Agenda, decisions and minutes

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.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mick Debenham.

Having given due notice Councillor Sean Nolan substituted for Councillor Mick Debenham.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 01 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mick Debenham.

Having given due notice Councillor Sean Nolan substituted for Councillor Mick Debenham.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 12 September 2023.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 12 September 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 2 minutes 38 seconds

In response to a question from Councillor Ralph Muncer, the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager advised that:

·       The questions Councillor Muncer had submitted after the last meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were recorded in a supplementary document on ModGov.

·       Following this meeting there would now be a public reference to this supplementary document as reflected in these minutes.

Councillor Adam Compton, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Val Bryant seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 12 September 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

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.

There was no other business notified.

Audio recording – 5 minutes 0 seconds

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 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.

(1)        The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded.

(2)        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.

(3)        The Chair advised that for the purposes of clarification clause 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution does not apply to this meeting.

(4)        The Chair advised that he had agreed to a change to the order of the agenda and Agenda Item 9 would take place after Agenda Item 15.

Audio recording – 5 minutes 5 seconds

(1)       The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded.

(2)       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.

(3)       The Chair advised that for the purposes of clarification clause 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution does not apply to this meeting.

(4)          The Chair advised that he had agreed to a change to the order of the agenda and Agenda Item 9 would take place after Agenda Item 15.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation at this meeting.

Audio recording – 6 minutes 9 seconds

There was no public participation at this meeting.

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.

No urgent or general exception items were received.

Audio recording – 6 minutes 23 seconds

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.

There have been no called-in items.

Audio recording – 6 minutes 29 seconds

There have been no called-in items.

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

No questions had been submitted by Members.

Audio recording – 6 minutes 33 seconds

No questions had been submitted by Members.

REPORT OF THE SCRUTINY OFFICER

To consider the outcome of Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolutions.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled ‘Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’ was noted.

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

Audio recording – 2 hours 8 minutes 14 seconds

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager presented the report entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and drew attention to the following:

·       The Draft Sustainability SPD had been presented to Cabinet Panel on the Environment on 27 September 2023 and it would also be presented at the next meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 5 December 2023.

·       The CPC Action Plan was marked as complete and would be removed from the resolutions.

·       An online training video for Ideagen would be distributed to Councillors once it was completed. An intranet guide for Members had been circulated in the meantime.

·       Q1 Update on the Council Delivery Plan 2023-24 had been referred and the recommendation was considered, and approved, by Cabinet at the meeting on 19 September 2023.

Councillor Adam Compton proposed and Councillor Nigel Mason seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the report entitled ‘Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’ was noted.

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

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER

A half year update for Comments, Compliments & Complaints for 2023/2024.

The Customer Service Manager presented the Information Note entitled ‘3Cs Half Year Update 2023/2024’.

Audio recording – 6 minutes 41 seconds

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis presented the Information Note entitled ‘3Cs Half Year Update 2023/2024’ and advised that:

·       Things were moving in a positive direction when you compare the number of complaints received this year as opposed to the number received last year over the same period.

·       There had been a slight increase in the number of complaints to our contractor Urbaser, but this was because customer services were putting them directly through to the contractors to resolve where possible.

·       Overall picture is positive when looking at total percentage of complaints received versus the number of customers that the Council serve.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

·       Councillor Matt Barnes

·       Councillor Dominic Griffiths

In response to the questions, Councillor Dennis advised that she would contact the relevant Service Directorate and report back to Members on lessons learned from the complaints.

In response to the questions, the Customer Services Manager advised that:

·       There had not been any progress at that time, however the Council had recently procured a new digital platform which amongst other things would replace the current Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. As part of that project, the Council was looking at how best to capture customer experience, including some sentiment analysis.

·       He would provide a breakdown of why May had seen the highest number of complaints.

The Chair advised that it would be very useful if in future years analysis of complaints could be provided with a monthly breakdown.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR - ENTERPRISE

To provide an account of the Harkness Court refurbishment project.

The Chair introduced the Call to Account item and welcomed Steve Crowley, Service Director – Enterprise and Nafees Parker, Building Surveyor, who were in attendance to provide their account.

The Service Director – Enterprise presented their report entitled ‘Call to account on the Harkness Court Refurbishment’ and appendices, following which Members asked questions.

Audio recording – 12 minutes 18 seconds

The Chair introduced the Call to Account item and welcomed Steve Crowley, Service Director – Enterprise and Nafees Parker, Building Surveyor, who were in attendance to provide their account.

Before proceedings commenced, the following Members confirmed they had received dispensation from the Service Director – Legal & Community:

·       Councillor Sean Nolan

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Ian Moody

·       Councillor Val Bryant

The Service Director – Enterprise presented their report entitled ‘Call to account on the Harkness Court Refurbishment’ and Appendices, and advised that:

·       The aim was to revert Harkness Court back into residential use, as four flats, from its current use as offices.

·       The start date for refurbishment was delayed from 2018 to August 2020, the building work had been completed, however, there were a number of additional items that needed to be undertaken to enable it to be rented out. This work was scheduled to complete by the start of February 2024.

·       The lack of a formal project or project manager in place, plus changes in personnel at Stevenage Borough Council and North Herts Council combined with the impact of Covid, had caused delays in starting this project.

·       Another delay was complying was that the furthest point a fire engine can park from the furthest point of a building could be no more than 45 meters, this was part of the previously mentioned work that needed to be undertaken.

·       On completion Harkness Court would be leased out to rent by Broadwater Hundred Property Management Ltd, a trading company wholly owned by the Council which would provide a revenue income of £16,000 per annum.

The following which Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Adam Compton

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Clare Billing

·       Councillor Val Bryant

·       Councillor Ian Moody

·       Councillor Sean Nolan

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

The following questions were asked by Members:

·       Have you gone through the list of all the other commercial projects to see if they do fall within the scope which will ensure they get on to a project plan and this doesn’t happen again?

·       Is the figure of £16,000 revenue income listed in 4.2 of the report for the Council correct?

·       Could you outline the primary objectives for the project? Were any other alternative objectives considered?

·       Who were key stakeholder of the project and did this change throughout the duration of the project?

·       Was the role of the project manager identified and were other stakeholders aware of this?

·       Was this project in Councillor Levett’s portfolio at the beginning of the project?

·       Were there any delays in signing off the contract at the start?

·       Were any risks identified at the start of the project?

·       Were there any significant changes to milestones at the beginning of the project, and were there in fact any milestones?

·       Had there been any staff resource issues throughout the project and did this have any impact on the timescales?

·       Were any of the current projects identified that there wasn’t a contract for?

·       In the last eighteen months was there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 246.

To consider passing the following resolution:

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press 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 of the said Act (as amended).

Audio Recording: 1 hour 11 minutes

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press 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 of the said Act (as amended).

N.B. Following the conclusion of this item there was a short break in proceedings until 20:44.

To take as read and approve as a true record the Part 2 minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 20 June 2023.

RESOLVED: That the part 2 Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 20 June 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

N.B. This item was considered in restricted session and therefore no recordings were available.

Councillor Adam Compton proposed, and Councillor Clare Billing seconded, and following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the part 2 Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 20 June 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

REPORT OF THE SHARED SERVICE MANAGER

Officers are currently undergoing a competitive dialogue procurement and are seeking a decision from Cabinet on further service design options that can be considered in order to achieve the long-term financial sustainability of the service and the Council.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee recommend to Cabinet that the recommendations contained within the report entitled ‘Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract Service Design – Part 2’ be amended to:

(1)   Any changes to the service design identified in Appendix 2 regarding waste and recycling service are referred back to Cabinet for approval.

(2)   Any changes to the service design identified in Appendix 2 regarding street cleansing service are referred back to Cabinet for approval

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION:

(1)   The competitive dialogue procurement process allows the Council to explore service design options which may present benefits to the Council. The process so far has identified that significant cost increases are likely from the waste, recycling and street cleansing services in the next contract.

(2)   Officers have considered the initial offers from bidders and discussed opportunities for specification changes with them, which are aligned with the Council’s aims for high performance, but that will reduce the costs to the Council with minimal impacts on perceived performance.

(3)   To ensure decisions are taken by elected representatives and not delegated to Officers.

 N.B. This item was considered in restricted session and therefore no recordings were available.

The Executive Member for Recycling and Waste Management presented the report entitled ‘Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract Design – Part 2’.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

(1)   Any changes to the service design identified in Appendix 2 of the report regarding waste and recycling service are referred back to Cabinet for approval.

(2)   Any changes to the service design identified in Appendix 2 of the report regarding street cleansing service are referred back to Cabinet for approval.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION:

(1)   The competitive dialogue procurement process allowed the Council to explore service design options which may present benefits to the Council. The process so far has identified that significant cost increases are likely from the waste, recycling and street cleansing services in the next contract.

(2)   Officers have considered the initial offers from bidders and discussed opportunities for specification changes with them, which were aligned with the Council’s aims for high performance, but that will reduce the costs to the Council with minimal impacts on perceived performance.

(3)  To ensure decisions were taken by elected representatives and not delegated to Officers.

REPORT OF THE SHARED SERVICE MANAGER

Officers are currently undergoing a competitive dialogue procurement and are seeking a decision from Cabinet on further service design options that can be considered in order to achieve the long-term financial sustainability of the service and the Council.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee recommend to Cabinet that the recommendations contained within the report entitled ‘Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract Service Design – Part 1’ be amended to:

(1)   Any changes to the service design identified in paragraph 8.2 of the report regarding waste and recycling service are referred back to Cabinet for approval.

(2)   Any changes to the service design identified in paragraph 8.2 of the report regarding street cleansing service are referred back to Cabinet for approval

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION:

(1)   The competitive dialogue procurement process allows the Council to explore service design options which may present benefits to the Council. The process so far has identified that significant cost increases are likely from the waste, recycling and street cleansing services in the next contract.

(2)   Officers have considered the initial offers from bidders and discussed opportunities for specification changes with them, which are aligned with the Council’s aims for high performance, but that will reduce the costs to the Council with minimal impacts on perceived performance.

(3)   To ensure decisions are taken by elected representatives and not delegated to Officers.

Audio recording – 1hours 52 minutes 05 seconds

The Executive Member for Recycling and Waste Management, presented the report entitled ‘Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract Service Design – Part 1’ and advised that:

·       This was a high-profile service which impacts on residents every week and on the Council being able to meet its carbon reduction and sustainability objectives.

·       There was a competitive procurement process in progress as the proposed service design presented affordability issues for Council.

·       Delegated authority was being sought to proceed with points 8.2 of this report as the procurement timeline was tight.

The Chair advised that the reason part of this item was in Part 2 was due to financial implications for the Council and that there was a vote on two new Recommendations.

The following members asked questions:

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

·       Councillor Matt Barnes

·       Councillor Clare Billing

·       Councillor Adam Compton

In response to questions, the Service Manager - Waste stated that:

·       External legal advice was being sought to ensure the contract complied with proposed statutory guidance on frequency of residual waste collections.

·       Some of the design changes were mutually exclusive.

·       There were lots of performance measures available, but sustainability was different to carbon reduction in relation to climate and performance rates.

·       The specification would be able to manage all anticipated changes in legislation.

·       Further legal advice was being sought to ensure the ability to make changes to the contract if needed.

Councillor David Levett reported that this was the largest contract and the biggest expenditure that the Council has and the way it is delivered had an impact on every household in North Herts and should be decided by elected representatives. He proposed that the referral be amended and any changes should be referred to Cabinet for approval.

This amendment was seconded by Councillor Ralph Muncer.

The Service Director – Resources advised that recommendations are listed as paragraph 8.2 in Part 1 and as Appendix 2 in Part 2.

Having been proposed, as amended, by Councillor David Levett and seconded by Councillor Ralph Muncer, following a vote, it was:

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

(1)   Any changes to the service design identified in paragraph 8.2 of the report regarding waste and recycling service are referred back to Cabinet for approval.

(2)   Any changes to the service design identified in paragraph 8.2 of the report regarding street cleansing service are referred back to Cabinet for approval.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION:

(1)   The competitive dialogue procurement process allowed the Council to explore service design options which may present benefits to the Council. The process so far has identified that significant cost increases are likely from the waste, recycling and street cleansing services in the next contract.

(2)   Officers have considered the initial offers from bidders and discussed opportunities for specification changes with them, which were aligned with the Council’s aims for high performance, but that would reduce the costs to the Council with minimal impacts on perceived performance.

(3)  To ensure decisions were taken by elected representatives and not delegated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 250.

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 Committee prioritised topics for inclusion in the work programme attached as Appendix A and, where appropriate, determined the high-level form and timing of scrutiny input.

(2)   That the Committee, having considered the most recent iteration of the Forward Plan, as attached at Appendix B, suggested items be considered at its meetings in the coming civic year.

(3)   That the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan as attached at Appendix C was considered.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)   To allow the Committee to set a work programme which provides focused Member oversight, encourages open debate and seeks to achieve service improvement through effective policy development and meaningful policy and service change.

(2)   The need to observe Constitutional requirements and monitor the Forward Plan for appropriate items to scrutinise remains a key aspect of work programming.

Audio recording – 2 hours 10 minutes 32 seconds

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager presented the report entitled Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme and drew attention to the following:

·       Members should use the link in 8.3 of the report to find up to date information on the Forward Plan and dates for Cabinet consideration.

·       Members needed to advise of any topics to be included for discussion at the Crime and Disorders Matters on 29 January 2024.

·       An extraordinary meeting would be held on 5 December to review the Leisure Management Contract.

·       The update to the Common Housing Allocation Scheme would be heard at the meeting on 9 January 2024.

In response to a question from Councillor Ralph Muncer, the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager advised that he would ensure an invite was sent out to the Hertfordshire Constabulary to attend a meeting next year.

Councillor Adam Compton proposed, and Councillor Ian Moody seconded, and following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Committee prioritised topics for inclusion in the work programme attached

as Appendix A and, where appropriate, determined the high-level form and timing of scrutiny input.

(2) That the Committee, having considered the most recent iteration of the Forward Plan, as attached at Appendix B, suggested items be considered at its meetings in the coming civic year.

(3) That the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan as attached at Appendix C was considered.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1) To allow the Committee to set a work programme which provides focused Member oversight, encourages open debate and seeks to achieve service improvement through effective policy development and meaningful policy and service change.

(2) The need to observe Constitutional requirements and monitor the Forward Plan for appropriate items to scrutinise remains a key aspect of work programming.