Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest from any councillor on any item on this agenda.

None.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Monday 17 October 2022.

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Monday 17 October were confirmed as a correct record.

The Resources Portfolio Holder and Deputy Leader, Councillor Michael Vincent and the Corporate Director Resources (Section 151 Officer), Clare James, have submitted a report, the proposed fee and charges (draft) for the 2023/2024 financial year. Clare James will attend the meeting and introduce the report.

Committee members will have the opportunity to comment and ask questions.

The Corporate Director Resources (Section 151 Officer), Clare James, submitted a report, that detailed the proposed fees and charges for the municipal year 2023/24.

Before Clare James introduced the report, Councillor Sir Robert Atkins asked for clarification regarding when the decision to approve fees and charges can be made. Clare James explained that the approval of fees and charges was in the form of a Portfolio Holder report. She confirmed that the proposed fees and charges set for a municipal year could be amended at any point if a Portfolio Holder report was presented to the relevant Portfolio Holder. She added that the purpose of an annual decision on proposed fees and charges was to assist with the budget setting.

Clare James introduced the report and explained the key changes proposed. She highlighted to members that owing to the current high levels of inflation, the council was experiencing increased contractual and service costs. Therefore, some of the fees and charges were set on a cost recovery basis. She added that where fees were due to be uplifted by inflation, consumer price inflation (CPI) was used; in September 2022 this was 10.1 per cent. In addition, due to the unprecedented levels of inflation, some amendments to the 2022/23 fees and charges would take effect from 1 January 2023.

Clare James received and answered questions posed by members.

There were six areas that the committee had particular comments, which would be reported back to the Management Board:

Health and Wellbeing Classes

Members raised several concerns regarding the proposed charge of £2 per session to attend a community exercise class. They acknowledged a corporate priority of the council was to improve health and wellbeing across Wyre’s communities and feared that an introduction of a charge to the exercise classes may result in more members of the public being discouraged to attend. The Chairman suggested that hardship arrangements be explored for those residents who may not able to afford the £2 fee. A member also raised a question regarding the locations of the community classes.

Clare James agreed to feedback these comments to the relevant officers.

Development Control

Concerns were raised regarding the capacity of the council to carry out pre-application discussions. The committee agreed that it would be useful for them to review a side-by-side comparison of 22/23 to 23/24 fees.

Clare James agreed to feedback these comments to the relevant officers.

Public Conveniences

Some members expressed their reservations about the proposed increased fees for using public conveniences by 10p (from 30p to 40p). Clare James highlighted that this proposal was in line with neighbouring authorities.

Members also raised questions regarding the previous increase of fees, contactless and cash options for the public conveniences in Wyre and income generated by the fees.

The Chairman suggested consideration be given to monitoring the increase in fees to keep the impact under review.

Clare James agreed to feedback these comments to the relevant officers.

Markets

Concerns were expressed regarding the timescales of when traders at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The Corporate Director Communities, Marianne Hesketh, has submitted a report, the 2nd Quarter Performance Statement 2022/23, July – September 2022.

The Corporate Director Communities submitted a report on the Second Quarter Performance Statement 2022/23 (July – September 2022).

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee expressed concern over the following topics:

-       The number of memberships at Wyre’s leisure centres

-       The number of jobs created within the Enterprise Zone

The questions posed by members were sent to the relevant officers for their consideration and the committee agreed for the responses to be circulated to them before the next meeting.

The report was noted.

The Chair of the Tackling Youth Anti-Social Behaviour in Wyre Task Group, Councillor Andrea Kay, submitted the task group’s draft report and recommendations. The committee will have an opportunity to comment on the report.

On behalf of the Chair of the Tackling Youth Anti-Social Behaviour in Wyre Task Group, Councillor Kay, the Vice Chairman, Councillor Le Marinel, introduced the report and explained that he was happy to answer any questions from members.

There were discussions regarding the link between youth anti-social behaviour and deprivation.

Councillor Le Marinel thanked all the members of the task group for their hard work. He also thanked Marianne Unwin, Democratic Services Officer, and Daphne Courtenage, Assistant Democratic Services Officer, for their support.

The Corporate Director Resources, Clare James, has submitted a report updating the committee about the delivery of the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme 2022/23. Marianne Unwin, Democratic Services Officer, will introduce the report and respond to questions and comments from councillors.

The Corporate Director Resources, Clare James, submitted a report to update the committee about the delivery of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2022/23.

The Democratic Services Officer, Marianne Unwin, introduced the report.

The Chairman suggested an amendment to the Aims of Review section in The Promotion of Self-Care and Social Prescribing in Wyre Scoping Document to include the following sentence, “to strengthen links as a District Council with the new Integrated Care Board and Integrated Care Partnerships”, which the committee agreed.

Following further discussions, it was agreed:

      i.        That the committee endorsed the draft report of the Tackling Youth Anti-Social Behaviour Task Group and that the final report be submitted to Cabinet for their 11 January 2023 meeting for consideration.

    ii.        That the committee commissioned a task group reviewing the promotion of self-care and social prescribing in Wyre.

   iii.        That the report be noted.