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.   

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

44.2          The Chair welcomed the representatives from Places Leisure to the meeting and indicated that they would be giving a presentation at Agenda Item 7.

45.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillors H C McLain, J K Smith and C Softley.  There were no substitutes for the meeting. 

46.1          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.

46.2          There were no declarations made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2022.

47.1          The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2022, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record 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.

48.1          Attention was drawn to the Executive Committee Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 16-22.  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. 

48.2          The Head of Corporate Services advised that two workshops had now been held in relation to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s review of the Council’s Capability Policy with the draft revised policy due to be considered at its meeting on 22 November 2022.  Accordingly, the policy would be taken to the Executive Committee on 4 January 2023 rather than 16 November 2022 as set out in the Forward Plan.  In addition, the first floor refurbishment project which was also due to be considered by the Executive Committee in November would also be delayed until the January meeting to allow a report to be taken to Transform Working Group in November.  It was also noted that the Parking Strategy Review was currently included on the Executive Committee Forward Plan for 16 November 2022 but, as Members would be aware, this had not yet been taken to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee so that date would not be achieved.  A Member raised concern that there was still no further information regarding the Parking Strategy Review and whether it would be necessary to reconvene the Working Group.  The Head of Corporate Services undertook to raise this with the Head of Finance and Asset Management following the meeting.

48.3          With regard to the pending items section of the Forward Plan, Members were informed there were currently two duplicate items in relation to the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) draft charging schedule so one would need to be removed.

48.4          It was

RESOLVED           That the Executive Committee Forward Plan be NOTED.    

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

49.1          Attention was drawn to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme, circulated at Pages No. 23-30.   Members were asked to consider the Work Programme.

49.2          The Head of Corporate Services advised that the Council Plan Performance Tracker – Quarter Two 2022/23 was currently due to be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 10 January 2023; however, given that quarter two had ended on 30 September, it was felt it would be more appropriate to bring this forward to the meeting on 22 November 2022.  In order to accommodate this, it was proposed to move the Active Gloucestershire report on the progress of its ‘We Can Move’ project and the Depot Services Working Group Update from the meeting on 22 November to 10 January 2023.

49.3          A Member indicated that the Committee had previously been advised that the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in relation to Planning, particularly the statistics around the determination of major, minor and other applications, were not fit for purpose and he asked when they would be reviewed.  The Corporate Services Manager confirmed that the KPIs were being revised as part of the wider Development Management review and it was hoped to bring a report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in November.

49.4          A Member noted that the Use of Mobile Surveillance Equipment for Fly-Tipping Investigations was still included in the pending items section of the Work Programme and he asked if there was any update in relation to this.  The Head of Corporate Services confirmed the cameras had been deployed in September and a report would be brought to the Committee at its meeting on 4 April 2023 so the Work Programme would be updated to reflect that.

49.5          It was

RESOLVED          1. That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme be NOTED.

2. That the Council Plan Performance Tracker – Quarter Two 2022/23 be moved from 10 January 2023 to 22 November 2022 and, in order to accommodate that, the Active Gloucestershire report on the progress of its ‘We Can Move’ project and the Depot Services Working Group Update be moved from the meeting on 22 November to 10 January 2023.

To receive a presentation from Places Leisure to understand how Tewkesbury Leisure Centre is recovering from the pandemic. 

50.1          The Asset Manager indicated that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had asked for an update on how Tewkesbury Leisure Centre was recovering from the COVID pandemic and coping with the cost of living situation and his colleagues from Places Leisure were in attendance to give a presentation to Members.

50.2          By way of background, the Asset Manager explained that a decision had been taken by the Council in November 2013 to move away from the Cascades site and build a new leisure facility at the Council Offices site.  A contract had been awarded to Places Leisure based on an operational management agreement which had commenced in May 2016.  Tewkesbury Leisure Centre had closed on 23 March 2020 when England had gone into lockdown, and during subsequent lockdowns in line with Government announcements.  This had been particularly problematic as it was often unclear what was happening from one week to the next.  Places Leisure had minimised the impact by reducing energy costs etc. whilst being mindful of the need to be ready to open with only 24 or 48 hours notice.  During the pandemic, Places Leisure had used the Government furlough scheme which had helped with staff retention but there had been natural redundancies as people moved on to new opportunities etc.   A review of staffing had been undertaken with regard to how front of house was run and that model was still operational post-COVID.  The Council had supported the Leisure Centre with funding of £573,880 of which £181,672 was grant funded through the National Leisure Recovery Fund.  Members may recall that Cascades Leisure Centre was very old and outdated and had cost the authority £270,000 per year whilst in operation whereas the management contract for Tewkesbury Leisure Centre included an index-linked contract sum of £148,197 for the purpose of running the site so the Council currently received around £170,000 for the management of the facility.  A confidential report had recently been considered by the Executive Committee in relation to contract terms post-COVID.  The Asset Manager explained there had been a contractual change of law clause enacted during the pandemic whereby an open book policy had been applied which required the Council to cover any losses; post-COVID that no longer applied so it reverted back to the original contract.  Notwithstanding this, Places Leisure had approached the Council in March to ask for a reduction in the contract sum which had been agreed on the basis that a number of additions and initiatives were being planned to support the viability of the Leisure Centre and to continue to grow the business going forward.  Members were encouraged to refer to the Executive Committee report for details on the figures.

50.3          The Places Leisure Regional Manager thanked Members for inviting them to give a presentation to the Committee and indicated that it would cover what was done during the pandemic; steps to recover the business; and future plans to improve services and customer experience.  He felt that Places Leisure had a very strong  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

To consider the annual update to provide assurance that complaints are managed effectively.

51.1          Attention was drawn to the report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 31-52, which provided a summary of compliments, comments, concerns and complaints received during 2021/22.  Members were asked to consider the annual update.

51.2          The Corporate Services Manager advised that compliments, comments, concerns and complaints (the 4Cs) made up the Have Your Say approach which had been approved by the Executive Committee in March 2021.  The 4Cs framework was built on the Council’s digital platform, Liberty Create, which helped Officers to gain a clear understanding of the compliments, comments, concerns and complaints in their service areas.  It also allowed the Corporate Services Officer to produce more detailed reports and Appendix 1 to the report attached the first annual report using the new framework.  In terms of highlights, there had been an increase of 56.25% in the number of compliments received during 2021/22 compared to the previous year which was largely because there was more clarity around how customers could report them.  It was noted that 172 concerns had been submitted which had a direct impact on the number of formal complaints with a 61% reduction in complaints relating to waste and recycling.  Customers were now also able to submit comments and examples ranged from Section 106 enquiries to change of circumstances for Council Tax payments.  In terms of formal complaints, there had been a reduction of 41 compared to 2020/21 and a breakdown of the nature of complaints and how many had been answered within the 20 working day timescale was set out within the report.  It was planned to deliver further training for relevant Officers around responding to complaints and the importance of responding on time.

51.3          A Member indicated that Councillors often received complaints from residents and he was particularly concerned about the number of complaints he had received in relation to residents not being able to contact Planning Officers by telephone.  In response, the Corporate Services Manager encouraged Members to advise herself or the Head of Corporate Services if residents were experiencing difficulties so they could investigate.  She indicated that a number of compliments had been received for the Planning department so some people were having a good experience but she accepted there was still a lot more work to be done.  A Member indicated that she had always received a prompt response from the Officers within the Planning department; if her original call could not be answered she had always received a call back within the hour and had been directed to someone else who could help if a particular Officer was on leave.  The Head of Corporate Services understood the concerns regarding Planning and the issues within the service had been acknowledged through the Development Services review that was now 12 months in.  A lot of work was being done behind the scenes and there had been difficulties in relation to agency staff which had stalled certain elements but the review had the full backing of the Chief Executive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting (22 September 2022). 

52.1          Attention was drawn to the report from the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee, circulated at Pages No. 53-57, which gave an update on matters considered at the meeting held on 22 September 2022.

52.2          The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee advised that the majority of the meeting had focused on the Golden Valley development project and he was happy to take any questions from Members.  A Member understood that GFirst Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) was currently going out for funding for projects and he asked if funding for this project was secure for this year and what the projections were going forward.  The Council’s representative advised there had been no feedback specific to GFirst LEP and another Member indicated that the Golden Valley project was funded by central Government.  A Member asked whether Tewkesbury Borough Council was learning from this for its own Garden Town project and what links were in place to share best practice.  The Head of Corporate Services undertook to seek a response from the Garden Town team following the meeting.  A Member noted that the level of affordable housing provision would be 35% and she asked for clarification as to whether this was standard – other Members had suggested it was normally 40% so, if that was the case, she wanted to know why it was below that level.  The Council’s representative undertook to ask this question and report back to the Committee.  Another Member asked if any reference had been made to the areas being considered for the Economic Investment Zone as, whilst Gloucestershire County Council was the driver, it would impact on planning requirements.  The Council’s representative indicated that he was not aware of anything but he pointed out there was extensive information within the links provided in his report.

52.3          It was

RESOLVED           That the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee update be NOTED.