The Cabinet Member for Public Protection advised the Committee of the sad news that Traci Dixon, Group Manager at South Essex Homes, had very recently passed away following a long illness. The Committee asked that their sincere condolences be forwarded to her family at the appropriate time.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor B Arscott (substitute Cllr J Garston), Councillor F Evans (substitute Cllr Buck), Councillor H McDonald (substitute Cllr L Burton), Councillor D Norman MBE (substitute Cllr Borton) and Councillor M Stafford (no substitute).

The following declarations of interest were made at the meeting:-

(a)   Councillors Lamb, Cox and Flewitt (Cabinet Members) – Disqualifying non-pecuniary interests in the called in items / referred item; 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 relating to Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy - non-pecuniary interest - friends and family are tenants of South Essex Homes;

(c)    Councillor McGlone – agenda item relating to Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy- non-pecuniary – member of SEH Board;

(d)   Councillor Burzotta – agenda items relating to – High Street Summit; Southend Town Centre & PSPO – non-pecuniary – family business off High Street;

(e)   Councillor Nelson - agenda item relating to High Street Summit – non-pecuniary – his employer, James Duddridge MP, attended the meeting referred to;

(f)     Councillor J Garston – agenda tem relating to Southend Town Centre & PSPO – non-pecuniary – lives in the consultation area;

(g)   Councillor D Garston – agenda tem relating to Southend Town Centre & PSPO – non-pecuniary – son lives in the consultation area;

(h)   Councillor Mulroney – agenda item relating to Notice of Motion re Fossil Fuels - non-pecuniary – member of Essex Pension Scheme;

(i)     Councillor McGlone – agenda item relating to Notice of Motion re Fossil Fuels - non-pecuniary – member of Essex Pension Scheme.

Officers interests:

Note - Alison Griffin was not in attendance for this agenda item - Southend Town Centre & Seafront Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) – lives in area of draft PSPO Order.

The responses to the questions submitted by Mr Webb will be forwarded to him as he was not present at the meeting.

Resolved:-

That the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 10^th October, 2018 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Minute 423 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item 4 refers)

Referred direct to all three Scrutiny Committees

The Committee considered Minute 423 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 6^th November 2018, which had been referred direct to all three Scrutiny Committees for consideration, together with the report of the Chief Executive setting out the proposed draft Ambition, Themes and Outcomes and Southend 2050 Five Year Road Map.

The Committee also received a presentation by Tim MacGregor (Team Manager - Policy and Information Management) and Rob Walters (Senior Partnership Advisor, Engagement) which provided:

·           An overview of the scope and findings of the Southend 2050 engagement programme; and

·           Feedback received from Councillors and others to date, which will inform a revised version of the documentation to be submitted to Cabinet on 4^th December 2018.

The Leader of the Council thanked all of those who had submitted feedback so far. He also explained that further issues raised by the Scrutiny Committees would be taken on board in the preparation of the revised Road Map, including those from the Place Scrutiny Committee held on 26 November 2018 and the People Scrutiny Committee held on 27^th November 2018 and the following additional matters raised at this meeting of the Scrutiny Committee:-

·           the need for more Police resources in the Borough

·           place a greater emphasis on the provision of affordable housing, including social housing for rent

·           the need for associated infrastructure in connection with all housing development

·           include a greater focus on health inequalities in the Borough

·           include reference to enhanced community engagement by increasing Council and Councillor visibility at public events such as the Carnival.  

Resolved:-

1.     That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:

“1. That the findings of the Southend 2050 engagement programme be welcomed and noted.

2. That the Ambition, Themes & Outcomes and the Southend 2050 Five Year Road Map, as set out in Appendices A, B and C to the submitted report, be endorsed.

3. That the Transforming Together programme, outlined in paragraph 6 of the submitted report, be noted and endorsed.

4. That the matter be referred direct to the Policy & Resources, Place and People Scrutiny Committees.”

2. That the officers involved in the 2050 programme be thanked for their hard work.

Note: Approval of the Southend 2050 Ambition, Themes & Outcomes and Five Year Road Map is a Council Function.

Referred direct to: all three Scrutiny Committees

Cabinet Member: Cllr Lamb

Members are reminded to bring with them the most recent MPR for period end September 2018 circulated recently.

Comments/questions should be made at the appropriate Scrutiny Committee relevant to the subject matter.

The Committee considered the Monthly Performance Report covering the period to end September 2018, which had been circulated recently.

In response to questions regarding the community safety indicators, the Cabinet Member for Public Protection agreed to provide a written response as to why the BCS crime figures contained in the report related to August whereas the data on the Essex Police website had the September figures.

Resolved:-

That the report be noted.

Note:- This is an Executive Function.

Cabinet Member:- As appropriate to the item.

Minute 425 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item No. 5 refers)

Called-in by Councillors L Burton, M Dent, R Woodley and M Terry

The Committee considered Minute 424 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 6^th November 2018, which had called in to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) which sought approval for the submitted Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy.

In response to questions the Cabinet Member for Adults and Housing said that he would be happy to make some minor changes to the document, to incorporate further details in the Strategy as to the reasons why people become homeless. He also agreed to consider the best approach to undertake monitoring of performance against the Strategy.

Resolved:-

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:-

“1. That the Housing, Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy, be approved.

2. That the proposed dynamic and continuous approach to engagement and consultation in order to support ongoing development of the action plan and its implementation, be approved.

3. That the design work and the approach to ensuring that the strategy works alongside other key priorities continues to develop following Cabinet, be approved.

4. That authority be delegated to the Corporate Management Team, in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Adults and Housing and other Directors as required, for the implementation and delivery of the Strategy.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Cox

Minute 426 (Report circulated separately, Agenda Item No.7 refers)

Called in by Councillors D Norman MBE, L Burton, J Garston, K Buck, R Woodley and M Terry

 (Also called in to Place Scrutiny Committee)

The Committee considered Minute 426 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 6^th November 2018, which had called in to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Chief Executive providing an update on work being undertaken following the High Street Summit which took place on 24^th September 2018, including the emerging action plan and approaches being organised through which to coordinate and drive this work.

In response to questions, the Cabinet Member for Public Protection advised the Committee that:-

·           he would consider the best way to report updates to the action plan (could be included in future MPR for example)

·           with regard to the task detailed at 1.3 of the action plan, he agreed to provide a written response on the issues raised in the House of Commons

·           he would arrange for a written response on the numbers in the rough sleeper count conducted at the end of September.

Resolved:-

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:-

“1. That the progress being made be endorsed.

2. That the additional officer resource already aligned to support the implementation and delivery of this project, be endorsed.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Members: Cllrs Lamb, Courtenay and Flewitt

Minute 427 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item No.8 refers)

Called in by Councillors C Nevin, L Burton, J Garston, D Nelson, R Woodley and M Terry

The Committee considered Minute 427 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 6^th November 2018, which had called in to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Strategic Director (Legal & Democratic Services) requesting that consideration be given to whether the Council should commence statutory consultation on the making of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) under Section 59 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

In response to questions, the Cabinet Member for Public Protection:-

·           explained that there was no pre-determined view on the matter;

·           gave an assurance that the Equalities Analysis document would be made available within 7-10 working days;

·           said that all councillors will receive a link to the consultation; and

·           agreed that the stakeholders listed on page 9 (e), will be amended to read – all Councillors and MP’s.

Resolved:-

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:-

“1. That consultation be undertaken into the possibility of the Council making a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) under Section 59 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 in respect of the area and activities detailed in Appendix 2 to the submitted report.

2. That the proposed consultation process be as set out in section 3.5(e) of the report.

3. That the consultation process to also cover the revocation of the existing Designated Public Place Order /PSPO as outlined in section 3.5(g) of the report.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Flewitt

Minute 432 (Cabinet Book 2, Agenda Item 13 refers)

Called-in by Councillors M Dent and L Burton

The Committee considered Minute 432 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 6^th November 2018, which had called in to Scrutiny. This concerned the notice of motion calling on the Council to request the Essex Pensions Committee to divert investment away from fossil fuels which had been proposed by Councillor Ware-Lane and seconded by Councillor Dent.

Resolved:-

1.     That the following decision of Cabinet be noted:-

“1. That it be noted that the Essex Pension Fund has advised that it has a fiduciary duty to ensure it has sufficient funds to pay pensions on behalf of more than 150,000 people.  Investment decisions must therefore be directed towards achieving what is best for the financial position of the Fund.  In order to maximise returns, the Fund has a diverse range of investments including investment attributed to the energy/mining sector.

2.     That the approach adopted by the Essex Pension Fund, be endorsed.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Lamb

Minute 436 (Cabinet Book 3, Agenda item No. 17 refers)

Called-in by Councillors R Woodley and M Terry

(Also called-in to the Place Scrutiny Committee and People Scrutiny Committee)

The Committee considered Minute 436 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 6^th November 2018, which had been called in to scrutiny, together with a report of the Strategic Director (Finance & Resources) setting out the Council’s revenue and capital budgetary performance as at September 2018.

Resolved:-

That the following recommendations of Cabinet be noted:-

“In respect of the 2018/19 Revenue Budget Monitoring, as set out in Appendix 1 to the submitted report:

Note: This is a Council Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Lamb

Minute 438 (Cabinet Book 3, Agenda Item No. 19 refers)

Called-in by Councillors R Woodley and M Terry

The Committee considered Minute 438 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 6^th November 2018, which had been called in to scrutiny, together with a report of the Strategic Director (Finance & Resources) recommending in-year amendments to the approved Capital Programme for 2018/19 to 2021/22.

Resolved:-

That the following recommendations of cabinet be noted:-

Note: This is a Council Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Lamb

Further to Minute 370 of its meeting held on 10^th October 2018, the Committee received an oral update on the progress that had been made with the joint in-depth study with the Place Scrutiny Committee to date.

Resolved:-

That the update be noted

Note:- This is a Scrutiny Function.

to follow

Resolved:-

That the Minutes of the meeting on the Chairmen’s Scrutiny Forum held on Tuesday, 20^th November, 2018 be received and noted.

Note:- This is a Scrutiny Function.