Agenda and minutes

(Director of Governance) To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

There were no substitute members for the meeting.

To agree the notes of the meeting of the Select Committee held on 30 January 2018.

            RESOLVED:

That the notes of the last meeting of the Neighbourhoods Select Committee held on 30 January 2018 be agreed.

(Director of Governance). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a pecuniary or a non-pecuniary interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 9 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a non-pecuniary interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 9 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Members’ Code of Conduct.

(Chairman / Lead Officer) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed the Terms of Reference of this Committee. This is attached along with an ongoing Work Programme. Members are asked at each meeting to review both documents.

(1)    Terms of Reference

These were noted by members.

(2)    Work Programme

Item (15) Emergency planning – the Acting Chief Executive reported that the Council had made a key appointment. L Liscombe would be starting at the Civic Offices shortly and would also co-ordinate all health and safety issues. Business continuity had been successfully tested with the recent snowy weather. A report on the Council’s emergency planning procedures would be going to next Neighbourhoods SC meeting on 26 June 2018.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To receive presentations of the Directorate Business Plans by the Portfolio Holders, relevant to the Neighbourhoods Select Committee (NSC).

This will enable the NSC to timetable scrutiny of the plans for 2018-19 municipal year.

The Acting Chief Executive introduced the presentations that the Portfolio Holders (PFHs) would be making to the Neighbourhoods SC. There had been positive feedback from last year’s PFH presentations. The PFHs would present this year’s highlights followed by questions from members. The presentations had been prepared on the Council’s existing corporate structure under the remit of the Neighbourhoods Directorate. The three main areas and Assistant Directors were: Neighbourhood Services, J Nolan; Technical Services, K Durrani; and Forward Planning and Economic Development, A Blom-Cooper (Interim AD). The gross budget comprised some £18.6 million (M), of which income was £8.9M. The Council’s commercial estate was valued at over £7.5M. The Waste Management and Leisure Management contracts, which were monitored against key performance indicators (KPIs), also came under the responsibility of this SC. The aim was to generate sufficient income to offset the reduction in government funding. The equivalent of 110 full time staff were employed within Neighbourhoods. Lastly, the Local Plan (LP) was moving towards the completion phase.

(1)       Councillor J Philip – Planning and Governance PFH

The LP, a key part of this portfolio, was moving forward and during the public examination by the Inspector it would be important that the Council could show that it would be able to meet the numbers for housing. An Implementation Team had been set up to support the delivery of the LP. The Team would implement arrangements to ensure information was available to assess LP policies. The Council would be looking at Planning Performance Agreements, which would enable it to maintain a timescale for delivering housing through masterplanning schemes. All the LP documentation to date could be viewed on the Council’s website. The reports were backed up by evidence and policies. On neighbourhood planning, the Council would provide advice to local councils. The Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) could also provide additional assistance to facilitate this and ensure that the neighbourhood plans did not conflict with the LP. The Council would be providing input into the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town project and three other project sites, the sustainable transport corridors around Harlow that came under the Sustainable Development Board. The Council was well prepared to take the LP through the public examination process.

Councillor M Sartin asked about the input that local / ward councillors would have in the masterplanning areas around Harlow. The PFH said that residents, local ward members and local councils could all become involved, especially on the larger sites. The developers would present their masterplans to local councils for smaller developments, while larger masterplanning sites would require larger consultations.

(2)       Councillor A Grigg – Asset Management and Economic Development PFH

The St John’s Road Development had been ongoing for a number of years. The development would retain and respect the historic character of the area and comprise a cinema, shops and a restaurant. The final version of the tripartite agreement was with all parties and awaiting completion. Letting of units at the Epping Forest Shopping Park was ongoing.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To receive a report on the Leisure Management Contract Partnership Board meeting held on 5 March 2018.

Members agreed to bring forward item 12 – Leisure Management Contract.

The Partnership Board had met on 5 March 2018. The minutes had been published. The review of the performance of Places for People (PfP) had been monitored which covered participation, uptake and financial performance. There had been an uplift in most areas with the exception of a couple of dips because of refurbishment works. On the future of the Leisure Centre Liaison Groups, PfP had explained that if there was anything contentious then a crowd of people would usually attend these meetings otherwise they were poorly attended on the whole. PfP was promoting quarterly ‘meet the manager’ sessions and encouraging customer feedback. The Partnership Board had agreed that at Epping and Ongar there would be an annual customer forum, but at Loughton LC there would be three Liaison Group meetings a year. Also the Epping Forest Swimming Club had asked for a phased price increase. The previous contractor had offered some concessions. PfP thought its rate was reasonable, was within the business model and supported the Club. As the Partnership Board was a non-executive board and the fees and charges had been approved by Full Council, members had agreed to keep this under review.

The PFH advised that the crèche at Ongar was under review as it was not very well attended. She asked if local members could help publicise the crèche to local residents as the Epping crèche was working very well. Councillor N Bedford said that he would bring this to the attention of the North Weald Residents Association when he attended the next meeting.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider and note the Enforcement Activity for 2017/18.

Members agreed to bring forward item 13, Environmental Enforcement Activity Annual Report 2017/18.

The Environment and Neighbourhoods Manager, R Gardiner, presented the annual report for the period 2017/18, which summarised enforcement activity that had been carried out by the Council’s Environment and Neighbourhoods (EN) Team. Fly-tipping incidents currently took up the majority of the EN Team’s time and such incidents were on the increase, as detailed in this report. Much of the waste fly-tipped was commercial in origin, and there were areas across the District consistently being targeted, one of which was Stapleford Abbotts. Appendix A of the report listed fly-tipping / waste prosecutions between 1 April 2017 to 5 March 2018. From April 2018 legislation would also allow the Council to prosecute the registered keeper of a vehicle seen disposing of litter from that vehicle. Penalty charge notices (PCNs) could be issued and the fee would be rising from £75 to £100. The Council had run campaigns with the Cleaner Essex Group to push owners into disposing of their rubbish correctly. Promotion of the current campaign ‘Your Rubbish, Your Responsibility’ was ongoing and there was a short video on YouTube to view. Many rogue traders offered to dispose of people’s waste, but it was important for residents to check that the waste carrier was legitimate. The ‘Crime Not To Care’ campaign specifically highlighted the dangers when this was not undertaken and that people would be prosecuted by the Council if their waste was subsequently fly-tipped. Essex County Council audited waste carriers so it was safe to use this list. The Council was just starting to do this and was working with one company with a view to expanding on this. It had also begun to carry out spot checks on vehicles and could ‘stop’ any suspect vehicles in the District.

Noise complaints were the second most frequent problems the EN Team would investigate. This was not an easy subject for officers to handle. The Council’s role in resolving noise nuisance was difficult but could make a significant difference to the neighbour who being subjected to unreasonable noise. Catching noise nuisance in operation was the challenge and officers were on call to deal with complaints when they were reported. The EN Team would provide advice and try to resolve most noise complaints informally. Noise abatement notices could and had been served on noisy premises and cases escalated to a formal caution when required. EN officers were also involved in other neighbour nuisance issues, such as smoke, dust, odour, dog fouling, litter and light nuisance. The EN Team was also involved in licensing issues. Such work could involve the monitoring of taxi drivers’ licences to ensure these were all in order, and to help eliminate unlicensed taxi drivers, as much as possible.

Unauthorised encampments (UE) generated much concern to residents nearby and when they were reported, the EN Team gave them priority. All UE that were on Council owned land were visited by the EN Team on the first day of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

There were twelve key performance indicators (KPIs) that fell with this SC’s areas of responsibility. Of these, 9 (75%) had achieved target and 3 (25%) had not achieved target, although 2 (17% of these KPIs had performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator. It was noted that 9 (75%) of indicators were anticipated to achieve year-end target.

NE1013 (What percentage of all household waste was sent to be recycled or reuse?)

Councillor N Bedford remarked that throughout 2017/18 the values achieved for quarters 1 (23.75%) , 2 (23.74%) and 3 (23.38%) were all under the target of 26%.

The Assistant Director (Technical Services) K Durrani said that recycling would be arbitrarily split into two categories to show what the Council was doing well then make a meaningful target for the end of year.

Councillor J H Whitehouse asked if this was for waste through the Council or did the values include waste for Epping Forest ReUse and other organisations. The Assistant Director (Technical Services) replied that if he had the tonnage figures from other organisations e.g. Epping Foret ReUse then these would be included.

Councillor N Bedford asked if it was necessary to produce so much analysis of the KPIs performance in this report which was supported by other members who preferred the tables to the charts and graphs section of the report. The Acting Chief Executive agreed to liaise with the Transformation Team to see if the statistical data could be reduced.

RESOLVED:

That the Select Committee reviewed and noted the KPIs for 2017/18 Quarter 3 Performance in relation to the key performance indicators within its area of responsibility.

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Corporate Plan was the Council’s key strategic planning document that set out its priorities or corporate aims over a five-year period from 2015/16 to 2019/20. The Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2017/18 was adopted by Council in September 2016. In relation to the fifty individual actions of the Key Action Plan for 2017/18, ten actions fell under the responsibility of the Neighbourhoods SC. At the end of Quarter 3 the progress made was as given below:

·       9 (90%) of these actions have been ‘Achieved’ or are ‘On-Target’

·       0 (0%) of these actions are ‘Under Control’

·       1 (10%) of these actions are ‘Behind Schedule’

·       0 (0%) of these actions are ‘Pending’

The only action behind schedule for this SC was (11) Develop the St John’s Road site, to deliver local jobs and economic development. At Quarter 3, the Tripartite Agreement was with all parties for signing and it was hoped that this would be completed soon.

            RESOLVED:

            That the Select Committee reviewed and noted the progress of the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2017/18 Quarter 3 Position in relation to its areas of responsibility.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider a report. (Report to follow).

The Planning and Governance PFH Councillor J Philip reported that all the documents / appendices for the LP were on the website and a LP briefing had been held last week. During the six-week consultation on the submission version of the LP (Regulation 19), the Council had received over 1,000 responses and all these responses had been logged for submission to the Inspector. Names and addresses had been redacted from the responses before being published on the Council’s website, but the Inspector would see all these personal details.

Moving to plan implementation two developer forums that had been set up, one to deal with the strategic sites in and around Harlow, the Garden Town Forum, and the remaining sites in the corridors around Harlow. There would be an Implementation Team, staffed by a panel of specialists that would bring forward the masterplan sites. The team was looking at developing planning performance agreements with developers to help them bring forward their plans. A Quality Review Panel had been set up and had appointed a pool of some sixteen external professionals. It was an independent advisory panel that would draw on their expertise, and advice would be sought from the Panel to ensure schemes submitted would be of the highest quality. Thus the Council should be in a strong position to meet the five-year housing supply given in the submission version of the LP.

The Brownfield Register had been published and could be viewed on the website at:

http://www.efdclocalplan.org/planning-policy/brownfield-land-register/

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report.

The Corporate Plan (CP) 2018/23 was the authority’s key strategic planning document to transform the Council to be ‘Ready for the Future’. The CP linked the key external drivers influencing Council services, with a set of aims and objectives, grouped under three corporate ambitions – stronger communities, stronger place and stronger council. Each ambition had a set of corporate aims, which in turn were detailed by one or more corporate objective, as detailed in Appendix 1 of this report.

An annual ‘Corporate Specification’ (previously the Key Action Plan) would detail how the CP was being delivered through operational objectives, which in turn would link to the annual Services business plans. The CP would be assessed through the achievement of a set of benefits, to focus on what the Council had achieved for customers. Those benefits in turn would be evidenced through a set of performance measures, as detailed in Appendix 2 of this report.

This report outlining the draft benefits maps was being scrutinised by the four SCs and would go to the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee on 17 April 2018. Final definitions for the new key benefits and performance indicator set would then be agreed by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee on 21 June 2018 in consultation with the Head of Transformation. Ideally this would then help the SCs undertake effective scrutiny of the Council’s performance.

The Head of Transformation asked members for feedback on the proposed format for reporting the performance of the indicator set and the progress of the CP 2018/23. An alternative option was that members could focus on the essential parts relevant to this SC to cut down on the paperwork / duplication if that would help.

Members made the following comments:

·      The majority of members found the proposed / draft formats confusing.

·      Plan (page 78) – keep.

·      Aim 10 a draft format to present information in tables / charts (pages 81-82) – only scrutinise those relevant to the Neighbourhoods SC.

·      How would it be possible to scrutinise effectively if the SC never saw the others, as members needed to see what was being achieved.

·      Formats all seemed very busy, were difficult to follow and it was not easy to extract information.

·      Formats needed to be less complicated and more simplified.

·      Reports were far too wordy with repetitive phraseology and often stated the obvious about the Council.

·      If only looking at the customers, how could the O&S committees effectively scrutinise the Council’s work.

·      The draft Performance Indicator Profiles (Appendix 3, page 83) – would these be added to the existing ones and in what context would the new Indicator set be used.

The Acting Chief Executive stressed there was a need to increase transparency for members and their comments would be taken into consideration. The O&S Committee in April would have the final decision on whether to accept these new formats. The Head of Transformation would welcome any additional feedback brought to his attention by members. Councillor M Sartin  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report.

The O&S Committee at its meeting on 27 February 2018 had requested the progress of projects and programmes within the Transformation Programme, known as the ‘Project Dossier’ to be reported on a regular basis that were under the remit of the Neighbourhoods SC. The Appendix (page 138) detailed the workstreams the projects came under, the current project lifecycle stages, start and forecasted finish dates, Risk Potential Assessment (RPA), current project status (red, amber or green), select committee to scrutinise, sponsor and manager details.

The only project with a ‘red’ status was for project code P134, Licensing Self-Service Applications, which had achieved 83% progress but was behind schedule as it had been due for completion in December 2017. The Head of Transformation, David Bailey, had been advised by the Licensing Manager that the project had now been completed and a report would be submitted to this SC for scrutiny. Also for project code P140, District Emergency Control Centre Plan, a new Emergency Planning Office had recently been appointed. It was noted that a number of projects were due for completion in March / April 2018, as shown in this report.

To consider the draft notes of the Local Liaison Group meeting held on 22 August 2017.

The Notes of the Bobbingworth Nature Reserve (former landfill site) Local Liaison Group meeting held on 22 August 2017 were noted.

To consider which reports are ready to be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its next meeting.

The Acting Chief Executive reported that Essex County Councillor and Cabinet Member for Education, R Gooding, had accepted an invitation to attend the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee in June 2018. The O&S Chairman would be interested in hearing about areas to scrutinise and that if questions were submitted by members in advance then this would be of benefit to the Council. It was noted that this had already be publicised in the Council Bulletin.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To note that the meetings in the next municipal year 2018/19 for the Select Committee will be on:

•      26 June 2018;

•      20 September 2018;

•      20 November 2018;

•      29 January 2019; and

•      19 March 2019.

It was noted that the meetings in the next municipal year 2018/19 for the Neighbourhoods Select Committee would be held on:

•        26 June 2018

•        20 September 2018

•        20 November 2018

•        29 January 2019

•        19 March 2019