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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon CR0 1NX. View directions

Contact: Simon Trevaskis  Email: simon.trevaskis@croydon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

52/22

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 111 KB

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2022 as an accurate record.

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 6 September 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

It was noted that an extra recommendation relating to the Community Safety Partnership item considered on the previous agenda had been proposed by Councillor Tamar Nwafor after the meeting. The recommendation proposed that the Council should investigate the potential for introducing domestic abuse champions in local communities across the borough. This additional recommendation was agreed.

Resolved: That the following recommendation is submitted to the Cabinet for its consideration:-

That the potential for introducing a scheme to train Domestic Abuse Champions within local communities across the borough is investigated as an action in the forthcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

 

53/22

Disclosure of Interests

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), an other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda.  If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.  

 

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they should complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

 

Members and co-opted Members are required to disclose any DPIs and ORIs at the meeting: -

 

·     Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  

 

·     Where the matter relates to an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.   

 

·     Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to their financial interest or wellbeing, or that of a relative or close associate, they must disclose the interest at the meeting, may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  Where a matter affects the NRI of a Member or co-opted Member, section 9 of Appendix B of the Code of Conduct sets out the test which must be applied by the Member to decide whether disclosure is required.

 

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3, to be recorded in the minutes.

 

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest made at the meeting.

 

54/22

Urgent Business (if any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

 

Minutes:

There were no urgent items of business for consideration by the Scrutiny & Overview Committee.

 

Note: At this stage of the meeting the Chair proposed that the order of the agenda be amended to bring the ‘Council Tax Recovery, Collection & Enforcement’ item forward, to become the first substantive item, as external guest were in attendance for this item.

 

55/22

Council Tax Recovery, Collection & Enforcement pdf icon PDF 1 MB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to review the information provided on Council Tax collection, recovery and enforcement.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 25 to 102 of the agenda, which provided an overview of the Council’s Council Tax recovery, collection and enforcement processes. This report had been requested by the Committee as part of its ongoing review on the impact from the cost of living crisis.

Prior to the meeting, the Committee had held a community meeting with residents and representatives from the community & voluntary sector to discuss their experience with Council Tax enforcement. A summary of this meeting can be found appended to the main report. Rhiannon Hughes, Community Engagement Manager, from the South West London Law Centre, attended the meeting to provide further insight into the experience of residents and a representation was made by Claire Keetch, the Manager of the Croydon Citizens Advice Bureau which was read out at the meeting. These representations set out a range of specific actions that could be implemented by the Council to support residents who had fallen into Council Tax arrears and highlighted the importance of the advocacy provided to residents by their respective services.

The Committee put on record its thanks to the two organisations for their support in arranging the community meeting and for the insight their representations had added to the meeting. It was agreed that the Committee would recommend that a formal response is provided by the Council to the issues raised in the respective representations.

Following these representations, the Head of Payments, Revenues, Benefits & Debt, Catherine Black, introduced the report and provided an initial response to the issues raised at the community meeting. During the introduction, the following was noted: -

·         The team had been in contact with the CAB and SWLLC following the community meeting to begin engagement meetings with them.

·         The information on the Council’s website was being updated to provide clear timelines and diagrams on the collection process. The information relating to residents’ rights and potential discounts was being reviewed and updated as needed.

·         A document had been prepared for staff providing comprehensive guidance about where to signpost people in need of support for a range of issues including welfare and debt advice, and mental health support. Refresher training had also been delivered to staff on where to signpost residents for debt support.

·         Officers would be reviewing the vulnerability policy for Council Tax collections and providing training, with input due to be sought from CAB and SWLLC to inform this process.

·         A new telephony system had recently been installed across the Council with early indications, from a significantly reduced call abandon rate, demonstrating that the new system was making it easier for residents to contact the Council.

·         Staff had been given training on how to translate the Council’s web pages in to other languages, which could be sent to residents. The team was also working with the Croydon Digital Service team on adding translation capability for users to the website.

·         A reminder had been sent to all enforcement agents about adhering to the Council’s code of conduct,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55/22

56/22

Call-In: Mayor in Cabinet Decision on Temporary Workers Staffing Contract pdf icon PDF 91 KB

A call-in request has been submitted on the decision regarding the Temporary Workers Staffing Contract taken by the Executive Mayor in Cabinet on 21 September 2022.

 

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to consider and respond to the Call-In in accordance with the procedure set out in the Council’s constitution.

 

(Please Note: The confidential Appendix B is attached as item 9 on the agenda. Appendix E, a report responding to the grounds given for the Call-In is to follow.)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a call-in request as set out on pages 5 to 24 of the agenda along with additional information in the second supplementary agenda concerning the decision made by the Mayor in Cabinet on the Temporary Workers Staffing Contract. In introducing the item, the Chair outlined why the call-in request had been made and explained the process for considering a call-in. Confirming that the Committee needed to agree whether to review the decision and if it was decided to proceed, it had to confirm how much time it wished to allocate for the discussion of the item. The Committee agreed that it would review the decision and allocated ninety minutes for its consideration.

The Chair went on to explain that there were three outcomes the Committee could reach following its review of the decision. These were: -

1.  That no further action was necessary and the decision could be implemented as originally intended.

2.  To refer the decision back to the decision maker for reconsideration, outlining the nature of the Committee’s concerns

3.  To refer the decision to Council, if the Committee considered that the decision taken was outside of the Budget and Policy Framework.

Before opening the item for the Committee’s questions, the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, and officers were given the opportunity to respond to the call-in. During this response, the following was noted: -

·         Staff wages accounted for the majority of spend within the contract and there was no separate budget held for agency staff. 

·         It was unlikely that the upper limit of the contract would be reached and there was no requirement within the contract to reach the full value spend.

·         The framework route had been chosen as it presented the best value for the Council from the additional buying power acquired through participating in a London wide framework.

·         The rates for the contract were locked in place for its duration.

·         A managed service provider was the best mechanism for the Council to both manage market forces and achieve best value.

·         Data provided by London Councils indicated that Croydon was sitting in the middle of London boroughs in terms of agency spend, which had dropped over the last two years.

·         Additional controls were in place through the spend control process to ensure that the Council recruited in the most efficient way.

Following the introduction to this item, the Committee proceeded to review the decision with a view to reaching a conclusion on the call-in. The first question highlighted that the Council was in the process of developing a People Strategy and as such questioned whether this contract would meet the needs of the strategy. In response it was advised that the strategy would look at longer term issues such as recruiting to the Council, the Council’s reputation as an employer and the package provided to staff. The contract was for temporary workers whereas the focus for the strategy would be permanent staff.

It was questioned whether the contract would provide the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56/22

57/22

Establishment of Scrutiny Sub-Committee pdf icon PDF 97 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to:

1.     Agree that the remit of the Streets, Environment & Homes Sub-Committee will be divided through the formation of a separate Homes Sub-Committee until the end of 2022-23 Council year.

2.     Agree the terms of reference for both the Streets & Environment and the Homes Sub-Committees are agreed, as outlined in section 3

3.     Agree to waive the requirement for the seats on the Sub-Committees to be allocated in line with the overall political balance of the Council.

4.     Agree the appointments (including regular and reserve members and chairs and vice-chairs) to the Sub-Committees as set out at paragraph 4.10.

5.     Agree the provisional work programme for Homes Sub-Committee, as outlined in section 5

6.     Note that the existence of the Home Sub-Committee will be reviewed by the Scrutiny Chairs, in consultation with officers and other partners following the final sub-committee meeting of the Council year.

7.     Note that Sub-Committee arrangements will revert to three sub-committees (Children & Young People, Health & Social Care and Streets, Environment & Homes) from the start of the 2023-24 council year, unless the Scrutiny & Overview Committee resolves otherwise.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report set out in the agenda supplement 1 which proposed splitting the remit of the Streets, Environment & Homes Sub-Committee to set up a separate Home Sub-Committee.

Resolved: The Committee agreed :-

  1. That the remit of the Streets, Environment & Homes Sub-Committee will be divided through the formation of a separate Homes Sub-Committee until the end of 2022-23 Council year.
  2. That the terms of reference for both the Streets & Environment and the Homes Sub-Committees, as set out in section 3 of the report, are agreed.
  3. That the requirement for the seats on the Sub-Committees to be allocated in line with the overall political balance of the Council will be waived.
  4. That the appointments (including regular and reserve members and chairs and vice-chairs) to the Sub-Committees are agreed.
  5. That the provisional work programme for Homes Sub-Committee is agreed
  6. To note that the existence of the Home Sub-Committee will be reviewed by the Scrutiny Chairs, in consultation with officers and other partners following the final sub-committee meeting of the Council year.
  7. To note that Sub-Committee arrangements will revert to three sub-committees (Children & Young People, Health & Social Care and Streets, Environment & Homes) from the start of the 2023-24 council year, unless the Scrutiny & Overview Committee resolves otherwise.

58/22

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

 

 

Minutes:

The following motion was moved by Councillor Rowenna Davis and seconded by Councillor Richard Chatterjee to exclude the press and public:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs 3 & 5 indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

 

The motion was put and it was agreed by the Committee to exclude the press and public for the remainder of the meeting.

 

59/22

Call-In: Mayor In Cabinet Decision On Temporary Workers Staffing Contract

This item sets out the confidential Appendix B for agenda item 4 - Call-In: Mayor In Cabinet Decision On Temporary Workers Staffing Contract.

 

The appendix contains the confidential report considered by the Executive Mayor in Cabinet on 21 September 2022, which is subject to the call-in request.

Minutes:

Please note that a full confidential minute has been produced of the Committee’s discussion held in the exempt session.

During this part of the meeting, the areas questioned by the Committee included whether the procurement used delivered the best value for the Council, the management of the contract and the risks associated with the recommended approach.