Havant Borough Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mychaleckyj and Robert.

There were no declarations of interests relating to matters on the agenda.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 16 October 2024 were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee was given an opportunity to scrutinse and submit comments on the Hayling Island Management Strategy.

The Committee noted that since the report was published, it had been agreed to bring forward the Selsmore and Mengham FCERM Scheme in response to the flooding at Marine Walk during storm Pierrick.

Questions received from Councillor Collings prior to the meeting together with the responses to these questions were published and circulated before the meeting commenced. It was noted that the answer to one of the questions raised would be provided after the meeting.

The Committee received a report and presentation on the proposed strategy. Members asked questions of clarification from the Cabinet Lead for Climate Emergency, Environment & Water Quality and the officers and raised points in relation to:

·                     The level and timing of consultation undertaken during the development of the strategy.

·                     The reasons for the length of time to produce the strategy.

·                     The role of the strategy in relation to the Local Plan.

·                     Action taken by the Coastal Partners in the past to reduce the risk of flooding on Hayling Island and how the strategy would help the Council and the Environment Agency prioritise day-to-day activities whilst ensuring the best use of public funds.

·                     How the Coastal Partners working with Natural England sought to enable landowners to secure permission to undertake work to maintain their land and at the same time seek to restore or create habitats.

·                     The particular issues affecting Northney and work being undertaken to resolve them.

·                     The agility of the strategy to enable the Council to respond to emerging priorities.

·                     How often the flood risk assessments were reviewed.

·                     How the public were kept informed of the flood risk assessments for Hayling Island.

·                     The potential for introducing automatic flood barriers.

·                     The impact of the Inn on the Beach and Gunner Point Golf Club on shingle movements on Hayling and action being taken to secure these structures to manage Eastoke Beach.

·                     Work being undertaken to develop a long-term solution to sea erosion.

·                     The benefit cost ratios for the Option Development Units and how these compared with other areas.

RESOLVED that the final strategic management options within the Hayling Island Coastal Flood and Erosion Risk Strategy be noted and no comment or feedback be provided to Cabinet prior to adoption.

The Committee was given an opportunity to scrutinise a report setting out progress made against the priorities identified in the Council’s Corporate Strategy.

Questions received from Councillor Collings prior to the meeting together with the responses to these questions were published and circulated before the meeting commenced. The Committee noted that answers to some of the questions raised would be provided after the meeting.

Members asked questions of clarification from the Leader of the Council and the officers and raised points in relation to:

·                     the reasons for the rising trend for temporary accommodation and action being taken to reduce these costs.

·                     ways to improve the presentation of the data and the reasons for the incompleteness of some of the data and the impact that this could have on the Council’s reputation.

·                     the staffing levels for tree management and how tree management would be addressed in the forthcoming biodiversity and open space strategies.

·                     how accessible the complaints system was to people with protective characteristics.

·                     Reasons for the dip in planning performance.

·                     How many care leavers were on the housing waiting list and If the Council gave preference to care leavers.

·                     Progress made with the delivery of the Council’s Corporate Strategy and how this would be reported in the future.

During the question-and-answer session, the members endorsed a process for the consideration of future performance reports whereby the Committee would be given an opportunity to examine a few of the areas covered by the statistics with the relevant Cabinet Leads and officers. The matters to be discussed at the meeting to be selected by the Chairman and Vice Chairman before the meeting.

In response to questions raised the officers agreed to the following details in writing after the meeting:

1.                  the reasons for the fall in the planning performance;

2.                  the number of care leavers on the housing waiting lists and on whether the Council gave them preference;

3.                  the staffing levels for tree officers at the Council; and

4.                  the accessibility of the complaints system by people with protected characteristics.

The Officers also gave a commitment to consider including more text to improve the clarity of the performance scorecard and including in future reports details of the Council current challenges and a single table listing the KPIs and their rag rating.

RESOLVED that the information provided be noted.

The Deputy Leader of the Council introduced a report proposing revised procedural rules for overview and scrutiny which would replace the existing rules set out in Part 3 of the Council’s constitution.

The options available to the Committee were reported in detail.

In response to questions raised by members of the Committee, the officers advised that co-opted members would be voluntary and not remunerated.

RESOLVED that Council be RECOMMENDED to:

A.                  adopt the revised Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules as attached in Appendix B of the submitted report; and

B.                  agree that the Monitoring Officer be authorised to correct any minor typographical errors or inconsistent numbering or cross references which become evident in publishing the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules in its final form.

The Deputy Leader of the Council introduced a report proposing an Overview and Scrutiny Handbook.

The options available to the Committee were reported in detail.

In response to questions raised by members of the Committee, the officers explained the reasoning for restricting the number of Task and Finish Groups to only 2 in one year.

The officers agreed to looked into the possibility of arranging informal meetings to enable the members of the Committee to discuss the work of the Committee, including its workplan.

The Committee considered that the imposition of a maximum number of task and finish groups that could be established in any one year would reduce the ability of the Committee to respond to emerging priorities. It was, therefore.

RESOLVED that:

A.                  the submitted Overview and Scrutiny Handbook be adopted subject to the paragraph 13 being amended to read:

“The Overview and Scrutiny Committee will usually only appoint up to 2 Task and Finish Groups within a municipal year with discretion to appoint more groups to meet emerging priorities.”

B.                  Cabinet be recommended to approve the Scrutiny and Executive Protocol as set out in Annex 1 of the Overview and Scrutiny Handbook; and

C.                 that the Monitoring Officer be authorised to correct any minor typographical errors or inconsistent numbering or cross references which become evident in publishing the Overview and Scrutiny Handbook in its final form.