Agenda and minutes

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting of 30 May 2018.

The minutes of the meeting of 30 May 18 were confirmed and signed subject to the following comments.

·         Councillor Booth highlighted that on page 6 of the minutes, item 18, the sentence should state his name as opposed to Councillor Bodens.

·         Councillor Boden suggested that going forward, he would like to see ‘matters Arising’ as a standing agenda item, so that if there is anything from the minutes to be discussed, that there is the opportunity to do so.

·         Councillor Boden asked Members whether it would be useful to have an action log so that points where actions are required are detailed in the log, so they do not get overlooked. There were 7 or 8 items in the last meeting where actions were needed which he understands are still to be completed.

1.    Councillor Boden said that on the 18 July 2018, the Chief Executive, Paul Medd, received a letter from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which is the annual letter which is received concerning complaints made to the Ombudsman and Councillor Boden stated that it would be helpful, if the letter could be an agenda item along with the details of the complaints. Councillor Boden stated that there were 13 complaints which were received in the 2017/18 financial year and there were 14 that were resolved and as a matter of good practice, it would be helpful for this item to be on the next agenda, so that they are a matter of public record and to give Members of the Committee the opportunity to ask questions.

2.    The Chief Executive clarified that there are no reasons of confidentiality which would exclude this information from forming part of the next agenda and any information that is personal and would fall within the GDPR regulations would have already been redacted and to obtain a summary from the Ombudsman will be helpful for Members to be aware of.

3.    Councillor Boden clarified that the information does not need to be made available for the September meeting as he will be not be present at that meeting. Councillor Boden stated that this should also be an annual agenda item once the letter is received, as it is Councillor Bodens understanding that the Local Government Ombudsman is going to change the emphasis of the letters in future to highlight where improvements can take place.  

Councillor Boden stated that as far as Economic Development is concerned, a suggestion was made concerning cooperation with the Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, however this did not meet with general Member approval and therefore the Overview and Scrutiny Committee have been asked to look at the entirety of the Economic Development Service and the resources which are required in order to achieve the objectives of the service.

Councillor Boden said that there are two major questions to answer:

What should the objectives be for the Service and how is the effectiveness of the Service measured and secondly what skills and resources are required to reach those objectives.

Members considered the Economic Development Member Led review presentation given by the Chief Executive which included possible key questions for the Review Team to consider including which Members of Overview and Scrutiny will form the Panel and also a suggested timetable to be considered including a delivery phase.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows;

1.    Councillor Booth said that with regard to the timetable, this may well change once the Review Team has met and objectives have been set.

2.    Councillor Boden asked for volunteers for the Member Led Review Team and stated that he anticipates there will be six meetings between September and December 2018.

3.    Councillor Humphrey asked how many Members were required.

4.    Councillor Boden clarified that he would like four Members.

5.    Councillor Humphrey, Councillor Sam Clark, Councillor Tierney, Councillor Booth and Councillor Boden all agreed to form part of the Review Team.

6.    Councillor Boden stated that with regard to the question as to whether Officer support would be required, he confirmed that yes, there would be a requirement for Officer support.

7.    Councillor Booth commented that the Chief Executive had suggested that members of the existing ED team should support the review, however to obtain an independent view, whether the support the review team should have an independent support officer. Councillor Boden stated that the question is a valid point and the answer would depend on the quality of the input of the Members. The Officers will be there to give support to Members and  would not influence Members decisions.

8.    Councillor Boden stated that the Review Team, will be very grateful of any support received from Officers.

9.    Councillor Boden commented that with regard to inviting External Stakeholders  to give evidence, Members have already discussed this matter and have agreed that the Review Team would like to question Officers,  as they have the in depth knowledge will be helpful to Members to ascertain the current position. With regard to local business leaders, it will helpful to have both large and small business representatives. Representatives from the Farming and Associated Industries should also be invited, given the importance of farming and distribution, it is important to be able for that sector to voice their opinions. The final area to be considered is also the tourism work that is carried  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC11/18

Members to receive a presentation with an update on the Wisbech 2020 Vision Project.

Members considered the Wisbech 2020 Vision update report, presented by the Chief Executive Paul Medd, Gary Garford, Richard Cassidy and Russell Beal from Anglian Water who is providing a project management role on the Wisbech 2020 project.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows;

1.    Councillor Hodgson thanked the Officers for all their efforts since 2012. The presentation received today is totally different to the one received last year in October at Thomas Clarkson. Councillor Hodgson asked whether the presentation will be repeated again as it had a large audience. Councillor Hodgson commented that one topic which he thinks should have been included on the presentation is the update on the Wisbech Castle project. 

2.    Gary Garford commented that the Wisbech 2020 summit is planned for Spring 2019 and work is underway to inform the public and Wisbech Castle could be included and come under the Wisbech 2020 banner.

3.    Councillor Tierney commented that when he attended a meeting at County Council to discuss the issue of control of the Wisbech Castle, the Wisbech 2020 project banner was used to underpin their discussions.

4.    Councillor Tierney asked when the last time that the steering committee met was. Gary Garford commented that a meeting had taken place last week at which WTC was represented by the Town Clerk. Councillor Tierney would speak to the Town Clerk to ensure the Wisbech Town Councillors are kept appraised.

5.    Councillor Tierney commented that with regard to the Wisbech Garden Town Project, in his opinion some of the residents of Wisbech still need to be convinced about the merits of the Project as it goes forward. Councillor Tierney believes that most people would be supportive of the idea as long as they can see the infra structure that matches. The Mayor of Cambridgeshire visited Wisbech Town Council and he stated that the infra structure will be put in place before the build.

6.    Gary Garford commented that we have got to the stage where there were 2 statutory objections that could happen, one of which is the Department of Transport on the A47 and the other is the Environment Agency and Flooding. Both of these issues are being addressed and by September there should be an answer to both studies. Following this then further work can commence which is an appropriate time to inform the Community.

7.    Councillor Seaton commented that he attended a meeting with Highways England and the Mayor of Cambridgeshire, where the duelling of the A47 was discussed and Highways England stated that they are going to work with the Combined Authority and support it.

8.    Councillor Booth commented that with regard to the Garden Town, the infrastructure needs to be in place first, but with a population of 40,000 people in Wisbech and surrounding villages our communication needs to be improved.

9.    Councillor Booth said he has mentioned before that the language that is used is very vague and needs to be improved on.

10. Councillor Booth said  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC12/18

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are keen to achieve wider public engagement with the Scrutiny process. This report sets out the current level of public participation in the scrutiny process in Fenland. Considers the broader principles in relation to public engagement and how levels of participation could be increased.

Members Considered the Public Engagement in Overview and Scrutiny Report.

1.    Councillor Boden stated that a couple of suggested amendments had been suggested by Members that as far as advertising was concerned, press releases would also be used to ask the Public to engage and provide topics which they believed need to be subject to scrutiny.

2.    The second issue raised was to make sure the word was correct in the last but one line on page 13, the word ‘and’ was to be replaced with the word ‘of’.

3.    Councillor Booth commented that to aid transparency the public need to have confidence that when putting suggestions forward that at least they will be considered by the Committee. If there is any indication that we don’t take an item forward and it is not discussed at Committee then it could have an impact.

4.    Councillor Boden stated that Councillor Booths point is valid and we must have a comprehensive record of those suggestions that are made in terms of numbers, even if it is only to show that some of the suggestions made are not able to be discussed due to the topic, such as licensing and planning. Councillor Boden suggests that every other month there needs to be an item discussed by the Committee that has been put forward by the Public.

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel AGREED to approve the recommendations.

To consider the Draft Work Programme for Overview & Scrutiny Panel 2018/19.

Members agreed the  Future Work Programme 2018/19 for the Overview and Scrutiny Panel subject to the following comments.

·         The housing enforcement policy to be reviewed in 12 months time.

·         In addition to the September Agenda, the Comprehensive Spending Review that took place in 2015 is to be discussed so that Members can see what was achieved and if it was successful and whether there are any lessons to be learnt.

·         During  the Annual Meeting with the Leader of Fenland District Council, Councillor Chris Seaton, and the Chief Executive, it was suggested that the Leader be asked which subject matters he would like the Overview and Scrutiny to consider as part of any potential  second Comprehensive Spending Review .

·         Councillor Tierney suggested that a future review of the Kingdom pilot would be useful for the December meeting.

·         The suggestion of the Local Government Ombudsman letter and the examples of the information about individual complaints be included as an agenda item in the September meeting.

·         Councillor Booth commented that he had raised the point at Full Council regarding the amendments to the Constitution where the emergency powers are used by the Portfolio Holders and that should be added to the work programme to discuss annually. Councillor Boden asked Councillor Booth to clarify whether he meant the powers or the use of the powers. Councillor Booth clarified that he meant the use of the powers and this would be added for 12 months’ time.