To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Bernie O'Neill (substitute Lynn Sterry), Don Pugh (substitute Frank Baynham) and Ian Whitburn (substitute Dave East)

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on 15 September 2011, 28 September 2011 and 3 October 2011

The committee agreed to delete the third paragraph on agenda page 25 beginning 'Councillor Marion Winship'.

The minutes of the meetings held on 15 September 2011, 28 September 2011 and 3 October 2011 were then confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

The chairman to identify any items of urgent business.

The chairman identified no items of urgent business.

To receive any declarations of interest in any matter to be discussed at the meeting.  Members and officers are requested to identify the nature of the interest and indicate whether it is personal or prejudicial.

No declarations were made.

To consider questions from members of the public in accordance with the published protocol. To submit a question contact Democratic Services on 01594 812625 or email democratic.services@fdean.gov.uk. All questions must be submitted in writing at least two working days prior to the meeting.

There were no public questions.

To consider items for discussion at future meetings, including relevant issues on the Cabinet forward plan.

The council's solicitor confirmed for the chairman, Cllr Burford, that key decision items must be on the forward plan at least one month before being considered. The council's practice had been to put all decisions, key or otherwise on the four -month plan as far ahead as possible.

The Strategic Director clarified that the recyclate bulking facility concerned a move to save transport costs for items such as glass, paper, cardboard, plastic and cans to the depot in Cheltenham. He explained that the procurement process was underway. He then clarified that if planning permission were needed the application would go to the county council.

Cllr Baynham commented that there could be objections on grounds of excessive noise.

Replying to Cllr Winship's suggestion of a press release, the Solicitor said that the matter was currently an exempt item due to contract details.

The committee agreed to add the following items to the scrutiny plan.

To confirm Lawnstone House item for the 17 November 2011 meeting

Joint waste and bulking facility items for 17 November meeting as oral updates on progress

Leisure options item for the 12 January 2012 meeting

To agree the scoping document for an inquiry into parking management.

Cllr Burford explained that the committee needed to approve the scoping document and the meetings plan for the parking management inquiry, which members had considered at a briefing earlier in the week.

The Solicitor clarified that the meetings could be formal or informal. If they were formal meetings then the usual rules would apply, which would be difficult in the case of a full-day session, due to the council's three-hour rule for meetings. She suggested that the meetings could be run as working groups and that the council could publish a notice for any that were open to the public. She advised the committee to give as much notice as possible to any witnesses it wished to call so that suitable arrangements could be made.

Cllr Burford confirmed that the session on 3 November would need to be fully supported by Democratic Services. The Solicitor agreed.

Cllr Bill Evans said that he had confidence in the chairman and the outlined process. He emphasised the need to ensure that the scrutiny inquiry examined the intentions for a full consultation process, including a public notice explaining how the council would use any surplus funds in line with the Road Traffic Act.

Cllr Burford added the points to the inquiry plan to be considered later.

The committee approved the scoping document (attached).

Cllr Burford talked through the detailed plan for the full-day session to be held on 3 November 2011 (attached).

The committee would invite evidence and views from group representatives, for example trade associations and town/parish councils. Individuals would be able to send their written views to the committee by letter email or tweet. The Democratic Services Officer would liaise with the council's Communications and Marketing Officer to make sure the exercise was widely publicised.

The committee agreed the detailed plan for the day.

Kevin Stannard, Forestry Commission to present a regular six-monthly update as agreed on the scrutiny plan.

Cllr Burford welcomed Kevin Stannard, Forestry Commission and invited him to present an update on the boar strategy.

Kevin Stannard made the following points in his update:

• The estimated boar population stood at 300 - 350 animals
• Forestry Commission rangers had culled 123 animals between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011.
• The target number for culling in 2011-12 had been 150 animals. Since April 2011 154 animals had been culled or had died in road traffic accidents. For the rest of the year rangers would only shoot injured boar at the request of the police.
• In November 2011 the Forestry Commission would be carrying out a census of boar using night vision technology to establish the minimum number of boar seen on specific nights on public forest estate. There was currently no statistically reliable counting methodology for boar as there was for deer. The Commission would report the results of the census in February, which would help to inform the cull target for 2012-13.
• The Commission had produced a revised boar management plan and circulated it widely for comment. The Verderers would consider the plan at the next meeting of their court. The Commission had received responses from Defra and the Friends of the Wild Boar. The Commission had sent follow-up letters to all interested parties and he was surprised at the small number of responses.
• There had been significant interest internationally. Two major animal welfare groups had been lobbying for the use of contraceptives to manage the boar population, but there was no legal form of contraceptive available at present.
• There had been recent pressure for a close season on culling boar. However, boar could reproduce all year round. In response the Commission had introduced a rolling programme, whereby rangers did not shoot mothers with young at hoof. The issue was under regular review.
• The regular Autumnal damage had begun. The Commission was considering a mapping exercise to establish if there was a pattern. Kevin Stannard was aware of the impression that the damage was worsening. The Commission knew that the boar were attracted to food sources.
• Feedback from rangers after the recent cull suggested that the boar population was still well over 300 animals on the public forest estate. The Commission was aware that the boar had spread out to private land and urban areas.

Cllr Sterry asked if the Commission had plans to repair the damage caused by the boar. She said that she had asked Gloucestershire Highways the same question to no avail.

Kevin Stannard replied that the Commission would reinstate public forest estate land only if there was a high risk of the damage causing accidents, mainly on visitor sites and some forest waste ground. The Commission had used its limited resources to reinstate land at Beechenhurst four times in the previous year, but had changed its policy for the current year to reinstate the land just once in the Spring. He added that natural processes and repairs had reinstated all damaged land in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The committee to ask the two Strategic Directors questions. This is a regular six-monthly item as agreed on the scrutiny plan.

If possible, please would committee members send questions or general areas for questioning to Democratic Services by 5pm Monday 17 October 2011?

The Head of Paid Service explained for new members that she and the Strategic Director had joined the council in April 2008. Within a year they had jointly taken on the role of Chief Executive. They deliberately shared an office and employed a collegiate management style, while maintaining some specific responsibilities. Since then they had managed a reduction of £2.5 million in the council's budget and consequent ten per cent reduction in staff levels, which included a 30 per cent reduction in the senior management team.

She line-managed the Group Manager for Legal, Democratic and HR, the Group Manager for Finance and Property and the Group Manager for Customer Service. She also directly managed the corporate support team, including communications. She held overall responsibility for governance and budget. As Head of Paid Service she was also responsible for the use of staff resources, shared services, business continuity, risk management and meeting the challenge of funding cuts.

The Strategic Director informed new members that he had come from a 30 -year career in the Royal Air Force, which he left at the rank of Air Commodore with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence housing stock. At the council he line-managed the Group Manager for Planning and Housing and the Group Manager for Environment Services. He held overall responsibility for emergency planning, the Local Strategic Partnership, community leadership and engagement, climate change and floods, Cinderford regeneration and asset management. He directly managed the Local Action Group team.

The Head of Paid Service emphasised that members should not wait until the next biannual meeting if they had any questions, but should just phone, email or visit at any time.

Cllr Winship said that she had found the Environment Group's display about its services and service plan in the members' room very useful and asked if other groups could do the same.

The Head of Paid Service replied that the display had been used at the members' open afternoon, but had been professionally produced for other purposes. She could arrange for other groups to do something similar. She explained that service planning showed each group's work plan for the year, how it resourced its priorities, when reports to committee were due and any changes in the plan. If new priorities were identified, service plans showed what would be delayed or not addressed as a result.

Cllr Bill Evans asked if any of the Head of Paid Service's work cut across that of the Solicitor.

The Head of Paid Service answered that hopefully there was no duplication. Her role was to oversee the improvement plan, including governance issues. The Solicitor, as the council's Monitoring Officer, chaired the Corporate Governance Group. The senior team of seven officers liaised closely to use strengths to best effect.

She clarified that all councils must have three statutory officers; A Head of Paid Service to ensure the effective use of resources, a Monitoring Officer to ensure that the council acted properly from a legal perspective and a Section 151 Officer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy to present an update for the committee.

Cllr Robinson, Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy, explained that the item had been moved to January on the forward plan.

The Group Manager for Finance and Property presented some background information regarding the current and future status of revenues and benefits (attached).

He ended by saying that there was a great deal of work to do relating to procurement for the partnership, so the date might slip further.

Cllr Martin, as the council's joint benefits champion, emphasised the importance of this issue, stating that it was the council's main front line service for a large proportion of residents. As such, it would be vital to monitor the progress of the initiative.

Cllr Robinson confirmed its importance, stating that the council paid £500,000 each week in benefits.

Cllr Burford said that the committee would consider the issue on 12 January 2012, unless it was deferred from the forward plan. He commented that the committee would like to consider proposals before the cabinet made decisions.

Cllr Robinson was keen for scrutiny to do that, but said that sometimes issues are brought forward more quickly than intended and events could overtake plans.

The panel is assisting in the inquiry into bus links and will soon begin an inquiry into private sector renewals grants.

The panel was assisting in the inquiry into bus links and would begin an inquiry into private sector renewals grants when the parking management inquiry was complete.

Cllr Winship to present an update on the bus links inquiry.

Cllr Winship, chairman of the bus links inquiry presented an update. The group had met twice since the last committee meeting, receiving evidence from community transport providers in September and earlier in the day from the county council and one of the council's Community Engagement Officers.

The panel's aim was to decide how it could best support the providers to improve bus services for residents. Already the inquiry had established a need for more effective marketing of community transport and the council had agreed several measures to help in that area.

The inquiry had discovered that the county council was in discussion with Stagecoach regarding the bus stock and was also re-planning some services with community providers in mind. She informed members that from 14 November a new bus service would link Lydney bus station with its railway station.

The Community Engagement Officer had given useful information regarding a bid that the community was writing for lottery funding under the Reaching Communities scheme. The panel had offered its full support in this initiative.

Cllr O'Neill, Chairman of the Finance and Internal Affairs Panel, to present the final report of the inquiry into changes in public office opening hours.

In the absence of Cllr O'Neill, Cllr Burford presented the final report of the inquiry into changes in public office opening hours.

Cllr Smart thanked Cllr O'Neill and the Democratic Services Officer for working together to produce the report. She highlighted agenda page 31, paragraph 3.3 in supporting recommendation a) regarding the need for teams to have an officer available between 9.00am and 4.45pm.

The Head of Paid Service reminded the committee that the council was reducing the number of staff employed and occasionally there would be no member of a team in the offices, due to commitments elsewhere. All staff members were encouraged to tell reception and telephone calls could be re-routed. However she acknowledged that this was an area for some work.

Cllr Burford praised the Group Manager for Customer Service for his approach to the matter and mentioned that zero-based budgeting would also be an area suited to that approach.

The Group Manager for Customer Service explained that he had not based changes in service on budget, but had analysed service demand and fitted resource to that. He recognised that other service areas would find that difficult, and that he had been able to do this because the service was transactional and data was readily available. Reducing staff hours and optimising work patterns had achieved a large amount of the savings.

The Solicitor confirmed that recommendation a) would be presented to the cabinet if agreed.

The Group Manager for Finance and Property commented that zero based budgeting was a labour intensive exercise, which would be an additional cost to the council over and above work agreed as part of the GO project. He had mentioned earlier efficiencies gained by using suitable software for transactional activities.

RESOLVED -

a)     That all offices should have a staff member available to the public or their customers between 9.00am and 4.45pm as a minimum.

b)     During the six-month review to gauge and present the findings of the CRM call diversion monitoring exercise and to consider on-going public feedback

The panel will meet on 3 November to consider the second quarter performance report and put questions to the Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy.

The panel would now meet on Monday 7 November 2011 at 4pm to consider the second quarter performance report and put questions to the Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy.

Thursday 17 November 2011

Thursday 12 January 2012

Thursday 2 February 2012

Thursday 12 April 2012

Thursday 17 November 2011 at 6.00pm

Thursday 12 January 2012 at 6.00pm

Thursday 2 February 2012 at 6.00pm

Thursday 12 April 2012 at 6.00pm