Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor David Mackintosh.

Members to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2013

The minutes of the meeting held on 25^th July were signed by the Chair as a true record.

There were none.

There were none.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to monitor the implementation of the accepted recommendations contained in the following reports:

Hate Crime Reporting Mechanisms

Julie Seddon, Director of Customers and Communities addressed the committee and confirmed that there had been good progress of the implementation of the recommendations by Cabinet.  The hate crime documentation had been produced and adapted by Councillors and Police and there had been increased awareness of the need to report it.

There would be training for Councillors in March 2014 and training for staff which would be included in the induction process for new staff.  There would be a single point of contact which would be reviewed and updated if there was any staff structure change.  Housing staff wardens would receive more intensive training

There had been an increase of the number of hate crimes reported by staff but regarded this as a positive increase as there had been an improvement in the awareness and understanding.  This was directly related to the work carried out by Overview and Scrutiny.

Councillor Jamie Lane agreed that all of the Councillors should attend and would forward the date of the training once it had been arranged.

Resolved: That the update be noted.

The Committee to consider Cabinet’s response to the  report of Scrutiny Panel 2- Retail Experience.

Councillor Tim Hadland addressed the Committee and confirmed that Cabinet report in July for the Town Centre programme had been comprehensive and invaluable.  The Overview and Scrutiny report had produced 28 recommendations which were being incorporated which had included:-

·         The upgrade of parking machines to pay by debit or credit cards

·         August free parking which had been a success

·         NBC Licensing department to show their presence in the town centre

·         Designated spots on Abington Street for buskers

There had been a suggestion that there was a map available to street drinkers which located the areas of different degrees of tolerance of where the street drinkers could go.  Julie Seddon confirmed that this would be investigated further.

Resolved:-  That the report be noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to monitor the implementation of the accepted recommendations contained in the Overview and Scrutiny report:

Customer Services

Councillor Brandon Eldred confirmed that there had been an increase in the number of phone calls to the Contact Centre due to the Welfare Reform Act and had put extra staff and measures in place to cope with the demand. 

He advised that the Contact Centre had been doing an excellent job and urged Councillors to contact them via email instead of calling to free up staff for the residents who were their priority.  Their email address was contactnbc@northampton.co.uk.

Resolved: That the update be noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to scrutinise the following performance measures:

·         Performance Measure TC005n - Town Centre Footfall.   

·         Performance Measure ESC02% - Missed bins corrected within 24 hours of notification.   

·         Performance Measure ESCO4% - Household waste recycled and composted.    

·         Performance Measure PP09 - Overall Crime Figures for the Period.   

·         Performance Measure CS13 – Percentage of all calls into the Contact Centre answered.  

Councillor Tim Hadland presented the report to the Committee on the following performance measures:-

Town Centre Footfall

The new bus interchange would lead to changes in the town centre and a camera had already been installed in the Drapery to monitor before and after.  It monitors the Town Centre over a 24 hour period.

Councillor Mike Hallam presented the briefing note to the Committee on the following performance measures:

Missed Bins

In June there had been changes to the routes and rounds of the collections.  They had been running at 85% efficiency in July and awaited August and Septembers figures to see if this had improved.

Julie Seddon, Chair CSP, presented the briefing note to the Committee on the following performance measure:

Compost

Ways to increase recycle rates were being reviewed and was a challenging process.  They were going to liaise with schools to educate children to encourage their parents to recycle.  There was an on-going problem with HIMO and student properties that had sacks and therefore unable to identify the owner if it was not collected and encouraged fly tipping.

Overall crime figures

There had been a significant decrease in crime as key offenders had been taken out of circulation.

Councillor Brandon Eldred presented the briefing note to the Committee on the following performance measure:

Contact Centre calls

The Contact Centre received 31000 calls per month and 200,000 emails and provided a great service to the public.  This had been a 12% increase on last year.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to receive a progress report on the implementation of the Tenants’ Engagement Strategy.

Councillor Mary Markham presented the report to Committee and confirmed that there had been a good response to it.  Twelve meetings had taken place since July and initial training would be given to Chairs and Vice Chairs on 16^th September and would be open to all tenants in November.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to receive an update on the Welfare Reform and the impact on rent income collection.

Councillor Mary Markham reported that there had been an increase in the rent arrears due to the Welfare Reform and had spent the last 12 months liaising with tenants to downsize.  450 people had still not registered to move.  They had employed two more officers in rent collections and two more officers to help people with the exchange.  The rising figures were a concern.

In a response to questions from members, Councillor Mary Markham confirmed that people needed to actively look for suitable homes and sometimes in the private rental sector as there was not enough local government housing stock.  They had identified their own tenants who would have their benefits capped and had not relied on the DWP.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to receive a progress report from the Scrutiny Panels.

In accordance with the Scrutiny Panel Protocol this item is for the Committee’s information with no discussion.

Councillor Elizabeth Gowen confirmed that they had received positive feedback from the site visits and still had two more meetings to come.

Councillor Jamie Lane thanked Councillors for chairing Scrutiny Panels.

Resolved:  That the update be noted.

The report was presented to the Committee.

Resolved: That the update is noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to approve the Overview and Scrutiny Excellence Plan 2013-2015.

Councillor Jamie Lane confirmed that this report was what the Committee hoped to achieve over the next few months and years.  Our website had been successful and he felt that we were one of the Leaders in Overview and Scrutiny.

 Resolved:  That the Excellence Plan 2013-2015 is approved.

Councillor Matt Lynch to provide an update on the work of NCC’s  Health, Adult Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee (Copy to follow).

Councillor Matt Lynch provided an update on the Health, Adult Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and confirmed he was looking forward to the next meeting and how it was going to progress.

Councillor Brendan Glynane confirmed that the Podiatry service was now only going to have one consultant and was going to be monitored closely by Northamptonshire County Council.  Concerns had been raised for Northampton and Kettering General Hospitals over the winter months with inflation and no new investments and would be discussed at future Scrutiny meetings.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider any potential issues for future pre decision scrutiny.

Cabinet attending Overview and Scrutiny

Councillor Jamie Lane confirmed that Cabinet attended the Overview and Scrutiny meeting every six months and they would be attending the next meeting.

It was decided that this Item should remain on the agenda should any new issues arise that needed to be investigated.

Housing Strategy

Councillor Lee Mason confirmed that there were over 200 people on the waiting list to downsize their properties and they were looking at building affordable homes.

It was suggested that existing housing stock be reviewed to be extended or have loft conversions and increase capacity within existing stock.

Paperless Committees

After general discussion it was decided that only the front sheet agendas would be made available at the meetings and all of the reports electronic as there had been considerable savings made by not printing off the agenda packs.