Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors B J Glayzer, J M Heron, K Mills and D A Sargent.

It was noted that in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, Councillors P J Hawkins and P M Wallace had been appointed as substitute members for Councillors K Mills and J M Heron respectively.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in respect of business to be transacted on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 16 January 2018 (to follow).

The consideration of the Minutes was deferred to a future meeting.

Please note that in accordance with the agreed Protocol for Public Speaking at Overview and Scrutiny, the right to speak only applies to agenda items 11, 12 and 13.

The right of the public to speak does not apply to the following agenda items: Apologies, Appointment of Substitute Members, Declarations of Interest, Minutes, the Forward Plan, the Scrutiny Work Programme, any agenda item that is not accompanied by a written report and items that are exempt business.

Members of the public wishing to speak must register to do so by no later than 2.00 pm on the second working day before the meeting.

The Democratic Services Manager advised that no members of the public had registered to speak on items on the agenda to which the public speaking protocol applied.

The following decisions were taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 5 February 2018 in respect of recommendations from the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee:

·         Review of On and Off-Street Parking Charges

·         Dover Town Centre

(http://moderngov.dover.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=121&MId=2710)

Members received the decisions of the Cabinet relating to recommendations made by the Committee.

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet decisions relating to recommendations from the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee be noted.

There were no items for consideration.

(a)    Items placed on the agenda by a Member of the Committee or any individual Non-Executive Member

       Any individual Councillor may request that a matter is placed on the agenda of one of the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committees by providing Democratic Support with notice of the matter prior to the agenda being published.

       There are no items for consideration.

(b)    Items the subject of Call-In

       Executive Decisions may be called-in by the Chairman or Spokesperson of the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee or any three non-executive members.

       There are no items for consideration.

(c)    Public Petition

       There are no items for consideration.

There were no items for consideration.

The consideration of this item was deferred to the next meeting.

The consideration of this item was deferred to the next meeting.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Finance, Housing and Community.

In response to a question it was stated that fees and charges that were in the control of the Council were considered on an individual basis.  

To consider the attached report of the Director of Governance.

The Director of Governance presented the Performance Report for Quarter 3, 2017/18.

The red performance indicators for Quarter 3, 2017/18 were as followed:

Dover District Council

·         HOU010a (Number of households living in Temporary Accommodation including B&B)

·         HOU010b (Number of households in bed and breakfast)

·         LIC006 (The percentage of licenced premises inspections completed by target date)

East Kent Services

·         EKS026d (Average call waiting time in minutes)

East Kent Housing

·         EKHL1 (Average time taken to re-let council dwellings)

·         EKHC2 (Rent arears as % of annual debit)

·         EKHC3 (Former tenant arrears as % of annual debit)

Members were advised that sickness levels remained low and that the planning and waste services continued to perform well against targets.

LIC006 (The percentage of licenced premises inspections completed by target date)

This indicator was red due to the resignation of a staff member. A new staff member had subsequently been recruited and it was expected that performance would improve accordingly.

EKHL1 (Average time taken to re-let council dwellings)

This indicator was red due to a combination of delays resulting from the Christmas period and the need to undertake more work than expected to bring three properties back into use for re-let.

EKHC2 (Rent arears as % of annual debit) and EKHC3 (Former tenant arrears as % of annual debit)

Members were advised that Universal Credit was taking 10 weeks to make first payment which was affecting the ability of affected tenants to pay their rents. At present 7-8 tenants per day in the Dover district were being transferred to Universal Credit but this number was expected to increase over time. East Kent Housing met with tenants switching to Universal Credit and set out payment plans for them. There had been no evictions due to Universal Credit caused arrears this year.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Housing, Community and Finance.

The Director of Finance, Housing and Community introduced the Budget 2018/19 and the Medium Term Financial Plan 2018/19-2021/22.

Members were advised that the 2018/19 budget was forecast to be balanced with General Fund balances maintained at £2.5 million. While the overall net expenditure levels were slightly reduced there were no significant reductions in funding for services or major changes to staffing levels.

The main pressures faced by the General Fund in the 2018/19 budget were reduced funding streams and the impact of the increased need for provision of temporary accommodation for homeless prevention. This had been offset by additional income from investments, following the approval of the new Treasury Management Strategy, and income from properties in line with the approved Property Investment Strategy. These additional income streams had prevented the need for any significant changes to services.

Members raised the following points:

·         In response to a question about whether the café at Kearsney Abbey would be closed during the winter months it was stated that this was currently the case.

·         In response to a question about what controls were in place in respect of the EK Services budget it was stated that EK Services had to operate within its allocated budget.

·         In response to a question about whether there was a legal minimum level of reserves that the Council was required to hold it was stated that while there was no legal minimum the intention was to try and maintain a minimum of £2 million in reserves.

·         In response to a question on staffing numbers it was stated that the council did not set any target related to staff turnover and that the Employment Management Group continued to robustly manage vacancies as they arose.