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.   

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

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.

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

6.2            There were no declarations made on this occasion. 

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 March and 17 May 2023.

7.1             The Minutes of the meetings held on 28 March and 17 May 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as correct records and signed by the Chair. 

7.2             The Chair felt it was appropriate for the actions arising from each meeting to be included alongside the Minutes of that meeting in order to provide clarity on the actions commissioned by the Committee from that meeting and to approve them accordingly.  It was subsequently proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED          That, going forward, the actions arising from each meeting be included alongside the Minutes of that meeting for approval by the Committee.

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.

8.1             Attention was drawn to the Executive Committee Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No.12-19.  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. 

8.2             The Director: Resources explained that Officers were regularly engaged to ensure the Executive Committee Forward Plan was kept up to date and he would be working with them to bring forward the pending items listed at Page No. 18 of the report.  It was noted that, when the Forward Plan was considered by the Executive Committee at its meeting on 7 June 2023, Members had asked for some changes, including the addition of Lead Members and more qualitative information about each Agenda Item including references to background material, which he was happy to support.

8.3             A Member noticed that the Council Plan Performance Tracker Quarter One 2023/24 was due to be considered at the meeting in October 2023 yet Quarter Two was not intended to be considered until the meeting in February 2024 and she asked why there was such a long gap given that Quarter Three was programmed for March 2024.  In response, the Director: Corporate Resources explained that it was down to the timing of Committees and the data being available to populate the tracker.  Another Member drew attention to Page No. 18 of the report and asked what the current position was in relation to the Parking Strategy Review.  The Executive Director: Resources and S151 explained that he would discuss with the Lead Member at the earliest opportunity whether the revised strategy should be taken forward for approval, or whether it needed to be reconsidered given the time which had now passed since the Working Group had reached its conclusions and in light of the new Council. 

8.4             A Member asked for an update on capital funding for an additional waste vehicle, included in the pending items section of the Forward Plan, and whether there would be a change to the way waste collection was managed going forward.  The Director: Communities explained that this item related to the expansion of the waste vehicle fleet rather than changes to waste collections which would be dependent on the outcome of the DEFRA consultation.  In the event further changes were announced an additional report would be taken to the Executive Committee.  The Member asked what type of fuel the waste vehicles used, given the Council’s ambition to move forward with the climate change agenda, and was advised that the 26 tonne RCVs had Euro 5 or 6 engines which were the best available on the market as technology for electric or hybrid was not there currently – this would be explained in more detail in the report to the Executive Committee.  Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) could be used in some vehicles but this would need to be carefully sourced as it could be more harmful to the environment than diesel.  He provided assurance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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

9.1             Attention was drawn to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme, circulated at Pages No. 20-27, and the action list setting out the outstanding actions arising from meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee between October 2019 and March 2022, circulated at Pages No. 28-34.  Members were asked to consider the Work Programme and action list. 

9.2             The Director: Corporate Resources advised that the Work Programme was a living document and additional items would come forward throughout the course of the year.  There were a number of ‘pending’ items which he undertook to take away to discuss with Officers in terms of how they could be brought forward, for instance, the Police and Crime Commissioner Presentation may be more appropriate for all Members as opposed to just the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

9.3             A Member noted that the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy Review was due to be brought to the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee but this had been deferred on two separate occasions so he asked if this timescale was correct.  In response, the Head of Service: Community and Economic Development advised that it would be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting in September following which it would be taken to the Executive Committee for approval.

9.4             In terms of the action list, the Chair indicated that he wished to discuss each item to determine which of the outstanding actions, if any, could be closed.  The items were debated as follows:

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

10.1          The report of the Director: Corporate Resources, circulated at Pages No. 35-90, attached the performance management information for quarter four of 2022/23.  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.

10.2           Members were informed that this was the final quarterly monitoring report for 2022/23 and represented the latest information in terms of the status of the actions set out in the Council 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).  Key financial information was usually reported alongside the tracker documents but, given the complexities of the year end closedown, this was not yet available and would be reported as soon as possible. 

10.3           Key actions for the quarter were highlighted at Paragraph 2.3 of the report and included installation of the solar canopy, saving the Council an estimated £45,000 per year on energy costs; Tewkesbury Borough Council remaining amongst the lowest Council Tax in the country; provision of over 6,500 supermarket vouchers to households in need through the Household Support Grant which had been delivered by various services including Revenues and Benefits, Communities and Business Transformation; successfully securing funding from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to enable the build of the planning application tracker which had gained national recognition; accreditation as a Bronze Carbon Literate Organisation with over 60 Officers undergoing carbon literacy training; and the first grant payments from the High Street Heritage Action Zone being made to local businesses.  Members were advised 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 with regard to the review of the Licensing service, only one particular workstream was delayed with all others progressing well.  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 not on target, were detailed at Paragraph 3.3 of the report.  Those KPIs which were performing well were highlighted at Paragraph 3.4 of the report and included an increase in the number of affordable housing properties delivered, improvement in planning enforcement investigation, with the majority of categories reaching 100% this year, and an increase in the percentage of Freedom of Information requests answered on time.

10.4           During the debate which ensued, the following queries and comments were made in relation to the Council Plan Performance Tracker:

To appoint one representative and one reserve to sit on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year.      

11.1          It was proposed and seconded that Councillor G C Madle be appointed as the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

11.2          Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED           That Councillor G C Madle be appointed as the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.