Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 September 2019 (to be laid on the table 30 minutes before the meeting).

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 September 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.

To receive apologies for absence and note any substitutions.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Kika Mirylees and John Robini.

To receive from Members declarations of interests in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting, in accordance with Waverley’s Code of Local Government Conduct.

There were no declarations of interests in connection with items on the agenda.

The Chairman to respond to any written questions received from members of the public in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.

The deadline for receipt of written questions is 5pm on 12 November 2019.

There were no questions from members of the public.

The Chairman to respond to any questions received from Members in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.

The deadline for receipt of written questions is 5pm on 12 November 2019.

There were no questions from Councillors.

To receive a presentation about the Safer Waverley Partnership (SWP) and its statutory obligations including case studies of partnership working. 

To note the priorities contained within the Safer Waverley Partnership Plan for 2019-20. To note the structure and terms of reference of the various groups which operate under the SWP.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee are asked to note the Safer Waverley Partnership Plan 2019-20 and associated activity and comment on the Action Plan.

The Committee received a presentation from Andrew Smith, the Head of Strategic Housing and Delivery, and Superintendent Graham Barnett, the Chairman of the Safer Waverley Partnership (SWP). Also present at the meeting were Katrina Burns and Eve Budd who between them worked 6 days a week as Community Safety Officers.

The Committee was advised that there was a statutory duty arising from the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 for agencies to work in partnership to tackle crime and disorder. This lead authorities to create Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) and in Waverley it was known as the Safer Waverley Partnership.

The Statutory partners on the SWP were:

·         The Surrey Police 

·         Waverley Borough Council

·         Surrey County Council

·         Guildford and Waverley and North East Hampshire and Farnham Clinical Commissioning Groups

·         Surrey Fire and Rescue; and

·         The Probation Service

There are a number of statutory duties that they have to fulfil including a strategic group, partnership plans, community triggers, domestic homicide reviews (DHRs), and the council duty is section 17s and securitising the work of the CSP.

The structure of the SWP is quite complex with a number of different groups which fed into the main Executive Group. Full terms of reference and membership is detailed in the agenda papers.

The top three priorities for the SWP for 2019-2020 were the following:

1.    Focus on threat, harm, risk and vulnerability

2.    Identify and tackle crime and anti-social behaviour hotspot locations and perpetrators; and

3.    Improve engagement with the public to help make local communities stronger.

The main actitivies taken place that year were

·         JAG and CHaRMM - The JAG kePT an overview of crime and ASB in relation to licensed premises and used a ‘traffic light’ system to identify those where joint work is needed to address risks. The CHaRMM discussed and agreed action to reduce the negative impact that problem individuals and families have on the local community through their anti-social behaviour. The Committee noted that being stretched, the Mental Health Team did not always attend meetings which was disappointing.

·         Domestic Homicide Reviews – They had 6 reviews this year which was the most in Surrey. They had completed 4 with 2 outstanding.

·         Environmental Visual Audits and Crime Prevention Assessments – These looked at things that contributed to crime, and to identify and mitigate them.

·         Task and Finish Groups – Set up by the JAG these were established to resolve problems at specific locations.

·         Awareness raising – Running campaigns such as the Domestic Violence week

·         Roadshows – 4 had taken place this year in the Borough to consult with the public.

·         Road user awareness days – They had been to schools to raise awreness with students.

·         Eagle radio campaigns

To help visualise the work that they did, Andrew Smith went through a simple case study. This involved a location which was experiencing an increase in youth related antisocial behaviour and crime. The identified perpetrators would be nominated to CHaRMM with the troublesome location nominated to the JAG. This would discuss the issues and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The Corporate Performance Report provides an analysis of the Council’s performance for the second quarter of 2019-20. The report, set out at Annexe 1, is being presented to each of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees for comment and any recommendations they may wish to make to senior management or the Executive.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee considers the performance of the service areas under its remit as set out in Annexe 1 to this report and makes any recommendations to senior management or the Executive as appropriate.

The Committee received the quarter 2 (July-September 2019) Corporate Performance Report which provided an analysis of the Council’s performance. The report was comprised of the corporate overview section with the Chief Executive’s and Section 151 Officer’s (Finance Director) comments, followed by service specific sections with Heads of Service feedback on the performance in their area. The report was used as a performance management tool by senior management and it was presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committees to scrutinise the progress against the Council’s goals and objectives.

Present at the meeting were Andrew Smith, the Head of Strategic Housing and Delivery and Kelvin Mills, the Head of Community Services and Special Projects were present to provide an update on their service area performance.

Andrew Smith confirmed what was said in the previous item that they had received a sixth domestic homicide case and the Safer Waverley Partnership was discussing the process of conducting the review.

The Committee was advised that there had been annual review meetings with all 12 organisations that the Council helped to fund through service level agreements. They had asked Voluntary Action South West Surrey to carry out organisational health checks on each organisation. These checks would be comprehensive and robust and would feed into the review of which voluntary organisations the Council might fund at the end of the SLA period in 2021 and how that funding could be best used.

Kelvin Mills advised that The mobilisation for the new grounds maintenance contract with Continental Landscapes continued to move smoothly with a start date of 1 November. As part of this complex process they were working closely with Towns & Parishes, looking to transfer land assets for them to manage locally. The Leisure service saw over 850 people take advantage of the skate and Xplorer events over the summer holidays. In addition over 3,000 older people attended sessions at the leisure centres and another 2,000 visited the specialist health prevention and rehabilitation services, all delivered by

the contractor, Places Leisure.

The Brightwells scheme was beginning to gather pace with four cranes now in position, all groundworks, including the basement for the car parking, had been completed and buildings such as the car park and retail shells starting to emerge above ground level. Community engagement had continued throughout this quarter through face to face meetings, email and through the website keeping neighbours and the public up to date with progress.

Careline had welcomed another 89 new clients and carried out 300 maintenance visits to ensure customers continued to have an effective monitoring system; the visits also served to offer support to

some of the boroughs more vulnerable residents.

The Committee noted that the funding had not been granted for the Frensham Hub. It was unfortunate and they would continue to try and locate funding.

A question was raised about staff turnover and moral of staff. It was raised that the Value for Money O&S looked at HR issues and they recently had a presentation on the feedback  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To receive a verbal update on the work of the Budget Strategy Working Group.

The Committee received a verbal update on the Budget Strategy Working Group. Members were informed that the Value for Money O&S Committee had considered an interim report summarising the findings of the Group after completing work-streams 1 and 3. The report shared the Groups observations on the Medium term Financial Plan which covered the years 2020/21 to 2022/23. The Group had developed a spreadsheet model to show the effect of projected costs and income factors and their timings on the state of the Council’s General Fund Revenue Account from the current year to 2023/24 before and after transfer of reserves.

The Committee noted that the Working Group would consider the emerging budget proposals in December and the report updated. Although with timing they wouldn’t be able to have a chance to comment on the short term budget proposals, they would be able to get involved in the medium term budget proposals.   

In 2017 the Council adopted a ten year, borough-wide Cultural Strategy and an associated Action Plan for the period 2017-19

This report invites Members to note the outputs of the current Action Plan (Annexe 1) and to agree to the consultation process set out in this report, which supports the development of a new Action Plan for the next two years.

Recommendation

That the Committee

1.         Notes the outputs of the current Action Plan (Annexe 1); and

2.         Agrees to the consultation process as set out in this report.

Charlotte Hall, the Community Development Officer (Arts), presented to the Committee an update on the Cultural Strategy. Members noted that the plan was in place for two years and the report invited them to note the outputs of the current Action Plan and to agree to the consultation process set out in the report which supported the development of a new Action Plan.

The Committee noted that the Action Plan was developed around three key priorities and a number of inter-related goals. Charlotte detailed some of the good work that had taken place since the implementation of the plan. Particularly the strong relationships the Council had built with the Farnham Maltings and Cranleigh Arts Centre through their service level agreements.

The Council is in the process of reviewing its Health and Wellbeing and Ageing Well strategies. This follows the introduction of the Integrated Care Partnership, in which the Council is a core partner and the publication of Surrey’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for 2020-2030. The Cultural Strategy Action Plan will be developed to reflect new priorities and ways of working within a health and wellbeing context.

Officers proposed to invite elected Members of the Council and cultural providers to a stakeholder workshop scheduled for January 2020. The purpose of the workshop being to report the outputs of the 2017-19 Action plan, to consult on new and emerging priorities and to begin the process of shaping a new action Plan for 2020-23 in alignment with the new Corporate Strategy. Members suggested that they invite more than just the Committee Members but all Councillors as it would of interest wider than just this Committee.  

Councillor Steve Cosser asked about whether they worked with all four areas of the borough as it appeared that most work centred around Farnham and Cranleigh. Charlotte advised that they were working with all Towns and Parishes it was just that these two areas had a central hub to deliver projects via the service level agreements that were in place.

Councillor Jenny Else commented on the amount of positive work that was being completed to reach varying ages of the Community. A lot had been carried out which was of great benefit for residents. She was concerned that there was no longer a Health and Wellbeing Officer in post and all the work was falling to Charlotte. There was a direct link to health and wellbeing through the cultural projects being carried forward and was wandering whether they should be pushing for additional funding to support this good work. Councillor Cosser felt that this was a key strategic issue and needed strategic vision as well as a feel of what doing. It was agreed that to go through this work in more detail, it should come back to the next meeting for greater discussion.

The Committee RESOLVED to

1.    Note the outputs delivered in the existing Cultural Strategy Action Plan.

2.    Agree to the initiation of a consultation process to refresh the Action Plan for the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

The Community Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, is responsible for managing its work programme.

The work programme includes items agreed at previous meetings and takes account of items identified on the latest Executive Forward Programme (Annexe 2) as due to come forward for decision.

A Scrutiny Tracker has been produced to assist the Committee in monitoring the recommendations that have been agreed at its meetings. The Tracker details the latest position on the implementation of these recommendations and is attached as Part C of the work programme.

Recommendation

Members are invited to consider their work programme and make any comments and/or amendments they consider necessary, including suggestions for any additional topics that the Committee may wish to add to its work programme.

Yasmin Makin advised that she had met with Councillor Kika Mirylees to discuss scoping work around youth provision in the Borough. This would come back to the next meeting. Furthermore, they would consider the Cultural Strategy as discussed at this meeting, update from the Budget Strategy Working Group and the SLA Working Group.

It was discussed that the cultural strategy tied in with the work on loneliness and youth provision. There were lots of interlinking things and they should be mindful of work being done elsewhere so as not to repeat that work.