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.   

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

43.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T J Budge and G M Porter.  There were no substitutes for the meeting. 

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.

44.1          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. 

44.2          There were no declarations made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2023.

45.1          The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record, subject to an amendment to reflect that Councillor G C Madle was not present at the meeting, and signed by 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.

46.1          Attention was drawn to the Executive Committee Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 9-20.  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. 

46.2          A Member questioned when the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy, currently in the pending items section of the Forward Plan, would be coming forward and raised concern that a decision had been made by the Executive Committee to close Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre, despite increased visitor numbers, without any strategy.  The Director: Communities confirmed that a draft strategy was in development and would be ready by the end of the financial year; it had been delayed pending the outcome of the Gloucestershire strategy and the new Council Plan.  He advised that this did not impact the closure of Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre and work in relation to tourism would continue unaffected. 

46.3          Another Member noted that a report on the new waste depot had been due to be considered at the meeting on 29 November 2023 but had been delayed and, given this was a fundamental project for the Council, she asked whether there was a revised date or if it was still dependent on another authority.  In response, the Director: Communities advised that this was a partnership project with Cheltenham Borough Council, and potentially Gloucestershire County Council, and Officers were now in a position to meet and discuss high level timescales – there had been nobody at Cheltenham Borough Council to own the project until three weeks ago.  He stressed this was a long term project in the region of six to eight years therefore a short delay at the start of the project should make little difference to the overall period.   

46.4          A Member noted that the Equalities and Diversity Policy was originally moved from 5 October 2022 and she questioned why it remained in the pending items section for over a year.  The Chair indicated that he would raise this with the Executive Committee on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

46.5          It was

RESOLVED           That the Executive Committee Forward Plan be NOTED.

To consider the forthcoming work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

47.1          Attention was drawn to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme, circulated at Pages No. 21-27, which Members were asked to consider.

47.2          The Director: Corporate Resources advised that the Aston Project Presentation had been moved from pending items and would now be brought to the meeting on 16 January 2024.  It had previously been agreed that the seminar with the Police and Crime Commissioner would be beneficial to the wider membership and therefore should be removed from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme and that seminar had now been arranged for 31 January 2024 with an invite being sent to Members shortly.  The Chair indicated that the Leader of the Council had suggested a potential scrutiny item around the cost of living crisis and he would be meeting with him and relevant Officers to discuss how best to take this item forward.

47.3          A Member noted that the Committee was due to receive a report on the Active Gloucestershire ‘We Can Move’ project at its next meeting and expressed the view it would be beneficial to know what had been discussed previously in order to ensure the debate remained focused on scrutiny rather than becoming an information gathering exercise.  It was therefore agreed that the previous presentation be circulated to Members ahead of the meeting on 16 January 2024.

47.4          It was

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

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

48.1          The report of the Director: Corporate Resources, circulated at Pages No. 28-102, attached the performance management information for quarter two of 2023/24.  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.

48.2          Members were informed this was the second quarterly monitoring report for 2023/24 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 also reported alongside the tracker documents with a revenue budget statement attached at Appendix 2 to the report, a capital monitoring statement attached at Appendix 3 to the report and a reserves position summary attached at Appendix 4 to the report.  Appendix 5 to the report included a number of finance KPIs which was part of the financial management code approved by the Audit and Governance Committee and Appendices 6 and 7 were a recurring addition to the quarterly financial reports in accordance with the requirements of the CIPFA Prudential Code and Treasury Management Code of Practice.

48.3          Key actions for the quarter were highlighted at Paragraph 2.3 of the report and included drafting of the Medium Term Financial Strategy which had been considered by the Executive Committee at its meeting on 29 November and would be recommended to Council at its meeting next week, approval of the Strategic and Local Plan (SLP) consultation document by Council, support to the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) via advice and grants, in-cab technology for waste and recycling going live in October and preparation of the tender for webcasting.  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.  In terms of KPIs, the status of each indicator was set out at Paragraph 3.2 of the report.  KPIs where direction of travel was down and/or not on target, were set out at Paragraph 3.3 of the report, with KPIs that were performing well highlighted at Paragraph 3.4 of the report.

48.4          The Chair felt there was a discussion to be had regarding the Committee’s role in financial scrutiny and how to maximise its effectiveness in that area and he would be looking to follow this up with Officers outside of the meeting.  He expressed the view that there had been strong improvement regarding the way the Council dealt with its customers and positive work around the Garden Town; however, he was concerned that further action was needed in relation to planning and the Development  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

To consider progress against the 2022/23 actions within the Communication Strategy Action Plan.

49.1           The report of the Communications and Customer Experience Manager, circulated at Pages No. 103-122, provided an update on progress against the 2022/23 actions within the Communication Strategy Action Plan.  Members were asked to consider the report.

49.2           The Associate Director: Transformation advised that the current Communication Strategy was launched in 2020 and this was its final year, as such, new targets had not been included in this report as they would form part of the new strategy due to come forward in the early part of next year.  During the last year, the Communications Team had supported major Council projects including the Garden Town programme, promoted cost of living support, delivered timely communications on adverse weather emergencies as well as continuing to deliver day to day internal and external communications work.  Pages No. 104-105, Paragraph 2.2. of the report highlighted key actions which had been completed in 2022 such as improving social media campaigns, supporting the launch of the new corporate website, delivering media training for Members and Chief Officers, introducing Alistair’s Update – a bi-weekly video update from the Chief Executive to staff - a range of work by the Council’s graphic designer and ensuring that communication campaigns were accessible, engaging and professional.   Of the 21 actions, four had not been achieved and these were set out at Page No. 105, Paragraph 2.3 of the report; these actions would be transferred to the 2024 action plan that would accompany the new Communications Strategy.  The new strategy would be aligned to the new Council Plan and the Council’s ambition to become a high performing organisation.  The actions would be aimed at raising and protecting the Council’s reputation and, personally, she would like to think about how the strategy could be delivered in a live way to ensure it was not a static document which remained for three years.

49.3           The Chair expressed the view that the Council’s communications were fantastic; however, there had been things the team was unable to achieve and he asked whether the action plan was reflective of the resources available to deliver it and what had been learnt from this strategy to put into the next one.  The Associate Director: Transformation advised that the team was technically larger than it had ever been with there soon to be two full-time Communication Officers, nevertheless, demand on the team was significant and, going forward, it was intended to align the communication priorities with those of the Council – the team could easily be swamped with ad hoc requests, for instance, the need to promote an event which was not known about, and it may be necessary for the Communications and Customer Experience Manager to push back on occasions where the information was not provided in a timely or helpful manner.  The Communications and Customer Experience Manager commented that the team would soon be fully resourced so he was confident they would be in a position to make real progress.

49.4           A Member noted that one of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

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

50.1          Attention was drawn to the report from the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel, circulated at Pages No. 121-122, which gave an update on matters discussed at the last meeting held on 24 November 2023.

50.2          In the absence of the Council’s representative, the Chair advised that a response would be sought to any questions and circulated following the meeting.  A Member indicated that he had recently tried to contact the Police Wildlife Officer and was waiting for a call back; he understood there had been a change in personnel and questioned whether there was an Officer in post currently.  With regard to the Chief Executive’s report, a Member noted that funding over £1m had been made available to Gloucestershire Safer Streets and she asked whether that was through a grant programme.  Another Member expressed the view that the update report identified five significant areas of concern which appeared to be easily dismissed as having been dealt with and he questioned if it was a case of the Council’s representative being succinct in his reporting or whether the Panel did not engage sufficiently with those matters.

50.3          It was

RESOLVED           That the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel update be NOTED.

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting (28 November 2023). 

51.1          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 discussed at the last meeting held on 28 November 2023.

51.2          The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee gave a summary of the information provided within the update report and invited any questions from Members.  A Member noted the response to the question she had asked previously and was surprised to hear there was no cancer-specific specialist paediatric team in Gloucestershire to provide psychological support leading to many young people having to be referred to Bristol Royal Infirmary.  She was also disappointed that it was not possible to answer the question around how Gloucestershire compared nationally in terms of provision.  The Chair expressed the view that the information contained within the update report would be beneficial to all Members and it was agreed that reports from Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel and Gloucestershire Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee would all be included in the Member Update Sheet going forward.

51.3          It was

RESOLVED           That the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee update be NOTED.

The Chair will move the adoption of the following resolution:

That under Section 100(A)(4) Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

52.1          The Chair proposed and it was

RESOLVED           That, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely discussion of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.  

To approve the separate Minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2023. 

53.1          The separate Minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.