There were no apologies for absence from the committee.

The Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood Services, Councillor Williams, sent his apologies.  

The Chair disclosed that she was employed by W3RT and would withdraw from the room when they were under discussion in item 26.

Councillor Rodrigues disclosed that he had an interest in Citizens’ Advice and would withdraw from the room when they were under discussion in item 26.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2023 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2023 were submitted and signed.

The following scrutiny committees and task groups have met since the last meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee

·      Finance Scrutiny Committee (12 September 2023)

The Chair of Finance Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Khan, updated the committee on the meeting that had taken place on 12 September 2023. He highlighted the variance of £3 million and that the economic impact reserves had been used. The situation was challenging and budgets and in-year savings were being reviewed.  The other major area for discussion was the proposed increases to fees and charges to be brought in in January 2024 to raise an additional £30K.

The minutes were available on the council's website.

The committee to receive a presentation on the local response to the cost-of-living crisis. Representatives from Citizens’ Advice, W3RT and Watford Elim Church will also be in attendance.

The committee received presentations from several organisations involved in responding to the cost-of-living crisis: Watford Citizens’ Advice, Watford and Three Rivers Trust (W3RT) and Elim Church.

The Director of Performance introduced the report highlighting that the Cost-of-Living Forum had been convened by the Mayor to oversee the local response.  Watford had a strong and effective voluntary and community sector who delivered for the town.

Councillor Rodrigues withdrew from the meeting.

The committee received a presentation from Steph Sykes, Watford Citizens’ Advice (CA). The presentation covered an overview of the service, how CA had unlocked financial and other benefits to residents, issues faced by clients over the last 12 months, which groups were disproportionately impacted, the anticipated areas of pressure for the next 12 months and how they were working in partnership.

During the course of the discussions, the following points were highlighted:

·                 All charities were under pressure for funding which required a strategic approach to opportunities.  There was also a wider issue around maintaining the volunteering resource.

·                 CA’s data, which showed that single mothers, those with disabilities and ethnic minorities were most impacted by the crisis, was consistent with data from across the country. There were no clear answers about why these groups were overrepresented and others were underrepresented.

·                 Discussions were ongoing with the council and Watford Community Housing about communicating debt advice early to those in arrears to prevent people getting into debt and to identify vulnerabilities.

·                 Many of those struggling with costs were in employment. CA were aware of the importance of using positive language and it was humbling to hear people’s stories. CA remained a politically neutral organisation.

·                 There was no clear pattern to which bills were missed first, it depended on individual circumstances. The key message was to seek support as soon as possible. CA ran national campaigns around structural issues which impacted debt.

·                 One of the key outcomes of the recent survey among households was to encourage joined-up communications across organisations. This was particularly challenging for digitally isolated households. Information was disseminated to housing associations and community centres as well as information in About Watford and on the digital display boards in the town.

Councillor Rodrigues returned to the meeting.

Pastor Guy Miller of Elim Church, which ran Manna Foodbank, gave a presentation to the committee.  The key highlights were:

·                 The foodbank fed 3,398 families last year and a number of families came on Sundays for a hot meal.

·                 They were supported by a number of companies which provided goods to distribute, this was challenging when companies could no longer assist.

·                 They saw people in significant financial hardship who could not afford to eat for days at a time.

·                 It was anticipated that needs would increase over the coming months and the team did what they could to help those struggling.

·                 The foodbank was self-funding, with occasional grants and valuable volunteer support.

During the course of the discussions, the following points were highlighted:

·                 Food donations were the most valuable donation and supermarkets did provide support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

The committee received a report of the Associate Director of Customer and Corporate Services, Delivery Support Lead, Intelligence, Performance and Improvement Lead.

The Director of Performance introduced the report, she noted that this was quarter 1 and was therefore in the early days of delivery of the Council and Delivery Plans and the key performance indicators. The report also included updates on the delivery of key strategies.

RESOLVED –

 Overview and Scrutiny Committee notes the progress updates within this report relating to:

·                 the Council Plan 2022-26 and Delivery Plan 2022 -24 (Appendix A)

·                 the key performance indicator results for Quarter 1 of 2023/24 (Appendix B)

·                 the council’s key corporate strategies (Appendix C)

The committee to receive a presentation on the service, performance indicators and operations.

The committee received a presentation from the Waste, Recycling and Market Leads which covered; waste and recycling target results, how Watford compared with the rest of Hertfordshire, the factors within the council’s control (including collection methodology, operational effectiveness and communications), the factors outside the council's control (including climate, demographics and legislation), the impact of rurality and deprivation and educational and communications outreach activities.

The committee then received a presentation of David Birley, Waste Aware Co-Ordinator. The key points highlighted were:

·                 Waste Aware was a coalition of all 10 Hertfordshire district and boroughs and Hertfordshire County Council.

·                 Over half of all waste was recycled and most residual waste was sent to the energy from waste plants and this would be all residual waste in a couple of years so there would be none going to landfill.

·                 Garden waste was sent to an open windrow composting site and used in agriculture and landscaping. In-vessel composting was used for mixed garden and food waste. Food from separate food waste collections was sent to anaerobic digestion from which methane was derived to power electrical generators.

·                 Dry recycling materials were separated and sent to secondary processing plants, mostly in the UK. Plastics were mostly processed in the UK but some materials, especially card was sent to the Far East where it was used in packaging new products.

The committee received a final presentation from Bev Knight, Veolia, on the food waste collection service in flats. The key points highlighted were:

·                  Food waste constituted 30% of residual waste and collections had been available for any new build flats since the service change but were not initially available in those built prior to September 2020. There would be an increased offering going forward where managing agents had opted in. 

·                 Landlords and manging agents had been contacted and sites were being surveyed for suitability. Kitchen caddies, liners and information on how to use the service would be delivered in October for the first tranche.

·                 They would also deliver wheelie bins to bin stores and posters to advise residents on how to use the service.

·                 Veolia were working closely with Watford Community Housing with a view to adding the food waste service to suitable sites in the future.

During the course of the discussions, the following points were highlighted:

·                 Practical considerations and economics made kerbside collections of soft plastics difficult but there were collection points at supermarkets.

·                 Delays in particular government initiatives, including extended producer responsibility, were impacting local government decision making. 

·                 Food waste was collected weekly; one week with garden waste and the following week separately. These were treated differently and was in part due to the chargeable garden waste service and was a cost-saving measure. Contracts for the disposal of garden waste and food waste were being procured by Hertfordshire County Council

·                 Where residents’ residual bins were overfull, the crews left a tag and this provided an opportunity to educate on what could be recycled. The crews knew which households repeatedly overfilled their bins. Excess recycling was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

To consider any executive decisions which have been called in by the requisite number of councillors.

No call-in had been received.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to review the latest edition of the Executive Decision Progress Report and consider whether any further information is required.

The scrutiny committee was invited to review the current Executive Decision Progress Report for 2023-24 and consider whether any further information was required.

RESOLVED –

that the current 2023/24 Executive Decision Progress report be noted.

Councillor Grimston, the Council’s appointed representative to the County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee to provide an update.

The Chair, as the council’s appointed representative on Hertfordshire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, noted that the next meeting would be on 12 October 2023.

The scrutiny committee is asked to review the current version of the work programme and consider any additional areas councillors wish to scrutinise.

Members were invited to review Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s draft work programme for 2023/24. 

RESOLVED –

That the Chair works with officers to incorporate members’ suggestions into the 2023/24 work programme.

·           Wednesday 18 October 2023, 7pm

The next meeting would be on Wednesday 18 October.

The committee recorded their thanks to Councillor Rodrigues for his contributions as he would be taking on the role of portfolio holder on 1 October.