Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Thursday, 4th February, 2021 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22nd October, 2020 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 22nd October, 2020 were agreed as a correct record.

At the meeting on 3rd September, 2020 the Committee received a presentation by representatives of Aldershot Town Football Club Supporters’ Trust relating to issues affecting the operation and future of the Football Club. At that time, it was agreed that the Chairman of the Football Club (Mr. Shahid Azeem) would be invited to address the Committee on the matters that were raised. Mr. Azeem will be attending this meeting and will also be reporting on the current position in relation to the Football Club’s operations.

Mr. Shahid Azeem, Chairman, Aldershot Town Football Club, attended the meeting to give the Club’s response to the representations made by the Aldershot Town Football Club Supporters’ Trust at the Committee’s meeting on 3rd September 2020 and to update on the current position in relation to the Club’s operations. 

Mr. Andrew Colver, Head of Democracy and Community, reminded Members of the background to the item. It was noted that at the Committee’s meeting in September, 2020, three members of the Supporters’ Trust had raised some issues, in particular relating to the conclusion of a new lease on the site of the Club in line with a number of principles that had previously been agreed by the Cabinet, the approach to engagement between the Club and the Supporters’ Trust and future development options for the site. Following the meeting a report had been made to the Major Projects and Property Portfolio Holder. 

It was agreed that the item would be considered in two parts, firstly Mr Azeem would respond to the issues raised by the Supporters’ Trust, this would then be followed by an update on the current position of the Club.

Mr. Azeem thanked the Council for the support given to the Club over the years since he took over as Chairman in 2013. It was noted that, through working with the Council, planning applications were soon to be submitted for the regeneration of the Football Club site and, should these be granted, the long term lease on the site should also be granted. It was noted that the lease, once agreed, would be in the name of the Aldershot Town Football Club. In response to the Supporters’ Trust comments regarding the redevelopment of the site, Mr. Azeem explained that a redevelopment company had been established to oversee the development plans for the site, this allowed for any financial issues, which might occur, not to impact on the operation of the Club. It was also acknowledged that the EBB Stadium was no longer fit for purpose, due to the presence of asbestos, and through the redevelopment of the site, a seven day a week operation could be established, which would provide a basis to secure a sustainable future for the Club.

At the September, 2020 meeting, it had been reported that the Supporters’ Trust had been temporarily suspended from the Football Supporters Association (FSA). As a result, measures had been put in place by the FSA, most of which had been addressed, with the exception of diversity awareness training for the trustees, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Mr. Azeem advised that since that time, a letter of apology acknowledging the Trust’s errors which resulted in its suspension, had been written by the Supporters’ Trust to the FSA and Mr. Azeem asked that this letter be made public.

One of the purposes of the Trust had been to raise funds to contribute to players’ wages (‘Cash for Shots’). In the past twelve months no contributions had been made by the Trust,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

To receive a presentation from Rachel Barker, Assistant Chief Executive, on the future approach to monitoring the performance of the Council’s activities.

Rachel Barker, Assistant Chief Executive, was in attendance to report on the work which had been taking place to revise the current performance management arrangements. It was noted that the new system was being developed and this report would give a brief on the work undertaken and help shape performance reporting in the future.

A review had been undertaken on how the Council collected and reported on progress against the Council’s Business Plan projects and wider performance reporting. A three-tier reporting framework had been developed and implemented at the end of Quarter 2 in 2020/21 consisting of:

·         Key Performance Indicator Dashboard – production of a graphical Key Performance Indicator dashboard initially every quarter but more frequent going forward. Comparable against previous years data. There would be an option for it to be automated in the future giving real time information

·         Summary Project Progress Report – builds on previous information provided but would focus on exception reporting. It would provide a snapshot for the previous quarter detailing projects not on budget or schedule. A RAG status would be used but only red and amber would appear in this report

·         Detailed Project Progress Report – Full report on all projects within the Business Plan. To be published on the Council’s website at end of each quarter. It would show more detail including risk, timelines, project manager detail etc.

It was advised that currently Quarter 3 was in the process of being finalised and would be presented at the March, 2021 meeting of the Committee. Moving forward to 2021/22, the assumption would be to see Quarterly reporting to the Committee, this could focus on specific areas or the whole report and timings of meetings would be adjusted to fit more effectively with the quarterly reporting.

In response to a query regarding indexing the Detailed Project Progress Report, it was noted that this could be looked into for easier navigation of the document.

It was agreed that the full documents would be considered at the Progress Group Meeting prior to the Committee’s meeting in March, 2021, to scope what would be presented to the full Committee.

The Committee ENDORSED the new approach.

To review the current Work Plan (copy attached).

The current Work Plan was NOTED and an update was provided as follows.

Cllr D. B. Bedford gave an update on the work of the Register Providers Task and Finish Group. It was noted that a recent meeting had taken place with Southern Housing who were now responsible for The Crescent, Southwood and Mills House, North Town. Members had been pleased with the outcomes of the meeting and the work carried out since taking on these properties.

The Group’s next meeting was scheduled with A2 Dominion. It was noted that there had been a number of issues raised that it was hoped would be resolved following the meeting.

It was requested that a system similar to the pilot scheme set up by VIVID, to allow Members emails to be addressed separately, could be provided by each of the Housing Associations operating in the Borough. Members agreed that the system had worked well with VIVID and rolling it out would be beneficial – this would be raised for discussion with the local Housing Associations.

Mr. Colver advised that a meeting of the Educational Improvement Group would be taking place on 23rd February, 2021, at which County Councillor Roz Chadd would be present. The meeting would consider the impacts of COVID-19 and other related matters.

Arrangements for the next meeting of the Highways Task and Finish Group with Hampshire County Council had proved difficult. However, it was expected that a date would be arranged in the next few weeks.

Mr Colver advised on the proposed items for the next meeting on 25th March, these were:

·         Cabinet Champions activities – to receive a report from the three Cabinet Champions, Cllrs Sue Carter, Peter Cullum and Jacqui Vosper on their activities during the 2020/21 Municipal Year

·         Air pollution – to receive a report from Environmental Health Officers on Air Pollution

An item on the current work of the Housing Options Service was requested, taking into account the impacts of COVID-19 and unemployment levels. It was suggested that this could be picked up at the next Progress Group meeting.