Hart Borough Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting

The minutes of 14^th February 2023 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies had been received from

Cllr Axam       –         Substitute Cllr Makepeace Brown

Cllr Dorn        –         Substitute Cllr Forster

Cllr Wood

Councillor Forster declared a non-prejudicial interest in Minute 6 as a Hampshire County Councillor, and as having an involvement with an EV company.

There were no announcements.

None.

The Service plans were introduced. It was explained that they set out the priorities and main items of focus for the Service Areas, also detailing how the Service Areas will be supporting the Corporate Plan. The plans once agreed will be used to assist Senior Management to plot the progress of the Service Areas. It was also explained that the plans set out the resources required for the delivery of the plans which align to the approved 23/24 budget and that any changes may have a budgetary impact which Cabinet would need to consider.

Place

Concern was raised that there were no timescales or review dates for the LCWIP, either in the plan or on the work programme. It was explained that the plans were high level reports and not project plans and that the project plans would be reviewed in the Service Panel meetings. It was confirmed that only members of the O&S committee could attend the Service Panel meetings. It was agreed that a date for the LCWIP to be reviewed by O&S should be formally added to the work programme.

A query was raised about how/if the Local Plan review would be affected by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill passing through parliament. It was confirmed that there was still no concrete date for the bill to be made an act and until it was then the deadlines for reviewing the Local Plans would not be enforceable.

There was some debate about some of the deadline dates for the KPIs and as to whether they were achievable. The meeting was told that all the dates had been considered and that they been made to be challenging but achievable, however, this will be kept under review throughout the year.

The lead time on the review for Fly Tipping was queried, it was felt to be too long. The Committee agreed that they would like to see an improvement in this target date if possible. It was commented that a breakdown of the figures would give a clearer view. It was agreed that this item should be raised with Cabinet.

Discussion took place around the KPIs within the report. It was remarked that some KPIs appeared to have not been included and some that were there last year have been removed, for example the CCTV performance. The meeting was told that some KPIs had changed and a note detailing which had actually been removed and which had been added would be produced. It was agreed that a report of this nature would be helpful. A query was also raised about the inclusion of ‘data only’ KPIs. It was explained that these were needed within Local Government to track trends. It was suggested that the financial KPIs could have the approved budget as the target although it was noted that the Council is not always able to control this e.g. Planning fees and demand. It was suggested that the food safety inspections could have a % target, not just date only.

Corporate

A request was made that the MTFS shortfall 24/25 was listed as “and beyond” rather than having an end date.

Discussion took place around the reporting and KPIs relating to S106 funds. The meeting was keen for this money to be monitored more effectively. Mr Clark informed the meeting that he was currently reviewing with Mr Jaggard how S106 funds were tracked and reported. They are currently researching the possibility of publishing a tracker of S106 money on the website.

Concern was raised about the high turnover and low retention rate of staff. The meeting was informed that the Staffing Committee had picked up this item and would be reviewing it alongside the staff survey. It was agreed that retention of staff was the desired outcome and this should be added to the service plan in item 18.

The meeting discussed the introduction of Voter ID. It was noted that it was going to raise challenges in the up-coming elections. It was felt that the information on Voter ID should be more prominent on the Website as the news item had dropped off the home page.

A query was raised about the Council’s Climate Change Action plan. It was confirmed that an external contractor was being procured, who would be liaising with the working group and there should be a report being brought to O&S in June and Cabinet in July.

Members discussed the KPIs relating to waste collections and missed bin collections. There was a request for better data figures to be produced by the contractor. Mr Clark stated that he had recently attended a meeting with the waste team in Basingstoke and that he had been told that more reliable figures were now being produced.

Community

It was queried as to why the projects to fit electrical charging points in Council car parks was not listed in the service Plan. It was stated that there were 2 different projects:-

·      The installation of charging points in the staff car park. It was stated that this was currently taking place.

·      The installation in car parks across the district. It was confirmed that there had been access issue in a few car parks, but a contractor was now in place.

A request was made to list these projects in item 18 of the Service Plan.

More clarity was asked for on the Prevention of Homeless KPI. It was asked that it be confirmed that the KPI was being strived for on a continuous basis.

It was commented that the UKSP fund had not been allocated to a Service Area. It was then asked if they weren’t on the plans how would they be tracked. It was explained that they spanned across all 3 service areas and that in 2023/24 it was mainly planning would take place and that 2024/25 would see the actual work on the projects. It was confirmed that the projects would be tracked and that Cabinet had already asked for a resources plan.

A request was made that in future all Corporate Directors attended meetings that discussed their service plans.

Discussion took place around the selection of and reporting by the representatives on the Outside Bodies. The Meeting requested that the representatives on the various boards reported back, at least annually and that these reports were brought to Overview and Scrutiny.

It was confirmed that the Climate Change Action Plan report would be going to Cabinet in July and the review of the new CCTV service would be going to Cabinet in November.

It was confirmed that the Climate Change Action Plan was coming to O&S in July.

Requests were made for a reports to be brought to O&S on

·         The trialling of the new touch pad parking machines and its progress.

·         The progress of the Civic Quarter Regeneration

It was agreed that these items should be added initially as place holders in the work programme in preparation for the Committee to set its new work programme in June.