Apologies were received from Councillor Brig. P Jones CBE; Councillor RL Mayo and Mr P Sell.

To receive details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

There were no named substitutes.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

8. Scrutiny Review of the Housing Allocation Policy.

Councillor RC Hunt, Non-Disclosable Pecuniary, As Council representative on the Board of the Marches Housing Association.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 8 April 2013.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of 8 April 2013 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

(There will be no discussion of the issue at the time when the matter is raised. Consideration will be given to whether it should form part of the Committee’s work programme when compared with other competing priorities.)

No suggestions for scrutiny had been received.

To note questions received from the public and the items to which they relate.

(Questions are welcomed for consideration at a Scrutiny Committee meeting so long as the question is directly related to an item listed on the agenda.  If you have a question you would like to ask then please submit it no later than two working days before the meeting to the Committee Officer.  This will help to ensure that an answer can be provided at the meeting). 

No questions were received from the public on matters specifically on the agenda.

To inform the Committee of progress with the Streetscene major procurements that are currently underway and seek views on any issues that the Committee would wish to be considered in concluding the procurement process to put in place new contractual arrangements from the end of August 2013.

The Committee were informed of progress with the Streetscene major procurements that were currently underway.  The Committee also expressed its views on issues for consideration in concluding the procurement process to put in place new contractual arrangements from the end of August 2013.

The Cabinet Member – Major Contracts, briefly outlined the budget position and the contract timetable and emphasised that Cabinet would consider the major procurements at a meeting on 13 June 2013.

The Assistant Director, Place Based Commissioning, highlighted that four related procurements had been established to put in place new arrangements from 1 September 2013.  These were outlined in more detail in the agenda report but covered: Public Realm; Building Services; Building Cleaning, and Ancillary Services. He took the Committee through the key points in the report.

During the course of debate the following principal points were noted:

·         With one month to go the principal elements for the contracts were already in place.

·         The competitive dialogue procedure had enabled dialogue with bidders to include locality needs e.g. the Lengthsman Scheme.

·         Questioned on the payment mechanisms (para 10.15) it was clarified that lump sum elements may be paid where the risk was low and clearly identified e.g. in building Services where maintenance was programmed and on a costed basis.  Reactive payments, which would be kept to a minimum, would be for emergency works.

·         The Committee noted the level of intended savings but questioned whether the report set out sufficient financial data to substantiate the savings claimed. Year on year capital/revenue figures would have been useful.  In response the committee were informed that historical spending levels had been used and depended on the balance between revenue and capital, and to a degree income from the Belwin scheme.  Figures had been presented to Cabinet in an earlier report.

·         The contract will allow services to be devolved to other organisations.  Competence or enhanced performance may need to be established.

·         The Public Realm contract would be for 10 years with options to extend.  In circumstances of poor performance it could be cancelled.

·         Questioned on information sharing and providing information to ward members, it was confirmed that this would occur under locality or engagement with providers; community, and town and parish councils.

·         The Monitoring Officer confirmed that in accordance with the Council’s decision making procedure under the constitution, governed by the Local Government Act 2000, Cabinet would make the decision concerning the contracts.

·         Officers working with the consultants had strived to ensure that the contract specifications were correct.  The Council needed to ensure that the future provider(s) delivered the services to the expected levels.

·         The Committee were informed that the competitive dialogue process was a recognised tendering practice and involved dialogue with bidders with the aim of developing alternative solutions to meet requirements.

·         There were currently three potential bidders in the Public Realm process.

·         The potential for initial capital investment in highway assets had had no limiting effect on bidders, in fact this had been seen as a positive opportunity to discuss  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

To consider the findings of the Task and Finish Group scrutiny review of the Housing Allocation Policy and whether to recommend the report to the Executive for consideration.

The Committee considered the findings of the Task & Finish Group scrutiny review of the Housing Allocation Policy and whether to recommend the report to the Executive for consideration.

The Chairman of the Task & Finish Group, Councillor PJ Watts, presented the report and highlighted that the Council was required in response to the Localism Act 2011 to review its housing allocation policy.  The Group’s task was not to undertake an in-depth review but to challenge and comment on policy proposals as they were brought forward by a Steering Group comprised of officers and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs).  The findings and recommendations arising were set out in the report of the Task & Finish Group.

The Committee questioned or sought further clarification on a number of points both in the review report and the appended draft Housing Allocations Policy for Herefordshire, principally concerning: the use of the term local connection and how this applied to persons outside, but close to, the boundary; as the Council had undertaken a joint Housing Strategy with Shropshire why the Empty Homes Strategy hadn’t also been a joint strategy; the use of the term ‘reasonable preference’; the rationale for a gross annual household income of £45k; whether the proposals take into account any implications from the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (bedroom tax); how people affected by the reduced housing register will be assisted and whether private sector landlords had plans in place to manage any increased demand.

Having satisfied itself regarding the above points the Committee agreed: that the Chairman of the Task & Finish Group make a number of minor amendments for the purpose of clarity; agreed recommendations A – K in the report, and agreed that the report be forwarded to the Executive for consideration.

RESOLVED:

That      (a)     the Chairman of the Committee be authorised to finalise the report for submission to Cabinet in consultation with the Chairman of the Task & Finish Group to take account of comments made by the Committee and any proofreading corrections;

        (b)     subject to a) above the Committee agreed the findings and recommendations contained in the report of the Task & Finish Group – Housing Allocation Policy and to forward the report to the Executive for consideration;

        (c)     the Executive’s response to the Review including an action plan be reported to the first available meeting of the Committee after the Executive has approved its response.

To consider the Committee work programme.

The Committee considered its work programme.

The Vice Chairman reported that the Task & Finish Group report concerning the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), due to have been submitted to this meeting, had been temporarily withdrawn pending clarification on a number of issues raised by the review.  She further reported that clarification was still awaited from the Executive concerning a possible slippage to the CIL timetable.  The Chairman suggested that unless the issues were addressed consideration should be given to submitting the report as drafted to the June meeting.  The Monitoring Officer reported that a meeting was planned to clarify a way forward.

The Chairman commented that if the results of the Local Development Framework (LDF) consultations were available earlier than planned (18 June) then an extra meeting may be held to consider the responses.

The Chairman further commented that with increased emphasis being placed on commissioning services he was giving consideration to requesting an all member seminar, possibly facilitated by scrutiny, covering the implications and range of commissioning models and methods of monitoring.

The Vice Chairman reported that a briefing paper was being prepared concerning the waste contract.  The intention of the paper was to provide committee members with sufficient background to enable them to scrutinise the waste report due to go to Cabinet in September. 

The Vice Chairman commented that the Health of Herefordshire report would be circulated to members.  She recommended that members study the document with a view to prompting areas or themes for future scrutiny.

It was noted that comments made at Audit and Governance Committee had inferred there were issues regarding communications.  The Chairman suggested there may be a common theme and would be investigating whether a scrutiny review should be undertaken.

The Vice Chairman reported that she had met officers to investigate a possible review into the Digital Strategy.  As a result a scoping statement was being drafted.

RESOLVED: That the current position regarding the work programme be noted.