Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2021.

Resolved

(1)       That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 September 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the following amendments (in italics):

Minute 18, Constitution Review 2021

The reason for the Labour Group’s decision was because the 2020 review process had resulted in one third of recommendations that had cross-party agreement at the working group stage, when considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee resulting in different recommendations going forward to Full Council and unless the working group was changed would not take part.

Resolved

(1)       That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 September 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the following amendments (in italics):

Minute 18, Constitution Review 2021

The reason for the Labour Group’s decision was because the 2020 review process had resulted in one third of recommendations that had cross-party agreement at the working group stage, when considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee resulting in different recommendations going forward to Full Council and unless the working group was changed would not take part.

To receive communications from the Chairman.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

There were no items of urgent business.

The Sport and Physical Activity Manager will give a presentation regarding the Mental Health Programme delivered by Cherwell District Council Youth Activators, in partnership with Oxfordshire Mind and Resilient Young Minds.

Resolved

(1)       That the presentation be noted.

(2)       That the work being undertaken be commended.

(3)       That officers be requested to provide additional information on the Mental Health support provided by the County and/or MIND for adolescents (13 – 19 year olds) in the district.

The Chairman welcomed the Sport and Physical Activity Manager to the meeting, to give a presentation explaining the work of the Wellbeing and Physical Activity Team in relation to mental health wellbeing.

The Sport and Physical Activity Manager explained that whilst the team was not directly responsible for delivering mental health provision, physical activity had been shown to have a positive impact on mental health.

Cherwell District Council had contributed to the mental health prevention framework, which was delivered through the mental health concordat.

Part of the work of the concordat included a mental wellbeing needs assessment, that looks at the current situation with adults and children across Cherwell.

During 2020 the assessment showed that 1 in 6 people had a probable mental health disorder, an increase from 1 in 9 people in 2019. The assessment also showed an increasing percentage of year 7 to year 13 students who reported they often struggled to sleep.

The assessment had also shown that mental wellbeing of girls was lower compared to boys of the same age, and as a direct result of this the wellbeing team had been working with ‘This Girl Can’ as well as other campaigns aimed at girls.

The Sport and Physical Activity Manager explained that the team had attended mental health first aid training, as well as accessing information from organisations such as MIND to help provide advice and guidance to communities.

The FAST (Families Active Sporting Together) programme currently had 7000 individuals on the programme across 2500 families, and through information gathered it showed that 20% of young people on the programme had highlighted a mental health concern. The programme was being used to highlight activities and techniques to help young people and their families improve their mental health.

The main work of the team had involved developing a physical activity and mental health programme in partnership with Oxfordshire MIND, that had been delivered in primary schools. 

The youth activators had delivered the programme in schools during the pandemic, to year 6 children. Year 6 had been highlighted as an important age group due to the imminent transition to secondary school, and an age group most impacted by the effects of the pandemic. 

A 6-week programme had been developed that covered six different themes:

Introduction to mental wellbeing; stress and anxiety; anger; goal setting; resilience; and self-esteem. Hour long sessions had covered physical activity and mental wellbeing.

The programme had been delivered by youth activators and Oxfordshire Mind initially, with youth activators being trained by MIND to deliver the mental health aspect. Resource and guidance packs were also provided to the schools, to continue work once the initial 6-week programme had ended.

The programme had been delivered to 424 children across 16 schools, with 48% of those who had attended rating their wellbeing as ‘much better’. 

The programme was being adapted for roll out to secondary schools from 1 November, starting with year 7 and 8 pupils.

The Committee thanked the Sport and Physical Activity Manager for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Report of Director of Finance and Head of Insight and Corporate Programmes

Purpose of report

This report summarises the Council’s Performance, Risk and Finance monitoring positions as at the end of July 2021.

Recommendations

The meeting is recommended:

1.1      To note the monthly Performance, Risk and Finance Monitoring Report

Resolved

(1)       That the performance elements of the monthly Performance, Risk and Finance monitoring position for July 2021 be noted.

The Committee considered a report from the Director of Finance and Head of Insight and Corporate Programmes which summarised the Council’s Performance, Risk and Finance monitoring position at the end of July 2021.

In introducing the report, the Head of Insight and Corporate Programmes explained that 23 of the 28 performance measures and key performance indicators were reporting green, with four reporting amber. The amber indicators were related to homeless prevention; average time taken to process housing benefit changes; develop the country parks to support good lifestyle choices; and percentage of council tax collected and council tax base.

Indicators that had performed well for July included the percentage of NNDR collected, which had recovered well from the position in June; develop a recover and prosperity strategy; and reduce fuel consumption used by the council fleet.

With regard to indicator BP2.2.2, decrease in fuel consumption, the Committee asked how the council was able to reduce consumption. Queries were also raised regarding the changes to the green waste collection service, and how this might impact on routes and efficiency if rural properties don’t sign up to the chargeable scheme. The Head of Insight and Corporate Performance agreed to circulate responses from relevant officers after the meeting.

The Head of Insight and Corporate Performance also agreed to gather responses to the following questions, for circulation after the meeting:

·       Indicator BP 2.2.1, percentage of waste recycled and composted, how much was genuinely recycled and how much ends up in landfill.

·       With regard to paragraph 3.11 of the report, reviewing the findings of zero carbon Oxfordshire report, the Committee asked how long this was anticipated to take?

·       In relation to paragraph 3.9 of the report, the percentage of Business Rates collected, the Committee asked if there were any long-term historic debts as a result of covid and if so how much they totalled.

·       With regard to the ‘Service in Focus’ section at paragraph 3.12 of the report, a query was raised as to whether the 14 families that had been settled in the district were Afghan families.

Resolved

(1)       That the performance elements of the monthly Performance, Risk and Finance monitoring position for July 2021 be noted.

Democratic and Elections Officers will go through the list of subjects raised at previous meetings and at the informal session held on 30 June 2021 (appendix 1), and provide updates.

Committee are asked to consider the draft scoping document (appendix 2) relating to the Members Education and Training Work Group, established at the last meeting. If approved, this document will form the Terms of Reference for the review.

To receive an update on items previously considered by the Committee (appendix 3).

The Committee to consider the work programme for 2021-2022 (appendix 4).

Resolved

(1)       That the verbal updates regarding suggested topics for scrutiny be noted.

(2)       That the scoping document for the Members Education and Training review group be approved.

(3)       That the update on items previously submitted to Overview and Scrutiny be noted.

(4)       That the indicative work programme for 2021-2022 be noted.

The Committee considered its work programme for 2021-22, received an update from officers on potential topics for review and also considered a draft scoping document relating to the Members Education and Training Review.

Further to the presentation that had been given earlier in the meeting regarding Teenage Mental Health, Councillor Moon confirmed that he would like further information to be provided regarding contacts for 13 to 19 years olds experiencing mental health issues.

In relation to the proposed review on the district council relationship with parishes, the Democratic and Elections Officer advised that Councillor Hughes had expressed an interest in joining the working group. A scoping document had been drafted and would be circulated to all Members for information, before being considered by the Committee at the 30 November meeting.

With regard to the Members Education and Training working group, a draft scoping document had been published with the agenda. Councillor Dallimore summarised the document, which sought to review the induction programme that had taken place after the May 2021 elections, with recommendations being made as to potential amendments and improvements to the May 2022 induction programme.

In relation to the Constitution Annual Review, the Director of Law and Governance/Monitoring Officer reported that individual meetings had been held with group leaders, and feedback would be given to each group. A further update would be given at the November meeting of the Committee.

Resolved

(1)       That the verbal updates regarding suggested topics for scrutiny be noted.

(2)       That the scoping document for the Members Education and Training review group be approved.

(3)       That the update on items previously submitted to Overview and Scrutiny be noted.

(4)       That the indicative work programme for 2021-2022 be noted.