Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Keith Simmons Email:  democraticservices@tendringdc.gov.uk or Telephone  01255 686580

Items
No. Item

60.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

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

 

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence submitted nor substitutions made on this occasion.

61.

Minutes of the Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 313 KB

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on 23 September 2024.

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor Newton, seconded by Councillor S Honeywood and:-

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 23 September 2024 be confirmed as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

 

62.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests of Non-Registerable Interests, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

63.

Questions on Notice pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38

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.

Minutes:

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

64.

Report of the Head of Democratic Services and Elections - A.2 - Portfolio Holder Projects - Performance and Project Management pdf icon PDF 34 KB

This report is submitted to the Committee to enable it to consider the outcome of its decision from its meeting on 23 September 2024 (Minute 57 refers) which had been considered by Cabinet on 15 November 2024 (Minute 75 refers). 

 

The Committee had recommended, in the light of the unauthorised expenditure found in relation to the Spendells temporary accommodation project that Portfolio Holders review performance and project management of all their existing projects. 

 

This review, the Committee had requested, should be completed in time for the findings to be reported to this meeting together with any additional actions determined by the Leader. 

 

The Leader of the Council is to attend this meeting to discuss the outcome of the Portfolio Holder reviews of their projects.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Head of Democratic Services & Elections (A.2) which enabled it to consider the outcome of its decision from its meeting on 23 September 2024 (Minute 57 referred) which had been considered by Cabinet on 15 November 2024 (Minute 75 referred).  The Committee had recommended, in the light of the unauthorised expenditure found in relation to the Spendells temporary accommodation project that Portfolio Holders reviewed performance and project management of all their existing projects.  This review, the Committee had requested, should be completed in time for the findings to be reported to this meeting together with any additional actions determined by the Leader. The Leader of the Council attended this meeting to discuss the outcome of the Portfolio Holder reviews of their projects.

 

The Chief Executive (Ian Davidson) referred to the announcement by HM Government of its White Paper on Devolution and Local Government re-organisation (LGR). He outlined the context in relation to the timescales for completing the projects and other constraining effects on the Council’s key projects that would need to be kept under close review moving forward. Responding and reacting to the White Paper would have a significant effect on this Council’s capacity and resources. It would also challenge this Council to maintain its current good performance in terms of Value for Money judgements (which had been recognised by the Council’s External Auditor). Mr. Davidson then responded to Members’ questions as follows:-

 

Committee Members’ Questions

(Summary)

 

Responses (Chief Executive, unless otherwise stated)

(Summary)

Will there be a clause in the new Waste Management Contract that will protect TDC in the event that it disappears under LGR?

There are a myriad of contracts that will need to be gone through. Harmonisation of contracts with other local authorities would take place over time. If TDC was to cease to be then the burden of such contracts would fall on the successor Authority. These are all matters that need to be closely considered alongside other matters such as TDC’s close working relationships with the District’s Parish and Town Councils.

As LGR progresses will there be a grading system introduced for projects that are underway or are still in the planning stage?

Excellent question. This is just the sort of thing that Officers will need to examine and then facilitate the Cabinet in making its decisions. For some projects, TDC is already contractually obliged having accepted the relevant external funding. The Council’s Monitoring Officer and the Section 151 Officer will both play a key role in that process.

 

[Director (Governance)] – These are daunting times for local government as it is facing its largest re-organisation since the passing of the Local Government Act 1972. This is also happening alongside large-scale changes to the national planning, housing and procurement statutory frameworks. Already, cautionary messages are being issued to Councils about looking at, in the New Year, transformation projects whether planned or already underway.

Should this overview and scrutiny committee be concentrating on the process in terms of LGR  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

65.

Report of the Portfolio Holder for the Environment - A.3 - Update on the Waste and Recycling Service Procurement pdf icon PDF 37 KB

To update the Committee on the current position with regard to the waste and recycling and street cleaning service procurement.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Portfolio Holder for the Environment which updated it on the current position on the waste and recycling and street cleaning service procurement.

 

It was noted that as the procurement process was now under way there was a limit to how much information about the process and the bidders involved that could be shared with the Committee.

 

Members were reminded that, at its meeting held on 26 July 2024, Cabinet had considered a report of the Environment Portfolio Holder (A.6), which had:-

 

·      provide it with an update on progress with future options for kerbside waste and            recycling collection and street sweeping beyond the expiry in 2026 of the current            contractual arrangements;

·      sought Cabinet’s approval to go out to tender in order to find a suitable service            provider;

·      sought the adoption of the Core Specification Principles; and

·      sought to delegate a number of decisions to Portfolio Holders and Officers to ensure            a smooth progression of this work.

 

Cabinet had resolved “RESOLVED that Cabinet –

 

1.    notes the work undertaken by the Waste Contract Project Board to date and the     contributions from the Member Working Group;

2.    notes the content and recommendations made in the Options Appraisal and Outline Business Case produced in partnership with EELGA;

3.    endorses the proposal set out within the Options Appraisal and Outline Business     Case to re-tender both the waste and recycling collection and street sweeping     services as a single contract in order that a contractor is in place to deliver services     at the time of the expiry of the current contracts on 31st December 2025 and 31st     January 2026;

4.    notes the outcome of the market engagement exercise;

5.    agrees to the route to procurement being Competitive Dialogue;

6.    agrees to formally adopt the Contract Principles, endorsed by the Waste Contract

       Project Board and against which the new service will be set, along with the Core     Specification Principles set out in Table 4 within the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.6);

7.    agrees to offer a lease of the Fowler Road depot in Clacton on the existing terms as part of any future contractual arrangement, accepting that the depot is likely to

       require reconfiguring / modernisation during the contract period. Therefore, Cabinet also agrees to initiate the Property Dealing Procedure allowing Officers to explore options and alternative / additional land purchase or lease opportunities;    

8.    agrees a delegation to the Portfolio Holder for Assets to determine the Social Value Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOMs) against which the social value aspects of the tender submissions will be considered;

9.    agrees a joint delegation to the Leader of the Council, the Portfolio Holder for     Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Assets to approve:-

   a. the high level service specification provided that they consult with the Waste

       Contract Project Board and the Member Working Group beforehand;

   b. the aspects of the tender about which there will be dialogue held with bidders;

       and

   c. the tender evaluation criteria to be used;

10.  agrees a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

66.

Report of the Director (Finance & IT) - A.4 - External Auditor's Combined Annual Report including their Value for Money Commentary on the Council's Use of Resources pdf icon PDF 23 KB

To present the External Auditor’s Combined Annual Report for the years ended 31 March 2021, 31 March 2022 and 31 March 2023 and to enable the Committee to consider the value for money commentary provided by the Council’s External Auditor.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Further to the request made by the Committee at its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report of the Director (Finance & IT) (A.4) which presented the External Auditor’s Combined Annual Report for the years ended 31 March 2021, 31 March 2022 and 31 March 2023.

 

A report from the Council’s External Auditor (EA) was attached which set out the most up to date and independent value for money commentary on the Council’s arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources.  The EA’s report had been formally considered by the Council’s Audit Committee on 9 December 2024 and set out a detailed commentary on a range of value for money issues along with providing a summary of the key issues arising from the work of the External Auditor for the years ended 31 March 2021, 31 March 2022 and 31 March 2023. In terms of this latter point (pages 5 and 6 of the EA report), this referred to the work the Auditors had undertaken as part of their statutory financial statements work, which had been considered by the Audit Committee as part of the activities associated with the publication of the Council’s Statement of Accounts for 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23.

 

In terms of the value for money element of the work undertaken by the Council’s External Auditor, the Code of Audit Practice required auditors to carry out a full scope audit of Value for Money (VFM) arrangements for 2023/24 onwards. However, as set out within the EA’s Combined Annual Report, a reduced scope had been carried out to date as permitted for preceding years. From 2024/25 onwards, auditors would be required to issue their annual auditor’s report containing the VFM commentary each year by 30 November. This had been designed to ensure that, even where the financial audit opinion was disclaimed, the audit still provided useful information to audit committees and other stakeholders about the financial management and financial sustainability of local bodies.

 

The EA’s detailed value for money commentary was set out on pages 7 to 17 of the EA’s report and it highlighted a number of important areas of the Council’s work and demonstrated a strong and continually improving picture across the various value for money themes.

 

This was a very welcome position which hopefully provided Members with assurances, especially around the two key themes of financial sustainability and governance, given no such independent commentary had been provided in recent years due to the external audit delays.

 

Although highlighted on page 17 of the attached report, it was worth highlighting the following statement by the External Auditor:-

 

“Our VFM work for 2020/21 to 2022/23 has not identified any significant weaknesses in the Authority’s arrangements. However, we have identified opportunities for the Authority to improve their arrangements and have made a recommendation accordingly.”

 

In respect of the recommendation referred to in the above statement, this was also set out on page 17 of the EA’s report along with confirmation that the associated matter  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

67.

Report of the Head of Democratic Services & Elections - A.1 - Work Programme 2024/25 - Including Monitoring of previous Recommendations and Summary of Forthcoming Decisions pdf icon PDF 140 KB

To provide the Committee with an update on its approved Work Programme for 2024/25 (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 respect 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.

 

In respect of forthcoming decisions and pursuant to the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13, the Committee will review any such 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 those forthcoming decisions 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.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Head of Democratic Services & Elections (A.1) which provided it with an update on its approved Work Programme for 2024/25 (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 respect of enquiries undertaken; and a list of forthcoming decisions for which notice had been given since publication of the agenda for the Committee’s last meeting. 

 

The report also provided Members with an opportunity for updates on the work of the Committee’s Task and Finish Groups; to consider the Committee’s approach to budget scrutiny at its January 2025 meeting; and to note that arrangements would be made with the Chairmen of both this Committee and of the Audit Committee to receive the findings in relation to the investigation into the Council’s development of Spendells House, Naze Park Road, Walton-on-the-Naze.

 

The Committee received an oral update on the work of the Asset Management Arrangements Task and Finish Group established by the Committee from its Chairman (Councillor M Cossens). That Group was carrying out two enquiry strands i.e. it was looking at both the Council’s physical assets and its IT assets. It had discussed the scoping of those two strands and would shortly begin delving into its detailed enquiry.

 

It was moved by Councillor P Honeywood, seconded by Councillor M Cossensand:-

 

RESOLVED that the Committee -

 

(a)     notes the progress with enquiries set out in its Work Programme 2024/25, plus any feedback to the Committee on the decisions in respect of previous recommendations and the list of forthcoming decisions;

 

(b)     notes the oral update on the work of the Asset Management Arrangements Task and Finish Groups established by the Committee as given by its Chairman (Councillor M Cossens);

 

(c)     agrees that its approach to budget scrutiny to be undertaken at its meetings on Monday, 6 January (informal) and Monday, 13 January 2025 in respect of the draft General Fund and draft Housing Revenue Account budgets for 2025/26 and beyond will be as follows:-

 

(1)     at its informal meeting on 6 January, the Committee will receive a presentation from the Director (Finance and IT) on the latest budget position and will then look to decide which Portfolio Holders will be required to appear before the Committee on 13 January;

(2)     on 13 January, the Committee will consider the highlights and general overview of the budget but will particularly focus on how costs are built from the ground upwards with an eye to the implications of LGR;

(3)     that the meetings on 6 January and 13 January will both commence at 7.00 p.m.; and

(4)     that the members of the Cabinet be requested to hold the evening of Monday 13 January 2025 in their diaries in case they are required to appear before the Committee.

 

(d)     notes that arrangements will be made with the Chairmen of this Committee and of the Audit Committee to receive the findings in relation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.