Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor I. Gregory who will be substituted by Councillor Binks.

Apologies were received from the following Members:

Councillor Day

Councillor Hornus

Councillor Harrison substituted by Councillor Edwards

Councillor I. Gregory substituted by Councillor M. Tomlinson

Councillor D. Saunders substituted by Councillor S. Tomlinson

To receive any declarations of interest. Members are advised to consider the extract from the Standard Board Code of Conduct for Members, which forms part of the Declaration of Interest Form at the back of this Agenda. If a Member declares an interest, they should complete that Form and hand it to the Officer clerking the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman also varied the running order of agenda items. Agenda Item 6 (Canvass Growth Bid) was moved to follow on Agenda Item 2 (Declarations of Interest).

Councillor Cohen, Chairman of the Electoral Registration Process Review Working Party introduced the item. He said that there was a need to allocate additional funds to enable the Electoral Registration Officer to carry out all canvass responsibilities fully. Councillor Cohen said that Members of the Working Party endorsed Option 4 in the report. A new canvassing approach would see canvassers being paid extra money for completed and returned voter registration forms. Councillor Cohen said that this meant that the higher the success rate, the higher the canvassing costs but noted this should act as a significant incentive to obtaining completed forms which might increase the registration rate achieved. He indicated that because of the Police Commissioner elections in November 2012, the electoral register should be updated by 16 October 2012. Councillor Cohen thanked the officers for the support they rendered to the Working Party.

Mr Glenn Back, Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager said that Option 4 carried additional costs amounting to £2,000 above that stated within the report. He also said that “walk-sort” had been very recently abandoned by Royal Mail and would be replaced by Business Mail. Sue McGonigal said that £25,000 from the current Council underspending would be set aside to provide additional resources available for the annual canvass in case they exceeded those estimated within the report.

Members of the Working Party said that they had identified a number of ways to increase the voter registration numbers in Thanet. These proposals would be presented to the next Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting.  Members asked whether an audit had been carried out regarding voter registration. Sue McGonigal said that the results of the internal audit had shown that there were a number of short comings which needed addressing. That report had been shared with the Working Party. Members also asked whether it was possible for the Council to use other data sources to improve voter registration. Mr Back said that the Cabinet Office was working with some central government departments; that included the Department of Work and Pensions; on “data matching exercises.” He said that it was important to get assurances about the accuracy of the data obtained from data matching.

Members asked whether Council was ready for Individual Electoral Registration (IER). Mr Back said that the Cabinet Office was still to let Councils know precisely how this was going to be implemented in 2014.

Members agreed the following:

1.  That the Panel endorses the Working Party’s canvass budget growth bid to be taken forward as part of the 2013/14 Budget process, encapsulated as part of the Electoral Registration Service review;

2.  That the budget as identified be taken to SMT to instigate discussion as to potential funding sources that may be utilised to cover the additional cost associated with 2012/13.

Harvey Patterson, Corporate and Regulatory Services Manager introduced the item. He said that this issue arose out of the request by Members for clarification regarding the criteria used for deciding whether an issue required an urgent decision.

Mr Patterson said that Thanet District Council had adopted a strong leader model which provides the context for delegated decision making. He said that the Leader of Council was responsible for establishing a Scheme of Delegation. Council Procedure Rules 16 and 17 on Access to Information state that Members should be given five clear working days to consider a decision. If it was not possible to meet that timeframe, then such decisions could be made under urgency provisions. There should a valid reason for urgency or special urgency. These reasons should demonstrate substantial public interest or potential financial harm to Council. Urgency provisions could be used in tandem with call-in provisions within the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules in order to exempt a decision from call-in.

If Members felt the need to amend the Constitution in relation to these issues, then such recommendations would be forwarded to the Constitutional Review Working Party. He said that it was important to keep Members informed about the executive decisions, including those made under urgency procedures. Members said that it was important to notify Ward Members soon after an urgent decision was made. They were concerned that Members had no access to the officer advice given to Cabinet Members prior to urgent decisions being made. Mr Patterson said that all decisions made by the executive were published on the Council website. Members said that there was duty to improve the rationale behind urgent decisions.

Members said that they did not receive any notifications of the executive decisions made by Portfolio Holders under executive delegations and they requested that a weekly list of all the executive decisions made be compiled and sent to all the Members. The Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager suggested that Members ought to be receiving notification of these via email, but agreed to investigate this, when some Members suggested no such emails were being received. Mr Patterson said that a quarterly Council report will be produced detailing all special urgent executive decisions made.

Councillor W. Scobie proposed, Councillor Wiltshire seconded and Members agreed the following:

1.  That after an urgent decision has been made the Ward Members of the affected Ward are notified;

Councillor D. Green proposed, Councillor Gideon seconded and Members agreed the following:

1.  That Cabinet Member decisions and key decisions by Council officers are recorded and distributed to Members along with the advice from officers leading to the decision.

Mr Patterson said that both recommendations would need to be referred to the Constitutional Review Working Party.

Mr Patterson introduced the item. He said that the Community Safety Plan priorities were in line with those in the Draft Corporate Plan. Members were concerned about the budget reductions by partner agencies like Kent Police as this would mean fewer police officers in some parts of Thanet. Mr Patterson said that the Enforcement Team had recently lost some staff. He said that there were plans for seconding some staff to the Enforcement Team.

Members said that whilst Thanet was one of the most deprived areas in the country, it still was not spared the reduction in resources from Central Government. They said that there was a need to address the root causes of deprivation. Some Members were concerned that such priorities as cycling on pavements were not in the Plan. Other Members said that it would be helpful to acknowledge some of the good news stories in the Strategic Assessment and Community Safety Plan.

Members agreed to note the report.

Mr Patterson said that it was a statutory requirement for Council to scrutinise the Crime and disorder Reduction Partnership. Councillor D. Green, the Co-Chairman of the Working Party said that the Group had interviewed a number of the partner agencies. Panel Members said that the Working Party had come up with some important recommendations for the Panel’s consideration. They thanked the officers for the support given to the Group.

Members said that Council’s Enforcement Team should issue a lot more penalty notices for dog fouling. Mr Patterson acknowledged that Street Scene and Enforcement staff should work closer together and complement each other more.

Councillor W. Scobie proposed and Councillor D. Green seconded and Members agreed that the Panel adopts the following recommendations:

1.  That Overview and Scrutiny Panel adopt the recommendations of the final report for 2011/12;

2.  That the recommendations be presented to the portfolio holder for community safety to co-ordinate a response to each recommendation.

Mr Patterson introduced the item. He said that the Food Safety Service Plan for 2012/13 was a Policy Framework issue that would have to be considered by both Cabinet and Council. The Food Standards Agency conducted an audit and some shortcomings were identified. The main issue was with regards to the need to adequately staff the team. Mr Patterson said that an action plan has been put in place which would see additional staff being recruited. A report requesting Cabinet approval to recruit the required staff would be forwarded to the 29 March 2012 Cabinet meeting. The request would be to recruit a Public Protection Officer and an Environment Protection Officer. Mr Patterson said that a training budget had been set aside for staff’s Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

Council Officers were now able to manage about five to six inspections a week. Mr Patterson said that there now was added capacity and increased efficiency and with adequate investment on mobile working, there was a potential for further improvements.

Members were disappointed that the national scheme Scores on Doors was on a voluntary basis. They said that it should have been made mandatory. Members were concerned by the state of some of the food outlets in Thanet.

Councillor D. Green proposed, Councillor W. Scobie seconded and Members agreed the following:

1.  That the Corporate Improvement & Budget Working Party receives regular monitoring reports on the Food Safety Service Plan.

Councillor D. Green proposed, Councillor Campbell seconded and Members agreed that Councillor E. Green be appointed to the Asset Management Working Party

Councillor D. Green proposed, Councillor Edwards seconded and Members agreed that Councillor Campbell be appointed to the Corporate Improvement & Budget Working Party.

Members were concerned that some of the Working Parties had not met for a while. They also noted that the Electoral Registration Process Review Working Party needed more time to complete its terms of reference.

Councillor W. Scobie proposed, Councillor Green seconded and Members agreed the following:

1.  That the Electoral Registration Process Review Working Party is continued past its initial May 2012 closing date so that it can fully complete its terms of reference.

Members of the Panel also agreed the following recommendations:

1.  That Members adopt the proposed Overview and Scrutiny Panel Notice of Request for an Agenda Item template as reflected in Annex 1 of the report;

2.  That Members adopt the Recommendations template for lodging proposals at meetings as reflected in Annex 3 of the report.