Agenda and minutes

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Wednesday 10 August 2022 6.30 pm

Venue: Main Hall, Crosfield Hall, Broadwater Road, Romsey, Hampshire, SO51 8GL

Contact: Caroline Lovelock - 01264 368014  Email: clovelock@testvalley.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

139.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Bailey and Coole.

140.

Public Participation

Minutes:

There was no public participation.

141.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

142.

Urgent Items

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

143.

Minutes

Minutes:

Resolved:

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 May 2022 be confirmed and signed as a true record.

 

144.

Call in Items

Minutes:

There were no call in items.

145.

Urgent decisions taken since last meeting

Minutes:

There were no urgent decisions.

146.

Appointment of Vice-Chairman

To appoint a Vice-Chairman until the first meeting after Annual Council in 2023 (15 minutes)

 

Minutes:

Councillor Parker proposed that Council Procedure Rule 17.3, the requirement to vote by a show of hands so that a paper ballot may be carried out, be suspended.  This was seconded by Councillor Gwynne.

 

The Criteria for those present and those voting in favour were not met and therefore the vote was taken by a show of hands.

 

Resolved:

 

That Councillor Matthews be appointed as Vice-Chairman until the first meeting after Annual Council in 2023.

 

 

147.

Corporate Action Plan Annual Review pdf icon PDF 125 KB

A presentation by The Leader on the Corporate Action Plan (45 minutes)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council gave a presentation which reviewed the progress that the Council has made through its Corporate Action Plan over the last year. The Corporate Action Plan is an annual document that details the actions that will be taken to achieve the ambitions set out in the Corporate Plan 2019-23, Growing Our Potential, which was adopted by Council in April 2019.

 

The Corporate Action Plan is the vehicle for delivering the priorities set out in the Corporate Plan. During the last year, the Council has made significant progress through the delivery of the projects set out in the year three Corporate Action Plan. This progress towards the Council’s strategic aims formed the basis of the Leader’s presentation.

 

Members discussed:

 

·  Levelling Up funding – There has been a strong bid made for Andover however this will be very competitive.  If the funding is not successful then the Council will continue to progress its plans through other funding strategies and with development partners aligned with the phasing of the  work.

·  Sustainability and growth of the voluntary sector – The Leader recognized that the sector had been playing an important role in partnership with other agencies to support work to address issues facing communities such as Covid and cost of living. The Council plays an active role to support the voluntary sector in its work through local partnerships and through its funding and grants programmes. The leader explained that the Test Valley Partnership had met that day and focused on cost of living and how partners could support people impacted.  The outcomes from the Test Valley Partnership meeting will form an action plan.

·  Ukrainian refugees – The Leader explained that there were a number of households that were hosting Ukrainian refugees.  The concern was that at the end of the 6 months (which the Government were funding) there would be a risk homelessness for some refugees if hosting arrangements break down.  The Housing and Environmental Service are however reviewing this regularly.  The Leader will find out how many Ukrainian refugees are being hosted in Test Valley and let the Committee know.

·  Business Week – The Leader will find out what the Council will be doing to mark and promote Business Week.

·  Affordable housing – The Leader will share a breakdown tenure of the 408 affordable houses built in the last 12 months which will also highlight were they are built.  He will also speak to the Head of Housing and Environmental Health to see if there is any information about the relationship between average rents and average local salaries.

·  Youth Employment Hub – The Leader will let the Committee know where the Youth Employment Hub is in Romsey and how this has been publicised.

·  Electric Vehicles – 11 of the Council’s fleet vehicles are electric.  Some fleet vehicles are replaced with electric vehicles once they reach the end of their life.  In order to optimise fuel usage the waste collection rounds are reviewed regularly.

·  Climate Emergency Action Plan – The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 147.

148.

Appointment to Budget Panel

To appoint members to the Budget Panel (10 minutes)

Minutes:

Resolved:

 

That Councillors Baverstock, Borg Neal, Brooks, Burley, Lodge, Neal, Parker and Swain be appointed to the Budget Panel with Councillor Matthews as Lead Member.

149.

Updates on Panels

Lead Members to update the Committee on the progress of their Panels (10 minutes)

Minutes:

Budget Panel – Councillor Matthews apologies that he had not prepared a brief report on the Budget Panel but offered to email it members which will cover the progress made at the Budget meeting on 27 June.

 

Enforcement Panel – Councillor Burley has met with the Interim Head of Planning and Building and the Head of Strategy and Innovation to discuss the next steps.  He is looking at a public engagement session and exploring how this would be formulated.  He reported that the Panel were formulating recommendations around communications and processes.

 

Communications Panel – Councillor Brooks has met with the Communications Manager who advised that she had not received any feedback from Members on the new Members’ Information Bulletin.  The Communications Manager will circulate a survey to members for their feedback.  Councillor Brooks also discussed the new website and the new telephony system.  She has also spoken to the Customer Services Manager about communication issues between Members and staff.  Councillor Brooks requested that a workshop be held on the new telephone system for Members and staff.  The Panel’s recommendations will also focus on the template letters.  Councillor Brooks was disappointed that only 4 people attended the communications focus group and she was working with Councillor Hamilton and Terry Bishop to try to get more groups involved.

 

CIL/S106 Panel – Councillor Hamilton reported that she had held 3 panel meetings.  The next step was to meet with officers to start putting the report together.

 

150.

Feedback from the Away Day and Work Programme pdf icon PDF 124 KB

To reflect on the Committee’s Away Day and discuss topics for the Work Programme 2022/23 (30 minutes)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked the Committee for all their input into the topics raised at the Away Day.  The list of topics will be circulated to Members of the Committee for their suggestions on prioritisation and how the topic will be dealt with.  Following this the topics will be merged into the current Work Programme.

 

The Committee discussed and agreed changes to the Work Programme as follows;

 

·  Add New Corporate Plan update to September’s meeting.

·  Add in 3 Portfolio Holder reviews on Tourism, Planning and Climate Emergency and Countryside – dates to be agreed.

 

Resolved:

 

1.  Discuss the topics raised at the Away Day with relevant officers to consider the way forward.

2.  Approve the future work programme.