Agenda item

RESOLVED: To

1.     Receive the recommendation arising from the meeting of the Scrutiny & Overview Committee held on 28 March 2023 (Appendix 1)

2.     To provide a substantive response to the recommendation (a Scrutiny Stage 2 Report) within two months (i.e. at the Cabinet meeting on 26 July 2023).

The Executive Mayor considered the Scrutiny Stage 1 and Scrutiny Stage 2 reports which detailed recommendations on the newly launched £2 million pounds Council Tax Hardship Scheme and the corporate transformation programme, and also responses from the administration on Planning and building improvement and parking services.

The Chair of Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Councillor Davis, addressed the Cabinet and highlighted three points:

-        Latest Financial Performance Report: Scrutiny welcomed the news that the monthly reports would have a dedicated page on the Croydon website purely for the financial performance reports, which would increase transparency and accountability. Scrutiny was concerned that they were only able to evaluate the February data in the second half of May, therefore Scrutiny had recommended to bring forward the publication date as far as possible subject to checks aiming for a maximum lag-time of 8 weeks. Other risks in the budget reviewed in more detail included the persistent overspend in temporary and emergency accommodation; continuance high vacancy rates and the delays with the ANPR cameras that are hitting enforcement rates.

-        Asset Disposal Plan: Following the recent disruption at the last Scrutiny and Overview Committee meeting, the discussions were curtailed and with no formal recommendations, Councillor Davis shared what the Committee had discussed. Scrutiny welcomed conformation that the Mayor would have sign offs to any assets on the disposal list. With the council aiming to sale £50 million pounds of assets this year, should this continue next year and the following year the council would have lost half of their total assets, which would not resolve the debt problem. Scrutiny therefore welcomed the publication of a comparative list of the rental stream income to sale income for any item on the dispersal list from the Cabinet Member of Finance; Maximum notice of sale to any users of the assets should also be considered for an opportunity to present any business case which could have a long-term financial interest for the council and public; and Ward Councillors should also be informed of any sales in their ward directly to help support those affected.

-        New Waste Contract: With no formal recommendations, Scrutiny Members were reassured with a number of elements in the contract, particularly that there were no plans to shift to three-weekly or less frequent bin collections; Scrutiny Members welcomed the idea of giving council access to cameras on the top of refuse trucks to ensure bins were properly cleared; Reassurance that the contract had the capacity to respond to increased  recycling targets; and concerns raised relating to the department not having sufficient resources to do its part to clean the borough, though officers acknowledged the council needed a stronger approach to public engagement.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Cummings shared with Cabinet that the period monitoring reports would be published following the MAB process before Cabinet and noted that Period 11 Monitoring Report went to Scrutiny prior to being heard at Cabinet. With regards to the Asset Disposals, Councillor Cummings corrected his commitment to provide information to the Scrutiny and Overview Committee and not publicly due to commercial sensitivity.

The Executive Mayor thanked Councillor Davis for her comments.

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED: To

1.1.         Receive the recommendation arising from the meeting of the Scrutiny & Overview Committee held on 28 March 2023 (Appendix 1)

1.2.         To provide a substantive response to the recommendation (a Scrutiny Stage 2 Report) within two months (i.e. at the Cabinet meeting on 26 July 2023).