Agenda item

Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 20th November 2023

(a) To receive and note the minutes

(b) To consider any recommendations contained within the minutes

The recommendations contained within the minutes from the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 20^th November 2023 were considered by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 22^nd November 2023. There were no further recommendations contained within the minutes.

Minutes:

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 20^th November 2023 were submitted.

During consideration of this item, the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, Councillor P. McDonald, also presented recommendations arising from the meeting of the Board held on 16^th January 2024. The following points were considered whilst these recommendations were being discussed:

Parking Enforcement

Cabinet was advised that the Overview and Scrutiny Board had received a report on the subject of parking enforcement which had updated Members on the current Service Level Agreement (SLA) and potential future arrangements. Concerns had been raised during this meeting about the extent to which there would be sufficient service cover when Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) were on leave or off work due to sickness. The SLA contained a number of references to the term “reasonable” and Cabinet was informed that this had also created concerns amongst Members. In addition, the terms of the SLA stated that only 10 per cent of the service was required to cover parts of the District outside the town of Bromsgrove. Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Board had expressed their frustrations with this stipulation, as they had felt that there was greater need for parking enforcement activities in wards located outside the town of Bromsgrove.

Based on the points raised by Members during the meeting, the Overview and Scrutiny Board had proposed that Cabinet should consider going out to tender or delivering the parking enforcement service in house.

Cabinet discussed this proposal from the Overview and Scrutiny Board and, in doing so, noted that a report in respect of the parking enforcement SLA was scheduled for the consideration of Cabinet at a meeting due to take place on 14^th February 2024. Further information regarding the proposals in respect of parking services in the District would be provided for Members’ consideration at this stage.

Reference was made to the existing arrangements that the Council had in place and Members noted that the Council would be obliged to give Wychavon District Council notice should the Council opt to withdraw from existing arrangements. Officers clarified that there would be a notice period that would need to apply should this be required by Members.

Consideration was given to the options that had been suggested by the Overview and Scrutiny Board. Members commented that it would be useful for the Cabinet and Officers to explore both options as part of the authority’s review of parking arrangements. For this reason, Members suggested that the word “and” should be added to the wording of the proposal to ensure that the viability of both options would be investigated further.

Questions were raised about the extent to which the Council’s discussions in respect of future parking enforcement arrangements were likely to impact on the existing service. The Cabinet was advised that the current service would continue to be provided in line with the Council’s SLA with Wychavon District Council. It was also confirmed that, should the Council opt to go out to tender, Wychavon District Council would be eligible to bid to deliver this service.

During consideration of this item, Members noted that if the Council went out to tender for future parking services, a tighter description of the authority’s requirements for parking enforcement could be provided in the new tender contract. Furthermore, Members commented that this could form part of a wider strategic review of the Council’s approach to managing car parks in the District.

Officers were asked to ensure that the points discussed during both the Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny Board debates in respect of this item were reflected in the report on the parking enforcement SLA that was scheduled for Cabinet’s consideration in February 2024.

Ward Member Budgets

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board explained that the Board had also debated the potential to introduce ward budgets for Members at their meeting held on 16^th January 2024. Under the arrangements proposed by the Board, each Councillor would be provided with a budget of £2,000, with the Council allocating a total overall budget of £62,000. The idea had been proposed as it was recognised that Councillors were familiar with the needs of their wards and could use this funding to help provide financial assistance to Voluntary and Community Sector groups and activities. Similar ward budget schemes operated at other local authorities, including the Divisional funding scheme in place at Worcestershire County Council, and therefore Bromsgrove District Council would be following established practice in local government in other parts of the country. Cabinet was asked to note that the proposal from Overview and Scrutiny had received the support of the majority of the members of the Board.

Consideration was given to the proposal from the Overview and Scrutiny Board and in doing so, Members commented that more detailed information was required from Officers on this subject, assessing the costs of the scheme, before a decision could be taken. It was noted that there were likely to be administrative costs attached to a ward budget scheme and this would need to be taken into account. Members also expressed concerns about making a decision at the Cabinet meeting in respect of this matter, given Cabinet had been provided with short notice of the proposals from the Board.

The timing of the proposals and the potential for this to be taken into account as part of the budget setting process for 2024/25 was also discussed. Members noted that the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) Tranche 2 report for 2024/25 to 2026/27 was due to be considered at the following meeting of the Cabinet in February 2024. Members suggested that there would not be sufficient time for a separate report on this subject to be prepared for Cabinet and for the scheme to subsequently be incorporated into the MTFP, should Members agree to introduce ward Member budgets. Therefore, reference would need to be made to this scheme in the MTFP tranche 2 report and Officers confirmed that the proposal would be included in the list of recommendations in the covering report which Members would then need to decide whether to retain in the final budget.

Reference was made to the debate that had been held in respect of this matter at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting. Cabinet was informed that, whilst the recommendation had received the support of the majority of Members present, there had been some Councillors who had opposed the recommendation. In particular, there had been concerns about the evidence basis for introducing ward budgets, with some Members having suggested that a review of the extent to which Worcestershire County Council divisional funds were spent by the end of the year should inform the decision about whether to introduce ward budgets, and it was noted that information about these divisional funds could already be accessed on Worcestershire County Council’s website. Concerns had also been raised that some wards might be oversubscribed for funding whilst others may have less competition, potentially leaving funds unspent in certain wards. In addition, the process for allocating ward funds had been debated and the suggestion had been made to introduce a Committee to consider submissions for funding, similar to the Committee that had met under the authority’s previous New Homes Bonus (NHB) funding scheme. However, Members noted that these opposing views had ultimately been outvoted at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting and the Cabinet needed to consider the recommendation that had been put forward by the Board.

It was noted that the Cabinet could not determine the Council’s budget, as this was a responsibility of the Council. As such, taking into account the points raised during the debate, Members agreed that the wording of the proposal from the Overview and Scrutiny Board should be rephrased to replace reference to “approval” with “consideration”.

Exempt Information in Reports

During the debate in respect of this item, Members noted that both the Overview and Scrutiny Board and Cabinet had received exempt information in reports provided for consideration at recent meetings. Questions were raised about the potential for the exempt information to be printed on pink paper, to help provide clarity to Members that the information provided was exempt. Officers explained that the Council’s printing service had changed approximately six months previously and it was no longer possible to provide printed documents on pink paper for Council and Committee meetings. However, a watermark was always printed on pages in agenda packs containing exempt information. In addition, the words “Private Agenda Pack” were being printed on the front cover of agenda packs that contained exempt information.

RESOLVED that

1) with regard to the Parking Enforcement Service, the Cabinet consider the following options:

a) go out to tender for the parking enforcement contract; and

b) have the service delivered in-house.

2) the Cabinet, as part of the 2024/5 MTFP Tranche 2, to give consideration to the Ward Budgets proposal contained in the briefing paper now submitted, as tabled at the meeting of Overview and Scrutiny on 16^th January 2024.

Supporting documents: