The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Land (with Councillor Alexander as a substitute) Chittock (with no substitute) Newton (with no substitute) and Yallop (with Councillor White as a substitute).

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on 1 October 2018.

The minutes of the last meeting of the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 1 October 2018, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Personal Interest, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

In relation to Agenda Item 5, Councillor Neil Stock OBE, declared that he is a Director of North Essex Garden Communities Ltd.

Subject to providing two working days’ notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

There were no questions submitted on this occasion.

The relevant cabinet member and officer, Councillor Neil Stock OBE and Ewan Green, will be in attendance to present to the Committee on the Business Plan for North Essex Garden Communities Ltd to enable the Committee to scrutinise this forthcoming decision which was included on the Committee’s agenda for the 3 September Meeting.

Councillor Stock OBE had earlier declared a Personal Interest in this item insofar as he is a Director of North Essex Garden Communities Ltd.

The relevant Cabinet Member (Councillor Neil Stock OBE) and Officer (Ewan Green, Corporate Director, Planning and Regeneration Services) attended the Meeting to present to the Committee the Business Plan for North Essex Garden Communities Ltd, in order to enable the Committee to scrutinise this forthcoming decision.

The Committee deliberated and raised questions and concerns for Ewan Green and Councillor Stock to answer. Those concerns  mainly revolved around the funding of the project and the ongoing ability for members to scrutinise the business plan and associated documents of North Essex Garden Communities

It was RESOLVED that the Corporate Director (Planning and Regeneration)   would circulate information to the Committee with further detail of activities which the overall programme funding to date of £4m has been spent  on or allocated to. This will now be a regular item on the Committee’s Agenda going forward.

Matthew Gauden, Centre Manager for Open Road, and Claire Beacham, Senior Project Manager for Phoenix Alcohol Project, will be in attendance to provide members with an update on the drug and alcohol support in Tendring.

Matthew Gauden, Centre Manager for Open Road, and Claire Beacham, Senior Project Manager for Phoenix Alcohol Project, attended the meeting to provide Members with an update on the drug and alcohol support in Tendring.

Members deliberated and raised questions for Matthew Gauden and Claire Beacham to answer.

It was  RESOLVED that Matthew Gauden  be requested to send to the Head of Leadership Support and Community (Karen Neath) to circulate to the Committee, a list of mutual aid organisations who work alongside Phoenix Alcohol Project and Open Road. As well as more details on the welfare support staff at Colchester Borough Council who work within HMOs.

Peter Russell, Tendring District Council’s Housing Needs and Strategic Policy manager, will be in attendance to provide members with an update on how housing impacts on the health and wellbeing of communities and individuals.

Following the sad death of David Black,  the Council’s Housing Manager, the Chairman informed Members that this item would be deferred until a future meeting of the Committee.

A minutes silence was held in respect for David Black.

To enable the Committee to consider the performance report for the second quarter 2018.

The Committee had before it a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (A.1) which presented the performance report 2018/19 (Community Leadership) for the period July – September 2018 (Quarter 2), with the recommendation for the Committee to determine whether it had any comments or recommendations to put forward to Cabinet.

The Committee was made aware that the Performance Report set out the detailed actions and targets for the delivery of the Council’s priorities for the coming year that related to  the Council’s partnership and influencing work. The report included both the Corporate Plan and Priorities and Projects 2018/19. The indicators and projects highlighted in the report  were deemed to be ‘non-measureable’ as Tendring’s role was that of ‘influence only'.

The Committee  was also aware that this report  had been presented to  the Cabinet on 9 November 2018. Any feedback from the Committee  would be presented to a future meeting of the Cabinet as a separate reference report.

The Committee deliberated and raised its concerns over the loss of Libraries and the negative impact this  could have on education for pre-school / Primary School children.

It was RESOLVED  that  the relevant officer from Essex County Council, as well as other Tendring District Council members with an interest on the matter, be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to scrutinise Essex County Council’s consultation on the future of libraries.  

The Committee will discuss its experience of the new Overview and Scrutiny arrangements since their implementation in May 2018 with a view to submitting its comments and/or recommendations to the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder’s Constitution Review Working Party who will be conducting a review of the new committee structure also introduced in May 2018.

The Committee discussed their experience of the new Overview and Scrutiny arrangements since their implementation in May 2018. The Committee was made aware that any comments and/or recommendations would be submitted to the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder’s Constitution Review Working Party who would be conducting a review of the new Committee Structure also introduced in May 2018.

The Committee agreed that the new structure of the meetings was beneficial and provided a good opportunity for in-depth discussion on the topics covered. However, the Committee also agreed that they were concerned they were not meeting often enough to be efficient in taking forward the issues they discussed and therefore suggested there should be a meeting of the Committee every two months.

It was therefore RESOLVED that the Head of Leadership Support and Community  report these concerns  to the Head of Governance and Legal Services for her to feed into the Constitution Review Working Party.

Pursuant to the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13, the Committee will review any new and/or amended published forthcoming decisions relevant to its terms of reference and decide whether it wishes to enquire into any such decision before it is taken.

Matters may only be raised on the Forward Plan at Committee meetings where the Member has notified the Committee Services Manager in writing (or by personal email) of the question they wish to ask, no later than Midday, two working days before the day of the meeting.

Pursuant to the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13, the Committee had before it the Scrutiny of proposed decisions.

Two decisions were put before the Committee: the Dovercourt Town Centre Regeneration and the SME Growth Fund.

No matters were raised by the Committee.

To agree the speakers / topics in relation to Economy, Skills and Educational attainment at the meeting on 4 March 2019.

The Committee were asked to consider items they wish to scrutinise at the next meeting of the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

It was RESOLVED that the Head of Leadership Support and Community  consults with the Chairman of the  Committee regarding a further meeting before March, at which the following items will be included;

·         Consultation on Libraries

·         Motion from Council on a Community Governance Review for Claton

·         Motion from Council on Free Swimming Lessons for Children – to invite the Director of Education from Essex County Council