Agenda and minutes

When the continuous alarm sounds you must evacuate the building by the nearest available fire exit. Members and visitors should proceed to the visitors’ car park at the front of the building and await further instructions (during office hours staff should proceed to their usual assembly point; outside of office hours proceed to the visitors’ car park). Please do not re-enter the building unless instructed to do so.

In the event of a fire any person with a disability should be assisted in leaving the building.   

88.1          The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was advised to those present.

89.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P A Godwin, J W Murphy (Chair), J K Smith, M J Williams and P N Workman.  There were no substitutions for the meeting.

90.1          The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 26 June 2012 and took effect from 1 July 2012.

90.2          There were no declarations made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2022.

91.1          The Minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2022, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Vice-Chair in the chair. 

To determine whether there are any questions for the relevant Lead Members and what support the Overview and Scrutiny Committee can give to work contained within the Plan.

92.1          Attention was drawn to the Executive Committee Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 13-15.  Members were asked to determine whether there were any questions for the relevant Lead Members and what support the Overview and Scrutiny Committee could give to the work contained within the plan. 

92.2          A Member noted that the Medium Term Financial Strategy was due to be considered at the meeting on 30 March, having been deferred from January pending relevant information from the government, and he questioned if that had now been received.  In response, the Head of Finance and Asset Management advised that, unfortunately, no information had been received to assist with the Council’s financial position despite a wealth of information being expected in relation to funding reform, New Homes Bonus and business rates which were all areas that supported the Council budget.  Whilst there was currently no clarity on funding beyond March 2023, he hoped to be able to provide an interim update for Members by the end of the month.

92.3          It was

RESOLVED           That the Executive Committee Forward Plan be NOTED.

To consider the forthcoming work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the actions arising from previous meetings.

93.1          Attention was drawn to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme, circulated at Pages No. 16-18, and the action list setting out the actions arising from meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee between October 2019 and January 2022, circulated at Pages No. 19-30.  Members were asked to consider the Work Programme and action list.

93.2          The Head of Corporate Services advised that, following the resolution made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its last meeting, the Executive Committee had agreed that, subject to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee representative’s continued monitoring and regular reporting to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the specific consideration of the payment of the Council’s contribution to the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis no longer be required.  Accordingly, this would be removed from the 2022/23 Work Programme which was currently being drafted by Officers.  A Member noted that, at the workshop on maximising the value of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held in October, Members had asked to review the partners which reported to the Committee on a regular basis, and the agreements in place for monitoring, to establish whether they needed to continue to report to the Committee going forward and he asked if this had been progressed.  In response, the Head of Corporate Services confirmed that a list of partner organisations and outside bodies would be compiled based on the Council Plan priorities from which the Committee could identify those it would like to hear from during the course of 2022/23.

93.3          In terms of the action list, the Head of Corporate Services explained that 12 of the 27 actions were outstanding.  With regard to Page No. 20 and the action regarding the Grange Field maintenance plan, he understood that had now been shared with Councillor Munro and there had been a positive press release about the Grange Field recently.  Councillor Munro advised that, based on a conversation with the Asset Manager the previous week, it was her understanding that the plan was not ready to share with Members so, whilst she did not think it was a problem, she had not actually received it.  The Economic and Community Development Manager explained it had been shared verbally and the written form was waiting for final sign-off but should be with Members shortly.  The Head of Corporate Services drew attention to Page No. 23 which indicated that Members and Parish Councils were now informed by email when enforcement cases were closed with reasons generally included.  With regard to Page No. 26, he advised that the Tewkesbury Borough Council Domestic Waste and Recycling Collection Services Policy and Procedures had been considered by the Depot Services Working Group and approved by the Executive Committee the previous week.  In terms of Page No. 29 and the discussion around the online booking system for the Household Recycling Centres, Members were informed that the County Council had undertaken a customer survey which had found that 86% were supportive of retaining the booking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

To receive a presentation from Bromford Housing in respect of Modern Methods of Construction.

94.1          The Head of Community Services welcomed the representative from Bromford to the meeting and indicated that he had been invited by the Chief Executive to give a presentation to Members on Modern Methods of Construction, both in general and in terms of what was being done by Bromford.

94.2              The following key points were made during the presentation:

·           Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) Overview – Long term projection of worsening skills shortage within the construction industry; Brexit presenting further risks towards the construction workforce across the UK being migrant labour; supporting housing organisations in achieving their sustainability and carbon reduction agenda; supporting local authorities to embrace MMC delivery through their climate emergency and housing delivery agenda; Homes England driver to introduce MMC through partnering arrangement; contribute towards the desired new homes outputs within business plans; cited benefits of the MMC – increased outputs, reduced delivery timeframes, increased quality, improved Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), reduced waste, less deliveries and disruption to surrounding communities; standardisation of design to achieve the desired business financial returns through an MMC appraisal approach.

·           MMC Categories – Pre-manufacturing (3D primary structural systems); pre-manufacturing (2D primary structural systems); pre-manufacturing components (non-systemised primary structure); additive manufacturing (structural and non-structural); pre-manufacturing (non-structural assemblies and sub-assemblies); traditional building product-led site labour reductio/productivity improvements; site process-led site labour reduction/productivity/assurance improvements.

·           Types of MMC – Volumetric construction, pods, panelised systems, sub-assemblies and components and site-based MMC.

·           MMC Quality Assurance – Build Offsite Property Assurance Scheme (BOPAS) provided confidence that the construction system was fit for purpose; National House-Building Council (NHBC) assessed, reviewed and accepted nearly 50 MMC systems; Checkmate – warranty cover for MMC; Local Authority Building Control (LABC) – warranty practice scheme for MMC.

·           Factory Production and Quality Control – Homes assembled in controlled conditions – Factories could produce around 3,500 per year at peak; quality checkpoints at every stage of the process to ensure homes conformed to design and building control; once the structure was finished, it was insulated and fitted-out with internal walls and floor coverings, surface finishes, plumbing and sanitary ware, electrical circuits and sockets, kitchen and bathroom units and fittings.

·           Horizon Scanning – Outcomes: 2021 homes – assets rated against the new Bromford Standard, simplified planning rules, potentially less Section 106 Agreements, retrofits assessed against PAS2035, new build standards, uncertain market conditions; 2025 homes – Future Home Standards – high energy efficiency and low carbon heating in new homes, high speed broadband connectivity, increased fire safety regulation and compliance for flats, new homes 75-80% lower carbon emissions; 2030 homes – all private rented homes rated EPC C or above; 2050 homes – net zero carbon.

·           Carbon Reduction Challenges: How MMC will support the carbon reduction agenda – June 2022 – Part L 2021 – 31% reduction (new sites); June 2023 – Part L – 31% reduction (transitionals); 2025 – Future Homes Standards – 75-80% reduction; 2030 – zero carbon – 100% reduction; 2050 – zero carbon 100% reduction (including regulated energy).

·           Features of Zero Carbon Living –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94.

To review and scrutinise the performance management and recovery information and, where appropriate, to require response or action from the Executive Committee. 

95.1          The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 31-116, attached the performance management and COVID-19 recovery information for quarter three of 2021/22.  The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was asked to review and scrutinise the information and, where appropriate, identify any issues to refer to the Executive Committee for clarification or further action to be taken.

95.2          Members were advised that this was the third quarterly monitoring report for 2021/22 and represented the latest information in terms of the status of the actions set out in the Council Plan and the Corporate Recovery Plan.  Progress against delivering the objectives and actions for each of the six Council Plan priorities was reported through the performance tracker, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, which was a combined document that also included a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).  In addition, a Corporate COVID-19 Recovery Plan had been established based on the Council Plan priorities, and a recovery plan tracker, attached at Appendix 2 to the report, had been created to monitor progress in delivering those actions and objectives.  Key financial information was also reported alongside the tracker documents with a revenue budget statement attached at Appendix 3 to the report, a capital monitoring statement attached at Appendix 4 to the report and a reserves position summary attached at Appendix 5 to the report.  Key actions for the quarter were highlighted at Paragraph 2.3 of the report and included the new Housing and Homelessness Strategy which had been considered by the Executive Committee the previous week and recommended to Council for approval; approval of the 2022/23 budget by Council in February; progression of the Tewkesbury Borough Plan with a summary of representations received during the public consultation on the main modifications being submitted to the Inspector; successful recruitment of a new Director of Law and a Carbon Reduction Programme Officer; and moving to the second phase of the HR project which was to implement a self-service tool for managers and staff to record information such as annual leave, sickness absence etc.  Members were reminded that, due to the complex nature of the actions being delivered, it was inevitable that some would not progress as smoothly or as quickly as envisaged and the details of those actions were set out at Paragraph 2.4 of the report.   It was noted that, where timescales had slipped, the majority had only done so by a quarter which was positive.  In terms of KPIs, the status of each indicator was set out at Paragraph 3.2 of the report and KPIs where direction of travel was down and/or were not on target, were set out at Paragraph 3.3 of the report – it was noted that the first six were related to planning and enforcement and Members would be aware that a planning improvement plan was in place but changes would not happen overnight so it was important to be patient.

95.3           With regard to the COVID-19 recovery tracker, key activities to bring to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95.