Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies were received from Cllr M Earl.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications. 

Cllr T Trent substituted for Cllr M Earl.

Councillors are asked to elect the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board for the remainder of the 2020/2021 Municipal Year.

Nominations were proposed and seconded for Cllr V Slade and Cllr S Bartlett for Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board for the remainder of the 2020/21 municipal year.

The nominations having been received a secret ballot was conducted to decide the Chairmanship of the Board. Cllr S Bartlett received 9 votes and Cllr V Slade received 6 votes.

It was then RESOLVED that Cllr S Bartlett be appointed Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board for the remainder of the 2020/21 municipal year.

Councillors are asked to elect the Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board for the remainder of the 2020/2021 Municipal Year.

Nominations were sought for the position of Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board for the remainder of the 2020/21 municipal year. Cllr V Slade and T O’Neill were duly proposed and seconded.

The nominations having been received a secret ballot was conducted to decide the Vice-Chairman of the Board. Cllr T O’Neill received 9 votes and Cllr V Slade received 6 votes.

It was then RESOLVED that Cllr T O’Neill be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board for the remainder of the 2020/21 municipal year.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Cllr S Bartlett declared a local interest in agenda item 14, Feedback from the Working Group on BH Live Leisure Services as he was now a Director of BH Live Enterprises Limited and had taken part in the working group.

Cllr Jackie Edwards also declared a local interest in agenda item 14, Feedback from the Working Group on BH live Leisure Services but did not take part in the working group.

Cllr Farquhar advised, for the purpose of transparency, in relation to agenda item 14, Feedback from the Working Group on BH Live Leisure Services that he was also a member of the working group.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 21 September 2020.

The minutes of the meetings held on 21 September at 2.00pm and 6.00pm were agreed as a correct record.

To note and comment on the attached action sheet which tracks decisions, actions and recommendations from previous meetings.

The Board considered its action sheet. Following a proposal from a member of the Board, it was agreed that the action at 113 on the action sheet should remain and be followed up with Children’s Services as the project was not yet complete. It was suggested that it would be useful to hear what the financial implications were in order to rule the action as complete. It was agreed that it would be discussed in relation to the Board’s Forward Plan.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution, which is available to view at the following link:

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of a public question is 4 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a public statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

There were no public questions, statements or petitions.

The following items have been requested by, Cllr T Trent. In line with the constitution these items are listed for consideration by the whole Board regarding whether to commission further scrutiny work in these areas. Democratic Services will source further information from Officers to provide some background and inform discussions at the meeting on these areas:

·       Road maintenance across the BCP area

·       Tree management across the BCP area

The Portfolio Holder for Environment, Cleansing and Waste has been invited to attend the meeting for consideration of this item.

The Chairman introduced the item and invited Cllr T Trent who had made the request for the Overview and Scrutiny Board to consider the following items to explain the reasons for this to the Board:

·     Road Maintenance Across the BCP Area

·     Tree Management Across the BCP Area

Cllr Trent advised that there had been members of the public raising issues about the quality of road and pavement resurfacing. He explained that he felt the Overview and Scrutiny Board should be asking if there were any issues and whether we were getting value for money. It was noted that there was currently a review of road maintenance underway and therefore it seemed like an opportune time for the Overview and Scrutiny Board to get involved and undertake a piece of work which could influence this work.

Cllr Trent explained to the Board that he was aware of a number of tree related issues currently and that he felt that there was a need to review policies regarding maintaining current stock and future development. There was a need to scrutinise these issues properly and be part of the process and not just review a policy which had already been drawn up.

We should be part of the process and not when there is something already drawn up.

The Board discussed both of these issues and there were comments made that the Board should be doing more overview work and that these issues should be looked at as part of the development of the Board.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment, Cleansing and Waste thanked Cllr Trent for raising these issues. He advised the Board that he would be setting up a workshop on biodiversity with the Corporate Director of Environment and Community along with outside partners such as the woodland trust, etc. It was noted that this workshop was intended to cover tree management as well as other biodiversity issues.

The Director of Environment advised the Board of the current situation and the work that his service area was currently undertaking related to both of these issues.

Members of the Board raised a number of issues that they would like to consider in relation to these areas included:

·     Damage to the roads and pavements when any building work is undertaken, including minor home extensions.

·     Long term maintenance of trees as there were too many not in a good condition

·     Quality and standard of road surface repairs.

The Portfolio Holder asked that if anyone had any suggestions for the planned workshops to contact him.

It was then RESOLVED that items on Road Maintenance and Tree Management Across the BCP Area be added to the Board’s Forward Plan.

To consider the following finance related reports scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 11 November 2020:

·       2020/21 Budget Monitoring and Medium-Term Financial Plan Update

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the reports and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Drew Mellor, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Transformation.

The Cabinet report is attached for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) Report - The Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Transformation and Finance introduced the report, a copy of which had been circulated and which appears as Appendix ‘G’ to the Cabinet minutes of 11 November in the Minute Book. A number of issues were raised by the Board in the subsequent discussion, including:

·       A Board Member asked whether the £3.8 million - tranche 4 funding referenced in the report was the same funding of £3 million which the Leader of the Council referenced in his Twitter feed regarding the programme of food parcels being delivered over half term for those entitled to free school meals. The Leader confirmed that this was the case and that some of the funding had been used for the provision of meals during the half term holiday. The Leader commented that central government had been clear that local authorities were best placed to understand local needs.

·       In response to an enquiry regarding what provision had been removed in order to fund free holiday meals it was explained that nothing had as yet, and needs were changing frequently as to where the funding would be best spent. In response to a further question the Board was advised that the funding wasn’t ringfenced and spending it in this way was no different to any other way of spending Covid funding. It was noted that funding of under £100k could be agreed by officers and other material spends were recorded in the MTFP report to Cabinet. In response to how much was actually allocated the Board were informed that there were approximately 6000 children entitled to free school meals in the BCP area and each food parcel cost £15, so a maximum of approximately £90k. The take-up over half term was good but not full and there was work underway on how to promote the provision for the Christmas holidays. The Chief Financial Officer advised that the in-year financial position of BCP Council Covid-19 grant allocation was outlined within the report.

·       A Councillor asked about the change in review from £50m to £13.4m large swing and whether that included any sale of assets or whether that was later consideration. The Leader advised that there would be no sale of assets to fund black holes in Corona Virus impacted budgets, but the Council was looking at more creative ways of using assets.

·       A Board member noted that funds previously received from central government had been inadequate to meet requirements leaving the council with a significant Covid funding hole. There was concern about the funding required to support the provision of free meals during the holidays and asked if the Council would be proactively contacting families in advance of the Christmas holidays. The Leader of the Leader of the Council stated that feeding children was a priority and confirmed that the programme at Christmas would be done in consultation with schools and businesses.

·       It was noted that the number of children engaged  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

To discuss with Board members the possible ways to assess and develop the scrutiny focus of the Board going forward; and to consider requirements for any external support and possible dates for a development session. 

The Chairman proposed that the next scheduled meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board should be used for the purpose of a development session in order to consider the future direction of the Board.

The Monitoring Officer advised that there would be support provided from the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny. Given the change in composition of the Board it was a good opportunity to consider how scrutiny was running and to look at the business that the Overview and Scrutiny Board would want to look at into the future. There would be a chance to discuss and put together a more robust and further forward looking forward plan for the Board

Board members agreed that this would present a good opportunity and also suggested that there should be some refresher training particularly given the new membership of the Board and the previous operation of the Board. Members raised concerns as to how the Board was viewed over the past few months and it was suggested that this would provide a good opportunity to make improvements.

The Board also suggested that the scheduled 6.00pm meeting should be used for the Board to receive an update on the current Covid-19 situation.

It was noted that the development and training session would not be open to the public. It was suggested that the training session should be open to all councillors particularly for those who may act as substitutes on the Board

It was RESOLVED that a training and development session be scheduled for 2.00pm on 16 November and the meeting originally scheduled at this time be cancelled and that the meeting scheduled for 6.00pm on 16 November be used to consider an update on the current Covid-19 situation.

To consider and amend the Board’s Forward Plan as appropriate and to consider the published Cabinet Forward Plan.

The Chairman advised that there would be an opportunity to update the Forward plan and agree the agenda for the meeting in December at the development session on 16 November. The Chairman asked the Board for any comments or thoughts on this.

It was noted that a new Cabinet Forward Plan was due to be produced tomorrow. It was expected that there would be a number of significant issues on the Cabinet agenda for December. This also presented a good opportunity to start looking forward.

With regards to the Design and estates strategy working group it was noted that the group had met but the situation was now moving forward and it was agreed that the group was not needed at the present time. A paper on the new civic centre in Bournemouth was due to come forward which the Board would be looking at, it was agreed that the working group should reconvene if required.

The Board agreed to note the Forward Plan and that further work on it would be undertaken at the Training and Development session scheduled in two weeks.

To consider the following meeting dates and locations for the 2020/21 municipal year:

To consider the following meeting dates for the 2020/21 municipal year:

·       16 November 2020

·       7 December 2020

·       4 January 2021

·       1 February 2021

·       1 March 2021

·       1 April 2021

All meetings will be held via video conferencing until further notice.

The dates of future meetings as outlined in the agenda were noted.

In relation to the items of business appearing below, the Committee is asked to consider the following resolution: -

‘That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs such interest in disclosing the information.’

RESOLVED that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs such interest in disclosing the information.

To consider feedback from the group on the outcome of the work it has undertaken.

Following a resolution by the Board at its meeting in July 2020 a working group was established to consider leisure services in Bournemouth.

The Board considered a verbal report on the outcome of the working group provided by the now Portfolio Holder for Tourism, Leisure and Culture who was also previously a member of the working group which was set up by the Overview and Scrutiny Board at its meeting in July 2020.

The previous Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny Board in July 2020 considered two reports on operation by SLM in Poole and by BH live in Bournemouth.  The Cabinet’s decision was made in principle subject to a member working group.

The Overview and Scrutiny Working Group which was set up to consider this issue continued in this role.

The Board considered the update from the Portfolio holder on the outcome of the working group and the decision which had been delegated to the Chief Executive.

RESOLVED that the outcome of the working group be noted.