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Agenda item

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2022/23 and Action List

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

Minutes:

10.1          Attention was drawn to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme, circulated at Pages No. 19-29, and the action list setting out the actions arising from meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee between October 2019 and March 2022, circulated at Pages No. 30-44.  Members were asked to consider the Work Programme and action list.

10.2          The Head of Corporate Services pointed out that the Community Services Improvement Review which had previously been in the pending items section of the Work Programme had now been scheduled for the meeting on 7 February 2023.  The Head of Democratic Services advised that NHS Gloucestershire would be attending the meeting on 12 July 2022 to give a presentation on Fit for the Future 2, a new engagement which focused on the medium and long-term future of some of its health services. Whilst the general consultation events finished at the end of June, the NHS was continuing to engage with people until the end of August so it was felt it would be beneficial for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to gain an understanding of what this would mean for Tewkesbury Borough.  The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee advised that the next meeting of that Committee was on 12 July 2022, which was the same date as the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, therefore, she would give a brief verbal update on matters discussed with a more detailed report to follow by email.

10.3          A Member noted that the Committee was due to consider the results of a trial of mobile surveillance equipment for fly-tipping investigations but this had been in the pending items section of the Work Programme since 12 October 2021 and he asked whether the cameras had been purchased and deployed.  The Environmental Health Manager explained that purchase of the cameras had been delayed due to legal issues with procurement; however, that had now been resolved and it was hoped the cameras would be available for roll-out within the next month.  The Member asked whether it was intended to consult Members about potential locations for the cameras and the Environmental Health Manager indicated that he would be happy to speak to Members on an individual basis to identify feasible hotspot locations.  As soon as he was in a position to do so, he would email all Members to notify them about the cameras and to invite suggestions.

10.4          In terms of the action list, the Head of Corporate Services advised that only six of the 29 actions were outstanding; two of these were in relation to a Member seminar on the Government’s Housing Design Guide and, whilst this had not yet been delivered, there was now a target date of September 2022.  Overall, good progress had been made in terms of delivery of the actions.  The following issues were raised during the discussion:

Meeting Date: 11 January 2022

P36 - Council Plan Performance Tracker and COVID-19 Recovery Tracker Quarter Two 2021/22 – KPI 38 – Number of reported enviro-crimes.

A Member noted that the target date for Members to be provided with information on the costs of cleaning up various enviro-crimes was June 2022 and he asked whether that was still achievable given it was already 7 June 2022.  The Environmental Health Manager indicated that he would discuss this with the Head of Community Services and make it a priority to ensure it was available within the next couple of weeks.

Meeting Date: 8 February 2022

P38 – Agenda Item – Housing and Homelessness Strategy 2022-26

A Member noted that a question had been raised about how many of the 1,814 people on the housing register in September 2021 had been rehoused but he did not feel this had been fully answered by the commentary provided which stated that there had been 274 lettings for properties in the area, of which, 243 had been allocated to applicants who had registered before 1 September 2021.  He asked for clarification on how many of the 1,814 were included in the lettings figures.  The Head of Corporate Services undertook to take this away to get an answer from the relevant Officer.

Meeting Date: 8 March 2022

P42 – Agenda Item – Council Plan Performance Tracker and COVID-19 Recovery Tracker.

A Member asked for clarification as to whether the Government’s Housing Design Guide would be produced before the Design Manual which was referenced at Page No. 93 of the Agenda in the performance tracker.  The Head of Development Services explained that the Member training included in the action list was specifically around the National Planning Policy Framework which included new design criteria.  In addition, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill meant that the Council was required to produce a boroughwide Design Guide and that would also be picked up in the training.  The Design Manual was something separate which would be taken forward by the Garden Town team.

A Member noted that the commentary in relation to the action to prepare a Design Guide, set out at Pages No. 93-94 of the Agenda, stated that final approvals were currently being obtained to formalise the contract and the work would run for 12 months; he sought clarification as to when that had started.  The Garden Town Programme Director advised that LDA Design had been selected to commission the Manual and that process would run from now until approximately June 2023.

10.5          Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          That the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme 2021/22 and action list be NOTED.

Supporting documents: