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HERTSMERE BOROUGH COUNCIL

OPERATIONS REVIEW COMMITTEE

Minutes of the meeting held in Committee Rooms A & B, Hertsmere Civic Offices, Elstree Way, Borehamwood

17 September 2015Present:

Voting Members:

Councillors P Hodgson-Jones (Chairman), Wayne (Vice-Chair), Barker, Brown, Keates, Lambert, Merchant, G Silver, Ash and Worster

Also Present:

Councillors Choudhury, Kelly, Heywood, Vince

Officers:S Bijle – Director of EnvironmentG Wooldrige – Director of PlanningM Bunyon – Head of FinanceJ Fear – Head of HR and Customer Services H Shade – Head of Partnerships and Community EngagementM Silverman – Policy and Transport ManagerJ Bateman – Principal Electoral Officer

195. MEMBERSHIP

Councillor Ash substituted for Councillor Knell. Councillor Worster substituted for Councillor Eni. Councillor Vince substituted for Councillor Butler.

196. COMMUNICATIONS AND APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence received from Councillors Butler, Eni and Knell. Apologies for lateness received from Councillor Barker.

RESOLVED that agenda item 6 be taken after agenda item 13.

197. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS (IF ANY)

There were none.

198. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

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RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 28 July 2015 be approved and signed as a correct record.

COUNCILLORS BROWN AND MERCHANT ARRIVED.

Councillors Brown and Merchant arrived.

199. FINANCIAL MONITORING (REGULAR ITEM)

Councillor Spencer, Financial Monitor, and the Head of Finance were in attendance for this item.

The report was presented and a number of points discussed, including:- the Council was on track for being on budget at end of March

2016.- the overspend in Planning should correct as income was on the

up.- nett parking income was above budget and the money was being

spent on resurfacing the car parks.- the Committee questioned whether it was necessary to keep

evicted tenants’ possessions in situ during the legally-set collection period of 28 days. If the possessions were stored elsewhere during the 28 days then the premises would be available for re-letting much earlier. The Committee asked that Officers provide the detailed legal position on this matter.

- the Financial Monitor raised a couple of issues in that Planning Officers pay scales were considerably lower than in neighbouring authorities, which impacted unfavourably on recruitment; the Council needed to recruit staff rather than use agency cover. Secondly the recent Planning Committee only had three applications for consideration so it was important to ensure that processing times were being achieved. The Committee noted that issues of Planning Officer pay scales had been raised in the past and that it might be reasonable to ask Personnel Committee to look into the matter.

- the Committee remarked on the churn within the housing portfolio and suggested that it was an opportunity to boost income by ensuring the rates for new tenancies were commercially adjusted. The Portfolioholder for Environment & Transport commented that, personally, they were mindful that it was better to have people and small businesses in the properties rather than risk rises in homelessness and housing benefits.

- the Committee asked for more detail to be presented to the 20 October 2015 meeting, on Asset Management’s projected year-end deficit. Councillor Spencer added that Financial Monitors would look at the figures to see if it was increasing or decreasing over time.

- Land charges income was demand-led and likely to fluctuate, currently it was favourable. However as the law allowed for the cost recovery of the service’s fees over a three-year rolling

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period, such fluctuations could generally be managed in the long-term.

RESOLVED that i) Officers provide the detailed legal position on whether it was

necessary to keep evicted tenants’ possessions in situ during the legally-set collection period of 28 days, whereas if the possessions were stored elsewhere during the 28 days the premises could be available for re-letting much sooner.

ii) more detail be presented to the 20 October 2015 meeting on Asset Management’s projected year-end deficit.

iii) Personnel Committee be invited to look into Planning Officer pay scales with reference to recruitment and retention.

Action by: Head of Finance

200. PORTFOLIOHOLDER PRESENTATION: ENVIRONMENT & TRANSPORT

The Portfolioholder for Environment and Transport was in attendance for this item.

The Portfolioholder highlighted key activities regarding Environment and Transport as detailed in Appendix A and discussed a number of related matters, including:

- 33% of residual waste was food waste, which ended up in land-fill. By recovering as much of food waste as possible the Council could reduce its land-fill fees, so the department was keen to trial a food waste recovery system.

- Environment and Transport portfolio covered 40% of the Council’s budget as it delivered a high number of statutory duties.

- Controlled Parking Zones were not always the right response for traffic management. It usually took 18-24 months to set up a Zone.

The Committee thanked Councillor Heywood for an informative presentation.

201. PORTFOLIOHOLDER PRESENTATION: COMMUNITY SAFETY & PERFORMANCE

The Portfolioholder for Community Safety and Performance was in attendance for this item.

The Portfolioholder highlighted key activities regarding Community Safety and Performance, as detailed in Appendix B, and discussed a number of matters, including:

- there would be a refocus on community safety issues.- the Safer Streets initiative had generated 2000 home visits.- the Police Commissioner would be visiting the Borough on 3

November 2015.

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- there would be a new Corporate Plan this year and a new basket of indicators. Policy Review Committee would be assisting with this work.

- Councillors were welcome to attend the phone tender presentation on 13/14/15 December 2015.

- Officers were looking at an alternative email system for Councillors that was Public Service Network-compliant, and might include an option for remote desk-tops.

- apprenticeships had increased and the Living Wage would be increasing to £9 in 2020, which was not likely to affect permanent staff but would affect agency and contract staff.

The Committee thanked Councillor Choudhury for an informative presentation.

202. S106-AFFORDABLE HOUSING SCRUTINY REVIEW - FINAL REPORT

RESOLVED that the item be deferred to the next meeting as the report was not ready for discussion.

203. ACTUAL VOTER TURN-OUT LEVELS AT MAY 2015 ELECTIONS & ELECTORAL BOUNDARY SIZE

The Principal Electoral Services Officer was in attendance for this item.

The report was presented and a number of points discussed, including:- Committee Members were advised that polling staff had been

repeatedly trained to explain that three votes were available, information had been placed in polling booths, Corporate Communications had generated articles etc. Notwithstanding these efforts, the voters, both postal and in-person, had not fully adjusted to the all-out elections system. It was hoped that by May 2019 they would be more used to the new system.

- electronic voting was unlikely to be in place by May 2019 as national discussions were merely speculative at this stage.

- the Committee pointed out that some stations had not been accessible as the signage had not been put up by the staff and voters had struggled with two sets of stairs. Officers said that the station packs contained access signage and that this issue would be given greater emphasis in next year’s training session for polling station staff.

- the Committee was mindful that the count had been a complex one due to the number of elections taking place in some wards, but wondered if a review had been carried out how timings could be improved given that some wards finished counting earlier than others. The Committee was advised that the timings had been slower as counters were handling multi-vacancy votes for the first time and also brand new procedures. The Committee suggested that having two set of multi-Members counts made

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the task harder, and therefore it would be better to align parish council elections to the county elections. Officers would check with the Legal Department about the rules for parish elections.

Action by: Principal Electoral Officer- the Committee asked that results be shown on a large screen

within the counting hall so that all present could see the results easily and also to provide better quality refreshment to the staff. The Committee was advised that better refreshment would be provided next time and options for a screen would be sought.

Action by: Principal Electoral Officer

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

204. PERFORMANCE MONITORING Q1 (QUARTERLY ITEM)

The Head of Partnerships and Community Engagement was in attendance for this item.

The report was presented and the Committee asked for further information on the large number of unfit garages in Borehamwood and also those in Bushey.Action by: Head of Partnerships and Community Engagement

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

205. SECTION 106 & CIL ACTIVITY AND MONIES RECEIVED (JAN - JUN 2015)

The Policy & Transport Manager was in attendance for this item.

The report was presented and a number of points discussed, including:- the Committee noted that approx £3.7 million of collected S106

had been spent so far and about £5m remained. Officers said that projects for S106 spend were brought forward by departments and the Policy and Transport Manager and Director of Environment ensured the spend was consistent with the legal agreements. The Committee wondered what would happen if the money was not being spent. Officers said that there was no time pressure in play but there was a resource implication, eg S106 could be spent on Greenways but there were no staff who could manage such a project. Officers added that S106 rules did allow for revenue-based expenditure, ie hiring of staff.

- Table 4 did not include affordable housing. The totals in Appendices 2 and 3 differed slightly as the latter included indexation/interest.

- there was not much to report on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) but Officers had inspected virtually all the sites (CIL was payable upon commencement of works).

- the Committee asked for further information on the SIM card spend referred to in Appendix III. [Post-Meeting Note: the spend

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related to equipment for transmitting data from an air quality monitoring station funded through the two developments listed in the Appendix (14/1456 - Gemini House and 14/0457 - Elstree Business Centre, located on Elstree Way, Borehamwood).

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

206. PLANNING APPEALS SUMMARY (JAN - JUN 2015)

The Policy and Transport Manager was in attendance for this item.

The report was presented and it was highlighted that two-thirds of applicants’ appeals were being dismissed.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

207. SCRUTINY REVIEW - RESILIENCE AND INCOME GENERATION - TERMS OF REFERENCE

Councillors Ash and Worster were in attendance for this item. The Director of Resources and the Head of HR and Customer Services were also in attendance for this item.

The Chair clarified the objective of the Review. The Review was to ascertain the resilience of Council services and check that they could withstand moderate external shocks or staff absences. Income generation was a separate issue, the intention was to see how the Council could generate further income and not about the cost base of the services.

In summary, the intention was to see how Council services could be made more resilient and to increase income. The Review would look at the structure and income of services and then make its recommendations to Operations Review Committee. The Review would meet in confidence but submit its reports(s) would be on the public agenda of the Operations Review Committee. Prior to publication the report(s) would be circulated to the Operations Review Committee Chair and to senior officers.

The Review Chairman fully endorsed this approach and looked forward to working with his colleagues.

The Committee asked whether managers would be better placed to carry out the work. The Chair pointed out that there were managers for each service area, but that this Review was not about performance, rather it was about resilience. Resilience and income generation was not about assessing the performance of staff. The question was: could the service be delivered sustainably? The Council’s joint services were about resilience and not just about money, after all the Council only had about 100 FTE delivering around 60 services. The Chair suggested that

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the Review needed to look at services with fewer than 3 FTE as a starting point.

The Review Members pointed out that Government grants had reduced by 40% and it was a concern as to how services could continue to be delivered under such reductions, therefore options were needed to mitigate the reductions. Losing staff and cutting services to the bare minimum was not a good option, a better option was to find new income and retain staff and services. The Review’s aim was to seek out positive and creative ideas for income generation.

The Chair highlighted that given the 40% projected cut in Revenue Support Grant (RSG) it would be dangerous for the Council to rely upon that source of income alone. What was a reassuring was that only 50% of the Council’s revenue costs were reliant on RSG/Business Rates/Council Tax, the other 50% was made up of fees/charges/assets (especially the Studios). If the RSG was decreasing, the Council must increase its other income by 20%, ie find £2m. If the Government was to scrap the RSG altogether the Council would need to be self-sufficient, which it would be if it could get £2-3m income a year. This Review, therefore, had a very important role to play in finding new income. The Review must speak with Officers as they would be best placed to help achieve this aim. The Chair confirmed that the Review would be gathering information from manager-level and above, although senior officers were welcome to include their junior staff in the work if they so wished.

Officers advised the Committee that this issue had been discussed by officers, for example at the Executive Away Day in 2014, so there was plenty of scope for the Review. Officers suggested deleting references to allegations etc from paragraph 10 of the terms of reference, as that may worry staff as to the objective of the Review. The Chair suggested that the wording could be deleted and asked if it might be helpful if he sent a letter to all staff, setting out what the Review was going to be doing and why.

Officers agreed that an internal communications strategy would be helpful and that a letter could be jointly sent from the Chair and the Chief Executive to all senior managers, who could then brief their teams and reassure them as to the purpose of the Review.

The Review Members understood that their work could be unsettling but were optimistic that they would be able to carry out their research in a helpful manner and invite staff to contribute ideas for income, so as to make the Council non-reliant on the RSG and create a sustainable future for all Council services.

RESOLVED that i) the terms of reference be agreed with the following amendments:

a. insert Councillor Ash as Vice-Chairman in paragraph 2;

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b. change ‘Chair’ to ‘Chairman’ or ‘Vice-Chairman’, as applicable;

c. insert ‘and other innovation’ in paragraph 6 (vii);d. delete second sentence in paragraph 10 and replace with

‘and procedures’.e. insert ‘in line with the Council’s policies and procedures.

Oversight of this shall be provided by the Operational Review and Standards Committees’ in paragraph 10;

f. interim and final reports would be submitted to the Executive subject to approval by the Operations Review Committee Chair and senior officers;

g. reports should be submitted after each service unit/group of units was reviewed;

h. the first quarterly interim report may be submitted to Operations Review Committee in February 2016 and the final report in April 2017;

Action by: Councillor Ashii) the amended terms of reference be circulated to the Operations

Review Committee Chair for clearance;Action by: Councillor Ash

iii) a schedule of the services be submitted to the next meeting of the Operations Review Committee for agreement on order and reporting times;

Action by: Councillor Ashiv) a letter be drafted, on behalf of the Operations Review

Committee Chair and the Chief Executive, for despatch, subsequent to publication of the minutes, to all Senior Managers regarding the purpose of the Resilience and Income Generation Review.

Action by: Head of HR and Customer Services

RESOLVED THAT THE MEETING BE EXTENDED BY 15 MINUTES.

Councillor Vince left the meeting at 9.45pm.

208. PROCUREMENT: CONTRACTS TO BE AWARDED IN THE COMING QUARTER (REGULAR ITEM)

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

209. FORWARD PLANNING PROGRAMME & COMMITTEE WORKPROGRAMME

There were no changes.

210. LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

The Chair encouraged the Resilience and Income Generation Review Scrutiny Members to attend the scrutiny training on 13 October 2015 at 6pm.

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211. ANY OTHER BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIRMAN CONSIDERS URGENT

There was none.

212. DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

The next meeting was scheduled for 20 October 2015.

Appendix A: Presentation- Environment and Transport Portfolioholder

Appendix B: Presentation - Community Safety and Performance

CLOSURE: 10.15 pm

CHAIRMAN

Community Safety and Performance

Cllr Pervez Choudhury

Community Safety• Local CSP meetings

• Partnership Plan 2015-18

• Annual Community Safety Conference

• Domestic Abuse

• Safer Streets

• Police and Crime Panel

• Police and Crime Commissioner Visit

Performance

• Indicators to support the Corporate Plan

IDS

• New phone system

• PSN

• Email on mobile devices for officers and staff

• Remote desktop system for members and staff.

HR & Customer Services• Workforce Plan 2015/16

• H&S Shared Service

• Sickness absence

• Recruitment

• Apprenticeships

• Living Wage