Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

At this point Members must declare whether they have an interest, whether personal or prejudicial, in any of the items on the agenda. Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.

Agenda item 5 -  Public Consultation Response to the Draft Peterborough Housing Strategy 2011-15

Councillor Murphy declared a personal interest in that he was part of the ‘Can Do’ operation in Millfield which was mentioned in the Draft Housing Strategy.

Agenda item 7 -  Forward Plan

Councillor Murphy declared a personal interest in that he lived near Vawser Lodge.

• 13 October 2011
• 18 October 2011
• 8 November 2011

• 13 October 2011
• 18 October 2011
• 8 November 2011

The minutes of the meetings held on the above dates were all approved and an accurate record.

The decision notice for each decision will bear the date on which it is published and will specify that the decision may then be implemented on the expiry of 3 working days after the publication of the decision (not including the date of publication), unless a request for call-in of the decision is received from any two Members of a Scrutiny Committee or Scrutiny Commissions.  If a request for call-in of a decision is received, implementation of the decision remains suspended for consideration by the relevant Scrutiny Committee or Commission.

There were no requests for call-in to consider.

The purpose of the report was to seek comments from the Committee on the draft consultation report that set out the comments received and responses proposed to key issues which had arisen from the public consultation on the draft Peterborough Housing Strategy 2011-15 (incorporating the Peterborough Strategic Tenancy Policy). The Strategy set out the council’s policies, commitments and programme for the period 2011-2015 for a wide range of housing matters. There were four headline priority areas within the Strategy:

·         supporting the delivery of substantial yet sustainable growth;

·         securing the regeneration and improvements to Peterborough’s housing stock;

·         meeting existing and future housing needs; and

·         encouraging the development of mixed and sustainable communities

The Housing Strategy Manager and the Head of Planning, Transport and Engineering Services went through the Strategy and highlighted any changes that had been made to the Strategy as a result of the consultation.

Questions and observations were made around the following areas:

Draft Housing Policy

Policy HS6 – Use of city council land to delivery housing growth

·         Members noted that HS6 Policy was to be changed to make provision to allow the council to dispose of land by something other than best value.  Members were concerned that when it came to the disposal of land not enough was being done to advertise the disposal and that disposal of land may be at under value.   Members were advised that the disposal of property at less that best value had always been an option providing the reasons were clear, transparent and justifiable.  The Councils policy was always to obtain the best value for the asset for which it disposes unless it was for social good and a rational or reason of why it was being disposed of for less than good value would have to be given.  The decision would have to go through a Cabinet Member decision notice which would clearly state the reasons why the asset was being sold for less than best value. It would then allow challenge to the decision.

·         When does the Committee have an opportunity to scrutinise the Capital Asset Disposal Policy.  The Principal Solicitor advised Members that there was no actual Capital Asset Disposal Policy per se but a disposal strategy, disposal of assets are dealt with via the Medium Term Financial Plan and therefore Members can scrutinise the proposals via the Plan.  Members were also advised that the disposal of land by the Council was governed by section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 as such any disposal of land must accord with the legislative provisions.  The Act clearly set out how and when the Authority could dispose of land and that market value / best value for the land should always be sought unless other issues dictated otherwise. 

Policy HS 35 – Managing the growth of the Housing in Multiple Occupation (HMO) sector.

·          In the wording of Policy HS35 there is a suggestion of adding the wording ‘exploring the use of a ‘selective licensing scheme’ for rented accommodation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Acting Head of HR presented the report which informed the Committee of HR developments, updates and priorities over the past year.  This included:

·         Training and development

·         Organisational development

·         Employee Relations

·         HR Team Service Delivery

Also included was a People Report which provided key workforce statistics as at December 2011.

Members wanted to know what had been the key challenges and key achievements over the past year.  The Acting Head of HR informed Members that key challenges had been supporting the organisation to achieve the outcomes of the Medium Term Financial Strategy and in particular the head count reductions and changes in the terms and conditions.

In the last twelve months HR had:

1. Managed over 180 redundancies resulting in no employee litigation against the council or any employee tribunals.
2. Engaged with the Unions to reach an agreement for ways to save money through changing terms and conditions.
3. Managed two major TUPE transfers to Enterprise and Serco.
4. Addressed the attendance issues to reduce absenteeism from 5% to 3%.
5. Achieved the Bronze Investors in People Standard and was now working towards the Silver award.
6. Embedded the Performance Review Process.

Questions and observations were made around the following areas:

·         The Chair commented that the People Management Report contained too much information at a lower level and suggested that in future a more simplified report be provided.  The Chair suggested that before the next report that officers attend a Group Representatives meeting to discuss the presentation of the data.

·         The report states that only 68% of all employees have had an annual Performance and Development Review (PDR).  Was it envisaged that all employees would eventually have a PDR.  The goal had been to have almost 100% of employees having had a PDR, there would never be a 100% completion as there would always be some staff on maternity leave or long term sick.  98% would be a realistic target.  There was a continual push from HR to Managers to try and achieve this.

·         What happened to employees who exceeded expectations and got either a grade 4 or grade 5 in their review?  Did they receive a financial reward?  Was there a way of incentivising people to exceed expectations?  No formal recognition scheme was in place. There were mechanisms in place to award honorariums and it was also taken into account when people were promoted. 

·         Do you keep track of any redundancies that are made at our outsourcing partners Serco and Enterprise?  The only linkage the Council had was through the Trade Unions. The Client Manager  would manage the contract.

·         Have any payments been made above the statutory redundancy payments either for Payment in Lieu of Notice or for no publicity clauses and what did they add up to and does this include legal costs.  All of the redundancy payments were in line with the Councils redundancy policy.  The Councils redundancy terms were better than the statutory payment.  The cost to the Council for voluntary redundancy and compulsory redundancy was exactly the same.  The employee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

            The Committee received the latest version of the Council’s Forward Plan, containing key decisions that the Leader of the Council anticipated the Cabinet or individual Cabinet Members would make during the course of the following four months.  Members were invited to comment on the Plan and, where appropriate, identify any relevant areas for inclusion in the Committee’s work programme.

ACTION AGREED

To note the latest version of the Forward Plan.

Members considered the Committee’s Work Programme for 2011/12 and discussed possible items for inclusion.

ACTION AGREED

To confirm the work programme for 2011/12 and the Scrutiny Officer to include any additional items as requested during the meeting.

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Tuesday 6 March 2012