Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, please see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are reminded to declare the nature of the interest and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it’s the Members’ responsibility to declare any interests form and to update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of your interest, you are advised to seek advice prior to the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were received at the meeting.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 28^th November 2022.

Minutes will be presented at future meeting of the committee.

To consider the Strategic Performance Monitoring Strategic Performance & Delivery Reporting Q1 & Q2 2022/23 that is going to Cabinet on Wednesday, 14th December, 2022

The committee considered the report on Strategic Performance Monitoring Strategic Performance & Delivery Reporting Q1 & Q2 2022/23 presented by Cllr Saied Ahmed and Will Tuckley, Chief Executive, and Stephen Bramah, Corporate Head of Strategy and Improvement.

The committee made the following comments and questions:

·       The Mayor’s Energy Fund for the cost-of-living crisis, how is this funded and will it be seeking funding from government grants? Is it correct to call this a Mayor’s Fund, when it seems to be funded by the Government? Cllr Saied Ahmed confirmed that the fund has come from across different pots of money. The name of the fund is less concerning than what support is given out to the residents. Will Tuckley stated that the fund has been topped up from council funding, along with the funds from central government. However, the council is trying to support residents while we wait for the government to announce all the resources that they will provide to help during the energy crisis.

·       The reporting on the performance of refuse and recycling collections is seen to be very low, can this be explained? These figures do not reflect the true picture of the issue the borough is going through with our waste collection. Cllr Saied Ahmed stated that the Mayor has called a waste emergency and is currently being taken very seriously, with the aim to improve this service to compete with other boroughs on their waste performance. Stephen Bramah confirmed that the Q2 data will be following later in the month, as it was not ready for reporting. Will Tuckley confirmed that the council is not happy with the waste performance and the council is reacting to a borough that has got denser and busier, which has been impacted further by the affects of Covid-19. But the council will be looking at ways to improve this, it is a key priority for the council. The work of bringing services in house will have an improvement on performance.

·       The percentage of victims of violence against women and girls who feel safer, is lower in Q2, can this be explained? With the administration lacking representation of the marginalised groups who use these services, what will the council be doing to build confidence in victims coming forward? Stephen Bramah explained that the data collection could be better, reflecting more on those using the service. Cllr Saied Ahmed stated that more work is needed to be done, and the council is committed to improving this vital service. The council works with women across services and will work with specialists to ensure that this issue in the borough is supported correctly.

·       What is the council doing to ensure the top earners in the council are from diverse backgrounds? Do you feel the current target is ambitious enough? Will Tuckley stated that a lot of measures are needed to ensure that colleagues are able to step up and gain these positions, as a lot of our staff are from diverse backgrounds and should be able  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.1

Strategic Performance Monitoring P6 Budget Monitoring Report that is going to Cabinet on Wednesday, 14th December, 2022

The committee considered the report on Budget Monitoring Report presented by Cllr Saied Ahmed and Nisar Visram, Director of Finance Audit and Procurement.

The committee made the following comments and questions:

·       How sustainable is the policy when the reserves are gone? What are the key drivers to explain the overspend? Nisar Visram explained how the funding has been applied this year, but Adult Social Care has been an overspend. But future budgeting around this will take this into account, along with additional funding, year on year.

·       The reporting on employment skills is very thin, more detail is needed to explain the expense. Nisar Visram agreed to investigate this area for the committee and see if this can be reported on at future meetings.

·       On the extra funding for staffing on the Mayor’s office, can this expenditure be justified? Could the spending not be put into areas like customer service? Nisar Visram explained how this will be funded, including initially from reserves, then from the medium-term budget. Cllr Saied Ahmed stated that the Mayor’s office staffing is an important part of improving the borough, making it more open to ensure that residents are able to meet with, and engage with the Mayor.

·       The repairs & maintenance budget is forecasting a favourable variance; however, this does seem to have an impact on tenants and leaseholders who will be paying for repairs? What is the impact of Gill Street not progressing? Can these projects not be funded from reserves? Nisar Visram explained the pressures that have been found and what impact this has had on the revenue budget. Cllr Saied Ahmed stated that building homes was a priority of this council, but the committee would need to wait and see what these projects turn out to be.

·       What is the progress on the councils plans to build more homes? Cllr Saied Ahmed stated the current plans on home building, like meeting with new developers.

RESOLVED

The report was noted.

To consider the Budget Fees and Charges report that is going to Cabinet on Wednesday, 14th December, 2022

Item was withdrawn.

The Committee is asked to note:

1.The most recent editions of the Forward Plan.

2.The Forthcoming Decisions Plan (or 'Forward Plan') will be published at least 28 days before each Cabinet meeting setting out information on all the Key Decisions that are expected to be taken at that meeting, along with other Cabinet decisions where known.

3.Publication dates for future Forthcoming Decision Plans are available on the Cabinet web pages. In advance of being published on the new Plan, individual notices of new Key Decisions will be published as they are known and these are listed as New Issues.

RESOLVED:

Members Noted the forward plan

To consider and agree pre-decision scrutiny questions/comments to be presented to Cabinet.

Members Noted the Cabinet Papers and did not wish to raise any questions.

To note the current version of the Work Programme.

RESOLVED:

Members Noted the Report

To note the current version of the Action Note.

RESOLVED:

Members Noted the Report

To consider any other unrestricted business that the Chair considers to be urgent.

The chair invited the Scrutiny Leads to give the committee updates:

·       Cllr Sabina Khan, Scrutiny Lead for Resources and Finance, reported on the recent scrutiny review and gave the following highlights. The need to focus on the cost-of-living crisis and the impact on food poverty. The review should be looking at those who are struggling with council tax and suggesting relaxed terms for repayment. A range of support needs to be offered to those who visit food banks and on prepaid energy meters.

As the agenda circulated had no exempt/confidential reports and there was therefore no requirement to exclude the press and public to allow for its consideration.

To consider and agree pre-decision scrutiny questions/comments to be presented to Cabinet.

Nil Items.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mannan and Choudhury.