Agenda and minutes

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

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Thompson (with Councillor Sudra substituting).

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Monday 13 March 2023.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Monday 13 March 2023, were approved as a correct record.

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.

There were no declarations of interest 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.

On this occasion no Councillor submitted notice of a question.

The report provides the Committee with an update on its approved Work Programme for 2022/23 (including progress with enquiries set out in its Work Programme), feedback to the Committee on the decisions in respect of previous recommendations from the Committee in respects of enquiries undertaken and a list of forthcoming decisions for which notice has been given since publication of the agenda for the Committee’s last meeting.

The report also provides an update of the current position on the development of the work programme for 2023/24. This Committee is specifically invited to submit a proposed Work Programme to the meeting of Council on 11 July 2023 for consideration.

The Committee heard an update on the Work Programme item from the Head of Democratic Services and Elections (Keith Simmons).

The Work Programme

In considering the Work Programme of enquiries, the Committee regarded the Corporate Plan 2020-24 and the themes of that Corporate Plan were:

·         Delivering High Quality Services

·         Building Sustainable Communities

·         Strong Finances and Governance

·         A Growing and Inclusive Economy

·         Community Leadership through Partnerships

The Committee was made aware that the Corporate Plan for 2024-28 was currently being worked on and provisions would have to reviewed once the new Plan was adopted.

An invitation had been sent to Councillors on 16 May 2023 asking for their input into the development of both Overview and Scrutiny Committees Work Programmes.

Responses were received from three Councillors that included the following suggestions in relation to this Committee:

·         Enforcement

·         Refuse and Recycling

·         Street cleaning

·         Leisure centres

An Informal meeting of the members of the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee was held on Tuesday 13 June 2023 at which time the suggestions around equal enquiries as were set out in Appendix D of the report.

The Committee agreed upon the following items to be included in its draft Work Programme 2023/24 and submitted to Full Council for consideration (each item included the more detailed scope of the enquiries).

·         Council Enforcement arrangements, Task and Finish Group

·         Scrutiny of Budget Proposals

·         Post Delivery Scrutiny of Sunspots Commercial Workspace

·         Carbon Neutral by 2023

·         To consider particular services/functions of the Council that should or could be Self-Funding

·         On street parking arrangements in the District

·         A review of the Council’s Open space management

·         The Council’s Waste Collection, recycling and street cleaning arrangements

After a short debate the Committee RESOLVED that:

a)    the Committees Work Programme (as set out at Appendix D) to the report be approved and recommended to Council on 11 July 2023 for adoption

b)    To authorise officers subject to the recommendation in a) above being appropriate, in consultation with the Committee Chairman, to formally constitute and appoint members to a Task and Finish Group to undertake the overview and scrutiny enquiry into ‘Council Enforcement Arrangements’.

The Committee discussed the value of inviting to each of the next several meetings of the Committees, a different Portfolio Holder to address it on the focus for their Portfolio. The suggestion gained broad agreement from the Members of the Committee. The first such invitation could be for the Committee's next ordinary meeting (in September 2023).

The Committee NOTED the remainder of the report.

To provide the Committee with a draft copy of the Joint Annual Scrutiny Report and invite its comments on the report prior to submission to Council on 11 July 2023.

The Draft Annual Scrutiny Report to follow.

The Committee was presented with Draft Annual Scrutiny Report as it related to work undertaken by this Committee during the year 2022/23.

The Committee RESOLVED to approve the Annual Scrutiny Report in so far as it related to the work of this Committee in 2022/23 and authorise is submission to Council.