Agenda and minutes

1.         This meeting is to be webcast. Members are reminded of the need to activate their microphones before speaking.

2.         The Chairman will read the following announcement:

“This meeting will be webcast live to the Internet and will be archived for later viewing. Copies of recordings may be made available on request.

By entering the chamber’s lower seating area you consenting to becoming part of the webcast.

If you wish to avoid being filmed you should move to the public gallery or speak to the webcasting officer”

The Chairman reminded everyone present that the meeting would be broadcast live to the Internet, and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings.

It was noted that Councillor Jon Whitehouse was substituting for Councillor D Jacobs.

Decisions required:

To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 27 August and 3 September 2013.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the last two meetings of the Committee held on 27 August and 3 September 2013 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

To receive a presentation from the Epping Forest CAB District Manager, Stephanie Chambers on their current situation.

We have Ms Chambers to address the following items in her presentation:

• the current situation on their search for new premises both in Epping and Loughton (could this lead to an appointment only service?);
• their funding problems;
• how the new welfare reforms are affecting our residents and  the organisation;
• their work at Limes Farm and any successes or problems encountered there;
• the North/South divide in the district – a lot of our resident to the north of the district tend to go up to the Harlow CAB or over the border to Hertfordshire, and not bother to travel south to Epping – could they provide information on the services they can access there; and
• could we also have their thoughts on the impact on services if in the future the CAB have to close locally.

The Chairman welcomed Stephanie Chambers the Epping Forest Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAB) District Manager and Janet Woods the Chair of the Epping Forest District CAB. The meeting noted that they are a registered charity and had started in 2008 as a joint branch by combining the three existing branches in the district, namely those at Epping, Loughton and Waltham Abbey. This had also saved them money as they reduced three management committees down to one. Each branch has a Service Manager responsible for the delivery of advice from each outlet. They have nine volunteer officers on the governing trustee board along with two non-voting councillors. They currently have a three year Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the District Council from which they receive £113,840 per annum. They have renegotiated the SLA for another three years but that has not as yet been signed off

The CAB is operated on the service level by highly trained volunteers who undergo a nationally supported training programme to become advisors and they continue to have on-going training, especially in benefits and aspects of the law. The Citizens’ Advice Bureau sets out the standards that their branches must adhere to and audit the branches every three years; this district's offices had received an 80% rating which put them in the top 15% in the country.

Up to the end of September this year they had three main offices across the district that cost them approximately £15,500 per annum. In September 2011 owners of their Epping office property, the Theydon Trust, informed them that they wished to redevelop the site and build a two storey building which it was envisaged would be used mainly by the CAB. Planning permission was granted in 2012 and the proposed rent would be approximately £28k p.a. excluding rates. They did not have the funds for this and EFDC advised the CAB that it did not envisage any more core funding being made available in respect of the additional annual rental costs. They had looked into the possibility of other buildings being used but these were considered to be too expensive, particularly bearing in mind the additional costs required for them to be fitted out for their use.

There were also longer term problems at their premises in St Mary’s Church, Loughton, which was in a somewhat dilapidated state. The Church wanted to redevelop the site, although they had indicated that there would be room for an outreach office for the CAB. Other options had been looked at but they were not considered suitable.

Accordingly the CAB decided the best option would be to rent the new Theydon Trust building in Epping once completed some 12-18 months hence. The only way to meet the increased rent was through staff cuts. Theydon Trust understood the CAB’s funding position in that they could not guarantee to pay their rent for more than one year at a time. They had met with the paid and voluntary staff and told them of the Board’s decision.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

RECOMMENDATION:

To consider any items to be raised by the Chairman at the Cabinet meeting on 21 October 2013.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). Under the Overview and Scrutiny rules the Committee is required to scrutinise proposed decisions of the Executive. The Chairman is also required to report on such discussions to the Cabinet.

The Committee is asked to consider the 21 October 2013 Cabinet agenda (previously circulated) to see whether there are any items that they wished to be raised at the Cabinet meeting.

The Committee noted the Cabinet agenda of 21 October. Councillor Murray said, in relation to agenda item 13 (Civic Offices – Committee Room Tables) that he was not convinced that the council should be spending £10k on new tables in the present financial situation and wondered how this could be justified.

(a)             To consider the updated work programme

The current Overview and Scrutiny work programme is attached for information.

(b)          Reserve Programme

A reserve list of scrutiny topics is required to ensure that the work flow of OSC is continuous.

OSC will ‘pull out’ items from the list and  allocate them accordingly  once space becomes available in the work plan following  the completion of  existing reviews.

Members can put forward any further suggestions for inclusion in the reserve list  either during the meeting or at a later date.

Existing review items will be dealt with first, then time will be allocated to the items contained in the reserve work plan.

The Committee reviewed the Overview and Scrutiny work programme.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

It was noted that the Youth Council was to go to their November meeting when they would update the committee on the work they did during the past year and their plans for the future.

Housing Scrutiny Standing Panel

Councillor Murray reported that the Housing Standing Panel would be reviewing Parking Enforcement on Housing Managed grassed areas and noted that they had recently gone through the conditions of tenancy and reviewed the Housing Service Standards.

Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel

Councillor Philip noted that they had last met on 24 September where they considered the appointment process for the vice chairman of Council. They were now consulting members via the Members Bulletin.

Safer Cleaner Greener Standing Panel

Noted that the next meeting will be held on 28 October.

Planning Services Standing Panel

Councillor Wyatt informed the Committee that at their September meeting the Panel received an update on electronic records for wider public access and endorsed the idea of providing Parish and Town Councils with officer support at their planning meetings to gauge their IT needs.  A report will be submitted to the forthcoming Local Council’s Liaisons Committee. They also agreed the content of the draft revised planning application checklist and discussed the Brentwood Borough Local Plan Preferred Options Consultation. They were not convinced that Brentwood was unable to make full provision for housing needs. They felt that there was no indication of how they intended to make provision for 2,100 new dwellings outside their boundary and concluded that the Brentwood Local Plan may struggle at examination in public. They also supported the draft Local Enforcement Plan, which set out the priorities for investigation.

Finance and Performance Management Standing Panel

Councillor Lion noted that at their last meeting they had reviewed the KPIs and the Financial Performance Monitoring quarterly figures. He noted that these warned of tough times ahead for the Council. In addition they received an interim report on cross charging that a sub committee was looking at. A full report will go to their next meeting.

Overview and Scrutiny Review Task and Finish Panel

It was noted that their final meeting was scheduled for 31 October 2013, when they would consider their final report.