Agenda and draft minutes

Link to further information in the Council’s Constitution

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 June 2025 were agreed as an accurate record and were signed by the Chair.

Report of the Director – Neighbourhoods

The Strategic HR Manager presented the annual Health and Safety Report which provided a summary of the Council’s occupational health and safety performance for the period 1 April 2024 to the end of March 2025.

The Strategic HR Manager highlighted the current safety risk profile, the appointment of the new Health and Safety Advisor, and a summary of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) visit.

In addition, the Group was advised of the Health and Safety objectives for 2025/26 as follows:

·       Prioritise the review and update of policies that are over 3 years old

·       Continue to improve the induction programme for high-risk work areas

·       Health and safety compliance audits of medium to low-risk areas across the authority

·       Risk assessment and training audit continuation

·       Continue to deliver appropriate workplace health initiatives in line with employees’ needs

·       Review duty to manage Asbestos to ensure all RBC occupied buildings are compliant

·       of lone worker procedures and controls.

With regards to the HSE visit on the 30 January 2025, the Strategic HR Manager advised the Group this was a targeted visit in relation to a notification of an employee diagnosed with vibration white finger and under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), the Council is required by law to notify HSE about certain occupational incidents. The Strategic HR Manager reassured the Group there were no material breaches found by HSE during their visit and it is believed the exposure to vibration in this incident was from a previous employer.

The Group were advised thar HSE are required to carry out a full inspection on site when they have completed a visit in relation to RIDDOR and the HSE inspector returned to the Streetwise Depot on 12 February 2025 and concluded no material breaches were noted, only a few verbal recommendations which have been addressed.

The Strategic HR Manager advised the Group of some of the key activities including policy reviews, health and safety audits and visits and observations at Rushcliffe Country Park, Streetwise and R2Go Eastcroft Depot and reviewing health and safety training needs across the Council.

The Strategic HR Manager advised of a change to the delivery of service and the recruitment of a new Health and Safety Officer increasing the hours previously set from 18.5 to 26 hours per week.

Councillor Simms asked a specific question around the recent employee diagnosis of Hand Arm Vibration and what occupational health pre-checks were in place to of prevented this escalating to a HSE visit. Councillor Simms also stated that he was surprised that the HSE had not insisted on the Health and Safety officer role being full time and felt 26 hours were not enough to cover an authority of this size. The Strategic HR Manager explained that a pre-employment questionnaire had been completed by the employee which asks the individual to declare any pre-conditions, which in this particular case the condition had not yet been diagnosed and the condition can build up over time and therefore it was reported that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

The Senior Finance Business Partner presented the Q1 Finance Monitoring report for 2025/26 and took the Group through some key points in the report.

The Group were asked to note a couple of clerical errors the first in recommendation c) the project overspend on Special Expenses should read £11.3k and secondly at 4.4 and 4.13 the underspend to support additional costs should read £0.377m.

The Senior Finance Business Partner highlighted the significant variances arising from savings in refuse collection resulting from housing development progressing slower than expected. This is expected to be earmarked for additional cost pressures and financial challenges, mainly to support the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and Simpler Recycling.

The Group were advised of a capital budget underspend due to the reduction in expenditure on Warm Homes Grants to match final indicative funding notification.

The Senior Finance Business Partner highlighted the Q1 position of the Special Expenses budget and the expenditure projected to being £11.3k above budget and explained this was due to security improvements at Bridgford Park and responsive works at West Park including repairs to doors and grounds work. Extra costs had also been incurred due to anti-social behaviour patrols at Bridgford Park which has been offset by funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner.

In summarising, the Senior Finance Business Partner advised that the financial position remains healthy but that this can quickly change especially with the challenges of LGR.

The Head of Corporate Services presented the Q1 Performance Monitoring report in line with the Corporate Strategy 2024-27 approved at Council on 7 December 2023.

The Group were advised that there are eight performance measures that have not met target this year. These are primarily community facilities (two performance indicators), Rushcliffe Oaks Crematorium (two performance indicators) and Waste Management (two performance indicators).

The Head of Corporate Services explained that the Communities Scrutiny Group had scrutinised the under-performance of community facilities and the Crematorium, and as a result action plans were put in place, but that it will take some time for any benefits to be realised. With regards to the performance of waste management this is lower than historic levels due to waiting on the Environment Act changes and the introduction of Simpler Recycling to be implemented later this year.

Councillor Plant asked two specific questions relating to Rushcliffe Oaks and whether there were any significant issues with the service and whether there will be a review of the Council’s assets and if this come to a Full Council meeting for consideration. The Head of Corporate Services advised that feedback from the Crematorium continues to be positive and with regards to an asset review this would only come to Full Council if a decision needed to be made regarding an asset’s disposal.

Councillor Plant asked a further question relating to the current position of Disabled Facility Grants. The Senior Finance Business Partner explained there are two pots of funding, Mandatory and Discretionary both and the Council is still in the position to provide both funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Councillor Combellack, Chair of Growth and Development Scrutiny Group provided feedback from the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group held on the 16 July 2025, where the Group were presented a report on the East Midlands Freeport development. Councillor Combellack reported there had been very little progress and felt the presentation and update the Group received was underwhelming. She added that there had been some discussion around the remodelling of J24 on the M1 and asked whether the Freeport could be brought back to Growth and Development as an update as she felt that questions Councillors had raised had not been addressed.

Councillor Plant had attended the Growth and Development Scrutiny meeting in July, adding that she felt there had been with very little movement or evidence of a solid direction with the Freeport.

Councillor Parekh, Chair of Communities Scrutiny Group provided feedback from the last meeting of Communities Scrutiny Group held on 24 July 2025, where the Group were presented a report on Metropolitan Trent Valley Housing (MTVH). Councillor Parekh reported that MTVH had provided an update on its performance. However, she felt the Councillors discussion and questions that followed had not been addressed by MTVH and she didn’t feel reassured by their responses. Councillor Parekh felt that MTVH were very defensive in their responses and unwilling to accept responsibility or take any action. The Group had requested the item return next year to ensure Councillor feedback had been acted upon.

The Head of Corporate Services explained that in the Terms of Reference for Corporate Overview Group, scrutiny items are not normally accepted within a 2-year period which will prevent the same scrutiny request being accepted.

The Chair suggested that Councillor Parekh and members of Communities Scrutiny Group look at where the item may be explored further in order for it to be brought forward again for scrutiny.

Councillor Simms, Chair of Governance Scrutiny Group provided feedback from the Governance Scrutiny Group meeting held on 19 June 2025, where the Group discussed the Council’s Internal Audit Progress and Internal Audit Plan, Annual Fraud Report, External Audit Plan, Annual Governance Statement and the Capital and Investment Strategy.

Councillor Simms highlighted his concern over an anomaly that had been discovered in relation to licencing that had not been picked up for a number of years. He added that he had agreed for the auditors to investigate it for now but was not reassured that lessons had been learnt. He expressed his intention to bring the matter up again at the next meeting of Governance Scrutiny Group.

With regards to Scrutiny, all Chairs and Vice-Chairs raised concerns about the feedback that was being provided after the meetings and whether officers were taking action on the views expressed by Councillors at the meetings.

All members of the Group were keen to remove the ‘2-year rule’ which currently prevents the same scrutiny request being accepted within a 2-year period. Councillor Simms, Chair of Governance Scrutiny Group proposed to look at the terms of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Head of Corporate Services highlighted an action from the recent Corporate Peer Challenge which had suggested the Council review its scrutiny process. She referenced the number of requests sent to Councillors in relation to the review seeking their feedback and input. She reported that only a small amount of feedback had been received and that if this remained the position after a final call for feedback this week then it was possible that the review would be reprioritised.

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services