Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting. 

Members declared interest with regard to the following agenda items:

7. Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme.

Councillor Trevor Stevens, Prejudicial, as the owner of a business in Kidlington High Street that might be affected by the proposed pedestrianisation scheme.

The Chairman to advise whether they have agreed to any item of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There was no urgent business.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 9 February 2010.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9 February 2010 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing, the Strategic Director, Planning Housing and Economy and officers from Planning and Housing Services will be present at the meeting.

This is an opportunity for the Committee to find out more about the policies and regulations applicable to conservation areas and to question officers on the Council’s use of those policies.

Following the discussion the Committee will wish to consider whether to make recommendations to the Executive or to add the topic to their work programme for more detailed scrutiny in 2010/11.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that it had previously considered the possibility of conducting a full review of built environment conservation area policy and practice in the District.  This review had not been pursued, but, at its last meeting the Committee had expressed further interest in the issues – with particular reference to Grimsbury Conservation Area and pressures to subdivide houses.  The discussion had widened to cover general housing and deprivation issues in Grimsbury.  As a result, the Committee had asked for an opportunity to meet with the Portfolio Holder Planning and Housing and relevant officers to explore all the issues that had been raised, before reconsidering whether to undertake the policy review. 

The Chairman welcomed the following guests:

• Councillor Michael Gibbard, Portfolio Holder Planning and Housing
• John Hoad, Strategic Director Planning, Housing and Economy
• Jameson Bridgwater, Head of Development Control and Major Developments
• Philip Clarke, Head of Planning and Affordable Housing Policy
• Tim Mills, Private Sector Housing Manager
• Linda Rand, Design and Conservation Team Leader

The Strategic Director Planning, Housing and Economy gave a short presentation on ‘Housing Change – Control and Management’. The presentation covered the existing planning policies and regulations; additional policies and controls that could be applied to conservation areas; the benefits and adverse impacts of the conversion of existing properties to flats and creation of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

The Strategic Director Planning, Housing and Economy noted that there had been increasing concern on the part of Grimsbury ward councillors that the level of property sub-division in the Grimsbury area was too high and could not be sustained. The Committee was advised that there were 228 known Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) in the District of which 45 were in Grimsbury. In percentage terms, the number of HMOs in the District was 0.39% and 4.5% in Grimsbury.

The Strategic Director Planning, Housing and Economy advised the Committee that there were currently a number of policies relevant to the issues identified including national planning and housing policy, the Local Development Plan, conservation area controls and private sector housing policies. The Committee was advised that from April 2010 a new power requiring planning permission for all new HMOs would come into effect. The Strategic Director Planning, Housing and Economy explained that as Local Planning Authority the Council would find itself dealing with a number of these newly required applications. It was anticipated that consideration of applications would include whether the application would result in adverse physical change, or if the level of HMOs in an area was causing social problems.  Decisions to refuse would need to be well justified, with strong evidence of harm.  It was noted that the main reason for the introduction of the new legislation was the need to manage the provision of student HMOs in University towns and cities where heavy concentrations of HMOs and severe problems of anti social behaviour were evident.

Members of the Committee acknowledged that development and change was inevitable and necessary. However they expressed concern that Cherwell  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

Report of Head of Customer Service & Information Services

Summary

This report outlines a new approach to using the contact centre and switchboard telephone systems to improve their resilience, make it quicker for customers to get the information they need, and improve the quality of information available to the Council about how calls are handled.

The Portfolio Holder for Customer Service and ICT and the Head of Customer Service and Information Systems will be present at the meeting to present the report.

Recommendations

The Committee is invited to consider the proposed changes to the Council’s telephony system and to make recommendations as appropriate to the Executive for its meeting on 12 April 2010.

The Portfolio Holder for Customer Service and ICT presented the report which set out proposals for customer access by phone.  He explained that this was to bring the Council in line with the latest customer service standards and because the existing switchboard system would be obsolete by 2015 and was already unable to manage the volume of calls at peak times. 

The new approach to using the contact centre and switchboard telephone systems was intended to make it quicker for customers to get the information they need and improve the quality of information available to the Council about how calls are handled.  The new system would limit the number of menu choices for customers to just 4 based on the most popular enquiries and a “seasonal/topical” issue.  All callers would have the option to hold for an “operator” rather than follow the automated menu options.  Performance would be measured in terms of providing the right information rather than just the speed of response.

The Committee noted that the Council would also be introducing new guidance on the use of voicemail by officers.  The underlying principle would be that voicemail should be used as a last resort and that calls should be diverted to colleagues rather than a machine.

In response to questions from Committee members the Head of Customer Service and Information Systems confirmed that Members would still be able to call officers on their direct dial numbers and that the details would be available in the Council Year Book and via blackberries.  Members of the Committee emphasise the importance of careful planning and good management during the implementation phase to minimise the inconvenience to customers. 

In conclusion the Committee welcomed the report and agreed that this was a valuable initiative to further good customer service.

Resolved

1)                 That the report setting out the proposed changes to the Council’s telephony system be endorsed.

2)                 That Executive be recommended to accept the report.

Report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

Summary

To agree topics for future meetings, to identify issues arising from the Forward Plan (March – June 2010) and to monitor the status of items on the work programme.

The Chairman of the Anti Social Behaviour Task & Finish Group will be present at the meeting to discuss the conclusions of that review and the draft recommendations to Executive.  The Strategic Director, Planning Housing and Economy will also be present and will brief the Committee on the Kidlington Pedestrianisation Capital Bid.

Recommendations

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee is recommended to:

(1)               Note the current overview and scrutiny work programme for 2009/10 as set out at Appendix 1 and make amendments as necessary;

(2)               Note the contents of the Forward Plan and identify any possible topics for scrutiny;

(3)               Note the draft report of the Anti Social Behaviour Task & Finish Group and consider whether they wish to amend or add to the recommendations to the Executive.

The Committee considered a report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services on the overview and scrutiny work programme 2009/10 and the proposed work programme for 2010/11.

Existing Work Programme

The Committee agreed that Concessionary Fares, Affordable Housing and Rural Exception Sites, Markets in Cherwell to be removed from the work programme as monitoring was complete.  If any issues relating to these topics needed to be scrutinised in the future then it would be a new piece of work.

The Committee agreed that the following topics should be considered for scrutiny in 2010/11 subject to the completion of a clearly defined scoping document: Conservation Area Policy, Youth Services and Preparations for an Ageing Population. 

Forward Plan

The Committee did not identify any further items from the Forward Plan for inclusion on their work programme.

Kidlington Pedestrianisation

The Strategic Director, Planning Housing and Economy informed the Committee that on the Kidlington Pedestrianisation capital bid (value £25,000) had been referred to scrutiny for further consideration by Council.

The Strategic Director, Planning Housing and Economy reported that the project was intended to extend the pedestrianisation of the village centre through the use of traffic orders and that there was no physical work involved other than signage.  The bid had been rejected as part of the 2010/11 budget process due to the overall financial constraints facing the Council.  However, the Portfolio Holder for Resources had indicated that a supplementary estimate could be made if the scrutiny review considered that it was justified.  The Committee noted that the scheme would bring Kidlington in to line with the other urban centres of the district.

The Committee agreed to look at the matter in more detail at their June or July meeting and that local Members, representatives from the Kidlington Pedestrianisation Project Board and Kidlington Parish Council and lead officers from Cherwell District Council should be present at the discussion. 

Crime and Anti Social Behaviour Task & Finish Group Report

The Chairman of the Task & Finish Group was present at the meeting to respond to the concerns raised by the Committee at its February meeting regarding the content of the report and the length of time that it had taken to Task & Finish Group to conclude its review. 

The Committee was advised that the delays had been in part due to constraints on officer and member time and also because the original remit of the Task & Finish Group had been too wide and it had proved difficult to stick to a narrower line of enquiry.  Members of the Committee who had also served on the Task & Finish Group re-affirmed their belief that the scrutiny review had been a success, not least because it was the first such review to actively involve young people and other community groups.

The Democratic Scrutiny and Elections Manager tabled a schedule of changes to the draft report for the Committee to consider.  He explained that the Committee could make observations and suggest changes to the draft report but that ultimately the decision  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.