Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jarvis (Substitute: Councillor Arscott) and Kenyon (no substitute).

The following interests were declared at the meeting:

(a)  Councillors Cox, Flewitt and Holland (Executive Councillors) – Disqualifying non-pecuniary interests in all the called-in/referred items; attended pursuant to the dispensation agreed at Council on 19th July 2012, under S.33 of the Localism Act 2011;

(b)  Councillor Flewitt – Agenda Item No. 5 (Fire Safety Measures following Grenfell Tower Tragedy) – Non-pecuniary interest: Friends and family are tenants of South Essex Homes;

(c)  Councillor McGlone – 5 (Fire Safety Measures following Grenfell Tower Tragedy) – Non-pecuniary interest: Board Member of South Essex Homes; and

(d)  Councillor Terry – Agenda Item No. 7 (Skills Strategy) – Non-pecuniary interest: Partner works for the local education authority.

The Executive Councillor for Transport, Waste and Regulatory Services responded to two written questions from Mr Webb.

Resolved:-

That the Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 10^th July 2017 be received, confirmed as a correct record and signed.

Minute 307 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item No. 4 refers)

Called in by Councillors Gilbert, Terry, Ware-Lane and Woodley

The Committee considered Minute 307 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 19^th September 2017, which had been called-in to Scrutiny, together with the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place), which appraised Members of the action the Council has taken following the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.

Resolved:

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:

“1. That the action taken to date, be noted.

2. That it be noted that a further report will be submitted to Cabinet detailing the outcomes of the first phase of the Fire Safety review being undertaken by the Council, South Essex Homes and Essex Fire & Rescue Service.

3. That it be agreed that there is consideration in the Capital Budget proposals for 2018/19 to fund any necessary remedial work or fire safety improvements that are identified by the review set out in resolution 2 above”

Note:  This is an Executive function

Executive Councillor: Flewitt

Referred direct to Scrutiny and called-in by Councillors Terry and Woodley.

Members are asked to bring with them the most recent MPR for period ending July 2017. Comments / questions should be made at the appropriate Scrutiny Committee relevant to the subject matter.

The Committee considered the Monthly Performance Report (MPR) covering the period to end July 2017, which had been circulated recently.

Resolved:-

That the report be noted.

Note: This is an Executive function.

Executive Councillor:- As appropriate to the item.

Minute 317 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item No. 14 refers)

Called in by Councillors Gilbert and Jones

The Committee considered Minute 317 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 19^th September 2017, which had been called-in to Scrutiny, together with the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) that updated Members on the development of a Skills and Labour Market Strategy for Southend-on-Sea 2018-2022.

In response to questions regarding the consultation process, the Executive Councillor for Culture, Tourism and The Economy undertook to repeat the presentation previously arranged and to circulate the slides to all Members of the Council for their information.

Resolved:

That the following decision of Cabinet be noted:

“That the Towards a Skills and Labour Market Strategy for Southend-on-Sea, attached at appendix 1 to the submitted report, for wider consultation, be approved.”

Note: This is an Executive function

Executive Councillor: Holland

Minute 318 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item No. 15 refers)

Called in by Councillors Borton, Terry, Ware-Lane and Woodley.

The Committee considered Minute 318 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 19th September 2017, which had been called-in to Scrutiny, together with the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) which sought approval to launch a set of energy generation, storage and management services under the Southend Energy brand underpinned by minimum standards and an associated marketing campaign.

Resolved:

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:

“1. That a set of minimum standards for energy generation and storage devices and associated management services to be managed through the proposed governance process, be established.

2. That the devices and services be marketed to help households to save money and reduce their net energy consumption.

3. That the scheme be supported by an appropriate governance process, as set out in paragraph 5 of the submitted report, that will approve suppliers and processes for the scheme and the marketing for both the scheme, as a whole, and individual suppliers.

4. That it be noted that the scheme will be funded over time by referral fees and marketing contributions from suppliers with an initial investment of £50k from the Business Transformation Fund (already approved) to launch the scheme and to fund one staffing post until revenues cover on-going costs.  Over time, any net revenues will be used to fund the energy team.”

Note: This is an Executive function

Executive Councillor: Holland

Minute 319 (Cabinet Book 2, Agenda Item No. 16 refers)

Called-in by Councillors Gilbert, Terry, Ware-Lane and Woodley

The Committee considered Minute 319 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 19th September 2017, which had been called-in to Scrutiny, together with the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) that provided an update on the progress of the Southend Central Area Transport Scheme (S-CATS).

Resolved:

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:

“1. That either of the  two design options for London Road (between Queensway and College Way) be taken forward to construction which will allow selection of the final design to be carried out in consultation with stakeholders and public.

2. That the drainage works can be started along London Road in September 2017, in preparation for the scheme construction to start in October 2017.

3. That the authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive (Place), in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Executive Councillor for Transport, Waste and Regulatory Services, to agree the final design option, Option A or Option B, selected after stakeholder and public consultation, to be taken forward to implementation with a programmed commencement in October 2017, together with the advertisement of any necessary Traffic Regulation Orders.”

Note: This is an Executive function.

Executive Councillor: Cox

Minute 320 (Cabinet Book 2, Agenda Item No. 17 refers)

Called-in by Councillors Gilbert, Terry, Ware-Lane and Woodley

The Committee considered Minute 320 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 19th September 2017, which had been called-in to Scrutiny, together with the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) that informed Members of the large object social history collection of Southend Museums Service and set out a future plan for maximising related resources.

During the discussion of this item, the Executive Councillor for Culture, Tourism and the Economy gave her assurances that a list of objects identified for disposal would be circulated to Members before the items are disposed of.  Councillors would also be afforded the opportunity to view objects prior to disposal if they wished.

Resolved:

That the following decision of Cabinet be noted:

“That the submitted proposals for the future of the Museum Service’s large object social history collection be approved.”

Note: This is an Executive function

Executive Councillor: Holland

Minute 321 (Cabinet Book 2, Agenda Item No. 18refers)

Called-in by Councillors Gilbert, Terry, Ware-Lane and Ware-Lane

The Committee considered Minute 321 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 19th September 2017, which had been called-in to Scrutiny, together with the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) that provided an update on progress in developing the Council’s approach to Highways/Transport Infrastructure Asset Management (HIAM) and requesting that consideration be given to the Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan (HIAMP).

Resolved:

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:

“1. That the HIAMP and associated appendices as the Council’s approach to asset management and operational service delivery, be approved.

2. That continued cross boundary joint working on asset management, enabling better understanding and development of collaborative working, benchmarking and efficiency, resilience, customer communications and operation delivery to support the management of assets in Southend-on-Sea, be approved.

3. That the lifecycle plans which form the basis for the prediction of future performance of a group of assets, based on investment scenarios and maintenance strategies, be noted.

4. That it be agreed that the HIAMP and appendices will influence the Council’s approach to highway maintenance and management of assets in order to meet the requirements as set out by the Department of Transport.

5. That the increase of the Council’s banding for the next Department for Transport self-assessment questionnaire (SaQ) return, be noted.  (The result of which will be the Council will receive its full funding awards and improve the case for additional funding grants by adopting asset management principles).”

Note: This is an Executive function

Executive Councillor: Cox

Minute 323 (Items 1.1 ( Request to Implement an Experimental Traffic Regulation order in Lifstan Way near to the Railway Bridge)

and 2.1 (Request to Implement an Experimental Traffic Regulation order in Lifstan Way near to the Railway Bridge and other potential locations) only (Cabinet Book 2, Agenda Item No. 20 refers)

Called-in by Councillors Gilbert and Ware-Lane

The Committee considered Minute 323 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 19th September 2017, together with the report which summarised the actions taken in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 46.

Resolved:

That the submitted report be noted.

Note: This is an Executive function

Executive Councillor: As appropriate to the item

Further to Minute 151 of its meeting held on 10th July 2017, the Committee considered the project plan in relation to the agreed in-depth scrutiny project for 2017/18 entitled “Maximising the use of technology through the Smart Cities and Digital Futures agendas”.

The Committee also received and oral update on the progress that had been made with the study to date

Resolved:-

That the project plan be agreed.

Note:- This is a Scrutiny Function.