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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Tewkesbury Borough Council Offices, Severn Room

Contact: Democratic Services Tel: 01684 272021  Email:  democraticservices@tewkesbury.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

101.

Announcements

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.   

Minutes:

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

102.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

To receive apologies for absence and advise of any substitutions. 

Minutes:

102.1        Apologies for absence were received from Councillors G F Bocking, H S Munro and C Softley.  There were no substitutes for the meeting. 

103.

Declarations of Interest

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 24 January 2023 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct, effective from 1 February 2023, as set out in Minute No. CL.72, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

Minutes:

103.1        The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 24 January 2023 and took effect from 1 February 2023.

103.2        There were no declarations made on this occasion.

104.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 162 KB

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2023.

Minutes:

104.1        The Minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

105.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Action List pdf icon PDF 340 KB

To consider the actions arising from previous meetings.

Minutes:

105.1        Attention was drawn to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Action List, circulated at Pages No. 16-35 which gave an update on the progress of the actions identified at meetings of the Committee between 22 October 2019 and 7 February 2023.  Members were asked to consider the action list.

105.2        The Corporate Services Manager advised that the majority of actions had been delivered and the remainder had been updated with comments and new target dates. 

105.3        Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Action List be NOTED.

106.

Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel Update pdf icon PDF 96 KB

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting (24 March 2023). 

Minutes:

106.1        Attention was drawn to the report from the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel, circulated separately, which gave an update on matters considered at the meeting held on 24 March 2023.

106.2        The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel advised that a presentation had been given in relation to the improvement plan being implemented within the Force which was designed to address performance issues, including those highlighted in the last report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary which had found that the operating model was not fit for purpose and resources had not been appropriately allocated.  A lot of work was ongoing and a new Enhanced Operating Model had been agreed in October 2022; this involved a redesign of workflows which was a very complicated process but had now reached the implementation stage with 1,300 staff being allocated postings under the new structure – approximately 76% had been given their first preference posting.  It was noted that 30 staff were appealing against their new postings due to the nature of the change.  The Police and Crime Panel had asked about the impact of the Baroness Casey Review of the Metropolitan Police in terms of its relevance for Gloucestershire and had been advised that, although some of the findings were specific to the Metropolitan Police, there were things that needed to be seriously reflected upon for Gloucestershire.  The review had identified seven areas for change on which progress should be reviewed every two years; however, the continuous improvement culture in Gloucestershire meant it was intended to look at those areas on a more regular basis with detailed reporting every 6-12 months.  There had also been a discussion about morale within the Force and it was recognised that, although it had been impacted by workload and the change process, morale was now fairly good, albeit there was a continuing issue with the amount of pressure some individuals were under.

106.3        The Council’s representative went on to advise that the Police and Crime Panel had also received a presentation on the role of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Commissioning Team which looked at gaps in performance of the Force and what others were doing in order to establish whether any lessons could be learnt.  The results of any changes identified were reviewed on an 18 month cycle.  The Commissioning Team also prepared the bids for central government funding and it was noted that Gloucestershire had secured two major wins, totalling £3m, under the Safer Streets Home Office initiative which highlighted the importance of a high-performing Commissioning Team.  The Police and Crime Commissioner had also submitted a report on current activities which included the success of the Cheltenham Festival with action taken to address antisocial behaviour, and the recent visit of the Knife Angel to Gloucestershire Cathedral.  It was also noted that a number of local authorities had signed up to the Solace multi-agency forum on tackling anti-social behaviour – Tewkesbury Borough Council was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 106.

107.

Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee Update pdf icon PDF 105 KB

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting (14 March 2023). 

Minutes:

107.1        Attention was drawn to the report from the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, circulated separately, which gave an update on matters considered at the meeting held on 14 March 2023.

107.2        The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee advised that a report was provided on the out of hours service which looked at the response to 111 calls which should be answered within 30 seconds.  There had been a lot of questions about the fact that the Care Quality Commission’s annual report had identified that the service needed improvement for the fifth year.  In response, the Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board had reported that new ways of working had shown improved outcomes with more of the identified issues being addressed e.g. emergency department discharges, ambulances and staffing.  The second report received by the Committee was in respect of the Winter Sustainability and Surge Management Plan 2022/23 Review which was undertaken each year to show how additional demand would be managed; this year there had been an increase in respiratory disorders as well as flu and COVID.  The majority of action plan items had been delivered upon and the key areas of focus were set out at Page No. 5 of the papers.  The Committee had also received an update on the temporary changes to maternity services where it was noted there were currently 25 vacancies and it was intended to maintain the temporary closures until there was a stable workforce to avoid a yo-yo effect of units being reopened and then having to be closed again due to a dip in staff numbers.

107.3         In response to a query regarding Tewkesbury Hospital being used as a 10 bed short stay hospital, Members were advised this was for the purpose of assessing and providing support services required to keep patients at home without the need for an acute hospital admission.  The remaining 10 beds had been used for rehabilitation.  A Member indicated that it was an ongoing frustration for the residents of Tewkesbury that a new hospital had been built with 20 beds – reduced from 48 – which were intended for the people of Tewkesbury and yet those people could not get access to them.  The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee understood this concern and noted that it was not a community hospital in the way that it used to be; community hospitals tended to be for specific uses and Tewkesbury Hospital was for the elderly and frail.  Another Member noted that a key area of focus for the winter management plan was for acute hospitals to have a discharge area that could hold up to 27 patients waiting to go home in order to free up beds earlier and he asked if there were any plans to increase the discharge areas in Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.  The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee advised that this had not been mentioned but the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107.

108.

Use of Mobile Surveillance Equipment for Fly-Tipping Investigations pdf icon PDF 116 KB

To consider the results of the six month trial to inform a final recommendation to the Executive Committee on the way forward. 

Minutes:

108.1        Attention was drawn to the report of the Environmental Health Manager, circulated at Pages No. 36-39, which provided an update on the outcome of a six month trial of the use of mobile surveillance equipment undertaken by the Environmental Health department with regard to fly-tipping investigations.  Members were asked to recommend to the Executive Committee that the Council adopt the use of mobile surveillance equipment as a long-term measure to support fly-tipping investigations and enforcement.

108.2        The Environmental Health Manager advised that Members would recall that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had approved the trial in October 2021.  He explained that the Committee’s preferred choice had involved the use of concealed cameras at the target site with the presence of cameras advertised by signage; however, this had not been possible as the data privacy impact assessment had identified that use of covert cameras would have involved the data being stored on a memory card located in the camera itself which presented a risk to the Council in terms of data loss and potential personal data breach should the cameras be stolen or vandalised.  The trial had subsequently commenced using two overt rapid deployment cameras with signage; these cameras connected wirelessly to the 4G/5G network and images were stored securely in the cloud rather than being stored on the camera itself.  The trial had started in August 2022 and the cameras had been installed at two hotspot locations for approximately six weeks per location.  The number of reported fly-tips at each location before and after the cameras were installed was set out at Paragraph 3.2 of the report and showed that 11 fly-tips had been reported at the first location in the previous 12 months but only one since camera installation with three being reported at the second location in the previous 12 months and none since camera installation.  It was noted that the fly-tip at location one had taken place within the first few days of the cameras being installed with the camera capturing good footage of the incident.  Officers felt that the combination of signage warning people of the presence of cameras and the cameras themselves had proven to be very effective.  The signage itself was inexpensive and could be erected in various locations across the borough and Officers were now skilled at setting up the cameras and capable of deploying them at short notice without the need for assistance from an external engineer.  In terms of financial resources, the Council owned the cameras and associated hardware outright and the subscription to the cloud software cost £55 per month and could be stopped at any time.  The Environmental Health Manager confirmed that the necessary RIPA non-direct surveillance audit had been carried out and the appropriate consultation undertaken in terms of the privacy impact assessment and GDPR compliance.

108.3         A Member noted that the legal implications section of the report stated that a dedicated internal policy be implemented by the Council dealing with the legal and procedural matters around  ...  view the full minutes text for item 108.

109.

Depot Services Working Group Annual Report pdf icon PDF 116 KB

To consider the progress made by the Depot Services Working Group during 2022/23.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

109.1        The report of the Waste Contracts Manager, circulated at Pages No. 40-45, provided the annual update on the work of the Depot Services Working Group.  Members were asked to consider the progress made during 2022/23.

109.2        The Waste Contracts Manager advised that the Working Group had met on four occasions during 2022/23 with two of the main areas of consideration being the trade waste service review and the fleet procurement approach for waste and street cleansing vehicles which had subsequently been approved by the Executive Committee.  Particular attention was drawn to the improvement in grass cutting standards with scores increasing from 48% in 2021/22 to 82% 2022/23.

109.3        A Member drew attention to Page No. 41, Paragraph 2.5 of the report in relation to the street cleansing review and asked whether the information would be available to Members, if it would include missing bins and whether similar mapping would be carried out for litter picking and fly-tipping so it would be possible to identify hotspot areas and make residents aware.  In response, the Waste Contracts Manager confirmed that this was all possible via the Alloy system which was being rolled out across the Ubico contract.  Street cleansing would move across to the system in quarter three of 2023/24.  The Member noted from Page No. 42, Paragraph 2.5.3 of the report that bins were being collected outside of the local authority responsibility and he asked what could be done to address that.  The Waste Contracts Manager explained that the main issues tended to arise where new developments were built and the developer retained responsibility for the land and employed management companies to maintain them – what tended to happen was that people reported the bins as being full and the Council started to empty them, only finding out years down the line that the bins were not the local authority’s responsibility.  It was a question of identifying where that had happened and making sure the right people were emptying them.  When the Council was able to demonstrate that land belonged to a particular party, there were mechanisms that could be used to force them to maintain their own land, if necessary.  The Member noted that a review of road zoning had commenced which would support the sweeper schedule and he asked if the schedule could be made available to Parish Councils.  The Waste Contracts Manager confirmed it was intended to circulate the schedules once they were complete.

109.4        A Member drew attention to Page No. 42, Paragraph 2.9 of the report in relation to fleet procurement and asked if there would be any electric vehicles.  In response, the Waste Contracts Manager indicated that it was not possible for larger vehicles to be electric due to concerns around cost and the rural nature of the borough; however, it was hoped that some of the smaller 3.5 tonne vehicles could be electric, particularly street cleansing vehicles.  A Member noted the significant improvement in grass cutting and asked what had driven that given  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109.

110.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2023/24 pdf icon PDF 77 KB

To approve the forthcoming Committee work programme. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

110.1        Attention was drawn to the report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 46-56, which attached, at Appendix 1, the draft Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2023/24.  Members were asked to approve the Work Programme.

110.2        The Corporate Services Manager advised that the draft Work Programme was a live programme which would remain flexible to allow for other areas of review which may emerge throughout the year.  One of the standing Agenda items was the performance report and review of the performance tracker often highlighted areas for Members to explore in more detail through separate reports. 

110.3        Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED           That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2023/24 be APPROVED.

111.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 122 KB

To approve the annual report as required by the Council’s Constitution to ensure that the activities of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are promoted, both internally and publicly, to reinforce transparency and accountability in the democratic process. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

111.1        The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 57-81, attached, at Appendix 1, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2022/23.  Members were asked to approve the report, as required by the Council’s Constitution, to ensure the activities of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were promoted, both internally and externally, to reinforce transparency and accountability in the democratic process.

111.2        The Corporate Services Manager advised that the annual report outlined the roles and responsibilities of the Committee and highlighted the range of work carried out during the year. Members were asked to approve the report prior to its consideration by Council on 20 June 2023.

111.3        Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2022/23 be APPROVED.