Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

No declarations of interest were made.

The Chair announced that the Shama Centre Petition, as detailed on the agenda, would not now be discussed at the request of the lead petitioner, because they had accepted a proposal made by the council.  Further details were included on the updated Tracking of Petitions monitoring report, which is attached at the back of these minutes.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview Select Committee held on 2 February 2017 have been circulated and the Committee will be asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

that the minutes of the meeting of the Overview Select Committee held 2 February 2017 be confirmed as a correct record.

The meeting received an update on the progress on actions agreed at the previous meeting:

Questions for the City Mayor: Admissions Policy at Beauchamp College

Councillor Grant reported that he had received some feedback from the Department of Education who had said that concerns or complaints about the college’s admission policy needed to be sent from parents rather than their ward councillor. He had passed this message onto the parents who had raised the issue with him, but he believed that parents would be reluctant to do this in case it put their child at a disadvantage. The City Mayor commented that he was aware that the Strategic Director for Children’s Services had spoken to Councillor Grant in February about this, and there was a limit as to what the city council could do, as Beauchamp was in the county, but they would continue to monitor the situation.

Questions for the City Mayor: Progress on issues raised during the Knighton ward walk

The City Mayor reported that he had talked to officers about progress being made on issues raised during the ward walk and all had been taken forward. Councillor Grant said that he had received comprehensive feedback on the plans for Overdale School and there had been a meeting in City Hall for ward councillors and residents to discuss the flooding issue in Knighton.  The City Mayor added that similar walks took place in other wards where issues raised were followed up and ward councillors kept informed of progress being made.

Questions for the City Mayor: Complaints about housing repairs

The meeting heard that the Assistant City Mayor for Housing would join the meeting later and this matter would be discussed when he arrived.

Questions for the City Mayor: Informal briefing to consider aspects of the proposals for the Haymarket Theatre.

Councillor Khote, Chair of the Economic Development, Transport and Tourism Scrutiny Commission reported that this meeting had taken place where they had received a briefing and presentation.

The Monitoring Officer submits a report which explains that a petition has been received which asks the council to consider reinstating funding of the Shama Women’s Centre.  The Committee is recommended to consider the petition and any representation and make any recommendations to the Executive in accordance with the Petitions Scheme.

The item was removed from the agenda at the request of the lead petitioner.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any questions, representations or statements of case received.   

The Monitoring Officer reported that no questions, representations or statements of case had been received.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received.

The Monitoring Officer submits a report that updates Members on the monitoring of outstanding petitions. The Committee is asked to note the current outstanding petitions and agree to remove those petitions marked ‘Petitions Process Complete’ from the report.

Councillor Khote referred to the petition for funding for the Shama Centre and queried how the centre would be able to continue to offer a service because the agreement reached with the council would not continue to pay the equivalent of the rent which was £30k per year. Councillor Malik responded that Councillor Khote would have to ask the centre directly. They had other funding streams, but there was a shortfall.

AGREED:     

that the report be noted and those petitions marked petition process complete, namely: 06/10/2016-2,  6/10/2016-3, 17/11/2016, 22/11/2016, 18/01/2017 and 20/02/2017 be removed from the monitoring report.

The City Mayor will answer questions raised by members of the Overview Select Committee on issues not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

The Chair invited questions for the City Mayor and the following questions were raised.

COUNCIL FUNDING FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Councillor Porter stated that at the council budget meeting, he had raised a query relating to the council providing funding for private schools in the City. He questioned the reasons for this when local schools were very short of funds themselves. 

The City Mayor responded that he didn’t recall being asked this question before but he thought that it was possibly related to a child with special educational needs where the council were obliged to arrange a placement. He asked Councillor Porter to submit the question in writing and he would send a response.

LOCAL PLAN

Councillor Porter asked when the consultation on the local plan would take place. He said that they had been told that this would be held in 2016, then they were told February 2017 but the consultation still had not started.

The City Mayor responded that there would be a consultation on the local plan which he believed would be held later in the year. The process for the local plan was long and complex; neighbouring authorities also needed to be consulted and a Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment signed off.  However officers were on track and making progress on this.  Councillor Porter added that the members of the Planning and Development Control Committee had expressed concerns that the local plan was now out of date.

LINK ROAD

Councillor Cutkelvin referred to plans for a link road that had been considered at the Planning and Development Control Committee which would divert buses away from the clock tower.  She asked the City Mayor whether this was part of a wider scheme to pedestrianise the area around the clock tower.

The City Mayor responded that the link road would make it possible to direct buses away from the Haymarket Theatre and Churchgate. Churchgate had considerable investment in the 1980s, but was now very much in need of improvement works, partly because of the volume of bus traffic. It was also a very difficult street for wheelchair users to navigate. The link for buses through Mansfield Street was an important aspect in progressing these improvements, but the speed on when this could be achieved depended on when the appropriate land could be acquired.

ACADEMY SCHOOLS

Councillor Cutkelvin asked the City Mayor whether he knew any more about the Government’s proposals to turn schools into academies. She said that under the new Prime Minister, there appeared to be less talk from the Government about those previously expressed plans.

The City Mayor responded that the Government appeared now to be promoting grammar schools rather than about turning schools into academies.  Very positive discussions with schools were taking place but the uncertainty around this was not helpful.

Councillor Grant commented that the DfE would continue to turn those schools that they perceived to be under-performing, into academies. He understood that schools in the East Midlands were considered to be under-  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99.

The Committee will receive the report of the Finance Task Group which will consider the following Finance Reports: The minutes of the meeting are attached (in appendix C1) along with the following reports:

a)    Revenue Monitoring Report Period 9, 2016-2017 (Appendix C2 )

b)      Capital Monitoring Report Period 9, 2016-2017 (Appendix C3  )

The Chair introduced the report of the Finance Task Group and invited Councillor Connelly, Assistant City Mayor for Housing, and the Director of Housing to the table. The Chair explained that at the Task Group meeting, Members had discussed the number of complaints received relating to housing repairs. They had questioned whether the number of complaints was connected to the restructuring that had taken place in housing services. It was noted also that there was an underspend in the housing maintenance budget.

The Director explained that the service and the repair service had undergone a significant change. A staffing review had taken place, involving 400 staff, and changes had been made to the staffing, operational and I.T. arrangements. There were vacancies in the service but before any recruitment could take place it was thought to be prudent to see how the new system was working; also taking into account the reduction in housing stock. Following this period of review, it had now been determined what recruitment was needed and this was now underway.   The Director added that there had been an improvement in the number of repairs completed on the first visit and

a reduction in the number of complaints received relating to repairs.

In response to a query relating to the expected rent loss caused by the 1% rent reduction of £1.9m  in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the impact of this, the Assistant City Mayor explained that some capital programmes would need to be slowed down, for example providing new kitchens etc.  In addition, because the HRA was self- funding, there would not be enough money to build the number of new council houses that were needed to ease the pressure on the housing waiting list. The Assistant City Mayor added that until the right to buy council houses scheme stopped or was suspended, the council would continue to lose housing stock.  Members heard that in relation to housing repairs; they continued to be carried out at an average of four repairs per property, in spite of all the improvements that were being carried out. It was difficult to understand why this figure was so high and it was an issue that needed to be investigated. In response to a query, Members heard that a repair job was only counted once, even if a member of staff had to come back to finish the job. The Director was asked if in future, communications to ward councillors about issues such as this could be improved. Some ward councillors had a considerable number of council houses in their ward and more information would help them deal with queries from tenants.

Councillor Porter questioned whether a cash incentive (taken from income from the right to buy sales) could be given to existing tenants to encourage them to move out and perhaps put a deposit on buying a house. This would free up a council house and ease the pressure on the waiting list. The Director responded that this would not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 100.

To receive and endorse the following reports of reviews carried out by Scrutiny Commissions:

1)    Delivering Social Value (Economic Development, Transport and Tourism Scrutiny Commission) (Appendix D1)

2)    Council Housing Voids (Housing Scrutiny Commission) (Appendix D2)

The Committee were asked to receive and endorse the following Scrutiny Commission’s Review reports:

Delivering Social Value: Economic Development, Transport and Tourism Scrutiny Commission

Councillor Khote, Chair of the Commission presented the report to the Committee and stated that the findings informed the review’s recommendations and the development of a new Social Value Charter for the Council. The charter set out the council’s commitment to consider additional community benefits through its future commissioning activities.

The Chair thanked Councillor Khote and questioned whether there was an amount set aside through procurement for social value. The Director of Finance explained that a sum of money was not set aside for this, but the council considered how social value could be gained from every procurement exercise. For example, in any construction project, the main contractors would be encouraged to use local sub- contractors and apprentices. Councillor Bajaj commented that the Heritage, Leisure and Sport Scrutiny Commission were aware of the work being undertaken in relation to social value and would be making future recommendations in line with the report.  Councillor Dempster added that social value in relation to procurement had been part of the Building Schools for the Future programme and suggested that a note of this should be added to the capital budget monitoring reports to raise awareness.

AGREED:
                   that the review report be endorsed.

COUNCIL HOUSING VOIDS – Housing Scrutiny Commission

Councillor Newcombe, Chair of the Housing Scrutiny Commission presented the report to the Committee.  Councillor Dempster commented that this was an important issue for all people who were on the council housing waiting list. She referred to the concerns raised by the Assistant Mayor for Housing that on average, each council property had four repairs per year and suggested that this could be something for the Housing Scrutiny Commission to look into.

AGREED

that the Housing Scrutiny Commission review report into Council Housing Voids be endorsed.

A work programme for the Overview Select Committee is attached.  The Committee is asked to consider this and make comments and/or amendments as it considers necessary.

Councillor Cutkelvin, Chair of the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission, explained that Members had discussed the Using Buildings Better programme in which there were two strands: Transforming Neighbourhood Services and Channel Shift. She believed that there were broad issues within channel shift that would be best looked at by the Overview Select Committee because they cut across various different scrutiny commissions.  Councillor Cutkelvin expressed concerns about access to online functions, as where systems failed or online access was sporadic the entire channel shift process was undermined. She added that greater savings could be achieved if more people used online facilities and those savings could be diverted to areas in greater need.

AGREED

that the channel shift initiative be added to the Overview Select Committee work programme.

Members are asked to consider and comment on the Plan of Key Decisions.

Members noted the Plan of Key Decisions.

The Chair said that this was the last meeting of the Overview Select Committee during the current municipal year and he thanked the City Mayor, Members, the Director of Finance, the Scrutiny Policy Officer and the Democratic Support Officer for their work on the Committee during the year.

The meeting closed at 7.40pm.