Agenda item

The overall time, which may be devoted to questioning the Annual Report of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, shall be not more than 20 minutes. The Chair of the Committee (or in the absence of the Chair, the Deputy Chair) and the Chairs of each Sub-Committee shall introduce and answer questions on the Report. The Chair of the Committee shall have not more than 3 minutes’ speaking time and the Chairs of each Sub-Committee shall each have not more than 3 minutes’ speaking time to introduce the report.

For the remaining time available, the report will be open to questions. In the event that any recommendation in the report has not been reached when the overall time limit has expired, it shall be put immediately to the vote.

Any Member, except the Seconder of the Report, may ask the Chair, Deputy or Vice Chair, as appropriate, not more than two questions on each paragraph of the Report.

The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Councillor Rowenna Davis Council in moving the recommendation stated:

·       Scrutiny Committee was an independent minded, cross-party group of councillors whose job was to hold the Council's executive and partners to account with the right to ask for information, robustly challenge and question those in power and make recommendations for change.

·       She welcomed the renewed strength of the Scrutiny committee which had allowed it to scrutinise the council's finances to ensure the Council was making the best use of the funds provided by struggling residents. The Children's Sub-Committee had questioned how money was spent on children in the Borough; the Streets Sub-Committee had scrutinised the New Year waste contract; and the Health Sub-Committee had fought to ensure the Council obtained its fair share of funding. The Homes Sub-Committee had ensured that tenants were getting the decent service they paid for.

·       Councillor Rowenna Davis advised that the Scrutiny and Overview Committee had concluded the budget was ambitious in its plans to turn around the Council’s finances, but acknowledged the difficulty with the outstanding debt and was committed to relentlessly supporting the Council's efforts to broker a deal with national governments to enable Croydon to be financially independent again.

Councillor Rowenna Davisencouraged Members to read the report and highlighted the following achievements:

·       The introduction of the Homes Sub-Committee had helped shine a light on those languishing in expensive temporary accommodation and ensured that the horrific conditions experienced by residents at Regina Road would not be repeated.

·       The agreement by all the political groups to change the rules that allowed new Green and Liberal Democrat voices into Scrutiny.

·       The changes to council tax enforcement resulting from the Scrutiny meeting with residents struggling to pay their bills. The haunting testimony of those who conceived the council to lack empathy and accessibility led to the practical recommendations rooted in their experience. Some of the changes might have seemed small, but they could offer lifelines to the council’s most vulnerable.

·       In response to a question about the impact of having a member of the Opposition as Chair of Scrutiny had made on the ability to hold the Mayor to account, Councillor Rowenna  Davis said she welcomed the decision and the cross-party decision to allow extra spaces for Green and Liberal Democrat Councillors on the committees, and that the introduction of the new Homes Sub-Committee had strengthened scrutiny but the  committee’s efficiency could be further improved by reviewing timetables to ensure adequate time for consideration of reports before Cabinet meetings.

·       When asked how the committee learnt about the cost of living crisis in Croydon, and how it planned to continue its work in this area, Councillor Davis responded that the committee, through meetings with faith groups, food bank leaders, community leaders and charities,  was able to identify the issues with digital exclusion, council tax enforcement and debt and, due to the lack of awareness about the council tax hardship support scheme, the committee had made a recommendation to include information on the support scheme on the back of each council tax bill.

·       In response to a question on the recommendations after the committee’s recent review of the community safety partnership, Councillor Davis said the committee considered violence against women and girls and domestic abuse and had made recommendations such as the inclusion of victims in the process of using community partnerships to deal with domestic violence and the use of domestic violence champions in the local communities. She stated that the committee would follow up the recommendations to evaluate their impact after implementation.

·       In response to a question whether the committee was planning to consider the financial impact of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) on residents, Councillor Davis advised that though the committee was happy to consider issues suggested by Members, it was best it focused on topics such as the impact of the increase in council tax on local residents,  where the Council had direct power and control and that which the Scrutiny Committee could influence or improve through recommendations.

·       Councillor Rowenna Davis, in response to several questions confirmed that recommendations from Scrutiny were not based on opinions but were data driven.

·       In response to a question, Councillor Ria Patel, the Chair of Streets & Environment Scrutiny sub-Committee advised that the Sub-Committee had held several discussions on what improvements could made be in future to address missed collections by looking at lessons learnt from Veolia’s waste contract and service.

·       In response to a question on the similarities between the Improvement and Assurance Panel and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Rowenna Davis  stated that both were focused on the Council’s budget. She advised that Croydon’s finances remained the centrepiece of Scrutiny work and committee members were upskilling and training to equip themselves to ask the right questions about Croydon’s budget and finances.

·       In response to a question about the benefits of the sub-committee Councillor Leila Ben-Hassel, Chair of the Homes Scrutiny Sub-Committee, stated that she welcomed the creation of the Homes Sub-Committee as it had enabled proper oversight of the Housing Transformation Programme. Having a dedicated committee focused on this was very helpful. She advised that there were challenges with finance and capacity due to the pressure of the homelessness relief duty on the budget, but these issues were sector wide and not unique to Croydon.

·       In response to questions, Councillor Rowenna Davis stated that Scrutiny had not scheduled a dedicated session to look into the Council’s decision to invest in the property market and the disparity between acquisition and sale values of Croydon’s assets. She advised she was happy to discuss the possibility with Scrutiny members.

·       In conclusion, Councillor Rowenna Davis thanked officers, political leaders, and members of the community for their hard work towards the report.

Councillor Richard Chatterjee the vice-chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee seconded the motion. It was put to the vote and CARRIED.

RESOLVED, to: Note the Report.