Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

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

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, Members noted the termination of membership of the Committee of Councillors I Ashcroft and K Lockie and the appointment of Councillors J Witter and C Dereli for this meeting only, thereby giving effect to the wishes of the Political Groups.

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.

There were no items of urgent business.

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.)

There were no declarations of interest.

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.

There were no declarations of Party Whip.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2019.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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 20 September 2019.  A copy of the public speaking protocol and form to be completed is attached.

There were no items under this heading.

There are no items under this heading.

There were no items under this heading.

To scrutinise the following Minutes of Cabinet:

10 September 2019.

Consideration was given to the minutes of Cabinet held on 10 September 2019 as contained on pages 145 to 153 of the Book of Reports.

A Question was raised in respect of Minute 32 Draft CIL Funding Programme 2020/21 with reference to when the public consultation on the spending of 'neighbourhood' CIL monies in Ormskirk will be held.

It was also noted that Councillor A Owens was in attendance at the meeting held on 10 September 2019 and not Councillor G Owen.

RESOLVED: A.        That the minutes of Cabinet held on 10 September 2019 be noted.

B.        That in relation to the Draft CIL Funding Programme 2020/21, that an update be circulated to members of the Committee in respect of when the public consultation on the spending of 'neighbourhood' CIL monies in Ormskirk will take place.

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

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion as contained on pages 155 to 159 of the Book of Reports which provided feedback regarding the Contact Centres call handling performance targets.

The Deputy Director Housing and Inclusion attended the meeting and gave an update in respect of Customer Contact Performance, particularly in relation to WL108 average answered time for callers wait time and WL90 the percentage of calls offered that are answered.  Comments and questions were raised in respect of;

·         Total of 136,968 enquiries 2018/19

·         Covering a wide range of services resolved at first point of contact, including bulky household waste collections, pest control appointments, request for replacement bins and housing repairs to Council properties

·         Face to face services at two Customer Service Points 16%

·         Response to web/email enquiries 14%

·         Telephone Interactions 70%

·         Currently 11.7 (FTE) staff

·         On average 8 (FTE) staff handle calls on a daily basis during periods of normal call volumes

·         Financial and Resource implications required to answer calls within 30 seconds

·         SORP restructure within Customer Services to come into effect from 1 April 2021

·         Business Support Officer roles to assist teams with peaks in demand

·         Additional resources from Agency staff utilised during peak periods

·         Staffing arranged to reflect call patterns

·         Levels of calls increased during the introduction of brown bins

·         Majority of calls received between 9.00am and 11.30am

·         Improvements to digital technology

·         Interactive Voice Response (IVR) facility, encouraging customers to access on line services instead of waiting to speak to an advisor

·         41% of households signed up to Customer Portal since launch in March 2019

·         Key Initiatives with CAB and CVS and Sheltered Housing Schemes to support customers to access on line

RESOLVED:             That the content of the report be noted.

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

(Relevant Portfolio Holder: Councillor J Wilkie)

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion that advised that following consideration by Cabinet at its meeting on 10 September 2019 the report ‘Council Housing Asset Management Strategy and Capital Programme Procurement Approach' had been referred to this Committee for consideration with a request that any agreed comments be referred to the next meeting of Council. 

The Deputy Property Services Manager attended the meeting, provided an overview, clarification on the issues raised and responded to questions.

RESOLVED:             That the report be noted.

To consider the report of the Borough Solicitor.

(Relevant Portfolio Holder: Councillor I Moran)

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor as contained on pages 181 to 191 of the Book of Reports, to review the current 'Public Speaking – Protocol' for meetings of Cabinet, Overview & Scrutiny Committees, Audit & Governance Committee and Standards Committee (Constitution 14.1 – the "Protocol") to consider proposals for change recommended by the Corporate and Environmental Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 11 July 2019.  The report had previously been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 10 September 2019.

In discussion, the recommendations as set out in paragraph 6 of the report were supported, although a Member suggested that the start time of Council remain at 7.30pm to establish the demand of future public speaking requests.  It was also felt that the addition of public speaking to Council meetings could give rise to significant additional activity.

RESOLVED:   A.      That the number of requests to speak, listed in paragraph 5 of the report, under the current 'Public Speaking' – Protocol' for meetings of Cabinet, Overview and Scrutiny Committees, Audit & Governance Committee and Standards Committee (Constitution 14.1 – the "Protocol"), be noted.

B.      That the following agreed comments to Council be

1)    Include reference to Parish Council

2)    Provide for a resident to be represented by a Borough Councillor

3)    Provide for written representations to be considered without the need for the resident to attend.

4)    Extend the public speaking to Council meetings and the meeting to commence at an earlier start time of 7.00pm in order to accommodate.

To note the revised Terms of Reference and reporting arrangements of the Member Development Commission.

The revised terms of reference and reporting arrangements of the Member Development Commission were presented to the Committee.

RESOLVED:That the revised terms of reference and reporting arrangements of the Member Development Commission be noted.