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Overview and Scrutiny Commission 7 July 2022 6.30 - 7.00 pm
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Present Virtually:
Councillors Angell (Chair), Virgo (Vice-Chair), Mrs Birch, Brossard, Gbadebo, MJ Gibson, Mrs Mattick, McLean and Temperton
Apologies for absence were received from:
Councillors Mrs McKenzie-Boyle, Mossom and Porter
Executive Members Present Virtually:
Councillor Mrs Hayes
10. Minutes of previous meeting
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Commission held on 9 June 2022 be approved as a correct record, and signed by the Chair.
11. Declarations of Interest and Party Whip
There were no declarations of interest made.
There were no indications that members would be participating while under the party whip.
12. Urgent Items of Business
There were no items of urgent business.
13. Public Participation
No submissions had been made by members of the public under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.
14. Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel Report: Integrated Enforcement
The Chair of the Commission advised that as both the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel were unable to attend the meeting to present the report so it would fall to other members of that panel to answer questions. Members present commented that the clarity and presentation of the report was excellent and thanked the officer supporting the review, Joey Gurney for the quality of the information provided. Arising from the discussion the following queries were raised:
· the report lacked examples of when each appropriate officer would be looking at their area to have enforcement
· the review did not appear to have considered the frustration of the timescales for resolving enforcement issues, it was acknowledged that there was a crossover with different authorities working together and that it does take a lot of time to work through and get a proper outcome
· it was queried whether there were enough parking attendants working within the borough
· the level of success of enforcement court cases was queried
It was noted that some of the queries raised fed into the rationale for the proposed companion review.
The Commission agreed to defer the decision whether to endorse the recommendations within the Integrated Enforcement review report for submission to the Executive until the next meeting of the Commission, when the Chair, Councillor Porter, would be able to address the issues raised directly.
15. Work Programme Update
Each Panel Chair in attendance provided a verbal update on work programme progress.
Education, Skills and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Panel
The SEND review was due to be completed in July 2022 but had taken longer because of the extensive investigative work being undertaken. Panel members had visited SEND units in schools and special needs settings and interviewed a number of witnesses. The draft review recommendations would be discussed with representatives from the local authority and health partners on 18 July 2022. The final report would be available for discussion at the September Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting. In response to a question, the Chair stated that the SEND department needed to be reorganised, that SEND data was not being collected in the right way for management to monitor activity and that the panel were pleased this had been recognised and was being worked on by officers.
The next review had been scoped and was being called ‘Child Criminal Exploitation’ instead of ‘County Lines’. County Lines had been widened since the pandemic as during lockdown methods of undertaking activities morphed into something else broader.
The Education, Skills and Growth Panel would meet on 28September 2022 to reflect on what the Panel had achieved in the last three years in order to evaluate what had gone well and what could be improved.
Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel
The Health and Care Panel would meet on 19 July 2022 to discuss the impact of the review on blue badges and how the recommendations had been carried out. The meeting would also discuss the next project for the Panel to review. It was planned to bring the scope to the next Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting for consideration.
Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel
The Commission agreed the Enforcement Strategy review scope.
CHAIRMAN