Agenda and minutes

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda notes.

There were no declarations of interest.

To declare if any issues to be covered in the Agenda are under party whip.

There were no declarations of party whipping.</AI2>

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 25^th April 2022.

3.1      RESOLVED - That the minutes of the meeting held on 25^th April were approved and would be signed as a correct record by the Chair at the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

·       Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings or

·       Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers.

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Monday 30^th May 2022 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

There were no public questions.

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

·       Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·       Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

To present a petition or deputation at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Monday 30^th May 2022 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

There were no petitions and deputations.

To note the outcomes of action points arising from previous meetings.

6.1      Councillor Wilson requested a meeting with the Director of Policy and Resources to discuss some queries he had concerning the information provided by Gloucestershire Airport.

6.2      Councillor Gravells confirmed that he also had additional queries which he would share with the Democratic and Electoral Services Officer to follow-up with Gloucestershire Airport.

6.3      Councillor Hilton referred to the action point update concerning the Gloucester City Plan – Main Modifications, and queried whether the update was provided verbally or in writing and who it had been provided by. It was agreed that follow-up checks would be made to establish whether the information had been provided by a Severn Trent Engineer, and to request the information in writing if necessary.

RESOLVED – That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee NOTE the updates.

To receive the latest version of the Committee’s work programme and the Council’s Forward Plan.

7.1      The Chair introduced the latest version of the Council Forward Plan and invited suggestions as to any items Members wished to add to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme. The Chair explained that the Community Safety session had been postponed on the Work Programme to the meeting on Monday 5^th September, due to a clash with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods’ work commitments which were already in place prior to his appointment. He confirmed that efforts would be made to invite representatives from the Gloucestershire County Council Emergency Planning Team, as well as an update on Women’s Safety initiatives.

7.2      Councillor Hilton suggested that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee consider the Environmental Crime Enforcement Update and it was agreed that this would be added to the agenda for the meeting on Monday 3^rd October.

7.3      It was suggested that the Committee request an update on the financial position of Gloucestershire Airport at the meeting on 3^rd October and it was agreed that enquiries would be made with the Managing Director and Chairman to ascertain their availability.

7.4      Councillor Hilton queried whether the Future of Eastgate Indoor Market had been issued with a revised Cabinet date on the Forward Plan. The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources confirmed that no revised date had been confirmed at that stage.

7.5      It was highlighted that the Green Travel Plan Progress Report 2021-22 had been given a revised date on the Forward Plan and it was agreed that this item would be added to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Monday 5^th September, alongside the routine Quarter 1 Financial and Performance Monitoring reports.

RESOLVED –

1)    That the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be amended to reflect the above and

2)    To NOTE the Work Programme.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources informing Members of the Council’s performance against key measures across 2021-22.

Report to follow.

8.1      The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources introduced the report and explained that the report set out the Council’s performance against a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in 2021/22. She explained that some measures were unavailable at that time due to the ongoing impact of the cyber incident, but expressed hope that this data would be available once the Pentana system was updated.

8.2      The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources confirmed that Appendix 1 of the report set out the performance data for the whole year, including comparative information from 2020/21 where available. She went on to explain that areas seeing an improving trend were the number of Environment Health service requests, the number of anti-social behaviour interventions by Solace and footfall at the Museum of Gloucester.

8.3      The Chair referred to the transfer of waste service provision to Ubico which had taken place earlier in the year. He asked for an update as to whether the Council was seeing an improvement in customer waiting times. He also requested clarification on the figures at KPI CS-6, concerning the number of telephone calls received by the Council. The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources explained that through 2022, the Customer Services team had seen a reduction in calls to the Council, which was in part due to a channel shift from telephone services to the online ‘My Gloucester’ facility. She confirmed that levels of contact from residents varied throughout the year, and that some periods were busier than others, for example, increased garden waste collection requests during the summertime. The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources further noted that the Council had seen an improvement in customer wait times during the second half of the year, and that the average waiting time had improved, with the latest figures showing calls averaging 5 seconds shorter.

8.4      Councillor Wilson queried why the annual target was still set at 2 minutes when response times back in 2020 sat around the 1-minute mark. He expressed the view that the Council should be more ambitious in setting waiting time targets. The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources explained that although in her view the waiting time figures were healthy, sometimes cases were complex, and a Customer Services officer might be on a call for 15-20 minutes dealing with a complex query which could sometimes create a bottleneck. She noted that with the advancement of the online ‘My Gloucester’ reporting facility and the ability to signpost residents to the appropriate service, the customer telephone contact centre should in time be a last resort for residents. She noted that she was happy to challenge the team, but there were other factors to consider such as sickness or holiday leave which might make a 1-minute target unrealistic.

8.5      The Chair requested an update on how the Council Tax rebate was progressing. The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources confirmed that the latest figure she was aware of showed that 32,000 households in Gloucester had received their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider the report of the Leader of the Council seeking adoption of a Local List as a proactive means of giving visibility to locally important heritage and community assets, and to support the Council’s Planning Officers in making informed decisions in relation to development proposals.

Report to follow.

9.1      The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment introduced the report and explained that it sought to adopt a Local List of heritage assets for Gloucester.  He noted that this would be a proactive means of giving visibility to important heritage assets in the city and would be updated on an annual basis. The Leader of the Council confirmed that information about what was particularly significant about each asset would be included on the Local List, which was set out in Appendix 2

9.2      The Leader of the Council confirmed that the consultation response report was provided in Appendix 3 and the FAQs presented to owners were set out in Appendix 4.

9.3      The Chair asked for further information regarding next steps and asked whether there would be future opportunities for Members to engage with the Local List. The Leader of the Council confirmed that the panel would continue to work to develop the Local List document and noted that it would be updated annually. He stated that all Members were encouraged to engage with this process as they had been previously.

9.4      Councillor Hilton raised concerns that some of the heritage assets included in the Local List were in the wrong ward and expressed the view that more work was needed on the Local List document. He referred to assets listed in Kingsholm which were in fact in Elmbridge and noted that the assets listed in Longlevens were also now in Elmbridge. Councillor Hilton commented that it was important that the document was accurate and that these errors were rectified ahead of final approval. It was noted that 2016 boundary maps were used to ascertain the relevant wards and the City Archeologist confirmed that officers could review the document and check that the wards were correct.

9.5      Councillor Hilton also queried why many of the assets were being proposed for addition to the Local List when they were already in conservation areas, such as Manor Farm House and Hillfield Gardens. He expressed the view that these assets would already have protection and that his preference would be to filter out assets which were already in conservation areas and focus on protecting those outside.

9.6      The City Archeologist explained that the Local List was a live document. He noted that once adopted, the list would be shared with Historic England and it would be updated annually in line with additions and removals. The City Archeologist stated that he would hesitate to exclude assets which were already in conservation areas as he felt there was still real value for assets and premises in being added to the Local List as it provided an additional layer of protection.

9.7      In response to a further query from Councillor Hilton, the Heritage Engagement Officer confirmed that a consultation had taken place and that the general public and asset owners were encouraged to participate. She reiterated that the Local List was a dynamic and fluid document. The Heritage Engagement Officer noted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Monday 4^th July 2022 at 6.30pm.

Monday 4^th July 2022.