Agenda and minutes

Apologies of absence were received from Councillor David Carter.

To receive Councillors’ declarations of interest (if any) in relation to any matters on the agenda.

None.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2014.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2014 are agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any questions from members of the public in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10.

None.

To receive any questions from Councillors in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.

None.

To consider responses (if any) of the Cabinet to reports and recommendations from the Committee.

None.

The Committee received a scoping report for the review of Pay Day Loan Businesses. Dianne Cooper, Planning and Building Control Manager, introduced the report. Dianne asked the Committee to note that the next stage of the review was contingent on the outcome of the Government’s consultation on changes to planning use classes. The consultation may help determine whether betting shops and payday loan shops are given separate use classes, which will increase the Council’s powers to control them.

RESOLVED that the Committee agrees the scope for the Review of Pay Day Loan businesses as set out in the report submitted.

The Committee received a scoping report for the review of Modern Homes Work Customer Care. Andrew Murray, Head of Housing, introduced the report.

The Committee asked that the wording from the ‘Purpose and Objective of the Review’ section be simplified, to replace “to identify if, and if appropriate, how…” with “to identify, if appropriate how…”.

RESOLVED that the Committee agrees the scope for the Review of Modern Homes Work Customer Care as set out in the report submitted, subject to the minor amendment detailed above.

The Committee received a scoping report for the review of the Council’s Biodiversity Policy and the Maintenance of Open Spaces. Michael Pitt, Environment and Licensing Manager, introduced the report.

The Committee asked that amendments be made to the scoping report as follows

      I.        In the ‘Purpose and Objective of the Review’ section, “To identify if, and how if appropriate…” be replaced with “To identify, if appropriate, how…”.

     II.        In the ‘Methodology/approach’ section, second bullet point, the word ‘acting’ be replaced with the word ‘based’.

The Committee noted that the Environment Service Improvement Team (SIT) was listed in the ‘Potential Stakeholder Involvement’ section, but asked that it also be listed in the ‘Potential Witnesses’ section of the report.

RESOLVED that the Committee approves the scoping report for the Review of the Council’s Biodiversity Policy and the Maintenance of Open Spaces, as set out in the report submitted, subject to the amendments detailed above.

The Committee received an interim report for the review of the Council’s Customer Services. Simon Pipe, Customer and Media Services Manager, introduced the report.

In response to questions from the Committee, Simon provided more detail on staffing arrangements, the software package used by customer service operatives (AchieveService) and use of social media in customer service. Simon also drew the Committee’s attention to the Invest to Save Bid (described in paragraph 30 of the report) for random telephone monitoring, which it is hoped will contribute to an improvement in the service’s performance. Should the bid be successful, it is hoped to include the results of the monitoring in the final report to the Committee in February 2015.

RESOLVED that the Committee notes the progress of the review to date with the final report to be submitted for the meeting 3 February 2015.

To review the Committee’s work plan for the current year.

Councillor Dennis Palmer will ask the Committee if it wishes to include a Review of the Council’s Policy on Sheltered Housing Eligibility to its 2014/15 work plan. The Chairman will invite Councillor Palmer to address the Committee.

Councillor Dennis Palmer asked the Committee if it would consider including a review of the Council’s Sheltered Housing availability and eligibility criteria to the 2014/15 work plan.

Andrew Murray, Head of Housing, advised the Committee that he had received correspondence recently from Councillor Palmer about specific casework involving sheltered housing applicants. He felt that Councillor Palmer’s concerns could be addressed at an operational level. He also advised that a comprehensive review of sheltered housing provision, including evidence gathered from other providers, could be undertaken in the next (2015/16) municipal year.

The Committee felt that, whilst such a review would be valuable, it would involve significant work and could not easily be included in the 2014/15 work plan, which was already full. It asked that the matter be listed in the unallocated items section of the 2014/15 work plan.

RESOLVED that the work plan be noted, subject to the addition of a review of sheltered accommodation in Harlow as an unallocated work plan item.