Agenda and minutes
PDF 110 KBVenue: Council Chamber - Trinity Road
Contact: Democratic Services,
Media
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Apologies To receive any apologies for absence. The quorum for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is 3 Members. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Michael Vann, Roly Hughes and Dilys Neill. |
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Substitute Members To note details of any substitution arrangements in place for the Meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Patrick Coleman substituted for Councillor Dilys Neill. |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members and Officers, relating to items to be considered at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 31 October 2023. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair stated that amendments had been made to the online version of the draft minutes, following the publication of the agenda.
Several actions were discussed from the previous meeting;
*It was later stated by the Democratic services Officer that the report had been published on the website but had not been included in the agenda due to a technical error. The report had been emailed to members prior to the meeting.
The Chair stated that ‘matters arising from the minutes’ should be added to future agendas, in order to ensure completion of actions.
The minutes were proposed by Councillor David Cunningham and Seconded by Councillor Gary Selwyn.
RESOLVED: To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2023.
For- 7, Against 0, Abstentions 0 |
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Chair's Announcements To receive any announcements from the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair made reference to the meeting with GWR that had occurred the week prior. The Chair stated that the meeting was a useful exercise, and that the Committee now had open lines of communication with GWR, who they hoped to work closely with them in the future.
The Chair also stated that they hoped the Committee papers had arrived to members who had opted into receiving print copies.
Members introduced themselves. |
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Public Questions To deal with questions from the public within the open forum question and answer session of fifteen minutes in total. Questions from each member of the public should be no longer than two minutes each and relate issues under the Committee’s remit. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no public questions. |
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Member Questions To deal with written questions by Members, relating to issues under the Committee’s remit, with the maximum length of oral supplementary questions at Committee being no longer than one minute. Responses to any supplementary questions will be dealt with in writing if they cannot be dealt with at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no member questions.
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Draft Cotswold Housing Strategy Purpose To seek approval to consult with partners and the public on a new five year Cotswold Housing Strategy. The strategy directly responds to the Council’s Corporate Plan that seeks to address housing affordability and increase the supply of affordable housing.
Recommendation(s) That Cabinet resolves to:
Invited Cllr Joe Harris, Leader of the Council James Brain, Forward Planning Manager
Additional documents:
Minutes: The Forward Planning Manager introduced the item.
The purpose of the item was to seek approval to consult with partners and the public on a new five year Cotswold Housing Strategy. The strategy directly responded to the Council’s Corporate Plan that seeks to address housing affordability and increase the supply of affordable housing.
As this was an item for pre-decision scrutiny, members were being asked to comment on it, making any relevant recommendations to Cabinet. Members discussed the report, including various points on the report itself, and the broader work surrounding it.
Members raised the following points on the report itself, which the Forward Planning Manager stated they would take away to amend or action necessary:
Members discussed the strategy, raising the following points;
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Proactive Delivery of Affordable Housing Purpose This report seeks to outline the council’s aspiration for a more proactive approach to increase the supply of affordable housing within the district, outline of how this can be achieved, and the resources required.
Recommendations: That Cabinet resolves to: 1. Note the suggestions to explore more innovative and proactive models to enhance the Council’s ability to increase the supply of affordable homes within the district.
Invited Cllr Joe Harris, Leader of the Council Charlie Jackson, Assistant Director for Planning and Sustainability
Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader introduced the item.
The purpose of the item was to outline the Council’s aspiration for a more proactive approach to increase the supply of affordable housing within the district, outline of how this can be achieved, and the resources required.
The Leader stated reported to the Committee that a senior officer to drive the housing level at a strategic level would be employed. The Leader hoped that this would provide more in-house expertise in this area, which was a Council priority
Members discussed the recommendation, which was ‘to note’ the report. Members highlighted that it is generally not the role of Cabinet to note reports, and that the Cabinet recommendations should highlight this. The Leader stated that the Officer would remove the “note the suggestion to” in the report.
The Committee discussed the definition of affordable housing, as it was highlighted that there are many types. The Leader stated that the form of affordable housing that the Council was aiming to deliver was tenure blind social rented housing. The Leader also stated that there needed to be more state built affordable housing, with the long term aspiration being for the Council to build housing.
RESOLVED: To note the Cabinet report.
The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Jenkinson and seconded by Councillor Turner.
For- 7, Against 0, Abstentions 0
OS.10Q2 Performance Report
The Chief Executive Officer introduced the report, and provided highlights, including;
Members discussed the report and raised the following points, which the Chief Executive Officer stated written responses would be provided to;
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Q2 Performance Report Purpose To provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance
Recommendation That Cabinet resolves to: 1. Note overall progress on the Council priorities and service performance for 2023-24 Q2.
Invited Cllr Joe Harris, Leader of the Council Robert Weaver, Chief Executive Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chief Executive Officer introduced the report, and provided highlights, including;
Members discussed the report and raised the following points, which the Chief Executive Officer stated written responses would be provided to;
Members also asked for clarification on the council tax collection targets, these were clarified by officers as being cumulative targets.
The Democratic Services Officer added that Member training had been arranged on Biodiversity Net Gain and Retrofitting Historic Buildings but was not aware of decarbonisation training, and would follow this up with the Head of Climate Action.
RESOLVED: To note the report. |
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Q2 Financial Performance Report Purpose This report sets of the latest budget monitoring position for the 2023/24 financial year.
Recommendation That Cabinet resolves to:
Invited Cllr Mike Evemy, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance David Stanley, Deputy Chief Executive Additional documents:
Minutes: The Deputy Chief Executive introduced the report. The purpose of the report was to set out the latest budget monitoring position for the 2023/24 financial year.
The Deputy Chief Executive stated that they would provide further detail of the variations at Annex A.
Members asked for further details of reserves. The Cabinet Member for Finance stated that the reserves existed to ensure resilience in case of overspend, and was reviewed as an annual process.
Members made reference to the Publica Review, and asked if there was a reserve for this. The Deputy Chief Executive stated that £200,000 had been allocated from the Council priority fund to the Publica Review.
Members asked whether a visual overview could be added to the financial reports to make these more accessible to members of the public. The Deputy Chief Executive stated that this was considered good practice in accounting and would look at ways to do this.
The Committee also asked the
Deputy Chief Executive whether there were any aspects of the report
that stood out as being unusual or which Members should pay
particular attention
Planning fee increases were also discussed, as these had recently been announced. The Cabinet Member stated that a report would come forward to Cabinet in February on this.
RESOLVED: To note the report, and ask that the amendments be made to the report accordingly.
For – 7, Against 0, Abstention 0 |
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Updates from Gloucestershire County Council Scrutiny Commitees Purpose For the appointed representatives to update the Committee on the work of: · Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny (HOSC) – Cllr Dilys Neill · Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee (GEGSC) – Cllr Angus Jenkinson Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Coleman had left the room at 19:21.
The Chair introduced the reports, which had been shared as a supplement before the meeting. The Chair thanked the members for the reports and their succinctness.
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Update on the Public Conveniences Review Group Purpose For the Chair of the Public Conveniences Review Group to provide a verbal update on the work of the Review Group. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Tony Slater introduced the item as the Chair of the Review Group and summarised the work that had been done.
The next meeting of the working group would take place on 5 December, and the group would review the costs provided by Danfo. The Group had engaged with Town and Parish Councils, who largely were not keen to take on responsibility for managing Public Conveniences.
The deadline for reporting to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was January 2024, and the Committee asked that the Assistant Director for Property and Regeneration review the terms of reference see whether that needed to be sooner due to the need to report to Cabinet.
RESOLVED: To note the update.
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Purpose To review the work plan and Executive Forward Plan and agree agenda items for future meetings. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair stated that an additional meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been scheduled for 8 January 2024 in order to discuss the Local Plan and Corporate Plan.
RESOLVED: To note the work plan. |