Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Miscandlon, seconded by Councillor Purser and resolved that Councillor Mason be elected Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel for the Municipal Year.

Cllr Mason thanked the Panel for the confidence bestowed upon him and paid tribute to Cllr Miscandlon for being an excellent Chairman during the past years, he had been a delight to work with and a lot had been done under his leadership. He also thanked Cllr Hay for all her efforts as Vice Chairman during that period. 

Councillor Mason then welcomed members of the public and press watching the livestream of the Cabinet meeting via YouTube due to Government guidance on social distancing. The meeting was held in accordance with the provision set out in the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and with Fenland District Council’s Virtual Meeting Protocol.

It was proposed by Councillor Mason and seconded by Councillor Skoulding that Councillor Miscandlon be nominated as Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel for the Municipal Year.

Cllr Miscandlon thanked the Panel and said he would do his best to support the Chairman this coming year.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting of 8 June 2020.

The minutes of the meeting of 8 June 2020 were confirmed as correct.

Members to receive an update on the previous meeting’s Action Plan.

Members were provided with an update on the status of actions raised at previous meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel. 

1.    Councillor Booth said that he does not think Action 1 relating to rent charged by the County Council to early years providers should be marked as completed. They state they are looking at a payment holiday for the rents but he believes there is an issue regarding affordability. One of the preschools in his village has expressed concern about future sustainability because of their tight budget and so he believes we need to keep a watching brief on this item. 

2.    Councillor Booth said that although he appreciates the time taken by Inspector Lombardo to respond to Action 2 regarding road safety and police enforcement of speed limits, he is concerned that speeding is still a big issue.  Both he and Councillor Bligh’s efforts to contact the police regarding speeding in their wards have remained unanswered, so he looks forward to the new email being set up as suggested. When the roads were quiet they were being abused by the minority even more and this became a national issue to the extent that some counties prioritised speeding.  Therefore as the last action has not yet been delivered, he would like this issue to be marked as ongoing. 

Councillor Miscandlon agreed with Councillor Booth but said that having spoken to the Police and Crime Commissioner on this issue within his ward, he was advised that if the speeding is considered to be legally dangerous than the advice is to call 999.  Report on 101 otherwise.  Police will respond to 999 where the situation is life threating to other road users and pedestrians.  Councillor Booth said he would still like the item left open to monitor for the future but he was thankful for this useful information.  Councillor Purser also agreed as did Councillor Cornwell, who added that it should score quite heavily on the consultation that is out currently. Councillor Wicks said speeding in villages has been endemic for years and he has long campaigned over this. He agreed that we need a positive police response, but he had noticed that the villages had been amalgamated with the market towns so as to dilute the information presented in the survey. 

Each year the Council is required to review its Council Tax Support (CTS) Scheme. This report advises Overview and Scrutiny of the progress of the 2020 annual review and the proposals to maintain the current scheme for 2021-22.

Members considered the Council Tax Support Scheme report presented by Councillor Boden. 

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

1.    Councillor Mason said that we belong to the ARP as equal members but partner rates are set at 8.5% whilst ours is 14% and he asked Councillor Boden the reason for this. Councillor Boden said the decision to change was made in 2013/14 because 8.5% was felt to be not financially viable within Fenland. He added that each partner within ARP has the right to set whatever rates they wish. 

2.    Councillor Booth said that although Councillor Boden mentioned there is an impact on other authorities he felt the report lacks their thoughts on the scheme; although we are the setting authority we need to have a better understanding of the actual impact of the scheme on them.  County Council gets the prime share of council tax we collect but it would be interesting to know the effect on other authorities particularly for future years. Councillor Booth said he also raised the issue of the percentage variance last year and would particularly like to know the implications regarding administration.  

3.    Councillor Boden said it is correct that we do not take into account or consult the other precepting authorities and agrees that is inappropriate, therefore Cabinet would welcome such a recommendation from the Panel. 

4.    In respect of Councillor Booth’s comment regarding administration, Councillor Boden said the difficulty lies in making changes, which are always technical, but once put in place then the administration is relatively straight forward. If it is just having a difference in the discount rate, that is easy to administer. Councillor Boden added that he has already started talking to other council leaders regarding 2022/23 because all are now increasingly aware of the importance of getting this right. Additionally, with our system not having fundamentally changed for seven years, we are out of step with a number of other authorities, Peterborough City Council being one. They have a very different scheme with different allowances and rules and a different discount rate. It will be inappropriate to look at this for 2021/22 because of our attention on COVID-19. 

5.    Councillor Booth said he agreed that a recommendation regarding consultation should be put forward to Cabinet and also he takes on board Councillor Boden’s comment regarding administration. We need to think about the socio-economic impact of changing the rate. For example, where does paying council tax lie in budgeting as a priority for people on limited budgets? This has got to be part of future consideration as it may be a lower priority for some than paying the rent and will impact on our collection rates.

6.    Councillor Miscandlon said he supports the recommendation to talk to other partners in the ARP group. Quoting paragraph 2.4 of the report, he asked Councillor Boden what has been the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of claimants in Fenland?

7.    Councillor Boden said that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC5/20

To share with the Overview and Scrutiny Panel the future implications and opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to service delivery by Fenland District Council.

Members considered the Council Response to COVID-19 - Future Implications report presented by Councillor Boden.

Councillor Boden said it is unprecedented for local Government to be so unsure about what the future holds either financially or otherwise. We face significant challenges in managing our finances and setting our budget next year. However many other local authorities are in a worse financial position than we are and more financial support is required from central Government. The position will be made worse if there is a second or even third wave of COVID-19, not just for this Council but for the economy of the country.  Councillor Boden apologised for the negativity of the report but he needed to stress the scale of the issue and uncertainty we face. He added that officers have been working exceptionally hard to mitigate the issues we are facing and continue to do so in a fast-changing environment. 

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

1.    On behalf of all members, and as Chairman of FDC, Councillor Miscandlon thanked all FDC staff for going above and beyond to make the pandemic as bearable as possible for all the residents of Fenland.

2.    Councillor Topgood concurred with Councillor Miscandlon’s comment; local traders had told him it had been a pleasure dealing with FDC in regards to the grant aid on offer. 

3.    Councillor Mason agreed and thanked officers for chasing up those businesses who had not applied for grants.

4.    Councillor Wicks complimented FDC staff for being so proactive with businesses and community organisations; they did not wait for the applications to arrive but went out and openly encouraged them to apply for grants.

5.    Paul Medd said it cannot be underestimated the effect that positive feedback will have following the impact on staff of nearly 5 months of delivering day to day services along with key projects.  He will ensure the Panel’s comments are fed back to staff.  However, we would not have been able to do this without strong and supportive political leadership from Cabinet, Councillor Boden and all members.

6.    Councillor Count echoed all the positive comments that had been expressed. However, he has just received the unsettling news that Fenland is now above the national average for coronavirus; it may be that this is in part due to the outbreak at the Princes Factory and he is currently waiting analysis on this but we had been fairly confident that we had previously been in a low coronavirus area. However, even if it was still low we have to work on the assumption that it is prevalent in our communities. The number of asymptomatic carriers is higher than estimated. He cannot stress how strongly he feels that public health information and messages must continue as a priority to get out the message that the virus is still amongst us and shows no sign of going away.

7.    Councillor Count added that it is encouraging to read in the report the work undertaken  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC6/20

The Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report reflects what has been undertaken and achieved by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel during 2019/20 and takes a forward look at the programme of work and challenges for Overview and Scrutiny in 2020/2021.

Members considered the Draft Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report. 

Councillor Mason thanked Councillor Miscandlon as the previous Chairman, plus Councillor Hay and all who contributed during the past year towards the content of the report.  

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

1.    Councillor Booth said that although he broadly agreed with the draft report, his only comment would be in relation to the call-in at Section 6 of the report. The majority talks about the process but there is little actual wording around the debate that took place in relation to the call-in and he feels it would be useful to expand paragraph 6.7 to include this. Although the Panel decided not to refer the matter back to Cabinet, Councillor Boden subsequently made changes to the Scheme of Delegation for the Investment Board and it would be useful to capture that. It would show that the Panel played a role in relation to that and feedback was taken on board by the Leader.

2.    Councillor Boden said that although it was for the Panel to decide what to include in the report, he could understand Councillor Booth’s suggestion.

3.    Councillor Miscandlon said that in co-editing the report he wished to express his personal thanks to Councillor Ann Hay as his Vice-Chairman during his tenure as Chairman and everyone, be they officers, members or external agencies and local residents, who contributed to the Panel’s work last year and for a sterling job.

4.    Councillor Cornwell said there was confusion as to whether Overview & Scrutiny was called a Committee or Panel and asked that one term only be used going forward. 

5.    Councillor Booth said he wished to move a recommendation that the Panel adopt the report but on basis we amend Section 6.7 as he had highlighted. 

Proposed by Councillor Booth, seconded by Councillor Wicks that the Overview and Scrutiny Panel approve the annual report for forwarding to Council on the basis that there be an amendment to Section 6.7. 

A vote was taken on the proposal which was defeated. 

Proposed by Councillor Mason, seconded by Councillor Connor, the Overview and Scrutiny Panel AGREED to approve the annual report for forwarding to Council. 

To consider the Draft Work Programme for Overview & Scrutiny Panel 2020/21.

Members discussed the Future Work Programme. 

1.    Councillor Mason said that he endorsed concerns Councillor Wicks had previously expressed that Clarion are not coming to a Panel meeting this year. They had been due to attend an earlier meeting that had been cancelled due to the lockdown. Councillor Mason said that it could be two years before they came again.  Anna Goodall said there had been a discussion around this and if members are in agreement they can be invited to the December meeting.   

2.    Councillor Booth said that December would be far too late and that this would be almost two years anyway. He felt an earlier date should be agreed; particularly given issues that have previously arisen around winter time. 

3.    Councillor Mason said this could be discussed further but we have to consider that we also need to accommodate a meeting with Freedom Leisure. 

4.    Councillor Miscandlon said that he had previously discussed with Anna Goodall and Councillor Hay the possibility of having an extra meeting for sensitive items as we lost two meetings early on in lockdown. 

5.    Councillor Mason agreed that was an alternative and he would discuss this with Anna Goodall in due course. 

6.    Councillor Mason said it had been previously discussed that Anglian Water may be asked to attend a meeting. Anna Goodall said that they are under no legal obligation to attend an Overview and Scrutiny meeting but is sure they would be willing if approached. 

7.    Councillor Wicks said that with the evolving situation there could be other subjects that come up in the near future.  Councillor Mason asked that they be submitted for future consideration. 

Councillor Mason ended the meeting with his thanks for everyone attending today.