Agenda and minutes

Venue: Conference Room, Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham

Contact: Email: CommitteeServices@horsham.gov.uk  Direct line: 01403 215465

Items
No. Item

SO/1

Minutes

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 12th September 2017 (to follow)

 (Note: If any Member wishes to propose an amendment to the minutes they should submit this in writing to committeeservices@horsham.gov.uk at least 24 hours before the meeting.  Where applicable, the audio recording of the meeting will be checked to ensure the accuracy of the proposed amendment.)

Minutes:

The minutes of the Committee held 12th September 2017 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

SO/2

Declarations of Members' Interests

To receive any declarations of interest from Members of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

SO/3

Announcements

To receive any announcements from the Chairman of the Committee or the Chief Executive

Minutes:

There were no announcements.

SO/4

Cabinet Member Interview pdf icon PDF 60 KB

Councillor Kate Rowbottom - Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Protection

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that the Cabinet Member interview item had been  withdrawn from the agenda, due to a recent change in the Cabinet roles, it had been identified that the scheduled portfolio holder had already been interviewed at a meeting of the Committee on 30th January 2017. An alternative Cabinet Member was not available due to the short notice, therefore the item was withdrawn from the agenda on this occasion and the next interview would take place in November, according to the schedule which had been previously agreed.

SO/5

Corporate Plan Priorities and Finance Report Data for Q1 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Corporate Resources presented the Corporate Plan Priorities Report for Quarter 1 2017/18.

 

No questions had been submitted in advance of the meeting on the report. The Chairman reminded Members that any questions on the data should be submitted by the deadline before the meeting, in order for officers to prepare responses to be presented at the Committee.

 

The Director of Corporate Resources highlighted the key performance and financial issues and explained the quarter 1 report is rarely a reliable indicator for year-end performance or financial outturn.

 

The Committee was invited to comment on the report.

 

Members raised the following questions:

 

PS05a – Percentage of staff turnover – Members asked whether the relatively high staff turnover figures presented, reflected the CenSus ICT TUPE transfer. The Committee said its key interest was in the numbers of staff leaving from their own choice and would like to see the figure net of management action.

 

DM07 – Planning appeals – number of cost awards – The Chairman of the Committee asked for a supplementary figure to be included in the report indicating the value or costs awarded alongside the number of appeals.

 

FS09 – Parking: Total income – The Director explained that this had been affected by the delay in the Hurst Road car park. Members asked for a detailed breakdown of the parking budget and car park income to explain the variation in the figures. It was noted that the Head of Parking Services was projecting a recovery in figures by the year end. TS05 – Town Centre Parking – utilisation was also highlighted as part of this.

 

VE01b – Income from HDC owned and managed commercial and industrial estate space – The Committee asked for some further information from the officers on this indicator.

SO/6

Task and Finish Group Updates

SO/7

CenSus Task and Finish Group

Minutes:

The Chairman of the CenSus Task and Finish Group updated the Committee on the first meeting held on 18th September 2017. The Terms of Reference and scope of the review were agreed and at the next meeting in November, the Group was hoping to hear from the Chief Internal Auditor.

 

The Group would be continuing the work which began under the former Finance and Performance Sub-Committee.

SO/8

S106 Task and Finish Group

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Committee provided Members with an update following the first meeting of the S106 Task and Finish Group, in the Chairman’s absence. The Group had requested a detailed breakdown of information on S106 unallocated monies, broken down into parish councils. The Group would consider this, along with some other information requested, at it’s next meeting in October.

SO/9

Traffic Around Primary Schools Task and Finish Group

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Traffic Around Primary Schools Task and Finish Group provided the Committee with an update following the Group’s first meeting.

The terms of reference and scope of the review  had been agreed. Since the meeting, a questionnaire had been sent out to all the primary schools in the District and the Chairman had met with the Parking Operations Manager.

The Group was intending to interview officers from the District and County Council.

SO/10

Information and support for Overview and Scrutiny relating to issues/projects/developments to be considered by the Committee

Minutes:

The Chairman said he was concerned about access to information by Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the timeframes the Committee had to consider information about items on the Cabinet Forward Plan and who the Committee was permitted to invite to attend its meetings. The Chairman sought the support of the Members to obtain clarity and guidance on these points.

 

It was noted that much of the guidance was available in the Council’s Constitution, the Scrutiny Guide and also on the Centre for Public Scrutiny website. Some of this information had also been clarified under the recent self-evaluation review of Overview and Scrutiny.

 

The Chairman proposed to prepare a draft document to reflect the issues discussed and circulate this to the Committee. The Members supported this.

SO/11

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 54 KB

Minutes:

The Committee noted the Work Programme. It was suggested that the November meeting might be moved forward in order for the Committee to consider the Medium Term Financial Strategy before it went to Cabinet. This would be discussed with the Chairman and Director of Corporate Resources outside the meeting.

SO/12

Urgent Business

Items not on the agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as urgent because of the special circumstances

Minutes:

None.