Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Greenslade, Martins and McLeod.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2011 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2011 were submitted and signed.

The document sets out the update on the outstanding actions which arose at previous meetings.

The Scrutiny Committee received an update incorporating the outstanding actions and questions raised at previous meetings.  Responses were included within the document or circulated at the meeting.

PI11 – Watford Leisure Centre Central

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer informed the Scrutiny Committee that the Community Services Section Head and the Portfolio Holder had met the petitioner to discuss the problems highlighted at the Council meeting on 20 July 2011.  The following actions had been taken –

·               A Key Worker had been attached to the swimming session, Sean Mitchell the General Manager

·               Swimming lessons had finished and all facilities were now available to the swimmers

·               Numbers in pool – SLM had reported that bathing loads (100) had not been exceeded.  On two occasions there had been 75 people present.  The average attendance was 45.

·               Congestion at the till had been eased by the introduction of a faster booking in procedure.

·               Staff vigilance had been stepped up regarding men in the changing area during the women-only session.

·               Four lifeguards would be undertaking equalities training.

The Chair was pleased that the petitioner’s comments had been taken seriously.  The Vice-Chair asked that all Councillors were informed of the response.

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer

PI12 – Funding bids approval by the Homes and Communities Agency

The Scrutiny Committee noted the Housing Section Head’s response set out in the update.  The Chair asked for a further update at the November meeting.

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer / Housing Section Head

VS2 – Mayor’s Community Fund

The Vice-Chair advised that his local community had identified a problem with the procedures for the Mayor’s Community Fund.  He said that he would inform Members of the outcome.

ACTION: Vice Chair at the next meeting.

AHR5 – Procedures for monitoring private sector housing

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer circulated the responses to the questions submitted following the previous meeting and attached as Appendix A to these minutes.

FP1 – Section 106 Funding

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer provided the Scrutiny Committee with a copy of the Capital Programme 2010/11-2014/15 which included details of the Section 106 funded schemes and the funding availability for new schemes.  She informed Members that a report regarding the use of Section 106 monies was to be considered by Cabinet at its meeting on Monday 26 September.  A copy of the report would be circulated to the Scrutiny Committee. 

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer

The Chair noted the available balance set out in the Capital Programme.

The Portfolio Holder informed the Scrutiny Committee that approximately 18 months ago officers had checked the due dates on the outstanding monies.  It had been noted that the Council would not have to hand any of the monies back to developers.  Some of the funding had been earmarked for projects, for example stations on the Croxley Rail Link route.  He suggested that at the current spending rate the amount would be depleted in two years.  The Council needed to review which schemes it wanted to fund.  The Cabinet  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

This report presents an update on the council’s key performance indicators as at the end of quarter 1 (June 2011) as well as other performance measures identified and agreed by Committee for scrutiny during 2011/12.

The Scrutiny Committee received a report of the Partnerships and Performance Section Head setting out the first quarter update on the Council’s key performance indicators and other performance measures. 

Environmental Services

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head informed Members that she had incorporated as many of the requests from the previous meeting as she could.  There was still some outstanding data from Revenues and Benefits.  She referred Members to indicator ES9, dry recyclables, which was down in trend since last year.  She explained that this was in part due to fewer people buying newspapers and glass was lighter than in the past.  The overall recycling indicator, ES3, was helped by the increase in green waste.

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head informed the Scrutiny Committee that measurement of the street and environmental cleanliness was a complex indicator that required officers to survey given areas of the Borough and assess them to an agreed and consistent standard. 

A copy of the criteria used to assess street cleanliness was circulated.  It provided photographs of the different levels of cleanliness used for assessment.

The Vice-Chair noted the wards which had been used for the performance measures and advised that Callowland had a great deal of problems with flyposting.

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head informed the Scrutiny Committee that a Town Enforcement Officer had been appointed on a year’s contract, which started in August.  Through the year the impact would be assessed.  Initially the officer would concentrate his work in the Town Centre and parks.  Once theses areas had improved it was intended to extend the service to other parts of the Borough.  The officer issued fixed penalty notices.  There was a zero tolerance approach with regard to litter, unless there were specific circumstances, such as vulnerable adults or minors.  If a fine were not paid the Council would consider prosecution, but this was only used as a last resort and following a number of reminders being issued.

The Chair commented that one of the main causes of litter was fast food packaging.  The various fast food premises collected the litter during mid to late evening.  Some of these premises were open until 3.00 a.m.  Residents should be encouraged to collect evidence to challenge these premises.

The Scrutiny Committee agreed to review the progress of this post and the work which had been achieved in six months time.

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer

Community Services

CS9 – New cases on Rent Deposit Scheme

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head advised the Scrutiny Committee that officers were struggling to get private landlords involved with the Rent Deposit Scheme.

The Portfolio Holder added that people unable to purchase the smaller properties on the market went into the rental sector.  This had an impact on the properties which might be available through the scheme.

CS10 – Households in bed and breakfast accommodation

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head referred Members to this indicator and advised that bed and breakfast was an expensive accommodation solution.

CS12  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer will provide a verbal update on the progress of the Community Safety Partnership Task Group.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer informed the Scrutiny Committee that the first Task Group meeting had been arranged for Monday 17 October 2011.  The Chair of the Community Safety Partnership, Cate Hall Executive Director Services would be attending.  The Community Safety Manager would also be inviting other members of the partnership.  The meeting would begin with an introduction to the partnership and all Councillors would be invited to attend.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer will provide a verbal update on the progress of the Hospital Parking Charges Task Group.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer informed the Scrutiny Committee that the Task Group’s first meeting had been held on Wednesday 31 August 2011.  Councillor Karen Collett was elected Chair of the Task Group.  Members discussed the background information they had been given.  They then considered the next stage of the review.  It was agreed that a representative from the Hospital Trust would be invited to the meeting to respond to questions.  Members agreed a number of questions they wished to have answered regarding the parking arrangements at the hospital.  These questions were then forwarded in advance of the second meeting to allow the representative time to gather the information required.  Members decided that a further meeting would be arranged to meet users of the Hospital’s car parks.  The next meeting would to take place on Wednesday 5 October 2011.

In accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s terms of reference the latest edition of the Forward Plan is attached for Members to review.

The Scrutiny Committee received a report of the Head of Legal and Property Services including the latest edition of the Forward Plan and changes since the edition published in July.  The September edition was circulated at the meeting.

RESOLVED –

that the additions and amendments to the Forward Plan be noted.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to review the current version of the work programme.

The Scrutiny Committee received a report of the Head of Legal and Property Services including the updated work programme.  The Committee and Scrutiny Officer circulated further supporting information.  This included details of all previous scrutiny reviews and a new scrutiny proposal from Councillor Derek Scudder.

The Chair informed the Scrutiny Committee that there were two new scrutiny suggestions to be considered.  The first was the proposal from Councillor Scudder, which asked for a review of the recycling scheme and comparisons with other authorities to see if it would be possible to increase Watford’s recycling rate.  The second suggestion was from the Managing Director about the future delivery of council services and the options available.

Members discussed the proposals and agreed that they needed further information on each subject.  They asked for recycling statistics for the local authorities included in the ‘CIPFA family authorities’ and the national average for overall residential waste.  Once this information had been supplied the Scrutiny Committee would consider whether to undertake this review and set up a new Task Group.

The Chair suggested that the Managing Director could be invited to the next meeting to discuss his suggestion.  The proposal would be acknowledged and that further clarification was required before a final decision was made.  The Chair felt that this was a huge topic.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer referred the Scrutiny Committee to the list of previous reviews.  This highlighted when the reports had been completed and whether were still outstanding recommendations to be reviewed.

The Chair asked all Members of the Scrutiny Committee to review the list and inform the Committee and Scrutiny Officer of any topic it was felt was important and where recommendations needed to be reconsidered. 

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer and Overview and Scrutiny Committee

·               Wednesday 12 October 2011 (For call-in only)

·               Thursday 24 November 2011

·               Thursday 22 December 2011 (For call-in only)

·               Wednesday 12 October 2011 (For call-in only)

·               Thursday 24 November 2011

·               Thursday 22 December 2011 (For call-in only)