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

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Davidson, with no substitution appointed and Councillor Ferguson, for who Councillor Alexander was appointed as her substitute.

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Tuesday, 23 September 2025.

It was unanimously RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on Tuesday, 23 September 2025, be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

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.

Councillor Griffiths sought clarification as to whether Ward Councillors representing areas subject to the Community Governance Review, referenced in Minute 23 below, were required to declare an interest in that item. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that a formal declaration was not required in respect of that item.

Subsequently, there were no declarations of interest made by Councillors in relation to any item on the agenda for this meeting.

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.

No Questions on Notice pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38 had been submitted by Members for this meeting.

To enable the Committee to received and consider the outcome of the first round of public consultation and to agree proposals to go out for a second round of public consultation.

Members of the Committee were reminded of the approved terms of reference for the Community Governance Review of Clacton-on-Sea, Holland-on-Sea and Jaywick Sands and its implementation up until the point of the current meeting. Further to this, the Committee was advised of the outcome of the Phase I consultation exercise (Stage 2 in the Terms of Reference Timeline) as part of that Review (including the expenditure that had been incurred to date). Taking account of that outcome, the Committee had been invited to approve the basis of the Phase II consultation (Stage 4 in the Timeline) around the creation of separate Parishes for the three separate communities within the review area. In preparation for the Phase II consultation, information had been sought from by the Essex Association of Local Councils around the base costs of possible Local Councils for the three separate areas and the outcome of discussions with the Ward Councillors had shaped the proposed boundaries for three Parishes to then be consulted upon.

It was reported that the Community Governance Review (CGR) for Clacton-on-Sea, Holland-on-Sea, and Jaywick Sands had begun on 1 July 2025, as a consequence of the publication of the Terms of Reference for that Review.

By way of chronology around governance for the CGR, the following provided a timeline:

·        21 October 2024 – Motion at Full Council seeking a report setting out the process for undertaking a CGR in the review area.

·        15 November 2024 – Report to, and approval from, Full Council for the CGR to be undertaken based on draft Terms of Reference, designation of the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee as the oversight Committee for the CHR and authorisation of the Chief Executive to update the Terms of Reference and publish these on 1 July 2025.

·        20 December 2024 – Approval of funding of £48K by Cabinet to meeting the anticipated costs of the CGR (subject to a review being undertaken to ensure this would be sufficient).

·        17 June 2025 – Report to and decision of the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the proposed commencement of the CGR and reference to the Cabinet in respect of an increase in the budget for the CGR to £68K. The Committee also approved a date for its review of the outcome of the first stage of consultation and preparation for the next phase. This was originally scheduled for 20 October and was, subsequently, rearranged to 17 November 2025.

·        27 June 2025 – Decision of Cabinet to accept the revised budget for the CGR and authorise expenditure of up to £68K on the CGR.

·        1 July 2025 – Formal decision of the Chief Executive to publish the Terms of Reference for the CGR and thereby commence the review process.

The Committee heard that through the review to the Council could determine whether new parish or town councils should be created for those areas, which, collectively, were currently the only unparished parts of the District. Together, they included around 30,000 properties, 44,000 registered voters  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

The report provides the Committee with its approved Work Programme for 2025/26, feedback to the Committee on the decisions in respect of previous recommendations from the Committee in respect of enquiries undertaken and a list of forthcoming decisions for which public notice has been given.

The report further invites the Committee to reappoint its existing Task and Finish Groups, while also encouraging consideration of consolidating these into a single, unified Task and Finish Group.

Members had before them its approved Work Programme for 2025/26, feedback to the Committee on the decisions in respect of previous recommendations from the Committee in respect of enquiries undertaken and a list of forthcoming decisions for which public notice had been given.

Members had been invited to reappoint its existing Task and Finish Groups, whilst also considering consolidating these into a single, unified Task and Finish Group.

The Committee’s Work Programme for 2025/26, as approved by Full Council at its meeting held on 14 August 2025, included the continuation of the work of the “Joint Working with Town and Parish Councils” Task and Finish Group and the “Provision of out of School Organised Activities and Events” Task and Finish Group. That Work Programme had set out an aspiration for the final report of those Task and Finish Working Groups to be submitted to the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting in December 2025. To facilitate this, Members were advised that the membership of those Task and Finish Working Groups had been required to be determined at this meeting.

A list of the nominations for each of the Task and Finish Groups had been circulated as follows:

Joint Working with Town and Parish Councils

·        Councillor Steady

·        Councillor Ferguson

·        Councillor Sudra

Provision of out of School Organised Activities and Events

·        Councillor Barrett

·        Councillor Oxley

It was reported that following the last meeting of the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 23 September 2025, it had been agreed that the Crime and Disorder (Familial Violence/Abuse) Task and Finish Group would not be reappointed and that any further matters relating to such matters would be reported directly to the Committee.

Members were reminded that it had been previously proposed that, considering the limited number of nominations, a single Task and Finish Group be established. That group would allocate dedicated time periods to conduct enquiries and draw its membership from the volunteers listed above.

The Committee was informed that Officers had recently convened with colleagues from Thanet District Council to discuss their ADSO award-nominated initiative focussed on strengthening engagement with the local college and facilitating the recruitment of T-Level students into the Democratic Services Team. The collaborative effort had aimed to enhance educational partnerships and support early career pathways into Local Government. A summary of the meeting outcomes had been provided as Appendix D to the main report (A.2).

It was reported that there had been discussions between Officers and the new Integrated Care Board (ICB) as well as KonectBuses to explore the opportunity of senior staff from each service attending the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January 2026.

It was moved by Councillor Oxley, seconded by Councillor Griffiths and unanimously RESOLVED that the Committee:-

(a)   notes its approved Work Programme for 2025/26 (Appendix A) together with the feedback to the Committee on the Executive’s decisions made in respect of previous Committee recommendations (Appendix B), and the list of forthcoming decisions (Appendix C);

(b)   notes the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.