The Chairman will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency.

The Chairman drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 February 2016 (Minute Nos. 481 - 491) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 February 2016 (Minute Nos. 481 – 491) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to an amendment on page 515, third paragraph, to read: “A Member suggested alternative funding from businesses for schemes such as those proposed at Herne Bay seafront.”

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.

There was some discussion as to whether the recently appointed Deputy Cabinet Members could sit on the Scrutiny Committee, with the potential for conflict of interests.  The Chairman reminded Members of their responsibility to declare an interest in any case, and the Chief Executive advised that if there was still an overlap of Scrutiny Committee Members/Deputy Cabinet Members after Annual Council in May, any conflicts of interest could be looked into further.

The Committee is asked to consider the Financial Management Report – April - December 2015.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and the Head of Finance have been invited to attend.

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Finance and the Head of Finance to the meeting.

The report set out the revenue and capital projected outturn for 2015/16 as at the end of December 2015.  The Cabinet Member for Finance stated that he was pleased with the current situation, and added that the Council was still looking to make savings.

The Chairman invited the Committee to focus on prime items and in particular items, that had a variance of +/- £10,000.  He drew Members’ attention to the recommendations in the report, and in response to a question, confirmed that the recommendations were for noting.

Members made comments and asked questions, as minuted below.

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Local Engagement Forum – the Cabinet Member for Finance confirmed that the £30,000 underspend had changed since the report was written, and was now in the region of £3,000.

The Head of Finance reported that the figure in relation to Learning and Skills took into account that one apprentice has left the Council.  He confirmed that apprentices were paid the national apprentice rate.

The Head of Finance agreed to provide further information on:

(1)  the Sports Development item, in particular how funding for the SD-KCC Satellite Club could be applied for;

(2)  the CCTV item and what this involved in terms of additional monitoring costs;

(3)  the £39,000 underspend on salaries due to vacant posts; and

(4)  the length of the SERCO and Biffa contracts.

Page 6

The Head of Finance agreed to check what the charge was for Section 106 monitoring.

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The Head of Finance confirmed that the £97,000 underspend on Leisure and Sports was because of savings made on the SERCO contract.

Refuse Collection/Street Cleansing – the Head of Finance drew Members’ attention to the table which included the reasons for the underspend of £58,000.  The Chief Executive further explained that one-off payments were made available for deep-cleaning of specific areas.

A Member raised concern with the Leisure and Sports underspend in relation to non-contract grounds maintenance.  He explained there were areas of land where this underspend could be implemented.

The Head of Finance explained that the Council was in a good position and there was no reason why a particular project should not be implemented if it was considered a priority.  He suggested the Member contact the Cabinet Member or Head of Service for more information.  The Chief Executive advised that it would need to be checked to see if that particular piece of land belonged to the Council, and whether it was currently covered by the management contract.  There was also a difference in approach between revenue and capital expenditure.

The Head of Finance explained that with regard to beach huts, as a number had been sold more income was generated from sales of the huts, than from rental, which had resulted in more capital, rather than revenue funding.  The Chief Executive reported that a further 20 huts were being installed this year, which would generate more income.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 611.

To look further into the way forward on current reviews:

·        Development Management

·        Leisure & Tourism

·        Housing Services

The Policy and Performance Officer introduced the report which considered how the Scrutiny Committee could progress the three main reviews it identified at the start of the municipal year: development management; leisure and tourism; and housing services.

The Chairman asked Members which review they would like to be involved with, and explained that other non-Cabinet Members not on the Committee could also take part in the reviews.

The following was agreed:

Development Management Task and Finish Group

Councillor Andy Booth – Lead Member

Councillors Mike Baldock, Lloyd Bowen, Derek Conway; Mike Henderson, Ken Ingleton and Peter Marchington.

Leisure and Tourism Task and Finish Group

Councillor Mike Henderson – Lead Member

Councillors Mike Baldock, Ken Ingleton and Ben Stokes

Housing Services Task and Finish Group

Councillor Mike Dendor – Lead Member

Councillors Derek Conway, Mick Galvin and Peter Marchington

The Policy and Performance Officer explained that any review that became more involved could be broken up into further separate reviews to concentrate on those issues at a later stage.  He stated that his role would be to support the Task and Finish Groups in terms of administration, designing pro-forma for reporting progress, setting up meetings, issuing surveys and helping to compile review reports etc.

The Chief Executive welcomed the plans that were being made and suggested the following: that the review deadlines be set to complete in 2016/17; that in the event that the scope of a review grows and becomes unwieldy, the review be divided into ‘bite-size’ pieces; have a plan to help keep control of the reviews; have dedicated teams with Lead and Vice-Lead Members; and the Council to ensure that each relevant Service area had a dedicated officer to give support to the Policy and Performance Officer.

The Chairman suggested that the Lead Members for each review report back through the Chairman on a monthly basis, and this be reported back to the next Scrutiny Committee meeting on 9 June 2016.

Resolved:

(1)       That the review activity undertaken this municipal year be noted.

(2)       That a Task and Finish Group be established to review Development Management and make considerable progress on this in the next few months.

(3)       That Task and Finish Groups be established for the Leisure and Tourism, and Housing Services reviews.

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

The Policy and Performance Officer introduced the report.

Resolved:

(1)       That the report be noted.

There were no other Review Progress Reports to consider.

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

In response to a question, the Policy and Performance Officer explained that Swale’s Playing Pitch Strategy had been considered by the Policy Development and Review Committee.

Discussion ensued on the CCTV Effectiveness Review item and whether an additional meeting should be called to look at the Review before it went to Cabinet on 25 May 2016.  A Member stated that the Cabinet report would include responses to the consultation, and this is what should be scrutinised, after the Cabinet meeting.

The Chief Executive advised that the Committee could scrutinise pre-decision, but that this would weaken their position on call-in.

Councillor Mike Baldock moved the following motion: “That the Scrutiny Committee meets in the week before 25 May 2016 to look at the recommendations from Cabinet on the CCTV Effectiveness Review”.  The motion was not seconded.

Resolved:

(1)       That the Forward Plan be noted.

The Chairman thanked Members for their input on the Committee over the past year.  He spoke on the three upcoming reviews, and that they effected every Member of the Council.  He stated that this was a good opportunity to make a worthwhile contribution to the Borough.