housing and Environmental Health) . (2) Members were reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest which requires they leave the room under Paragraph 7.4 of the Code of Conduct, can speak on the item, but must leave the room before the debate and vote. |
Noted | ||
| 71 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION There were no presentations from members of the public. |
Noted | ||
| 72 |
URGENT/GENERAL EXCEPTION ITEMS No urgent or general exception items were received. |
Noted | ||
| 73 |
CALLED IN ITEMS Since the last meeting, no decisions had been called-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. |
Noted | ||
| 74 |
PRESENTATION BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HERTFORDSHIRE LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP John Gourd, Chairman of the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, thanked the Chairman for inviting him to address the Committee and gave a PowerPoint presentation as follows: - The Coalition Government disbanded Regional Development Agencies and introduced Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs); - LEPs were an amalgamation of public and private enterprise; - The Hertfordshire LEP boundary followed the County boundary; - The Hertfordshire LEP had 6 executives and board of 12 people; - The Vision of the Hertfordshire LEP was: By 2030, Hertfordshire will be among the UK's leading economies, helping to realise the full economic potential of the assets and opportunities within the Golden Triangle; - The guiding principle was: Growing smartly as a perfect place for business; - The priorities underpinning the guiding principle were: 1. Maintaining global excellence in science and technology - the LEP to help colleges and businesses recognise the skills needed and how to give those skills; 2. Harnessing our relationships with London and elsewhere - need to consider that the A1 is a growth corridor and that east/west transport needs to be improved; 3. Re-invigorating our places for the 21st Century. - Need to find ways to get people into the Town Centres and improve the digital infrastructure in order to encourage new businesses into Hertfordshire; 4. Foundations for Growth - help businesses grown and gain the skills required; - The 15 - 20 year Vision and Strategy aimed to make Hertfordshire perfectly placed for business; - The 3 - 5 year delivery plan formed the LEP Strategic Economic Plan, which would be used to support any bid for funding; - Funding streams available included: EU Investment Strategy - £60 million, Single Local Growth Fund - £40 - 80 million (to be confirmed, Local Funds such as Higher Education, Further Educations, Local Authorities LEP and Private (to be confirmed); - The amount of funding still available for competitive bid was relatively small, as much of the funding had already been allocated; - The Hertfordshire LEP had undertaken a wide consultation process, which resulted in three on-going processes: "Top Down" led by LEP strategy and programme boards - New Urban Futures, working with larger authorities on larger towns, "Bottom Up" led by Local Authorities; - The LEP needed to help Local Authorities to articulate its plans and help to achieve them; - Potential LEP/NHDC projects included: Advanced engineering, Locations for growing enterprise - are we doing our best to connect businesses together, Further Education campuses for enterprise, Urban futures/Market Towns - do we have incubation centres and how do we make it easier for them to grow, Digital infrastructure, Sport/Leisure/Recreation/Tourism = what can we do to help businesses in these area grow; - Remaining challenges included: 1. Clarity in relation to jobs and housing targets and progress in achieving them, 2. Evidence that Local Authority assets, resources and funding are being used to match the SLGF, 3. Evidence on key private sector investment locally, 4. Delivering on what we ask for. Members commented that to get better links with London there would not only need to be better direct transport links, but also clear east west routes and were unsure how the LEP could influence the provision of incubation centres. They asked whether Economic Development Officers were beneficial to an area and suggested that Hertfordshire could be promoted at local airports such as Luton and Stanstead. Members were interested in the links between the various LEPS ie Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. Mr Gourd stated that Hertfordshire had to get business to consider the area and this could be achieved by better marketing. Economic Development Officers supported Local Authorities to get closer to businesses, which enabled them to be more effective in their support. He informed Members that the Hertfordshire LEP worked closely with neighbouring LEPs and those who have similar issues such as Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Nottinghamshire. RESOLVED: That Mr John Gourd, Chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership be thanked for his informative presentation. REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is updated on the work of the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, |
Agreed | ||
| 75 |
MEMBERS' QUESTIONS No questions had been submitted. |
Noted | ||
| 76 |
RESOLUTIONS OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE Report The Scrutiny Officer presented the report entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and drew attention to the following: MINUTE 90 - MARCH 2013 - COMMON HOUSING ALLOCATION SCHEME The Scrutiny Officer advised that the Head of Housing and Public Protection would likely be presenting a report regarding the implementation of the Common Housing Allocation Scheme to the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee due to be held on 9 December 2014. The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Environmental Health informed Members that the revised Common Housing Scheme was initially due to be implemented in November 2013 and was now scheduled to be implemented in March 2014. MINUTE 12 - JUNE 2013 - HEALTH REFORMS The Scrutiny Officer advised that Councillor Bardett, would be unable to provide a report to this Committee regarding Health Scrutiny and suggested that he could provide a report covering this subject. Councillors were concerned that the District Council's role in Health Scrutiny was unclear and welcomed the Scrutiny Officer's offer to prepare a report on the subject MINUTE 41 - SEPTEMBER 2013 - HEALTHWATCH HERTFORDSHIRE The Scrutiny Officer advised that no response had yet been received regarding the letter sent to the Chairman of Healthwatch, however the Committee and Member Services Officer would send a reminder. RESOLVED: (1) That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to present a report regarding the role of the District Council in Health Scrutiny to an appropriate future meeting of this Committee; (2) That the Committee and Member Services Officer be requested to contact the Chairman of Healthwatch Hertfordshire to gain the information requested at the meeting of this Committee held on 17 September 2013; (3) That the actions resulting from the resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted. REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and monitor the progress of resolutions made. |
Agreed | ||
| 77 |
COMMENTS, COMPLIMENTS AND COMPLAINTS (3CS) HALF YEAR UPDATE - 1 APRIL 2013 TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2013 Report Appendix A The Customer Services Manager presented the report of the Strategic Director of Customer Services and drew attention to the following: - The number of 3Cs received had decreased overall when compared to the previous year, which was due to the closure of the museums which typically received high volumes of compliments; - The number of complaints had increased when compared to the previous year, which could mainly be attributed to the changes to the waste and recycling service during Spring and Summer 2013; - Previous communications with residents regarding the changes to the waste and recycling service had been effective; - During the six month period the Council received 405,000 contacts were received compared with 377,000 last year; - During the six month period 1561 3Cs were received, details by service area were contained in the table at Page 14 of the report; - 877 3Cs were received directly by the council which consisted of 192 comments, 349 compliments and 336 complaints; - 86 percent of complaints were responded to in full within 10 working days; - Two complaints had been escalated to the Local Government Ombudsman of which one was outside the LGOs jurisdiction and the other had no fault found. Members asked who decided whether a complaint was justified. They asked that previous year figures be included in all future update reports. They noted that the information in the report was 3 months out of date and asked that future reports contain information that was as current as possible. Members were concerned that the content of compliments and complaints were not weighted to take into account the content and were concerned that the number of compliments received by certain service areas were disproportionately high. The Customer Services Manager advised that, in line with agreed procedures, the person undertaking the investigation made the decision as whether a complaint was justified. In respect of the number of compliments received, some service areas sought feedback more actively and therefore received more compliments. The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Environmental Services informed Members that the method of recording 3Cs was getting more accurate, it was important that the public could easily find out how to complain and Councillors needed to encourage people to use the system. Members should be aware that recording and collation of data took time and it was important to balance the value of any report against the time taken to prepare it. RESOLVED: (1) That the Customer Services Manager be requested to include figures from previous years, as a comparison, in all future reports regarding Comments, Compliments and Complaints; (2) That the Customer Services Manager be requested to include information that is as current as possible in future reports regarding Comments, Compliments and Complaints; (3) That the improvement in response performance be noted; (4) That the continued good performance in managing 3Cs between 1 April 2013 and 30 September 2013 be noted; (5) That there were no cases of maladministration found by the Local Government Ombudsman be noted. REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is able to consider the 3Cs received by NHDC and its contractors and review the positive action taken by the Council. |
Agreed | ||
| 78 |
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME Work Programme Report Appendix A - Programme for Meetings Appendix B - Forward Plan The Scrutiny Officer presented the report entitled Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme and drew attention to the following: APPENDIX A - WORK PROGRAMME FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Scrutiny Officer drew attention to the items to be presented to future Overview and Scrutiny meetings. Members requested that the Leader of the Council be asked to focus on a review of the Civic Year 2013/14, plans for 2014/15 and the Corporate Plan, including how reducing finances would impinge on these when making her presentation to the meeting of this Committee due to be held on 18 March 2014. TASK AND FINISH GROUPS The Scrutiny Officer advised that the Task and Finish Group on the Council's Website held its first meeting on 11 December 2013 and would meet again on 27 January 2014. The forthcoming Task and Finish Group regarding partnership working with Jobcentre Plus would likely take place in April 2014 and a scope would be produced and emailed to Members for consideration. FORWARD PLAN Members considered the Forward Plan and requested that the item entitled Review of Communications Strategy 2014 - 18 be considered at the meeting of this Committee due to be held on 18 March 2014. RESOLVED: (1) That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2013/14 be noted; (2) That the item on the Forward Plan entitled "Review of Communications Strategy 2014 - 2018" be presented to this Committee prior to consideration by Cabinet on 25 March 2014. (3) That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to ask the Leader of the Council to focus on a review of the Civic Year 2013/14, Plans for 2014/15 and the Corporate Plan 2005 - 2015, including how reducing finances would impinge on these. (4) That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to develop a scope for a Task and Finish Group on Partnership Working with Jobcentre Plus and circulate this to all Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee; (5) That the Chairman be authorised to agree the final scope for a Task and Finish Group on Partnership Working with Jobcentre Plus. REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to plan and carry out its workload efficiently and effectively. |
Agreed | ||