Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Fail, Jones and Reeves.

Members will disclose any pecuniary and any other significant interests they may have in relation to the matters to be considered at this meeting.

None.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5 December 2016.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the committee held on 5 December 2016 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Service Director Performance and Innovation.

Councillor Peter Gibson (Leader of the Council) and Garry Payne (Chief Executive) will attend to present the updated Business Plan.

The Service Director Performance and Innovation submitted a report which was presented to the committee by Councillor Peter Gibson (Leader of the Council) and Garry Payne (Chief Executive).

Councillor Gibson emphasized three points which he said were of particular significance:

• Working with partners to improve performance.

• Maximising the return on our assets and generating income, which was particularly important as it was likely that there would be no grant from Government to local authorities by 2020.

• Although areas of deprivation were often successful in generating grants the Plan was intended to address the needs of all areas of the borough.

In response to a question about how the council will deliver its priority to “protect our communities from flooding” Councillor Gibson said that, in addition to the Rossall Sea Defences the council was encouraging communities to work much more closely together and with the Flood Forums.  Mr Payne added that, at an operational level, Service Plans would address protection from flooding on a more localised basis. 

The committee suggested a number of amendments to the Draft Plan which were accepted by Mr Payne and Councillor Gibson.  They included:

• A new project to focus on working with partners to protect communities from flooding
• To develop a new measure that was flooding-related
• To include the number of Universal Credit claimants as a measure in addition to the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants
• To consider duplicating the measure “% of people satisfied with where they live” under the theme ‘Healthier Wyre’ as well as under ‘Engaging Wyre’

Councillor Gibson concluded by saying that he welcomed the contribution that the committee continued to play in developing the council’s Business Plan, which was greatly appreciated.

RESOLVED that

(i)            A number of proposed amendments to the draft Business Plan be considered for inclusion in the final version, and

(ii)          Councillor Gibson and Mr Payne be thanked for their attendance at and contribution to the meeting

A report of the Resources Portfolio Holder (Cllr A Vincent) and the Head of Finance (Clare James) which was considered by the Cabinet on 30 November 2016.

Ms James will attend to present the report and will welcome comments and questions from councillors. 

A report of the Resources Portfolio Holder (Councillor Alan Vincent) and the Head of Finance (Clare James), which had been presented to the Cabinet on 30 November 2016, was considered by the committee, having been introduced by Ms James.

Ms James explained that this annual report was often used to help identify

areas for review as it made comparisons of service costs with other local authorities in our family group, ultimately leading to better value for money services for local people.

Ms James highlighted several key areas of the report.

The council’s total expenditure per head was forecast to reduce by approximately 5% in 2016/17 while the population had increased by approximately one thousand. The council’s total expenditure per head of population for 2016/17 placed Wyre as the 3^rd lowest spender in the group. 

Wyre was the most expensive in the family group for highways and transport services, which was partly explained by accounting differences.  Wyre had a residents’ parking scheme, which was quite unusual, a consequence of which was that the capacity to increase income was restricted compared with other local authorities. For example, Wyre expected to earn £2.04 per head of population for car parking compared with £3.52 reported by Fylde Council. The Parking Strategy was to be reviewed soon, which might assist the council in better understanding the council’s relative position. 

Regarding highways costs, the council had a public realm agreement with Lancashire County Council, to undertake certain work on their behalf.  This agreement covered verge maintenance, leaf sweeping, weed-spraying and other activities and was only partly met from the funding allocation provided by Lancashire County Council (in 2016/17 this was £71,230). This was an area for future review by the relevant Service Director.

Wyre was the fourth highest spender for culture and related services, accounting for approximately 23% of the total cost per head, most of which were non-statutory. This too was an area to be reviewed by the relevant Service Director.

RESOLVED that Ms James be thanked for her report and that the report be noted.

Clare James, Head of Finance, will present a verbal report and invite comments and questions from members of the committee.

Clare James, Head of Finance, gave a verbal report, based on a series of questions and answers, which highlighted the way in which the council carried out its treasury management responsibilities.  Ms James’ report is attached at Appendix A to these minutes. 

RESOLVED that Ms James be thanked for her report.

Peter Foulsham, Scrutiny Officer, will present a verbal report updating the committee about the delivery of the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme 2016-17.  Councillors are invited to suggest task group topics for consideration, for reviews to take place between January and April 2017.

The Chairman, Councillor Michael Vincent, presented a verbal report.

The two current ask groups on domestic abuse and food hygiene respectively would be concluded shortly, with the reports likely to be presented to the March meeting of the committee.

Councillor Michael Vincent advised members that there was capacity for new task group reviews to be carried out over the next three months and invited councillors to suggest topics.  He reminded the committee that the cost profiles report, which had been presented by the Head of Finance earlier at the meeting, had previously been a helpful source of relevant topics for review. 

The Chairman informed the committee that there was a possibility that he would be unable to attend the next meeting on 6 February 2017, in which case the meeting would be chaired by the Deputy Chairman, Councillor Jones, or in her absence as well, by the election of another member. 

It was noted that an update report on the Local Plan had been requested for the meeting on 6 February.  The committee agreed that the Planning Policy and Economic Development Manager (Rea Psillidou) and the Planning and Economic Development Portfolio Holder (Councillor Pete Murphy) should also be invited to attend the meeting to present the report and to answer questions from members.

RESOLVED that

(i)            the Planning Policy and Economic Development Manager and the Planning and Economic Development Portfolio Holder be invited to attend the meeting to be held on 6 February 2017, and

(ii)          any suggestions for subjects for future task group reviews be made to the Chairman or the Scrutiny Officer for further consideration

Monday 6 February 2017 at 6pm.

RESOLVED that the next meeting of the committee be held at 6pm on Monday 6 February 2017 at the Civic Centre, Poulton-le-Fylde.