Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Thursday, 13th February, 2020 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 24th October, 2019 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 24th October, 2019 were agreed as a correct record.

An update was requested on the actions set out in the previous minutes relating to pavement parking. It was advised that this had been raised with the Parking Team and an update would be given at the next Progress Group meeting.

At the Council meeting on 5th December, 2019, the following Motion was presented by Cllr. Abul Chowdhury:

“This Council recognises that the standard of highways in this Borough is crucially important to local people.

The current response and priority given to Rushmoor has been problematical since agency agreements with Hampshire CC have been amended over the years.

We believe that it’s essential for the good of our residents that we take back some control of our own highways’ issues.

We call on those responsible in Hampshire and Rushmoor to enter into negotiations to allow this Council to take back more control of highways in Rushmoor, with Hampshire delegating the necessary resources through a revised agency arrangement.”

The Council agreed to refer the issue to this Committee and Cllr. Chowdhury has been invited to the meeting to present the Motion. The Committee will be asked to hold a preliminary discussion and agreed the process to be followed in considering the Motion.

At the Council meeting on 5th December a Motion was presented by Cllr Abul Chowdhury which related to the Highways Agency. At its meeting, the Council had agreed to refer the Motion to the Committee which had been asked to hold a preliminary discussion and agree the process to be followed in considering it. Cllr Chowdhury was in attendance at the meeting.

Cllr Chowdhury reported on examples that had led to the Motion, which asked that the Council take back some control of our own highways issues from Hampshire County Council and asked Members to share experiences in their Wards. It was reported that the majority of case work received by Cllr Chowdhury related to highways issues that could only be dealt with by the County Council  and he was asking the Committee to seek improvement in the level of highways maintenance in Rushmoor for the residents.

The following was suggested to take this issue forward:

·         To establish a task and finish group to look at the issue

·         For all Members to consider the issues in their Wards

·         To invite Hampshire County Council to attend a meeting to respond to the issues and discuss potential options

·         To consider options which might include seeking to take back some control on the provision of highways maintenance

It was agreed that:

·         A task and finish group would be established with the following political make up:

o   4 Conservative

o   2 Labour

o   1 Liberal Democrat (Cllr Abul Chowdhury)

·         Scoping work should be carried out by the Task and Finish Group to include a discussion on arrangements for attendance by the County Council

To consider the following issues relating to the Council’s performance:

(1)  To consider the performance data on crime statistics provided by Hampshire Police (Chief Inspector John Halfacre will be in attendance)

(2)  To review the performance data for Q3 2019/2020. The information is provided here and a presentation will be made at the meeting.

(3)  To consider the revised Performance Management Framework which is currently being developed and will be introduced formally in Q1 2020/2021.

(1)  Crime and Disorder Data

The Committee welcomed Chief Inspector John Halfacre, from Hampshire Constabulary who was in attendance to provide an overview on the crime statistics for Quarter 3. The information provided gave high level data on types of crime and statistics, against the same quarter for the previous three years.

The Committee reviewed the data and were informed that some of the categories listed encompassed a variety of crimes, i.e. “Violence Without Injury”, incorporated common assault and malicious communications/cybercrime. The Committee discussed the integrity of the data and the importance of recording correctly. A request was made for data on “clear up rates” and this would be reported on at a future meeting. The Hampshire County Council street lights initiative was discussed, where street lights were being turned off during certain hours in the night. Information was requested on any crime data that related to this initiative and the perceived fear of crime as a result of the lights being off. The North Hampshire Community Safety Team would be asked to report on this issue.

(2)  Council Business Plan – Quarter 3 Monitoring

The Committee then reviewed the Q3 data for council activities. It was reported that there had been some slippages, this was partly attributed to changes in the ICE and regeneration programmes. An overview of the four P’s (People, Place, Partnership and Public Services) was given:

·         People: there had been good progress this quarter. The targets on events and grants had been completed and the work on tackling deprivation was on track.

·         Place: again there had been good progress in this area. However, it was noted that there had been a slight delay in responding to the climate change emergency and the proposals for the closed circuit cycle track had been delayed whist a new site was identified.

·         Partnerships: Good progress was reported in this area, however the Skills Strategy had been deferred to 2020/21 to follow the completion of the Strategic Economic Framework.

·         Public Services: Good progress was reported. However it was noted that the review work to the revised Constitution had taken slightly longer than anticipated.

The Regeneration and ICE Programmes were discussed and it was felt that appropriate Members/Officers should be invited to attend future meetings to give updates on projects within these programmes.

Arising from the discussions, the Committee requested that the review of the Litter Enforcement Pilot by East Hampshire District Council should receive pre-decision scrutiny prior to consideration by the Cabinet. This would be followed up and arranged for a future meeting.  

(3)  Performance Framework

The Committee reviewed the new performance framework. It was noted that  work was ongoing to refine and improve the corporate planning and performance management system which aimed to be completed by the end of March 2020. Once the work was complete, approval would be sought from the Cabinet. As part of the arrangements, the Committee would monitor the data quarterly with closer scrutiny of particular areas/programmes carried out by task and finish groups.

ACTIONS:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

To review the current work plan (copy attached).

The current work plan was noted.

A request was made for information on the consequences of the roll out of 5G in the Borough. It was noted that a paper had been prepared by the Head of Economy, Planning and Strategic Housing which could be circulated to the Committee.