Agenda, decisions and minutes

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 19th January, 2021 7.30 pm

Venue: This will be a Virtual Meeting

Contact: Committee Services (01462) 474655  Email: committee.services@north-herts.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

67.

WELCOME AND REMOTE/PARTLY REMOTE MEETINGS PROTOCOL SUMMARY pdf icon PDF 122 KB

Members are requested to ensure that they are familiar with the attached summary of the Remote/Partly Remote Meetings Protocol. The full Remote/Partly Remote Meetings Protocol has been published and is available here: https://www.north-herts.gov.uk/home/council-and-democracy/council-and-committee-meetings.

Decision:

The Chair welcomed everyone to this Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting that was being conducted with Members and Officers at various locations, communicating via audio/video and online. There was also the opportunity for the public and press to listen to and view proceedings.

 

The Chair invited the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Officer to explain how proceedings would work and to confirm that Members and Officers were in attendance.

 

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Officer undertook a roll call to ensure that all Members, Officers and registered speakers could hear and be heard and gave advice regarding the following:

 

Extracts from the Remote/Partly Remote Meetings Protocol were included with the agenda and the full version was available on the Council’s website which included information regarding:

 

·                Live Streaming;

·                Noise Interference;

·                Rules of Debate;

·                Voting; and

·                Part 2 Items

 

Members were requested to ensure that they were familiar with the Protocol.

 

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor David Levett started the meeting proper.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 10 seconds

 

The Chair welcomed everyone to this Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting that was being conducted with Members and Officers at various locations, communicating via audio/video and online. There was also the opportunity for the public and press to listen to and view proceedings.

 

The Chair invited the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Officer to explain how proceedings would work and to confirm that Members and Officers were in attendance.

 

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Officer undertook a roll call to ensure that all Members, Officers and registered speakers could hear and be heard and gave advice regarding the following:

 

Extracts from the Remote/Partly Remote Meetings Protocol were included with the agenda and the full version was available on the Council’s website which included information regarding:

 

·                Live Streaming;

·                Noise Interference;

·                Rules of Debate;

·                Voting; and

·                Part 2 Items

 

Members were requested to ensure that they were familiar with the Protocol.

 

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor David Levett started the meeting proper.

68.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

 

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Decision:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Kate Aspinwall and Jim McNally.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 3 minutes 15 seconds

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Kate Aspinwall and Jim McNally.

 

Having given due notice, Councillor Clare Billing advised that she would be substituting for Councillor Kate Aspinwall.

69.

MINUTES - 21 JANUARY 2020 TO 8 DECEMBER 2020 pdf icon PDF 365 KB

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on the following dates:

 

21 January 2020;

16 June 2020;

14 July 2020;

8 September 2020;

8 December 2020.

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That the Minutes of the meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 January 2020, 16 June 2020, 14 July 2020, 8 September 2020 and 8 December 2020 be approved as a true record of the proceedings;

 

(2)       That, with the authorisation of the Chair, his electronic signature and initials be attached to the Minutes approved in (1) above.

Minutes:

Audio Recording – 3 minutes 35 seconds

 

Councillor David Levett advised that since the beginning of March, when NHDC started to hold meetings remotely, it had not been possible to approve Minutes of meetings. Minutes could now be approved with the electronic signature of the Chair being applied following approval.

 

There were 5 sets of Minutes to agree:

 

·                21 January 2020;

·                16 June 2020;

·                14 July 2020;

·                8 September 2020;

·                8 December 2020.

 

Councillors Terry Hone and Tom Tyson advised that they had given their apologies for the meeting held on 8th December 2020 so could not vote on those minutes.

 

Councillor David Levett proposed and Councillor Lisa Nash seconded, and it was:

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That the Minutes of the Meetings of the Committee held on 21 January 2020, 16 June 2020, 14 July 2020, 8 September 2020 and 8 December 2020 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair;

 

(2)       That, with the authorisation of the Chair, his electronic signature and initials be attached to the Minutes approved in (1) above.

70.

NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II 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 Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

Decision:

There was no other business notified.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 6 minutes 27 seconds

 

There was no other business notified.

71.

CHAIR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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 Chair 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, wishing 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.

Decision:

(1)       The Chair welcomed those present at the meeting, especially those who had attended to give a presentation;

 

(2)       The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recording would be available on Mod.gov and the film recording via the NHDC Youtube channel.

 

(3)       The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest 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.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 6 minutes 33 seconds

 

(1)       The Chair welcomed those present at the meeting, especially those who had attended to give a presentation;

 

(2)       The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recordings would be available to hear on Mod.gov and the film recording via the NHDC YouTube channel.

 

(3)       The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest 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.

72.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

Decision:

The Chair welcomed the following guests who were in attendance to give presentations:

 

·                Chief Inspector Sally Phillips, Hertfordshire Constabulary;

·                Chief Inspector Jon Roche, Hertfordshire Constabulary;

·                Sarah Pateman, Survivors Against Domestic Abuse/ Community Safety Manager, Stevenage Borough Council.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 7 minutes 1 second

 

The Chair welcomed the following participants to the meeting to present the annual Crime and Disorder Matters update:

 

·                Former Chief Inspector Sally Phillips, Hertfordshire Constabulary;

·                Chief Inspector Jon Roche, Hertfordshire Constabulary;

·                Sarah Pateman, Chair of Survivors Against Domestic Abuse (SADA), Community Safety Manager, Stevenage Borough Council.

73.

URGENT AND GENERAL EXCEPTION ITEMS

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

Decision:

No urgent or general exception items were received.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 1 hour 2 minutes 37 seconds

 

No urgent or general exception items were received.

74.

CALLED-IN ITEMS

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.

Decision:

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

Minutes:

Audio recording – 1 hour 2 minutes 42 seconds

 

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

75.

CRIME AND DISORDER MATTERS

To receive a verbal presentation from Hertfordshire Constabulary supported by the Community Protection Manager in respect of Crime and Disorder Issues.

Decision:

Chief Inspector Sally Phillips, Hertfordshire Constabulary thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee and provided Members with a verbal presentation in respect of Crime and Disorder Matters including:

 

·                Policing during the pandemic;

·                Anti-social behaviour and crime during the pandemic;

·                Domestic abuse during the pandemic;

·                Introduction of Chief Inspector Jon Roche.

 

The Chair thanked Chief Inspector Phillips for her presentation.

 

Sarah Pateman, Survivors Against Domestic Abuse (SADA), thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee and provided Members with a PowerPoint presentation in respect of the work carried out by SADA and the support provided to survivors of domestic abuse during the pandemic.

 

The Chair thanked Ms Pateman for her presentation.

Minutes:

Audio recording 7 minutes 36 seconds

 

The Community Protection Manager introduced the former North Herts Chief Inspector Sally Phillips, Chief Inspector Jon Roche and Sarah Pateman, Chair of SADA, to present on the matters discussed at the previous Committee meeting.

 

Chief Inspector Sally Phillips, Hertfordshire Constabulary thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee and provided Members with a verbal presentation in respect of Crime and Disorder Matters within North Hertfordshire including:

 

Policing during the pandemic

 

·                Policing during the pandemic had been exceptionally challenging with the ever-changing situation of different tiers and lockdowns to police;

·                At the start of the pandemic a dedicated operational command was set up across the force to ensure service delivery remained safe for public and staff;

·                Dedicated patrols were set up in November to capture all the engagement and enforcement around Covid across each district;

·                Last week alone, 780 reports of Covid breaches were received;

·                Covid-related anti-social behaviour was dealt with positively, using the 4 Es process (Engage, Explain, Encourage, Enforce);

·                Reports of suspicious activity, e.g. drug dealing, had increased as people had the opportunity to see more as they were working from home.

 

Crime statistics for 2020

 

·                Drug supply and related serious violent crime remained a threat;

·                The end of 2020 saw a 4.1% decrease of all crime in North Herts which was one of the highest performing CSPs in the county;

·                The impact of Covid could be seen in the decrease in all crime across North Herts which was currently 17.4%, equating to around 1000 less crimes;

·                Demand in complex areas of vulnerability and mental health had increased;

·                North Herts had continued to see an increase in positive outcomes. This stood at 3.8% for traditional crime which was significantly above the force average;

·                The Scorpion Team and Local Crime Unit had focused on robust investigation of County Lines drug supply and related violence and weapons resulting in positive outcomes and criminal justice outcomes through the Courts;

·                They had also been working with counterparts in the Serious and Organised Crime team identifying organised crime groups and disrupting their behaviour, and carrying out preventative and protection work with the community to make North Herts a hostile place for that type of criminal activity to occur;

·                The pandemic had disrupted some youth-related anti-social behaviour in Letchworth and Royston but preventative work was ongoing to ensure these areas did not become hotspots again.

 

Domestic Abuse during the pandemic

 

·                The national increase in domestic abuse during the pandemic had been reflected locally;

·                Each month had seen a consistent increase in domestic abuse during the pandemic: September had seen the highest increase of 15.4%, December had an increase of 4.7%, and July had seen a slight decrease in comparison with the previous year;

·                Although domestic abuse had increased during the pandemic it was encouraging that people felt confident to report it;

·                North Herts had one of the highest outcome rates within the county for domestic abuse;

·                Part of the Community Safety Action Plan was to deliver the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

76.

RESOLUTIONS OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE pdf icon PDF 222 KB

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE, MEMBER AND SCRUTINY MANAGER

To consider the outcome of Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolutions.

Decision:

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and comment on actions and feedback received regarding resolutions previously made.

Minutes:

Audio recording 1 hour 2 minutes 47 seconds

 

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager presented the report entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and comment on actions and feedback received regarding resolutions previously made.

77.

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 230 KB

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE, MEMBER AND SCRUTINY MANAGER

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

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

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

 

(2)       That Members be requested to inform the Chair and the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager of any items to be considered at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 9 March 2021 and beyond;

 

(3)       That the following items be considered at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 9 March 2021:

 

·                The full recommendations of the Peer Review Challenge;

·                The Draft Design SPD.

 

(4)       That Members be requested to inform the Chair and the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager of the items that Settle and LEP should concentrate on when attending the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting;

 

(5)       That an invitation to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be sent to Settle and LEP with an agenda of items for consideration.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To allow the Committee to set a work programme which provides focussed Member oversight, encourages open debate and seeks to achieve service improvement through effective policy development and meaningful policy and service change.

Minutes:

Audio recording 1 hour 3 minutes 33 seconds

 

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager presented the report entitled Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme together with the following appendices:

 

·                Appendix A – Work Programme for Future Committee Meetings;

·                Appendix B – Forward Plan for 7 December 2020;

·                Appendix C – Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan in regard to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

 

The following Members asked questions and took part in debate:

 

·                Councillor Claire Strong;

·                Councillor Terry Hone;

·                Councillor Tony Hunter;

·                Councillor David Levett.

 

Members comments included:

 

·                It would be beneficial for the Committee to review the whole Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan to see how actions were progressing and provide any help or support;

·                It would be useful for the Committee to review the draft Design SPD again before it went to Cabinet, particularly as amendments had been made since the Committee last considered it in September 2020;

·                An agenda should be considered for the meeting to which settle and the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) had been invited.

 

RESOLVED:

 

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

 

(2)       That Members be requested to inform the Chair and the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager of any items to be considered at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 9 March 2021 and beyond;

 

(3)       That the following items be considered at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 9 March 2021:

 

·                Progress made regarding the recommendations of the Peer Review Challenge;

·                The Draft Design SPD.

 

(4)       That Members be requested to inform the Chair and the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager of the items that settle and LEP should concentrate on when attending the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting;

 

(5)       That an invitation to attend the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be sent to settle and LEP with an agenda of items for consideration.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To allow the Committee to set a work programme which provides focussed Member oversight, encourages open debate and seeks to achieve service improvement through effective policy development and meaningful policy and service change.

78.

REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT (‘RIPA’) ANNUAL REVIEW pdf icon PDF 214 KB

REPORT OF THE LEGAL REGULATORY TEAM MANAGER

 

This Report updates on the Council’s current use of RIPA and reports on the annual policy review.

Decision:

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (‘RIPA’) Annual Report be noted.

 

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

Minutes:

Audio recording 1 hour 13 minutes 57 seconds

 

The Leader of the Council presented the report entitled Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (‘RIPA’) Annual Review.

 

The following Members commented on the report:

 

·                Councillor Terry Hone;

·                Councillor David Levett.

 

Members noted that the powers were very seldom used.

 

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (‘RIPA’) Annual Review be noted.

 

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

79.

MID YEAR AMENDMENTS TO PERFORMANCE MONITORING TARGETS FOR 20/21 pdf icon PDF 246 KB

REPORT OF THE CONTROLS, RISK AND PERFORMANCE MANAGER

 

Amended targets due to the impact of Covid19 on the 20/21 Performance Monitoring.

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That the Controls, Risk and Performance Manager be requested to liaise with the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager in order to include the number of views of Council meetings on YouTube in the next performance target report.

 

(2)       That the Leader of the Council be requested to refer the possibility of re-opening the outdoor pools earlier in 2021 to Leisure Services, in order to maximise the potential number of visitors to leisure facilities and provide this service to the community which had been unavailable in 2020.

 

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

 

(1)       That Cabinet considers and formally approves the proposed amendments to the PIs and any associated targets that will continue to be monitored throughout 2020/2021 by Overview & Scrutiny;

 

(2)       That Cabinet consider instigating a “reporting only” figure of those viewing Council meetings on YouTube in order to gauge public engagement with virtual meetings.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that Performance Monitoring is effective and reflects the current national situation.

Minutes:

Audio Recording – 1 hour 16 minutes 5 seconds

 

The Leader of the Council presented the report entitled Mid-Year Amendments to Performance Monitoring Targets for 2020/21.

 

He advised that two amendments to targets were proposed being:

 

MI LI015 - Number of Visits to Leisure Facilities

 

·                It was proposed to reduce the target from 1,530,000 to 205,440.

·                This target was set with the assumption that the centres will reopen in March 2021.

·                If the facilities did not reopen in March the target would be reduced to 162,950.

 

REG3 - Percentage of Environmental Health Programmed Inspections Completed

 

·                     It was proposed that the current target of 95.0% be deleted

·                     Given the current resource commitment to the pandemic and future commitments to the EU transition this PI would be for reporting purposes only.

 

The following Members took part in the debate:

 

·                Councillor David Levett;

·                Councillor Claire Strong.

 

Members commented that consideration should be given to opening the outdoor pools earlier in the season and that there would be value in considering the number of views on YouTube compared with public attendance at meetings in order to gauge public engagement with virtual meetings.

 

Councillor Ian Albert, Executive Member for Finance and IT advised that, from a financial point of view, opening of the outdoor pools was under consideration.

 

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager advised that her team was undertaking some research regarding the comparison of public attendance at physical meetings against views of YouTube recordings of meetings.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That the Controls, Risk and Performance Manager be requested to liaise with the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager in order to include the number of views of Council meetings on YouTube in the next performance target report.

 

(2)       That the Leader of the Council be requested to refer the possibility of re-opening the outdoor pools earlier in 2021 to Leisure Services, in order to maximise the potential number of visitors to leisure facilities and provide this service to the community which had been unavailable in 2020.

 

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

 

(1)       That Cabinet considers and formally approves the proposed amendments to the PIs and any associated targets that will continue to be monitored throughout 2020/2021 by Overview & Scrutiny;

 

(2)       That Cabinet considers instigating a “reporting only” figure of those viewing Council meetings on YouTube in order to gauge public engagement with virtual meetings.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that Performance Monitoring is effective and reflects the current national situation.

80.

MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

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

Decision:

No questions had been submitted.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 1 hour 23 minutes 53 seconds

 

No questions had been submitted.

Audio Recording of Meeting MP3 39 MB