Agenda item - WORK PROGRAMME & WORK STREAMS 2018/19

Agenda item

WORK PROGRAMME & WORK STREAMS 2018/19

The Deputy Leader, Councillor Anderson, to outline the Cabinet’s priorities for 2018/19.

 

The Committee to discuss Work Programme items and new workstreams for 2018/19.

Minutes:

The Chair invited Councillor Anderson, Deputy Leader, to outline the Cabinet’s priorities for 2018/19 and discussion took place on possible scrutiny topics.

 

Councillor Anderson referred to the continued financial pressures on Enfield including the further cuts of £20 million that need to be made. An ageing and growing population continues to cause increasing challenges as does Social Care due to the insufficient way it is funded. He said that it was still very early stages as to where we are at with Cabinet. The Leader of the Council has given Cabinet Members specific work to do with their Officers to map out short, medium and long term plans and it will become clearer in the next month or so what the position/outcomes will be. The Leader has mapped out three priorities in her manifesto. These are:

·       Reducing Crime.

·       Tackling Child Poverty.

·       Affordable Housing

 

Information still has to be formulated into a manner that we can work with.

 

The Chair advised that he has invited the Leader of the Council to attend a special meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Meeting on the 26 July 2018 to provide members with a better understanding of her plans/visions.

AGREED that a calendar invitation be sent to all Members for this meeting.

ACTION: Scrutiny Secretary

 

The following issues for consideration were discussed -

  • Budget - Keep tabs on what are the knock on effects of different decisions the Council are making. The Chair added at this point that a standing financial OSC Panel may be something to be looked at further down the road. He also said Budget issues will be captured as part of OSC one way or another this year. Councillor Anderson said there are discussions to be had with the Chair of OSC and officers to look at the restructure of the Scrutiny function and how we can bolster it to ensure a much more strategic approach.
  • Commercial Arm of the Council – what proposals are they looking at/what is possible. Really need to be scrutinising what they are doing, this should be part of the financial structure. Need to look at contracting arrangements/comparisons with other boroughs, tendering processes and the use of agency staff.
  • Place, People, Resource –Does this leave any gaps in the structure of how the organisation is running. What can fall through the gaps?
  • Customer Services    Not just physical contacts (e.g. face to face/phone) but IT services as there are clear failing here and work still needs to be done.
  • Planning Department – There are currently major challenges in recruiting and retaining appropriate and adequate staff as many are going to work in the private sector. Pressure in teams is difficult, need to look at different ways of working. Need to keep tabs on this and look at Performance Indicators. Solutions need to be found fairly quickly.
  • London Plan – Where do we stand and what are the future challenges of the Mayoral Plan.
  • Housing Repairs and Maintenance – Continued problems with contractors and standards. How affective are we and where are the weaknesses?
  • High Streets – Enfield Town Masterplan- is this still relevant in view of the current situation in retail as a whole. This has serious ramifications for the health of our high streets.
  • Meridian Waters -  This is due back on the table imminently. Currently firming up plans and these will become apparent in the near future
  • Public Space Protection Orders- How effective are these? (e.g. tackling racers on the A10)
  • New Recycling Facility in the Eastern Side of the Borough- This is one of our objectives, which will be brought forward in the next couple of years.
  • Idea of New Waste Facility and Eco Park – ongoing discussions which will have an impact if implemented.

 

The Chair thanked Councillor Anderson for his informative update which had been most helpful in pointing the Committee towards populating its main Work Programme for 2018/19.

 

He also assured Members that Schools and Children’s Services will continue to be a standing item on OSC agendas as Education is integral to our Work Programme.

 

The Chair went on to say that the Work Programme and Work Streams will not be resolved today. However the committee does not have to wait to its next meeting to populate these as members can communicate in-between meetings.  He did advise however that the Standing Scrutiny Panels for Health and Crime would remain and the membership proportionality for each of these panels would remain at 5:2.

The Chair for the Health Scrutiny Panel will be Councillor Huseyin Akpinar and the Chair for the Crime Scrutiny Panel will be Councillor Lee David Sanders.

 

AGREED that the Scrutiny Officer will be in touch with the Party Whips to populate membership of the Standing Panels.

Action: Scrutiny Officer

 

Councillor Smith commented that he got the impression that there will now be a very different attitude towards scrutiny then there had been in the past and he found this most encouraging.

 

The Committee then discussed various ideas and suggestions for future Work Streams. The Chair explained that the key to any Work Stream is that it is purposeful with a meaningful outcome. He emphasised that Work Streams have to be very focused in order to achieve an outcome. The Committee would initially need to agree on three, possibly four potential Work Streams. By the time the Work Streams are decided and scoped it was envisaged that the work on these would kick off in September with a view to completing them in this municipal year. It was hoped that the Committee will have agreed on three topics by the time of the next OSC meeting on 12 July 2018.

 

The following suggestions were put forward as potential Work Streams:

 

·       Transition of Children Leaving Care;

·       High Streets- focusing on the issue of empty shops in Enfield Town/the borough;

·       John Wilkes House- Housing Allocation Policy/Home Finder Process

·       London Plan- this was discussed but it was felt that it was too big of an issue to include as a stand-alone Work Stream;

·       Review of Customer Services;

·       Education- school places/results in the Borough;

·       Fly Tipping/associated criminal activity;

·       Effectiveness of Public Health

 

The Chair thanked the Committee for their ideas and suggestions and said he hoped to have the Work Streams and their memberships finalised by the next meeting of OSC on 12 July 2018. He would liaise with the Scrutiny Officer by the end of the week to prioritise some subjects and radiate to Members as soon as possible.

Action-Chair with Scrutiny Officer

 

In the meantime Councillor Levy asked members to liaise with the Scrutiny Officer, Susan O’Connell if they have any further comments/ suggestions.