There were no apologies received.

There were no declarations of interests.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2018 as a correct record.

It was RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 19 March 2018 be confirmed as a true record.

None received.

To consider questions from and provide answer to members of the public on any matter in relation to which the Committee has powers or duties and of which due notice has been given in accordance with the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedure Rules.

None received.

To consider questions from and provide answer to Councillors on any matter in relation to which the Committee has powers or duties and of which due notice has been given in accordance with the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedure Rules.

None received.

Janice Robinson, Assistant Director – Law and Governance will provide scrutiny training for Members

The meeting was adjourned between at 2.30 pm and 2.40 pm for Member training.

The Information Bulletin is a document that is made available to the public with the published agenda papers.  It can include update information requested by the Committee as well as information that a service considers should be made known to the Committee.

This Information Bulletin contains updates on the following subjects:

1.     Staff Turnover and Welfare

2.     Off-payroll Costs Review

3.     Voids in Council Properties

Information Bulletin 1

Staff Turnover and Welfare

91.1           The Assistant Director - Corporate Resources, forwarded an apology of absence for the Corporate Manager – Human Resources and Organisational Development (HR & OD) and drew Members’ attention to the table paper, which replaced the table for the ‘Reason for Absence’, page 12 to 13.

91.2           Members raised questions and officers responded that there was no evidence that the move to Endeavour House had caused the increase in stress and anxiety.  It was established that the Staff Survey did not show any indication that that staff was unhappy with the environment.

91.3           Staff, who had been absent due to sickness, were offered a gradual phased return as agreed in the Return to Work Policy.  The HR Business Partner liaised with management regarding staff’s return and agreed with returning staff any adjustments required.  Management were also trained in recognising signs of metal health issues and a campaign to recruit Mental Health First Aider had been undertaken.  Staff had access to a variety of options to obtain help for mental health issues including a 24/7 helpline, advertised in numerous places in the work places.

91.4           The Chief Executive said that the stigma surrounding mental health had diminished during the last years, which may account for the increase in the mental health figures, so that it was a positive increase because staff recognised and acknowledged that they needed help.

91.5           Member ask how the Council performed in the ability to recruit and retain quality staff and what was the perceptions of working for the council.

91.6           The Chief Executive responded that the staff Survey had clearly indicated that agile working and flexible hours were attracting staff, as it was possible for them to get a better work/home balance.  The aspiration was that the Council became an employer of choice because of the environment, the benefit package, the development and training, which would attract people to work for the Council. 

91.7           Some Members disagreed as they thought the difficulties of travelling to the workplace for some member of staff was difficult due to the traffic and that this may account for the difficulties to recruit and retain staff in the Planning Department.

91.8           The Chief Executive responded that most staff could claim Disturbance Allowance and that all staff had received compensation for having lost the benefit of free parking.  He then explained that recruitment of Planners was an issue across all Public Sector Authorities.

91.9           Members agreed that it was a concern that stress and anxiety figures were going up and that an Information Bulletin regarding this issue should be presented to the Committee in six months’ time. It was agreed that the information Bulletin should include a breakdown of stress related absence for staff working in Ipswich and elsewhere in the district.

It was RESOLVED: -

1.1               That an updated Information Bulleting for Staff Turnover and Welfare be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in December 2018 and to include a breakdown of place of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

92.1          Members discussed the timetable and whether the Committee should begin at an earlier time or later in the afternoon. 

92.2          The Chair suggested that Members forwarded their preferred start time to him and the Committee could then make a decision at the meeting in August 2018.

It was RESOLVED: -

1.1       That the Time table be agreed.

Members are asked to review and discuss the Babergh Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan for 2018/19

93.1          Members discussed the Work Plan including the role of the police and Community Grants. 

93.2          It was suggested by the Chair that each Member considered an item to place on the Work Plan for the next meeting.

It was RESOLVED: -

1.1           That the Babergh Work Plan be agreed

To review the Council’s Forthcoming Decisions List and identify any items to be brought before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

It was RESOLVED: -

1.1       That the Forthcoming Decisions List be noted.

For information

A 12 months review of Babergh and Mid Suffolk Building Services (BMBS)

Justin Wright-Newton, Corporate Manager BMBS

NOTE: At the meeting 18 July 2018 the Committee Members and Officers agreed that the Confidential minute for BMBS – A Review of the First Year of Trading and next Steps be made public.

13.1          The Assistant Director – Housing, introduced the report and said the report and the updated Business Plan was an honest account of what had been achieved and the challenges ahead.

13.2          Councillor Barrett raised questions regarding the less than expected income for the BMBS case scenario for the year 2017/18 (page 64) and if it was possible that the figures could be updated in relation to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).  In reality the BMBS service did not lose money, as the BMBS budget was covered by the HRA was hence a loss on paper.  Members wanted to know if the updated costs base was a more accurate cost base to work on and the officer responded that this was the case.

13.3          The Assistant Director – Housing reminded Members that the original Business Plan was flawed and that the inherited income and expenditure had affected the first six months of the implementation of BMBS.  The Corporate Manager – BMBS had only joined the team last year and other factors such as the service becoming an in-house service had influenced the implementation stage in various ways, but now enabled BMBS to deliver a good service to the tenants.  There were challenges ahead such as getting all the relevant paperwork into the Total Mobile Programme and it was detailed how significant efficiencies were to be undertaken to save resources.

13.4          Councillor Gasper was concerned with the lack of tracking of paper work and workloads between departments and that this was important if searching for efficiencies. It was considered necessary to have a clear route for processes both within the department and with other departments to enable an effective audit to take place. 

13.5          The Assistant Director – Housing confirmed that auditing was on-going, and he referred to Appendix C, page 103, which showed the outturn figures up to 12 April 2018 compared with the original Business Plan.  The total Expenditure was nearly the same figures, however, the income from Capital Maintenance had been unrealistic in the original Business Plan.  The new figure of £276,239 was based on the outturn figures.

13.6          A process for internal accounting was being implemented to determine efficiencies, similar to the voids project. The team was working with the Accounting team to reflect the process and the outturn figures were robust based on this process.

13.7          Questions were raised regarding the Legal Implications of the report, Paragraph 11, page 65.  Councillor Williams enquired if there were not legal implications if BMBS undertook work in houses belonging to the public and would include Health and Safety in properties which were being maintained.  The officers responded that this kind of work was being undertaken with the Property Service Team and that the team worked with other services to ensure that the Health and Safety  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To consider whether, pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public should be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the public were present during these items, it is likely that there would be the disclosure to them of exempt information as indicated against the/each item.

The authors of the reports proposed to be considered in Part II of the Agenda are satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

By a unanimous vote

It was RESOLVED: -

That pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the public were present during the items, it is likely that there would be the disclosure to them of exempt information as indicated against the items.

The Committee was also satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Lee Carvell, Corporate Manger – Open for Business

The Corporate Manager – Open for Business, presented the update.