Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Mrs Rosemary Kaberry-Brown.

Councillor Jacky Smith declared an interest in agenda item 8 in so far as she was a Board Member of the Welland & Deeping Internal Drainage Board she noted that she was also an “Outside Representative” on the Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board but not as a representative for South Kesteven District Council.

Councillor Phil Dilks declared an interest in agenda item 8 in so far as he was a Board Member of the Welland & Deeping Internal Drainage Board.

Councillor Bob Russell declared an interest in agenda item 8 in so far as he was a Board Member of the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board.

Councillor Nick Craft declared an interest in agenda item 8 in so far as he was a Board Member of the Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board.

The action notes of the meeting held on 12 July 2016 were noted.

The Chairman referred to the Action notes of 12 July 2016 regarding the Disabled Facilities Grant and noted that on behalf of the Scrutiny Committee, he had approved a detailed letter to Lincolnshire County Council that senior officers had drafted requesting the full amount of the Disabled Facilities Grant to be paid to this Authority.  This letter had now been sent to Lincolnshire County Council.

In response to a Member’s query about why the process had taken two months, the Chairman explained that Senior Officers had spent time checking the interpretation of the Department of Local Government & Communities instructions against the interpretations of Lincolnshire County Council.

The Executive Member – Environment, commented that the Executive was fully behind the Scrutiny Committee’s decision to send a letter to Lincolnshire County Council requesting the full amount of the Disabled Facilities Grant.

The Chairman assured Scrutiny Committee Members they would be kept informed of progress.

·         Resources PDG: Action Note 6 from Thursday 8 October 2015

·         Resources PDG: Action  Note 7 from Friday 20 May 2016

                                                                                                                   (Enclosure)

·         Governance and Audit Committee: minute number 48(1) from 24 March 2016

                                                                                                      (Enclosure)

The Chairman referred to the excerpt from the Governance and Audit Committee minutes of its meeting of Thursday 24 March 2016.  He noted that the Governance and Audit Committee had asked the Scrutiny Committee to consider the decision to offer reductions to customers paying via direct debit for green bin renewals together with the way systems had operated during the renewal period.

The Strategic Lead – Programme Delivery was in attendance to provide the Committee with an outline of the process and what the actual current situation was. 

He reported that over 28,000 customers had signed up to the green waste service which had generated an income of over £950k.  In previous years the 16,000 online customers had to set up an account in order to carry out a transaction.  There would no longer be a requirement to have an account to carry out an online transaction but the option would still be available for those who wanted to track their account.  Currently 59% of customers paid by direct debit.  Customers would be notified of the annual charge for the coming year and the amount would then automatically be taken by direct debit if they wanted to continue paying this way. 

There had been an increase in online demand of around 65%.  The Committee was shown a presentation which demonstrated how demand had exceeded previous levels.  The system now tracked every transaction including abandoned transactions.  Abandoned transactions accounted for around 2% of recorded transactions.  These could be as a result of customers changing their mind, incorrect orders, wrong payment type or two people in one household attempting to order the same thing.  Other challenges faced by customers were difficulties in finding an address or their software not being compatible with the Council’s software.  An option directing the customer to a recommended browser was available and transactions could still be taken over the phone.

The Strategic Lead – Programme Delivery noted that consideration had also been given to the timing of the issuing of notifications so they did not clash with other large mail shots such as Council Tax.  Large mail shots and notifications created significant demand on Customer Service systems which meant that some customers may not get the support they required.

“How to Guides” would also be available to help customers if they were stuck in a particular process. 

In response to a Member’s query about direct debit cost savings per property, it was noted that estimated face to face transactions cost between £6 to £15 per transaction, phone transactions were around £3 to £4 per transaction plus a card charge.  The aim was to incentivise online transactions rather than recover costs.  Encouraging customers to move to direct debit payments and online transactions would enable more support for those customers who required it.

Further discussion ensued around what percentage of households had taken up green waste collections; what was done for those people not paying by direct debit and whether it was offered to them when the renewal reminders  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Report number PPMO04 of the Performance and Projects Team Leader.    (Enclosure)

The Performance and Projects Team Leader presented report number PPMO04 for the Quarter 1 Corporate Plan Performance Report. This was the first report in the new style format and set out the progress against outcomes detailed in the Corporate Plan together with the corporate priority measures that underpinned them.

The Corporate Plan is a key document that had been approved by Council on 16 June 2016.  Senior Officers had worked with Members to develop the priorities and define the outcomes required. 

To achieve its goals, the Council was working towards two priority themes; Open for Business and being Commercially and Customer Focused. 

Members were informed that fourteen outcomes and thirty-one measures would be monitored this year.  Seventeen of the measures are either annual measures, or used to demonstrate the effectiveness of key strategies such as the Housing Strategy and would be reported on later in the year.  For this particular quarter under Open for Business the report would focus on six outcomes and nine measures.  Under Commercially and Customer Focused, there would be five outcomes and five measures.

The six tasks covered under the Open for Business Priority were: Local Plan; Register of Brownfield Sites; Build new Council housing; St Peters Hill; Southern Quadrant and Gravity Fields.

The Local Plan: This task was expected to meet the due date.  It was proposed that the final version would be published in early 2018 after it had been submitted to the Secretary of State in 2017.

There were no questions for this item.

Register of Brownfield sites: This task was on track and the register of brownfield sites and land available for development would be routinely monitored.  A bid to be a pilot scheme had been submitted but this had been unsuccessful.  A new bid would be submitted should a second phase be announced.

There were no questions for this item.

Build new Council housing: The task was expected to meet the due date.  A total of 27 new homes are in the process of being completed and further plans were being prepared for more low cost housing within the district.

There were no questions for this item.

St Peter’s Hill: There were two alerts showing for this item.  These were because of the delay in the Grantham Senior Citizen Club signing the agreement for lease later than anticipated due to delayed contract negotiations.  The Grantham Senior Citizen Club was now temporarily based at the Jubilee Church Life Centre.  Protection fencing was in place around the building and work was expected to start on site after Gravity Fields. 

A market prospectus to engage cinema and A3 operators had been submitted.

In response to Members queries about what negotiations with neighbours were being undertaken, the Executive Manager – Property explained that an initial notice had been issued in respect of the right to vary access to the doctor’s surgery.  A more official notice would be served once work began. 

In respect of the public house, discussions were taking place  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Report number LDS182 of the Scrutiny Committee Chairman.   (Enclosure)

The Committee considered its draft Annual Report 2015/16, which was appended to report number LDS182. Scrutiny Members were reminded that under Article 6.8 of the Constitution, the Scrutiny Committee had to report annually to the Council on its activity.  Those members who had served on the Committee during the period covered by the report agreed it was a fair reflection and approved its submission to Council on 17 November 2016.

The Committee currently had no working groups.

The Chair reminded the Scrutiny Committee that they could submit ideas for consideration by the Committee.

There was no feedback from representatives on outside bodies

Discussion took place around inviting Members who were representatives on outside bodies but not a Member of the Scrutiny Committee to future meetings.

The Community Engagement & Policy Development Officer suggested that a list of Members on Outside Bodies could be provided to Members at a future meeting.  The Committee could then consider and determine whom they would like to invite and they could be asked to provide a report or presentation for that body.

The meeting was closed at 12.05pm.