Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Paul Marment.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Paul Marment.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on the 20 March 2018.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 20 March 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 20 March 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Members should notify the Chairman of other business which they wish to be discussed by the Committee at the end of the business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chairman will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

There was no other business notified.

Members are 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, wished to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)       The Chairman thanked those who were no longer members of this Committee - Steve Hemingway (Vice-Chairman), Clare Billing, John Booth, Bill Davidson and Frank Radcliffe;

(2)       The Chairman welcomed the new members of the Committee  - Councillors Kate Aspinwall , Sam Collins, Paul Marment, Helen Oliver and Martin Stears-Handscomb;

(3)       The Chairman welcomed Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg as the new Vice-Chairman of the Committee;

(4)       The Chairman reminded everyone that, in accordance with Council policy, this meeting was being audio recorded;

(5)       The Chairman asked Members and speakers to speak into the microphones;

(6)       The Chairman drew attention to the agenda front pages and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question;

(7)       The Chairman advised that the tabled paper was an easy to digest summary of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee function.

(1)       The Chairman thanked those who were no longer members of this Committee - Steve Hemingway (Vice-Chairman), Clare Billing, John Booth, Bill Davidson and Frank Radcliffe;

(2)       The Chairman welcomed the new members of the Committee  - Councillors Kate Aspinwall , Sam Collins, Paul Marment, Helen Oliver and Martin Stears-Handscomb;

(3)       The Chairman welcomed Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg as the new Vice-Chairman of the Committee;

(4)       The Chairman reminded everyone that, in accordance with Council policy, this meeting was being audio recorded;

(5)       The Chairman asked Members and speakers to speak into the microphones;

(6)       The Chairman drew attention to the agenda front pages and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question;

(7)       The Chairman advised that the tabled paper was an easy to digest summary of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee function.

To receive petitions and presentations from members of the public.

Mr Richard Hatch thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and raised a number of questions regarding the Waste and Recycling contract.

Mr Richard Hatch thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and raised a number of questions regarding the Waste and Recycling contract as follows:

•           How much planning did the Council do and why did it go so wrong?

•           Why weren’t enough food caddies ordered for all the properties in the district?

•           Why were routes not documented and shared with Urbaser?

•           What were the issues with the data transfer? 

•           What can the Council do to ensure that the public has faith in its ability to deliver future large scale contracts / projects?

Mr Hatch questioned how residents could have faith in the service.

The Chairman to report on any urgent or general exception items which required his agreement.  At the time of printing the agenda, the Chairman had not agreed any urgent or general exception items.

No urgent or general exception items were received.

No urgent or general exception items were received.

To consider any matters referred to the Committee for a decision in relation to a call-in of decision. At the time of printing the agenda, no items of business had been called-in.

Since the last meeting, no decisions had been called-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Since the last meeting, no decisions had been called-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

To consider the performance of waste and recycling services since the commencement of the new contract, the steps being taken to achieve a satisfactory level of service and the lessons to be learned.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Executive Member for Waste and Recycling and Environment and the Service Manager-Waste and Recycling be requested to attend the meeting of this Committee, due to be held on 18 September 2018 to report on the issues and problems faced following the implementation of the new waste and recycling contract in more detail’

(2)       That those questions fom Members, unable to be immediately responded to, be recorded and answered by the Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment and the Service Manager – Waste and Recycling as part of the above presentation.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider the issues and problems faced following the implementation of the new waste and recycling contract.

Councillor Michael Weeks, Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment and the Service Manager – Waste and Recycling thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding the issues and problems faced following the implementation of the new waste and recycling contract.

Councillor Weeks reminded Members that this was his third appearance before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee this calendar year.

He cautioned that it may not be possible to answer questions this evening about the detail of what had gone wrong as they had not yet been able to undertake any investigations and had not yet got sufficient data.

The Waste Team had been spending all their time getting the contract up and running.

He would identify the main issues and explain what had been done or what they were going to do to address those issues.

The issues mainly related to brown bins not being collected and this was due to data not being on the system, it was not known why this had happened.

Veolia, the outgoing contractor, had not left the service in a tidy manner.

The new vehicles had not been delivered on time and therefore they had relied on hired vehicles, some of which were not up to the jib, but they were now hiring newer vehicles and the first of the 50 new vehicles were starting to be delivered, with the balance being due in August.

A number of staff decided not to turn up for work on the first day

Switchboards were swamped as were message boxes.

A significant minority of residents had been affected.

Things were getting better, with queries reducing.

Urbaser were spending tens of thousands of pounds on the contract and were working extra hours to solve the problems.

Urbaser had now fixed the data issue and everyone who had subscribed to the brown bin collection service was now on the schedule.

It was hoped that collections would be better from now on.

The Service Manager – Waste and Recycling and the Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment addressed the questions asked by Mr Hatch during public participation as follows:

Planning

·                A lot of planning work had taken place;

·                First meeting regarding procurement started in 2014;

·                Procurement took just under a year;

·                The bids received during this process were examined and evaluated by officers from East Herts and North Herts as well as consultants;

·                Urbaser scored top for performance and value for money.

Caddies

·               The Council ordered enough caddies;

·               The caddies were delivered to a storage facility, this process was managed by a sub-contractor of Urbaser;

·               As a consequence it was found out late in the day that not all of the caddies had been delivered;

·               New stock had since been delivered;

·               East Herts stock had been used in the interim;

·               Most properties had now been delivered to.

Data

·               The old contract ran on a paper based system;

·               They had been working to try to update this to a 21^st century system;

·               A lot of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF FINANCE, PERFORMANCE AND ASSET MANAGEMENT

To consider the final update on 2017/18 Performance Indicators - exception report.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the year end 2017/18 Performance Indicators be noted:

(2)       That, where benchmark information is available, this be included in future reports regarding Performance Indicators.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the Year End Performance Indictor Monitoring Report.

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager presented the report entitled Year End Performance Indicators 2017/18 and drew attention to the following:

Performance Indicator Setting and Monitoring

Members queried why some of the indicators did not have a target and who was responsible for setting targets.

The Controls Risk and Performance Manager advised that the Indicators without targets were generally related to homelessness and these were included for information only.

Targets were reviewed and set annually as part of the Corporate Planning process by the Heads of Service together with the relevant Executive Members.

The new Performance Indicators were then approved by Cabinet and reviewed by this Committee.

Benchmarking

Members asked that wherever possible benchmarking information be included in future reports.

BV12 – Working Days Lost due to Sickness Absence per FTE employee

Members asked for clarification regarding how this figure was calculated.

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised that this was and average of the number of days lost per full time employee.

The Chief Executive advised that BV12 showed the overall levels of sickness absence. BV12a and BV12b showed the breakdown between long term and shot term absence. The figure at BV12 was below the median of that of other Local Authorities.

Members noted that a high proportion of staff now worked at home and queried how it was determined whether they were sick or working.

The Chief Executive informed Members that if staff were sick they were required to contact their Manager. There was also the ability to check productivity details and review performance against objectives.

NI192 – Percentage of Household Waste sent for reuse, recycling and Composting

Members noted that NHDC was 7^th out of 51 and commented that this demonstrated that NHDC was doing well and the residents were actively recycling.

LI037 – Percentage of Customers satisfied with the Services Provided by Housing and Public Protection Service

Members commented that this indicator was showing as red, but the commentary stated that high levels of satisfaction were still shown.

They expressed concern that targets and tolerances may not have been scrutinised effectively.

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised that levels were taken very seriously. The target was missed by a small margin although they retained high levels of satisfaction.

Investors in People

Members noted that NHDC was an Investors in People organisation and queried when the next re=registration for this was due.

The Chief Executive advised that NHDC had been IIP certified for about 14 years and was reaccredited in 2017 with an interim review due in approximately 9 months.

RESOLVED:

(1)     That the year end 2017/18 Performance Indicators be noted:

(2)     That, where benchmark information is available, this be included in future reports regarding Performance Indicators;

REASON FOR DECISION:To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the Year End Performance Indictor Monitoring Report.

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF FINANCE, PERFORMANCE AND ASSET MANAGEMENT

To provide a 4th quarter update on the delivery of the key projects for 2017/18.

RESOLVED: That delivery against the key projects for 2017/18 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the Year End Monitoring Report on Key Projects for 2017-18.

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager presented the report entitled Year End Key Projects 2017/18 and drew attention to the following:

Office Accommodation

The final Project Board meeting was held on 11 June 2018 and this project was in the process of being signed off and the having the lessons learned recorded.

Churchgate

A Member queried why the proposed Churchgate project had not been included in this report

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised that Churchgate had been removed from the 2017/18 report as the project had ceased in that year, however it would appear the 2018/19 project report, as it was part of the Corporate Plan for 2018/19.

The Chief Executive advised that the previous project had ceased, following Council’s decision not to extend the contract with Simmons. There was a potential project being worked on, but there would be no formal project until Council had decided whether or not to proceed.

Waste Contract

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised that the commentary regarding the Waste Contract would be updated in the next report.

Hitchin Town Hall Community Facility and Museum

Members expressed concern that the Hitchin Town Hall and Museum project was marked as amber, yet was some way from being fully open and queried when the comments regarding this were written.

Crematorium

Members expressed concern that there did not appear to be any future targets following the submission of the planning application.

Improve use of Council Assets

Members noted that it was proposed that a property company be set up, but expressed concern that there were no future targets following this.

Reporting Dates and Traffic Light System

Members noted that the dates of the commentary varied throughout the report and asked for clarification.

A Member queried whether the traffic light system was fit for purpose as they did not seem to fit with the actual position for any project

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised that the report was circulated approximately one month prior to the meeting therefore the commentary was the most recent position at that point.

In respect of the traffic light system, a review of how performance was monitored would take place in the near future and this would form part of that review.

Reporting on Long Term Projects

Members noted that reporting regarding the long term project, which crossed over more than one year, only mentioned the target for the current year. They felt that the targets for each year up to completion should at least be noted, even though reporting would only be against the current year’s target.

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised that milestones that had not been completed in year, would be carried forward and continue to be reported in the following reporting year.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That delivery against the key projects for 2017/18 be noted;

(2)       That the proposed review regarding the method of reporting consider the following:

(i)         That commentaries include the date at which that information was gathered;

(ii)        Whether the traffic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive a presentation by Councillor Lynda Needham, Leader of the Council.

Councillor Lynda Needham, Leader of the Council, thanked the Chairman for the invitation to address the Committee and gave a presentation regarding that included:

1.       A review of the previous year;

2.       A summary of the coming year;

3.       What went well;

4.       What needed to be improved upon.

Councillor Lynda Needham, Leader of the Council, thanked the Chairman for the invitation to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation as follows:

Waste Contract

The Leader of the Council commented that, even though a charge was now being made for the collection of garden waste, the Council continued to heavily subsidise this service.

A Review of the Previous Year

The Leader of the Council advised that it had been a very busy year.

The waste contract had been one of the most significant service changes/new contracts that the Council had implemented. In addition to this it was easy to forget that we had also managed the integration of the waste teams of this Council and East Herts Council. We were the first of the Authorities in Hertfordshire to embark on this and have engaged with Hertfordshire County Council’s Scrutiny work programme as an exemplar of how Councils can work more effectively together.

The Office Accommodation Project had been an excellent example of project management and delivery. The project was delivered on time and within budget tolerances (£23k overspend and the final capital budget was £6.1M).

The Refurbishment works to the Letchworth Leisure Centre had been completed, which again was an excellent project that, despite some financial challenges in delivering a project at a reasonable cost, had demonstrated excellent outcomes with a new learner pool and totally refurbished facilities including: sports hall, lighting, flooring, additional studio, new café and boiler refurbishment.

Finally, the Local Plan was adopted by Council for submission to the Secretary of State. The Examination process was extensive to say the least, with the Inspector starting off with a 5 week timetable finishing before Christmas, but this soon changed and the Examination concluded in March after many hours of representations and lots of ‘homework’. We are expecting the Inspectors modifications in the summer and there will need to be further consultation by the Inspector on them.

The Leader of the Council took the opportunity to thank the Planning Team, who had gone above and beyond the call of duty, working very long and unsociable hours.

A Summary of the Coming Year

The Leader of the Council advised that most of the information regarding the coming year was included the Corporate Plan, which Members would all be familiar with and drew attention to the following:

•        Local Plan

Got to get through the modifications and on to consultation, adoption and implementation;

•        Crematorium

The Council would be moving forward with the crematorium project, now that the planning applications had been submitted;

•        Waste Contract

Ensure that the Waste Contract was embedded and running smoothly;

•        Museum

          The Town Hall had been open, running effectively and earning income for over two years. It was now important to get a resolution to the ownership of the entrance thereby allowing the full opening of the Museum;

•        BIDS

          Work with our BIDs to ensure that the re-ballots are undertaken effectively. The Council undertook the re-balloting process at no cost to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR LEGAL AND COMMUNITY AND MONITORING OFFICER

To receive the quarterly update regarding the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act – Quarterly Update be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with best practice guidance and the Committee’s terms of reference.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act – Quarterly Update be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with best practice guidance and the Committee’s terms of reference.

To receive and respond to any questions from Members either set out in the agenda or tabled at the meeting.

RESOLVED: That it be noted that Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb had agreed that the answer to his question, asked at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 20 March 2017, be responded to at the meeting due to be held on 18 September 2018.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensue that questions from Members are responded to in a timely manner.

Councillor Stears-Handscomb confirmed that he had agreed for the question he posed on 20 March 2018 to be responded to at the meeting due to be held on 18 September 2018.

No further questions had been asked.

RESOLVED: That it be noted that Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb had agreed that the answer to his question, asked at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 20 March 2017, be responded to at the meeting due to be held on 18 September 2018.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensue that questions from Members are responded to in a timely manner.

REPORT OF THE SCRUTINY OFFICER

To consider the outcome of Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolutions.

RESOLVED:  

(1)       That the actions resulting from the resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted;

(2)       That the Service Director – Commercial be invited to attend the meeting of this Committee due to be held on 18 September 2018, to discuss future plans for commercialisation and how the recommendations of the Task and Finish Group on Commercialisation may be implemented.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and monitor the progress of resolutions made.

The Chief Executive presented the report entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Minute 50 – September 2015 – Task and Finish Group on the Commercialisation of Council Services

Members noted that the Service Director – Commercial had been tasked with developing a commercialism strategy and queried whether there was a timescale for this to be completed.

The Chief Executive advised that the Service Director - Commercial took up the post on 1 June 2018 and one of the first objectives was to set a timescale for this.

Members agreed that the new Service Director – Commercial should be requested to make a presentation to this Committee.

RESOLVED: 

(1)     That the actions resulting from the resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted;

(2)     That the Service Director – Commercial be invited to attend the meeting of this Committee due to be held on 18 September 2018, to discuss future plans for commercialisation and how the recommendations of the Task and Finish Group on Commercialisation may be implemented.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and monitor the progress of resolutions made.

REPORT OF THE SCRUTINY OFFICER

To consider the issues that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee plans to review at future meetings and the activities of its sub-groups.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme be noted;

(2)       That the following be added to the list of potential Task and Finish Groups/Reviews:

·                Communication in a crisis;

·                Implementation of the new waste and recycling contract

(3)       That Councillors Kate Aspinwall, Steve Deakin-Davies, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg, Jean Green and Janine Paterson be requested to meet at 6.30pm on 24 July 2018 in order to draw up a draft scope for a review of the Implementation of the new waste and recycling contract;

(4)       That, in addition to the list of proposed items for consideration at the meeting due to be held on 24 July 2018, the following also be considered:

·                Whether Items due to be considered by Council could be considered by this Committee;

·                Draft scope for a review of the implementation of the new waste and recycling contract.

(5)       That the following be added to the list of Items to be scheduled for future meetings:

·                Local Plan Modifications

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to plan and carry out its workload efficiently and effectively.

The Chief Executive presented the report entitled Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme and drew attention to the following:

Member Workshop on Scrutiny

The Chief Executive drew attention to Paragraph 5.2 of the report which referenced the planned workshop.

The Scrutiny Officer was in dialogue with the Office of Public Scrutiny to draw together a programme for this workshop

Part of effective scrutiny was being able to present recommendations in a way that was acceptable and achievable.

Members commented that it was important that there was dialogue between this Committee and Cabinet to find a way to ensure that the best possible outcomes were achieved from recommendations made by this Committee.

Lessons Learnt Log

Members commented that this needed updating.

Members discussed that it would be valuable for this Committee to meet with Heads of Service to see how the lessons leant log was used.

Task and Finish Groups

Several subjects were awaiting scheduling as follows:

Consultation and Engagement                       Waste Contract

Review of MOU Grants                                  Review of Hitchin Town Hall

Parking Strategy                                             Commercialisation Strategy

Effectiveness of the Community Halls Strategy

Members considered that there should be a Task and Finish Group on Communication and Communication in a Crisis and that the proposed Waste contract Task and Finish Group be retitled as Implementation of the New Waste Contract.

The Chief Executive advised that basing detail gathered for Task and Finish Group investigations around specific projects was sometimes unhelpful, rather a schematic view that was more useful.

It was important to have an overview of how events and tasks were managed and try to draw out key learning points that could be applied to a specific project or more widely.

The proposed Task and Finish Group on Consultation and Engagement was based on the Council’s Consultation Strategy and this was an area that would benefit from an overview and that Business Continuity elements should be considered at this time.

Members considered that a draft scope should be prepared for a Task and Finish Group on the Implementation of the new Waste Contract and that a small group of Members be tasked with preparing the scope outside of the meeting. It was agreed that Councillor Weeks be invited to help with this task.

Councillors Kate Aspinwall, Steve Deakin-Davies, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg, Jean Green and Janine Paterson volunteered to undertake this task.

Forward Plan

Members considered that the following items listed on the Forward Plan should be considered by this Committee:

Local Plan Modifications

Approach to Developer Contributions in North Hertfordshire

Corporate Enforcement Policy

Work Programme

Members commented that not all decisions appeared on the Forward Plan and that any project regarding Churchgate should be considered by this Committee.

The Chief Executive advised that any decision regarding Churchgate would be considered by full Council.

Members queried whether this Committee could consider reports due to be considered by Council.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme be noted;

(2)       That the following be added to the list of potential Task and Finish Groups/Reviews:

·                Communication  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.