Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr's Lockie and West (Sub Cummins).

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

There was no change to the Membership of the Committee.

Note:  No other business is permitted unless, by reasons 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 any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.) 

There were no declarations of Interests.

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 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 a Party Whip.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on the 1^st March 2018.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Corporate and Environmental Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 1 March 2018 be received 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 6 July 2018. A copy of the public speaking protocol and form to be completed is attached.

There were no items under this heading.

It is recommended that members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3  (Financil/Business Affairs) 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.

RESOLVED:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the 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 affairs) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of that 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.

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

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion and Deputy Director of Housing & Inclusion as contained on pages 17 to 37 of the Book of Reports that detailed the Annual Review 2017/18 of the ICT and Revenues and Benefits Council services delivered by BT Lancashire Services as part of the partnership agreement with Lancashire County Council.

The Chairman welcomed the representatives from BT Lancashire Services (BTLS).

The meeting was attended by Mr Mark Orford (Director of ICT Services) and Ms Claire Hall (Director of Transactional Services) who provided an overview of the work that had been undertaken over the previous 12 months under the shared services agreement.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Council Tax team liaise with BTLS to ensure a form of wording is included on Council Tax demand letters, that provide assistance to residence on were to attain advice/help.

2)     That the BT Lancashire Services Annual Review 2017/18 be noted.

To consider the report of the Borough Transformation Manager and Deputy Director of Housing and Inclusion.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion which detailed performance monitoring data for the quarter ended 31^st March 2018 (Q4). The report had previously been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 12^th June 2018.

The Performance and Partnership Officer attended the meeting introduced the item and referred to detail as set down in the report. Members noted, following feedback

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following targets:

·           WL90 '% of Contact Centre calls answered' – Concern around response time for emails to contact centre.

·            WL19bii 'Direct dial calls answered within 10 seconds'

·           NI192 'Percentage of household waste sent for, reuse, recycling and composting'

RESOLVED:  

That the Council's performance against the indicator set for the quarter ended 31^st March 2018, be noted.

For The Committee to continue its work on Community Involvement in Service Delivery.

The Chair provided Members with an overview and update on the Committees review of Community Involvement in Service Delivery.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting the Chief Officer of the CVS, Gregg Mitten. Who had been invited to the meeting to inform members what support his organisation could give to community/voluntary groups to help them through the community transfer process the Chief thanked Members for his invitation and the work they had been doing on voluntary services.

The CVS Chief Officer informed Members that;

·         Asset transfer can be either change of ownership or management,

·         Plan what's important, benefits to community and residents,

·         Look at joint owned principle,

·         Ensure diligence is done before transfers of assets,

·         Lessons from previous asset transfers shared.

·         Possibility of accessing funding previously unavailable.

REOLVED:

That the Chief Officer of the CVS be thanked for his attendance.

Consideration was given to the Project Plan contained on pages 273 to 278 of the Book of Reports.

RESOLVED:     That the Project Plan be noted.

To consider the minutes of the Member Development Commission meeting held on 15^th March 2018.

Consideration was given to the Minutes of the Member Development Commission meeting held on 15 March 2018 as contained on pages 185 to 187 of the Book of Reports.

In discussion reference was made to the following:

·                Member Induction – composition of future sessions; support; scope/information provided.

·                Membership of the Commission Panel – That consideration be given to including newly elected Members onto the Commission, to offer their perspective/needs as a newly elected Member

The Principal Overview and Scrutiny Officer provided an overview of the Member Induction process and provided clarification on the issues raised.

RESOLVED: 

1)            That the Minutes of the Member Development Commission meeting held on 15 March 2018 be noted.

2)            That the Principal Overview and Scrutiny Officer raise at the next meeting of the Member development Commission, that consideration be given to including newly elected Members onto the Commission, to offer their perspective/needs as a newly elected Member

There are no items for consideration.

There were no items under this heading.

There are no items under this heading.

There were no items under this heading.

To consider the report of the Borough Solicitor.

Consideration was given to items on the work programme due to the considered at the next meeting of the Committee scheduled to be held on 11 October 2018.

RESOLVED:  

That the work programme for the next meeting, scheduled to take place on 11 October 2018, be noted.