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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Cabinet/Committee Room, 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk L39 2DF

Contact: Julia Brown 

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor D Westley.

2.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE

To be apprised of any changes to the membership of the Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

Minutes:

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, Members noted the termination of membership of the Committee of Councillor E Pope and the appointment of Councillor J Gordon for this meeting only, thereby giving effect to the wishes of the Political Groups

3.

URGENT BUSINESS, IF ANY, INTRODUCED BY THE CHAIRMAN

Note:  No other business is permitted unless, by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified at the meeting, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

 

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

4.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST pdf icon PDF 299 KB

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Borough Solicitor in advance of the meeting.  (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position on any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.)

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

5.

DECLARATIONS OF PARTY WHIP

In accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rule 16, Members must declare the existence of any Party Whip, and the nature of it, when considering any matter in the following categories:

 

-       The review of any decision of the Cabinet or

-       The performance of any Member of the Cabinet

 

N.B. The Secretary of State believes whipping is incompatible with Overview and Scrutiny.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of Party Whip.

6.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 377 KB

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2019.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:             That the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

7.

PUBLIC SPEAKING pdf icon PDF 180 KB

Residents of West Lancashire on giving notice, may address the meeting to make representations on any item on the agenda except where the public and press are to be excluded during consideration of the item.  The deadline for submissions is 10.00am on Friday 21 June 2019.  A copy of the public speaking protocol and form to be completed is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no items under this heading.

8.

RELEVANT MINUTES OF CABINET - 10 April 2019 & 11 June 2019 pdf icon PDF 268 KB

To scrutinise the following Minutes of Cabinet:

10 April 2019

11 June 2019

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the minutes of Cabinet held on 10 April 2019 and 11 June 2019, as contained on pages 13 to 23 of the Book of Reports.

 

Questions and comments were raised in respect of the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 10 April 2019.

Minute 112 (Call In – Leaseholder Properties and the Planning Process) – with particular reference to the onerous terms of leaseholds. 

 

Following consideration it was agreed that an update be sought from the Borough Solicitor and that the update be provided to Committee Members.

 

RESOLVED: A. That the minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on 10 April 2019 and 11 June 2019 be noted.

 

B. That in relation to the Leaseholder Properties and Planning Process, that the Borough Solicitor in consultation with the Leader, be requested to circulate an update to the members of the Committee.

9.

CALL IN ITEMS

There are no items under this heading.

Minutes:

There were no items under this heading.

10.

CUSTOMER SERVICES CONTACT CENTRE PERFORMANCE UPDATE

To receive a verbal update from the Customer Experience Manager.

Minutes:

The Customer Experience Manager attended the meeting and gave an update in respect of Customer Contact Performance, particularly in relation to WL108 average answered waiting time for callers to the contact centre (seconds). Comments and questions were raised in respect of;

 

·         Future targets to be reviewed

·         Current performance levels improved to 91% answered, with the average answered wait time being 1 Minute, 38 seconds

·         Impacts on performance – Introduction of Customer Portal in March 2019; Increase in calls from Garden Waste Scheme Customers, staff sickness and IT issues

·         Additional resources from Agency Staff, Apprentices and an increase in hours of part time staff

·         Assistance for customers none IT enabled

 

RESOLVED:             That the update on the Customer Services Contact Centre performance be noted.

11.

REVIEW OF FLEXIBLE TENANCIES pdf icon PDF 168 KB

To consider the report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion.

(Relevant Portfolio Holder: Councillor J Forshaw)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion as contained on pages 25 to 49 of the Book of Reports in respect of the impact and future use of Flexible Tenancies.  The report had previously been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 11 June 2019.

 

The Tenancy Services Manager attended the meeting, provided an overview referring to details as set down in the report and answered questions and provided additional clarification on issues of concern.  In particular, it was requested that the wording of the tenancy be altered and referred to as 'Secure Tenancy'.

 

 

RESOLVED:     A.    That the content of the report be noted.

 

B.    That the Director of Housing and Inclusion in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder, be asked to change the name of the 'Secure lifetime Tenancy' to 'Secure Tenancy'. 

 

(Note: Councillor T Aldridge joined the meeting during consideration of this item and remained until the conclusion of the meeting).

12.

STATUTORY GUIDANCE ON OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY IN LOCAL AND COMBINED AUTHORITIES pdf icon PDF 151 KB

To consider the report of the Borough Solicitor.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor as contained on pages 51 to 116 of the Book of Reports in relation to the Statutory Guidance published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and its impact on existing Overview and Scrutiny arrangements.

 

The Member Services / Civic Officer outlined the report and explained that the guidance was published in May 2019, its purpose is to provide advise to authorities on the purpose of Overview and Scrutiny, what effective Scrutiny looks like, how to conduct it and the benefits it can bring.  The guidance also recognises that authorities approach scrutiny in different ways.

 

In discussion, it was suggested that it may be beneficial to hold a Workshop / Training session for Scrutiny and Cabinet Members to review the role of Overview & Scrutiny at 'West Lancashire'.

 

RESOLVED:            A. That the comments provided on the Statutory Guidance attached at Appendix A to the report, taking into consideration the current arrangements for Overview & Scrutiny in West Lancashire, as detailed in paragraph 4 of the report be noted.

 

B. That the Borough Solicitor submit a report to a future meeting to establish an Executive (Cabinet) / Scrutiny Protocol, as detailed in paragraph 5 of the report, and any other matters raised during consideration of the above, as appropriate.

 

C. That a future Workshop / Training Session be arranged for Scrutiny and Cabinet Members, to review  the role of Overview & Scrutiny in 'West Lancashire'.

13.

EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

It is recommended that members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and as, in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption under Schedule 12A outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

Minutes:

That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 (financial/business) of Part 1 of Scheduled 12A to the Act and as, in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption under Schedule 12A outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information

14.

OUTCOME OF ROUTE OPTIMISATION PROJECT

To consider the report of the Director of Leisure and Environment.

(Relevant Portfolio Holder: Councillor K Wilkie)

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Leisure and Environment as contained on pages 117 to 133 of the Book of Reports which updated Members on the outcome of the route optimisation project and consider the options presented.  The report had previously been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 11 June 2019.

 

The Operations Manager attended the meeting and provided an overview of the outcome of the Route Optimisation project, answered questions and provided additional clarification on comments raised, particularly in relation to the possibility of sharing neighbouring authorities waste transfer stations.

 

 

RESOLVED: That the following agreed comment be forwarded to the Director of Leisure and Environment for consideration, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Street Scene.

 

That the possibility of utilising waste transfer station facilities at neighbouring authorities to help further reduce fuel costs and travel time be considered.