To receive any apologies for absence.

There were apologies from Councillors Biggs, Powell, Hurcomb and Mason.

To receive declarations of interests in respect of Table A, Table B or Other Interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

None.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2025.

Resolved:       That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2025 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson.

To receive questions from members of the public.

Questions received and responses given are attached as appendix 1 to the minutes.

To receive questions from councillors.

No questions from councillors were received for this meeting.

No scrutiny reports have been received. 

There were no reports from scrutiny committees for consideration at this meeting.

Councillor O’Driscoll spoke as chairperson of Connected Communities Scrutiny Committee at item 9 in the agenda. 

To report the forecast position for 2024/25 at Quarter 3 (December 2024).

The member for finance and corporate services introduced the report.  The report presented the outturn position at quarter 3 2024/25, December 2024. It showed the overall position was a £7m overspend which was expected to reduce to £1.1m by year end. It was noted that despite in year challenges the council had responded proactively to mitigate timing issues in the delivery of savings.

The council's approved net revenue budget for 24/25 was £212.8m which included savings of £19.5m comprising £11.6m of directory savings and £7.9m of council wide budget savings. 

The report highlighted the continuing in year cost pressures to support increases in demand across social care budgets, temporary accommodation and special educational needs transport services.

It was highlighted that the quarter 3 revenue outturn position for 24/25 showed a forecast variance from budget of £7m, an improvement of £3.2m compared with quarter 2. The successful delivery of management actions identified at quarter 2, had a positive impact on the overall outturn position and it was expected that further planned activities in quarter four (January to March 2025) would reduce the forecast overspend to £1.1m by 31 March 2025.

It was noted that a review of the delivery and stages of approved savings had been undertaken at quarter 3 to confirm deliverability of savings targets.  This identified a total of £1.9m of savings across directorate targets which were assessed as at risk at quarter three.

Appendix A of the report set out the detailed explanations for variances from budget by directorate and service areas.

Community Well-Being directorate’s forecast overspend of £5.7m represented in year net cost pressures of £3.3m and savings targets assessed as at risk of delivery by 31 March 2025 of £2.4m.  It was noted that the in-year cost pressures were largely attributable to increase in demand and complexity of client need and increased demand for temporary accommodation. It was confirmed that the section 151 officer’s section 25 report provided assurance that that the directorate budget allocation for 2025/26 reflected these cost pressures and was sufficient to meet the needs and the costs of service delivery.

It was highlighted that £3.3m of the total £5.7m target was forecast to be delivered by 31 March 2025.  £2.4m of savings had been assessed as at risk and due to capacity restraints, these savings will not be delivered in-year. 

The Children and Young Peoples directorate had an underspend of £2m forecast for 2024/25 with forecast delivery of the £2.3m savings target in full by 31 March 2025.  It was noted that the forecast position reflected the impact of increased rigour and challenge of directory expenditure throughout 24/25 and provided assurance that the savings approved for delivery in 25/26 (year two of the revised financial plan) were already in progress. It was highlighted this was the first time in 10 years that the directorate had delivered within budget.

It was noted that forecast expenditure across service areas within Children Young People directorate continued to decrease because of review and management of residential  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

To review performance for Quarter 3 (Q3) 2024/25 and to report the performance position across all Directorates for this period.

The member for finance and corporate services introduced the report.   It was highlighted that 140 out of 179 milestones that were due to be in progress by quarter 3 under the Delivery Plan had been completed or were on track to be completed by the end of the financial year. 

It was also highlighted that other successes had been achieved outside the Delivery Plan.  It was noted that the council had continued to deliver on its capital investment program, comprising of over 100 projects.  These included the Barrs Court Road phase 2, Withington Primary School, improvements to schools under the schools capital maintenance programme, section 106 delivery programme, estates capital improvement programme, road resurfacing across the county, integrated wetlands and the transport hub.

In respect of the council theme of people, 31 of the 56 milestones were completed, 21 were on target and 3 were at risk of missing their deadlines and 1 was paused.  It was noted that improving the lives of children and young people made significant progress during quarter 3 which included the opening of the youth employment hub. Key activities to drive further improvements in the care and support of children and young people had been completed. This included a participation strategy, education strategy and the development of the locality model. Regarding adult services, 13 providers had signed up for the community activities framework which included an innovation lot to allow for the development of new opportunities, which will enable the council to support people with disabilities into work.  Further progress had been made in relation to the support provided to unpaid carers of all ages in Herefordshire with the newly formed carers partnership board which was in the process of agreeing the implementation plan which reflected the key priorities identified within the All Age Carers strategy 2024. Further events are also planned to explore carer views on respite provision across the county. 

In respect of the council theme of place, 19 of the 58 milestones in the Delivery Plan were completed, 22 were on target, 11 were at risk of missing a deadline, 3 were paused and 3 were not on target.  The quarter 3 data showed that the council were off target regarding reducing carbon emissions by 1.8%. It was confirmed that work was ongoing regarding the council’s carbon management plan to reach the aim of net zero by 2030.  The heat decarbonization plans for the corporate estates were expected to be carried over to the beginning of the next financial year.  Six properties had been identified, and a procurement framework was now in place. Herefordshire Natural Flood Management (NFM) project now included a live update on the NFM webpages, seasonal newsletters and attending multiple events throughout quarter 3 to keep the community updated. It was noted that the new public realm services operating model was approved in quarter 3 and the completion of public realm improvement works reached practical completion in December.  In addition, a library design consultant was appointed, and the interim  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

To explore the development of a council owned housing development company. 

The member for roads and regulatory services introduced the report.  It was highlighted that the county was facing a housing crisis particularly the availability of affordable and social housing. It was noted that over 2,100 people were on the housing waiting list, with 156 households living in temporary accommodation such as B&B's and chain hotels and 200 vulnerable people with physical and or mental health requiring suitable accommodation. 

It was noted there was a negative impact on the quality of life for residents living in temporary accommodation, the number of older residents was increasing and the county does not have accommodation required to meet their needs, the lack of affordable housing forces the younger generations to move away and the county cannot attract the workforce it needs to enable economic growth. 

To address this the council approved a motion in December 2023 which agreed several actions including a commissioning of best practise study regarding how other counties have addressed these issues and to form a cross-party political working group to establish a long-term solution to meet the needs of residents.  The report stated registered providers, and the private sector would continue to play a critical role in bringing forward the housing needed.  It also stated to address the remaining gaps the county needed a means of controlling some of the future housing provision. The report outlined two or more options to take this forward. One, working through joint ventures with the public sector and two, creating a council owned housing development company.  It was noted that a recommendation to cabinet from the Connected Community Scrutiny Committee was to identify and begin the process of setting up a development company using the lessons learned from other local authorities identified in the report. It was confirmed that the cross-party working group supported this recommendation.  

Comments from cabinet members.  It was highlighted that this was a good example of the added value of scrutiny and the cross-party working group.  It was noted that this was a serious consideration and housing delivery was an issue that everyone could support for the future of Herefordshire.  It was commented that this was a good initiative and will generate an income stream other than council tax and business rates, it was a good long-term strategy. 

The Chair of the Connected Community Scrutiny Committee spoke to the item and noted it had been positive to work together, to understand the root of the issue and come up with potential solutions. It was clear that the level of demand was outstripping housing with the current waiting list at 2,100 and it was important that there were long term building blocks in place to make a real difference to residents.  It was highlighted that other councils were running similar housing companies successfully, confirming that they could provide an income stream whilst addressing the problem and reducing revenue costs. 

Group leaders gave the views of their groups. It was noted this was a successful motion put forward and scrutiny worked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

To share the feedback report from Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) following the SEND inspection of Herefordshire Local Area Partnership conducted in December 2024.

Deferred to 27 March 2025.

To endorse the Education Strategy 2024/29. 

Deferred to 27 March 2025.