Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 26 June 2024 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

The Chair introduced the item for the Board’s consideration.  A copy of the Work Programme was attached at Appendix A and Members were asked to raise any issues they had in relation to any of the items listed.

Reference was made to the previous meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board when a discussion had taken place around how it could best have input into issues prior to a decision being made by the Executive and it was queried whether this had been fed back to the Executive and whether any comments had been received.  It was confirmed that this would be followed up as soon as possible.

A discussion took place in relation to the items contained on the Executive Forward Work Programme and further information was requested, as follows:-

·         Page 8 – “Management and Maintenance of Development Land/Nutrient Neutrality Mitigation.  The report seeks Executive approval of the resources required to maintain land held prior to disposal/development and the management of land held fallow as part of the Nutrient Neutrality mitigation measures.  Report seeks management resources to be capitalised as an abnormal cost to disposal receipts”.

Update requested in relation to the above together with further details around what the report to Executive in November would entail.  The Democratic Services Officer agreed to contact the relevant Service Area to request further information around: what the decision concerned; why the decision was being sought and whether the decision was driven by government policy.

·         Page 5 “Community Safety Enforcement Powers for the Executive Member to approve proposals to withdraw Neighbourhood Warden Police Accreditation Powers”.

Members were keen to understand more about the decision being sought and the reasons why.  The Mayor was able to provide a brief summary regarding the issue, in that the current accreditation scheme had been outsourced which was having a detrimental impact on recruitment.  The Democratic Services Officer agreed to seek further information from the Service Area.

AGREED that further information be obtained from the relevant service areas in relation to the two items identified above from the Executive Forward Work Programme and circulated to Members of Overview and Scrutiny Board.

The Mayor and Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health will be in attendance to provide an update in his capacity as portfolio holder for Adult Social Care and Public Health.

The Mayor was in attendance at the meeting to provide the Board with an update regarding his portfolio in relation to Adult Social Care and Public Health.

The Mayor provided a detailed presentation covering the following areas of responsibility within his current portfolio, which he anticipated to be of most interest to the Board due to their scope and capacity:-

·         Connect Service

·         Sensory Drop In

·         Levick Court

·         Homelessness

·         Health on the High Street

·         Relationship between health and wealth in Middlesbrough

·         Three conversations approach

The Mayor advised the Board that a new Executive Member would be appointed in the near future to take over this particular portfolio due to the Mayor’s extensive range of commitments.

Connect Service

The Board was advised that the Connect Service in Middlesbrough currently supported 3,600 people to live independently by providing on-call emergency assistance twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, via a personal alarm.

The Service was available to anyone in Middlesbrough over the age of 18 who might feel vulnerable or unsafe at home; have a disability or medical condition.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, the Service had answered 98,148 calls and had responded to 2,432 emergency calls (1,505 of which were falls).

The Connect Service used a range of technology to support individuals, including fall sensors, GPS trackers and property exit sensors, epilepsy sensors and activity monitoring systems.  This technology was a key factor in enabling people to remain living independently in their own homes.  They Mayor hoped that in the future technology would evolve further to a point where the Service would be commercially viable to offer support to others within the Tees Valley.

Members were provided with an example case study outlining how an Assistive Technology Assessor, Social Worker and Occupational Therapist had worked collaboratively to assess a service user for their support needs.  Technology, including a voice-activated alarm, had resulted in the number of overnight calls from the service user being reduced – restoring their dignity.  The Occupational Therapist had supported the service user with single-handed care, reducing the need for carers for a significant amount of the day and this had resulted in a £100,000 a year saving.

Sensory Drop-In

The Sensory Support Service provided advice and support to Middlesbrough residents with hearing or sight loss or dual sensory loss.  The Mayor stated that many areas no longer offered such support and considered it to be a vital service in Middlesbrough.

The Service would move from the Livewell Centre located in Dundas Arcade to the new facility in the Cleveland Centre once it was completed.

A monthly drop-in service was launched in 2021, with 30 drop-ins held so far.  Around 289 individuals attended each month which provided a sense of community and social outlet whilst supporting individuals to access sensory assessments, equipment, health and wellbeing activities and digital inclusion.  Again, the services provided helped to promote independent living.

Levick Court

The Mayor advised that Levick Court was a 16-bed facility, currently operating at half capacity, which was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/11

The Head of Legal Services (People) will be in attendance to provide an update on Middlesbrough’s Boundary review and the consultation exercise.

A Wilson, Head of Legal Services (People), was in attendance to provided Members with an update in relation to the current Electoral Review.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) was currently carrying out a review of electoral arrangements in Middlesbrough.  This considered:-

·         Phase One – Number of Councillors

·         Phase Two – Warding Patterns

·         Phase Three – Consultation on Draft Recommendations

The Review was now in Phase Three, with draft recommendations published on 9 July 2024.  The draft recommendations included a proposal that 46 Councillors should be elected to Middlesbrough and also proposed new ward boundaries.

The LGBCE confirmed it had considered all representations it had received from local people and organisations, including the joint response submitted by Middlesbrough Council during the initial consultation.

Comments on the draft recommendations were now invited by the LGBCE prior to finalising the new electoral arrangements for Middlesbrough.  Each response received during the consultation period would be weighted against the statutory criteria.

Draft recommendations could be viewed at: Middlesbrough | LGBCE.  The link also provided access to detailed ward maps and provided the opportunity to make comments.

Comments to the proposals could be made via the website (through the above link), by email at reviews@lgbce.org.uk or by post at The Review Officer (Middlesbrough), LGBCE, PO Box 133, Blyth, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE24 9EF.

Submissions needed to be balanced across the three statutory criteria: Electoral equality for voters; Community identities and interests; Effective and convenient local government.

Consultation on the draft proposals would run from 9 July to 16 September 2024 and the final recommendations would be published in February 2025.  The Order would be made by Summer 2025 and elected upon in 2027.

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Board were asked whether they wished to make a joint submission in response to the proposals or whether they would prefer to respond at individual or group level.

A discussion took place and Members considered it would be difficult for OSB to agree a joint response due to differing views around ward boundaries and concerns expressed around proposed additional housing developments in some areas which did not appear to have been taken into account by the LGBCE when proposing changes to ward boundaries.

The Board felt that it should be up to the groups and individuals to submit their own responses as there were also independent Members who were not members of a group.

The Head of Legal Services confirmed that an email had been sent to all Members of the Council on 9 July in relation to the draft proposals and this contained the associated links for people to submit comments.  The Head of Service confirmed that she would re-circulate the email again as a reminder and would also include the original joint submission from OSB.

A vote was taken and Members agreed unanimously that individual or group responses should be submitted to the LGBCE, as a collective response could not be agreed upon.

AGREED as follows:-

1.    That individual and/or group responses  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/12

Place Scrutiny Panel

The Democratic Services Officer submitted a report seeking the Board’s approval for the Place Scrutiny Panel’s Work Programme 2024/25.

The Place Scrutiny Panel met on 29 July and agreed to include the following topics in its work programme (set out at paragraph 4 of the report):-

In-depth reviews

·         Empty Properties.

·         Barriers to Regeneration.

·         Home to School Transport.

Potential Short Reviews/ Updates

·         Bereavement Services (in relation to diminishing cemetery space)

·         Provision for Migrants

Updates

·         Flood Risk Management.

·         Toxic Chemicals in the River Tees/Crustacean Working Group.

·         RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) – annual update.

·         Prevent and Channel – annual update.

·         Community Safety Partnership – annual update.

·         Medium Term Financial Plan Refresh for Regeneration and Environment and Community Services Directorates

The Place Scrutiny Panel also agreed that a Task and Finish Group would review progress on actions from some previous investigations including: Green Strategy, Waste Recycling and Town Centre Regeneration post-Covid.

Throughout the last municipal year, the Environment Scrutiny Panel undertook an investigation into Waste Management.  It was agreed that a Draft Final Report on Waste Management should be presented to the Place Scrutiny Panel for consideration at the earliest opportunity.

People Scrutiny Panel

The People Scrutiny Panel met on 16 July 2024 and agreed to defer finalising its Work Programme until its September meeting.

AGREED that the Work Programme 2024/25 for the Place Scrutiny Panel, as set out above, be approved.

People Scrutiny Panel

Chair -Cllr Edward Clynch

Vice Chair – Cllr Jeanette Walker

Place Scrutiny Panel

Chair – Cllr David Branson

Vice Chair – Cllr Jack Banks

Place Scrutiny Panel

The Chair of Place Scrutiny Panel, Councillor Branson, updated the Board that the Panel met on 29 July.  The Director of Regeneration and Head of Neighbourhoods had provided a presentation to the Panel which had assisted in the Panel determining its Work Programme for the coming year.  The Panel had also agreed a schedule of meeting dates.

The next meeting was scheduled for 2 September when it would commence work on its new scrutiny topic.  Arrangements would also be made for the Draft Final Report in relation to Waste Management (undertaken by the Environment Scrutiny Panel) to be considered in the near future and Members of the previous Environment Scrutiny Panel would be invited to attend.

People Scrutiny Panel

The Chair and Vice Chair of the Panel were both unable to attend, therefore, an update would be provided to the next meeting of OSB.

AGREED that the information provided be noted.

Value for Money Interim Report

With the permission of the Chair, a Member of the Board wished to raise the issue of the Council’s Value for Money Interim Report and requested that OSB examine the report.

Clarification was sought as to which elements of the report the Board would wish to examine as the report was examined by Audit Committee at each meeting and it was suggested that advice be sought as to whether it was within the remit of OSB to examine those issues once they had been identified.

The Board Member also queried whether there was a current legal claim against the Council by Sub Zero.

Following discussion, the Head of Legal Services (People) agreed to look at the Terms of Reference for OSB and Audit Committee and would circulate a response to Members of the Board.  The Head of Service would also respond, via email, to the query regarding the current legal position regarding Sub Zero.

Request for Internal Audit to investigate scrutiny

The Chair informed Members that he had requested that the Council’s Internal Auditor investigate scrutiny in terms of whether there were sufficient resources available and whether two scrutiny panels were sufficient to undertake scrutiny in Middlesbrough.  The Auditors had confirmed this would be added to their work programme.

AGREED that the Head of Legal Services (People) would provide a response to the Board regarding whether it was within the Board’s remit to examine specific areas of the Value for Money Interim Report and a response to the query regarding the current legal position in relation to Sub Zero.