Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of Interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2023 were approved as a true record and were signed by the Chair.

The Service Manager for Corporate Services presented an overview of Rushcliffe’s Scrutiny structure and role to the Committee.

The Service Manager for Corporate Services explained that the Terms of Reference for the Corporate Overview Group were to create and receive feedback on work programmes, reviewing the matrices of items put forward for the Growth and Development, Communities and Governance Scrutiny Groups. The Committee also scrutinised financial and performance management information and received reports relating to corporate matters such as health and safety, diversity and corporate strategies and policies where appropriate prior to their adoption. The Service Manager for Corporate Services confirmed that she was the lead Officer for this Group.

The Service Manager for Corporate Services explained that the purpose of the Governance Scrutiny Group was to retrospectively review actions taken by the Council, including financial and audit reports and legislative and statutory matters, such as the Annual Governance Statement, the Statement of Accounts, the Council’s Risk Management Framework, Constitution and regular reports on Asset and Investment Management.  She said that the Service Manager for Finance was the lead Officer for that Group.

The Service Manager for Corporate Services explained that the purpose of both the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group and the Communities Scrutiny Group was to be more forward looking, reviewing one or two topics at each meeting, sometimes inviting external speakers to present to the Group. The Growth and Development Scrutiny Group looked at significant projects which contributed towards growth in the Borough, including infrastructure, housing and employment units to ensure that residents and the community had the support that they needed. The Communities Scrutiny Group looked at the Council’s partnerships to ensure that they met the needs of the community and provided value for money and explored areas of community concern to look at how they could be addressed, including health and wellbeing, sport, community action and environmental projects and initiatives. She confirmed that the Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property was the lead Officer for the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group and that the Service Manager for Neighbourhoods was the lead Officer for the Communities Scrutiny Group.

Report of the Chief Executive

The Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property presented the Diversity Annual Report to the Group and explained that the report included information about Rushcliffe Borough Councillors, information from the 2021 census and that the number of Council employees had increased due to bringing Streetwise Environmental in-house.

The Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property took the Group through the demographic data, highlighting that 89% of residents were white, 28% of residents were aged 60+, that 6% of residents had a long term health problem or disability which limited their daily activity and that there were slightly more males than females in the Borough. In comparison, 84% of Rushcliffe Borough Council staff were white, with this standing at 88% for the East Midlands and 25% of East Midlands’ residents were aged 60+. The Council had 38% female and 62% male employees, likely impacted by it having a manual workforce.

In relation to gender pay gap reporting, the Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property explained that all employers with 250+ employees had to declare this information and that for the Council the ratio in 2022 was 3.46% higher for women.

In relation to job applicants, the Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property said that 60% had been white, 92% had not reported a disability and the majority were aged between 25 and 34, which was lower than the majority Council employee age which was between 45 to 54.

In relation to Rushcliffe Borough Councillors, the Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property said that 66% were male and the majority were aged 65+. The Council did not currently record Councillor ethnicity.

The Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property presented an update on the Equality and Diversity Scheme and explained that the scheme had evolved to become a live document with a supporting action plan to proactively monitor progress. She confirmed that the Action Plan had been adopted in May 2021 and was reported to this Group annually, to review work carried out over the last 12 months and to influence planning for the coming 12 months.

The Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property said that the focus was to make Rushcliffe a welcoming place with easy to access services for everyone, and a place where everyone could achieve their potential. She said that the aim was for these ambitions to be embedded across the Council and as such it had been designated as a strategic task which would be regularly reported on. Training had also been provided for all staff and Councillors and the Council would be further supported by East Midlands Councils in shaping the work of the Steering Group.

The Service Manager for Economic Growth and Property highlighted schemes which had been delivered by the Council over the past year, including at Rushcliffe Country Park which had a new shelter with hard flooring and wheelchair accessible benches and paths and a changing places toilet, Bingham Arena which had been built to the highest accessibility standards  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

The Service Manager for Corporate Services introduced the Financial and Performance item and noted that performance had been delivered through a pandemic, the implementation of Brexit, the war in Ukraine and a cost of living crisis.

The Finance Business Partner presented the Q4 Financial Report. She confirmed that the Council’s Statement of Accounts for 2022/23 had been published on 31 May 2023 in accordance with statutory deadlines.

The Finance Business Partner said that the Council had an overall revenue efficiency position of £1.979m which was summarised in Table 1, with the mean variances summarised in Table 2 and all variances detailed in Appendix A. She said that the main overspends were due to agency costs for the Planning and Waste Teams, delays in the Crematorium and Bingham Arena and for fleet repairs.  She confirmed that the Planning Team was now fully established and their reliance on agency staff would reduce going forwards.

The Finance Business Partner said that the main underspend was due to increased planning income, income from Edwalton Golf Course and from interest from investments due to the rise in interest rates.

The Finance Business Partner explained that business rates reliefs were applied to 2044 businesses who benefitted from over £8.7m of additional rates relief and that the Council has administered grants for Energy Rebates of £150 each which totalled £5.644m. The Council had also distributed grants under the Energy Bills Support Scheme and the Alternative Fuel Payments totalling £0.171m.

In relation to 2022/23 efficiency savings of £33k, the Finance Business Partner said that this had been used to supplement the Government funding to discount Council Tax bills. 

In relation to UK Shared Prosperity and Rural England Prosperity Funding, the Finance Business Partner explained that the Council would receive £2.571m over the next three years and confirmed that the Council had brought Streetwise inhouse on 1 September 2022. She said that the net outturn position for 2022/23 gave a £0.189m overspend largely due to the additional costs pressures of pay and inflation.

In relation to Rushcliffe Oaks Crematorium and Bingham Arena and Enterprise Centre, the Finance Business Partner reported that Rushcliffe Oaks cremations were in line with targets and that the Enterprise Centre had 92% occupancy.

The Finance Business Partner referred to revenue reserves and said that there was a net transfer of £4.003m as detailed in Appendix B, of which key transfers were £1.017m from the New Homes Bonus reserve to offset the Minimum revenue Provision, £2.466m from the Organisation Stabilisation Reserve and £3.707m appropriated to meet the collection fund deficit.

In relation to transfers in, the Finance Business Partner said that these totalled £4.763m, with significant items being £1.587m New Homes Bonus receipts, £1.006m from in year efficiencies and £0.973m to the Treasury Capital Depreciation Reserve which was approved as part of Quarter 3 revenue reporting.

The Finance Business Partner said that the overall level of reserves was healthy at £19.572m although there were risks going forward from inflation and pay increases and the uncertainty regarding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

The Chair referred to Appendix 2 which set out matrices of items that had already been approved by the former Corporate Overview Group and included onto the scrutiny programme for 2023/24.

In relation to Biodiversity Net Gain item, the Service Manager for Corporate Services said that the Council sought to have a draft scheme in place in readiness for Government regulations due for release in November 2023. The Vice Chair of Governance Scrutiny Group asked for information about the timing of hedgerow cutting to be included.

Councillor Thomas joined the meeting to present her matrix for Housing density in new housing sites. She said that housing site applications would come forward with an expected number of houses which often increased during the planning process, which was of concern to residents and impacted on the infrastructure available. She said that her proposal was to review how the initial housing numbers were determined and whether that process could be more robust.

Councillor Thomas referred to housing density being closely related to housing mix with bigger houses requiring more space, including how much open space was provided on the estate. She referred to Government proposals that housing density should be looked at in terms of existing housing density in the area, which would lead to replication of housing mix rather than a wider diversity. She said that a broadbrush approach may not provide the best housing mix and that it was important to make best and most efficient use of each piece of land.  She said that the process for planning of estates needed to be reviewed and required more scrutiny and discussion than a briefing note

The Chair noted the recommendation for a briefing note in the first instance but said that this did not preclude it coming forward for scrutiny thereafter.

The Group asked about the process for determination and programming of scrutiny items and the Service Manager for Corporate Services explained that Appendix 4 set out the current programme, noting that each meeting reviewed one or two items which allowed a maximum of 8 scrutiny items per group per year. She said that time for Officers to collate and review information also need to be considered in the programming and that sometimes it could be more expedient to provide the information in a different way.

The Group asked whether housing density sat within an existing policy which was due for review and the Service Manager for Corporate Services said that it may fit within the Local Plan linked to the work of the Local Development Framework Group.

In relation to provision of the briefing note, the Service Manager for Corporate Services said that this would enable information to be provided sooner than the item could be programmed into the scrutiny schedule and which could then be refined as to what information was to be reviewed. The Group agreed for this item to be taken forward in the scrutiny work programme.

Councillor Thomas presented her matrix for Management of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.