Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Liz Casling. Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Don Mackay and David Buckle.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests.  Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee held on 27 June 2018.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 27 June 2018 for signing by the Chair.

The Chair reminded Members that there was an all-Member briefing at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber about the Local Enterprise Partnerships.

The Chair also advised the Committee that the order of business on the agenda would be amended; agenda item 10 – Leisure Annual Review would be considered directly after agenda item 5 – Work Programme 2018-19.

To discuss and agree items for inclusion on the Committee’s work programme for 2018-19.

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report which asked the Committee to agree items for inclusion on the revised Work Programme 2018-19.

Members noted that an item on empty homes (including voids) should be added to the work programme for 2019-20 in order for Scrutiny Committee to look at this in detail, following consideration by the Executive.

The Committee discussed the provision of mental health support, including dementia and Alzheimer’s, in Selby and across the county. The Democratic Services Officer was asked to gather further information on other scrutiny work on the matter currently taking place in other authorities by contacting the North Yorkshire Scrutiny Officer’s Network.

RESOLVED:

i.           To agree the revised Work Programme for 2018-19.

ii.          To add Empty Homes to the committee’s 2019-20 work programme, following Executive consideration.

iii.        To ask the Democratic Services Officer to gather further information on scrutiny work on mental health provision currently taking place in other North Yorkshire authorities by contacting the North Yorkshire Scrutiny Officer’s Network.

To receive a verbal report from the Head of Commissioning, Contracts and Procurement on the Leisure Annual Review.

An electronic version of the 2017/18 Leisure Annual Report will be emailed to Councillors when the agenda is published. Hard copies will be made available at the meeting.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Head of Commissioning, Contracts and Procurement on the leisure annual review.

Hard copies of the Executive report from 12 July 2018, a minute extract from that meeting and the Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles Selby Annual Review 2017-18 were circulated at the meeting.

The Committee were pleased to note that 2017-18 had been a year of progress; more schools were using the pool at the leisure centre in Selby and the recent Selby Sportiv had gone very well. Outreach work by Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles (IHL) had continued, with the ‘Move It or Lose It’ campaign expanding over the last 18 months.

Members noted that there had been some discussion at the Executive meeting around users with membership cards, and those who actually utilised them. There was a discrepancy between the two figures of around 3 to 4%, but performance against targets was still good.

RESOLVED:

                        To note the Leisure Annual Review for 2017-18.

To consider the contents of the report and make any comments on the Council’s corporate performance.

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer introduced the report which asked the Committee to consider and make any comments on the Council’s performance.

The Committee noted that the quarterly corporate performance report provided a progress update on delivery against the Council’s Corporate Plan 2015-20 as measured by a combination of progress against priority projects/high level actions, and performance against KPIs. The report had also been considered by the Executive at its meeting on 6 September 2018.

The Leader of the Council was also in attendance for consideration of the item.

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer summarised the positive and negative performance as set out in the report. Missed bins had been higher than target but numbers had improved since the last quarter. The Committee noted that the Executive had asked for a briefing on empty properties/voids and it was suggested that Scrutiny look at the matter after the Executive.

Members acknowledged that a higher than expected number of void properties had come forward, many of which had not had previous ‘decent homes’ work done to them and therefore required a lot of work to bring them up to standard. There were also difficulties in recruiting to trades positions which was slowing down repair work and general maintenance jobs at council properties.

Members expressed concerns about collections being hindered by problem car parking, and public waste bins not being emptied regularly in Tadcaster.

How to communicate when missed bins would be collected was also discussed; officers confirmed that messages were put on the Council’s website and on social media to let residents know when they would be collected.

The Committee suggested other methods of communicating with residents could be a leaflet in annual billing, or a sticker on the bins to explain that by default missed bins were usually collected the next day.

RESOLVED:

 To note the report.

To consider the contents of the report and make any comments on the Council’s financial results and budget exceptions.

The Head of Finance introduced the report which asked the Committee to consider and make any comments on the Council’s financial results and budget exceptions.

The Leader of the Council was also in attendance for consideration of the item.

Members noted that at the end of quarter 1, the General Fund was indicating an outturn deficit of £30k. There were a number of variances (positive and negative) which made up the deficit including; shortfall on planned savings, staffing savings; changes to the lifeline service; changes in waste and recycling income and higher investment income. The HRA was indicating an outturn surplus (£386k) which was mainly driven by lower external borrowing requirements. Planned savings for the year had already been achieved in the HRA. However, General Fund savings were showing a forecast shortfall of £157k. The capital programme was currently forecasting an underspend of (£81k), all of which came from the General Fund programme. The Programme for Growth was established as part of the budget setting process, and a separate paper on P4G progress was also on the agenda. At Q1 it was expected that the current year would underspend (£130k); this was driven principally by projects covering more than one year.

The Committee expressed concerns relating to the delays still being experienced in the planning service, despite it now being fully staffed, and the problems in recruiting to trades jobs.

Members discussed the proposed move of the contact centre staff at Market Cross to the Civic Centre, and the potential to let the space out to another tenant due to the years left on the lease of the property. Officers acknowledged the concerns raised by Members regarding the convenience and accessibility of the Civic Centre for customers, and recognised it was a process that would need managing properly if it went ahead.

RESOLVED:

To note the report.

To consider the contents of the report and make any comments on the Council’s Programme for Growth.

The Economy and Infrastructure Manager introduced the report which asked the Committee to consider the content of the report and make any comments on the Council’s Programme for Growth.

The Committee noted that the report outlined the quarterly progress on delivering the Programme for Growth, in accordance with the approach agreed at the meeting of the Executive on 3 May 2018.

The Leader of the Council was also in attendance for consideration of the item.

The Committee noted that a great deal of the work so far on the Programme for Growth had been around project planning and organising of expenditure; some of the projects detailed in the report would last for a few months, some for a number of years.

Members discussed future potential uses for the recently purchased former Natwest bank premises in Selby and Tadcaster; officers confirmed that a number of uses were being considered, including retail, residential and commercial space.

The Committee were pleased to note that Selby District Council had recently won ‘Local Authority of the Year’ at the Business Insider Property Awards, and acknowledged the importance of the Council being able to keep delivering successful projects and maximising the potential of the district.

RESOLVED:

To note the progress on the existing Programme for Growth.

To consider the contents of the report and make any comments on the

Council’s treasury management.

The Head of Finance introduced the report which asked the Committee to consider the contents of the report and make any comments on the Council’s treasury management.

The Leader of the Council was also in attendance for consideration of the item.

The Committee noted that the report reviewed the Council’s borrowing and investment activity (Treasury Management) for the period 1April to 30 June 2018 (Q1) and presented performance against the Prudential Indicators. 

Members were advised that on average the Council’s investments totalled £60.6m over the quarter at an average rate of 0.66% and earned interest of £98.8k (£68k allocated to the General Fund; £31k allocated to the HRA) which was £30k above the year to date budget. Whilst cash balances were expected to reduce over the year, the bank rate increased on 2August 2018 meaning forecast returns could be in the region of £360k, a budget surplus of £120k.

Officers explained that long-term borrowing totalled £59.3m at 30June 2018 (£1.6m relating to the General Fund; £57.7m relating to the HRA). Interest payments of £2.5m were forecast for 2018/19, a saving of £0.3m against budget. The Council had no short term borrowing in place as at 31 March 2018, and the Council’s affordable limits for borrowing were not breached during this period.

Members asked questions of the officer on issues including property funds and investment returns.

RESOLVED:

To note the report.