To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 14 October 2015 (Minute Nos. 264 – 275)  as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 14 October 2015 (Minute Nos. 264 – 275) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. 

A Member asked for updated information on a Revised Phasing Plan on Sittingbourne Town Centre Regeneration and the Policy and Performance Officer advised this information would be provided shortly.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

A representative from AmicusHorizon has been invited to attend.

The Chairman welcomed Eileen Martin (Regional Director) and Neill Tickle (Development Director) from AmicusHorizon (AH) to the meeting.

The Regional Director and Development Director described their roles in the organisation and explained that AH owned 28,000 homes in the south east; 7,383 homes in Swale, 343 of which were shared or leasehold.  It was explained that 520 new homes had been built by AH from 2011-2015, and should the proposed merger with Viridian, a housing association primarily based in London, go ahead, the merged organisation would own 44,000 homes.

The Chairman referred to the topics and questions already provided to AH prior to the meeting and the Development Director outlined the following issues faced by AH in providing more social housing provision:

·         3-5% rise in build costs

·         Rise in annual inflation (12-18% in last two years)

·         Reduction in Government subsidies and grants

·         Changes to Government Legislation and Policies

·         Costs of building housing in deprived areas is roughly equal to non-deprived areas but rent charged is less

·         Possible introduction of Right to Buy scheme for all social housing tenants and its implications

·         Classification of affordable housing being extended to starter homes

·         Introduction of cost to value being considered as a measure for rental homes to monitor spend

·         Borrowing against asset base – merger with Viridian could enable increased borrowing

In answer to questions from Members regarding the proposed merger with Viridian, the Development Director and Regional Director of AH advised that Viridian had similar focus and principles to AH; were based in and owned property mostly in London; owned 16,000 properties; were considered to be a good partner for AH; could facilitate savings; could facilitate higher borrowing against higher value London-based properties; and the name of the organisation could change if they merged.

The Development Director further clarified that due to the Government’s proposed reduction in funding social rents by 1%, a £40million loss in income was expected up to 2020, but the actual total was likely to be £60million loss due to a lower base line rent.

In response to a question from a Member regarding residents from outside Swale moving into properties within Swale, the Regional Director advised that tenants were housed directly from Swale’s Housing Register and must meet the criteria which included a five-year residential qualification, although a very small proportion of residents had mutually exchanged from out of the area.  The Chairman encouraged Members to share this information as public perception was sometimes incorrect.

The Development Director spoke of the cost implications in building larger homes and the knock-on effect of unaffordable higher rents, and advised that in order to house tenants in larger, more expensive properties, AH’s policy had changed to include tenants with their own income.

A Member asked what plans there were to build more housing in rural areas and what difficulties there were in obtaining planning permission for housing in rural areas?  The Development Director advised that land for housing was continually sought, AH had a 71% success rate of securing land  ...  view the full minutes text for item 329.

The Returning Officer, Democratic and Electoral Services Manager and Electoral Services Officer have been invited to attend.

The Chairman welcomed the Chief Executive in his capacity as Returning Officer, the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager and the Electoral Services Officer to the meeting.

The Returning Officer presented the report and gave an overview of the complex and unique circumstances of the Parliamentary/Borough and Parish/Town elections on 7 May 2015 which included:

·         New borough ward boundaries

·         New parish boundaries

·         Cross boundary arrangements with the Faversham and Mid Kent parliamentary constituency

·         New legislative requirements, in particular the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration

·         Largest volume of postal votes

·         Tight resources

The Returning Officer praised the dedication and thanked the elections staff for their efforts in the organising of the election. He stated that accuracy was the most important factor and apart from the issue with Tunstall Urban Ward of Tunstall Parish this had been achieved.

Members of the Scrutiny Committee were invited to ask questions on the report and the appendix.

A Member referred to the wording on page 4 of the report regarding ‘down time’ as to what this meant. The Returning Officer explained that counters on tables could not move to the next process until verification clearance had been given, and there was sometimes a queue at the central table whilst table supervisors waited for clearance before they could start the next process. 

A Member thanked the Returning Officer for the full report and asked what progress had been made in improving the situation in future, and what provision had been made for the health and wellbeing of staff?

The Returning Officer advised that the central table was necessary to control the process and to ensure an accurate count was conducted. Whilst one additional count team may have helped, the addition of further count tables was not practical due to the size of the room.  The Returning Officer also advised that some processes were not within the control of Swale, for example concerning the Faversham and Mid-Kent Constituency. The majority of polling and counting staff had mostly worked in specific shifts to cover the process, however, it had not been possible for all staff to have breaks, particularly the central team.  The Returning Officer advised that the elections team had worked full days, weekends and Bank Holidays for around six weeks prior to the Election day because the expertise was contained within a small number of people.

In response to a question, the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager clarified the ‘giving away’ process as referred to in the report at 2.7 and advised that a Parliamentary Boundary Review was due to commence after the electoral register was published on 1 December 2015.

A Member advised that other boroughs had faced similar issues, but had published their electoral register on new boundaries earlier than Swale.  He considered that the Polling Review had been carried out late, and sought confirmation of the date of the European Parliamentary Elections.  He also made reference to incidents of the late arrival of postal votes.

The Returning Officer advised that whilst other boroughs may  ...  view the full minutes text for item 330.

The Committee is asked to consider the Performance Monitoring Quarterly Report 2015/16. 

The Chairman invited the Policy and Performance Manager to introduce the report.

The Policy and Performance Manager went through the Corporate Health Scorecoard and highlighted that there had been no adverse audit opinions, the long and short term sickness absence was improving, and the number of customer complaints had stabilised, with the proportion of complaints responded to within 10 working days now being the best it had ever been at 96%. The Policy and Performance Manager advised that the Local Area Perception Survey for 2015 was currently being undertaken and up-to-date figures would be available in the next quarterly report.  He further advised that for those indicators for which national or other comparator data was available, Swale’s performance compared favourably with other Councils.

The Chairman congratulated officers for the report and its positive outcomes.

The Chief Executive reminded Members that the continued improvement in Planning Support targets would reduce the red and amber on the scorecards in the future.

In response to a question from a Member, the Policy and Performance Manager clarified the meaning of the information on customer feedback, and agreed to forward to committee members a copy of the quarterly complaints report, which contained more detailed information.

A Member was disappointed with some of the figures in the Environmental and Rural Affairs portfolio and sought clarification and reassurance that action was being taken to improve performance.  The Chief Executive explained that whilst there had been some teething issues with the implementation of the new waste contract, it was now preforming well and continuing to deliver significant savings over the previous contract.  As a result of unanticipated contract savings, funding was available for deep cleansing of specific roads. He welcomed suggestions for roads for deep cleansing. A Member suggested that the Cabinet Member for Environmental and Rural affairs should be invited to attend a future Scrutiny Committee, to which the Chairman agreed.

In respect of the Localism, Culture, Heritage and Sport Scorecard, clarification was sought by Members on volunteering and engagement indicators.

A Member sought clarification on the Planning Scorecard, and the Chief Executive explained that taking planning applications through to decisions that were then refused was a complete waste of resources – applicants should be advised early in the process on how to ensure that they would be passed.

The Committee is asked to review the updated log of recommendations (attached).

The Policy and Performance Officer introduced the report and advised that items were ongoing as items  had been stripped out.

Resolved:

(1)  That this report be noted.

The Committee is invited to consider the updated review plans.

Resolved:

(1)  That this report be noted.

The Committee is asked to consider updates on other reviews.

Resolved:

(1)  That this report be noted.

The Committee is asked to review and discuss the Committee’s Work Programme (attached) for the remainder of the year.

The Policy and Performance Officer introduced the report and reminded Members that there would be an extra Scrutiny Committee on Fees and Charges on 9 December 2015 at 5pm, and advised that the Cabinet Members for Finance and Environmental and Rural Affairs would be in attendance.  The Chairman reminded Members to send substitutes if they were unable to attend the meeting.

The Committee is asked to consider the Forward Plan with a view to identifying possible items for pre-decision scrutiny.

A Member sought clarification on the item on page 2 – ‘New Road Industrial Estate- Claim for Dilapidations’, and the Policy and Performance Officer agreed to report back on this item.

Resolved:

(1)   That the forward plan be noted.

The Committee is asked to consider any requests from Committee Members to commence a review.

A  Member suggested the Parking Enforcement Policy be considered for a future review.