Agenda and minutes

To consider the minutes of the previous meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on Wednesday 5 June 2024 and to approve them as a true and correct record of the proceedings and to be signed by the Chair.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on 05 June 2024 be approved as a true record.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

The Chair invited members of the public to ask questions and reminded attendees that the agenda item would last for fifteen minutes, each member of the public was entitled to ask one question and one supplementary and questions had to relate to items on the agenda.

A question was asked relating to the request to raise the Palestinian flag, during a period of Purdah. The Chair advised that the general election had delayed the relevant petition from being presented to OSMB due to Purdah. The Monitoring Officer advised that the advice provided was that the matter was under consideration by Scrutiny and would be presented to OSMB. This decision was precluded by purdah and the Chief Executive would not of pre-empted the decision of OSMB, therefore it would be the responsibility of Scrutiny to approve or decline the flag request and the Chief Executive would not override the governance process.

A supplementary question was asked in relation to the IHRA definition adopted on 4^th September 2019 and the request for the definition to be replaced by the relevant sections of the Equality Act 2019.  The Chair advised that the report on the Petition "Rotherham's Commitment to a Permanent Ceasefire and To Promote Peace in Palestine and in the Region” would be discussed during agenda item 6 and the recommendations would either be approved or declined. A response would then be presented to Cabinet for consideration and a full report would be provided back to OSMB from Cabinet. The Chair advised that the timescale for the process would be eight weeks. The Chair of OSMB Sub-  Group had written to the Leader of the Council detailing the recommendations set out within the report at present.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

Agenda Item No. 9 (Minute No.16) Dinnington Projects Levelling Up Fund Update Report- Appendix 2,3,4 and 5, was exempt from the press and public:-

That under Section 100(A) 4 of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of such Act indicated, as now amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 (information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual/financial information).

Resolved:-That members of the press and public be excluded for this item.

To consider the report which outlines the recommendations of the sub-group arising from the discussion with representatives of petitioners, following the submission of a petition “Rotherham’s Commitment to a Permanent Ceasefire and To Promote Peace in Palestine and in the Region” (henceforth referred to as “the Petition”) to the Council meeting held on 28 February 2024.

The Chair invited Councillor Yasseen to introduce the report who provided the relevant context and background. Councillor Yasseen advised that during the meeting of Full Council on 28 February 2024, it was agreed that OSMB would be asked to consider the requests set out in the petition. It was advised that the development of the OSMB Sub-Group ensured the integrity and detailed consideration of each recommendation listed within the petition and created a space for the Council to work with lead petitioners and foster transparent discussions.

Councillor Yasseen acknowledged the hard work and contributions of the lead petitioners and residents in supporting the petition. Thanks were put on record to the Chair of OSMB at the relevant point in time, former Councillor Maggie Clark, Former Councillor Wendy Cooksey, Councillor Baker-Rogers and Councillor Yasseen. It was acknowledged that everyone involved in the OSMB Sub- Group attended several meetings to reach the outcomes detailed within the report and there had been a focus on ensuring that the outcomes would be deliverable.

Councillor Yasseen felt that the petition was linked to history and presenting the petition reaffirmed Councillors commitment to be morally accountable. It was advised that over 4,000 residents signed the ceasefire petition, to request that Councillors as local representatives would respond to the atrocities in Palestine. Councillor Yasseen stated that over 40,000 people had died, innocent Palestinians had been murdered, babies had been born into war and deprived of life and it was a place where the dying were denied dignity and comfort. Councillor Yasseen felt that the role of Councillors was to protect and represent all, regardless of nationality, ensuring a moral obligation to speak out against injustice and advocate for peace for all residents in the borough. It was advised that the petition would not end at this meeting and the report would be a living document which would reflect the ongoing court rulings. An example was provided of a court ruling from the International Court of Justice, which related to a request set out within the petition regarding illegal settlements.

The Chair thanked Councillor Yasseen for presenting the report and agreed that this was a very serious on-going issue in Palestine. The Chair advised that he understood the frustrations of the residents in Rotherham seeing their families suffering. The Chair advised that the petition would go through the relevant governance process and the Chair would write to the Leader to request that the recommendations be expediated for consideration by Cabinet as soon as possible.

The Chair asked members if they had any questions or comments on the report and the following was discussed and noted:

Councillor Bacon queried recommendation 5, paragraph 1, which was a request to fly the Palestinian flag. Councillor Bacon advised that the reason provided for this recommendation in the report was for a gesture of solidarity for those in Gaza and the wider region who were affected by the conflict and to support peace. Councillor Bacon asked whether any other communities had been consulted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the overall position in relation to the Year Ahead Delivery Plan activities.

2.    Note the Quarter 4 and year-end 2023-24 data for the Council Plan performance measures.

3.    Agree the revised Council Plan performance measure targets and new Year Ahead Delivery Plan for 2024-25 for the final year of the current Council Plan.

4.    Note that future progress reports will be presented to Cabinet in January and July 2025. 

The Chair invited the Leader of the Council to introduce the report and present the update.

The Council Plan was a strategic document published on a four yearly cycle, there was an Annual Delivery Plan that sat underneath the Council Plan which detailed the relevant delivery actions. Updates on the Council Plan were presented to Scrutiny on a six-monthly basis. 78% of the 98 actions detailed in the plan had been completed. 59% of the 68 performance measures were on target. The report was the year-end report for the previous municipal year and the proposals for agreement, for the current municipal year were detailed in the report. Consultation would begin over the summer period, for the next four-year Council Plan.

In relation to the theme Every Neighbourhood Thriving, there had been achievements such as, the completion of a new Pavement Parking Policy and the Council were looking to start engagement with Ward Members on what places they would like to prioritise engagement with the pubic relating the regulations. In February 2024, a new 20 mile per hour approach was agreed, to adopt a more coherent approach to 20 mile an hour speed limits. The Taxi Licensing Review was concluded, a new library was built at Thurcroft, and the programme of Capital Investment in CCTV Cameras was completed, although there was further work to be completed relating to the software of the cameras. In relation to delayed activities in this theme, the Local Neighbourhood Road Safety Schemes had ten schemes complete and eighteen in progress. The Towns and Villages Fund Phase One included the first four million pounds to be spent on the schemes, fifteen schemes had been delivered, four were on site at the current time and three were delayed. An example of Brinsworth was provided for one scheme that was delayed due to local issues.

In terms of performance measures in this theme, the anti-social behaviour perception measure was based on a police survey of how residents were feeling about anti-social behaviour, which had missed its target by less than 1%.

In relation to the theme People Safe, Healthy and Live well, there had been achievements such as the delivery of the Say Yes Public Health Campaign which encouraged people to say yes to healthier lifestyles. There had been a refresh of the Learning Disability Strategy and two thousand Rother Care kits for the new assistive technology, had been rolled out in advance of the future move towards digital phone lines. As all Councils were providing equipment for digital phone lines, BT had delayed their deadline for ending analogue phones and introducing digital phones only, therefore the delay was a national challenge. There had been a restructure of the homelessness service which resulted in several staffing changes and an increase in recruitment, to ensure the service would be more proactive and able to assist people before they became homeless, rather than responding to people who were already homeless. There were two delayed actions in this theme, one was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the revenue outturn position.

2.    Note the budgeted transfer to HRA reserves increased by £4.7m following the revenue and capital outturn positions.

3.    Note the carry forward of the combined schools balance of £2.2m in accordance with the Department for Education regulations.

4.    Note the reserves position set out in paragraphs 2.52 to 2.57.

5.    Note the capital outturn, funding position and programme variations as set out in paragraphs 2.58 to 2.97.

6.    Approve the capital budget variations as detailed in section 2.80 of the report.

The Chair invited Councillor Alam, Cabinet Member for Finance and Safe and Clean Communities to introduce the report and provide the relevant context.

The report outlined the financial revenue capital outturn position for the Council for 2023-2024 and described the detail of the reserve balance at the end of the financial year. The Council set a revenue budget of 3.2 million and a four-year Capital Programme with a cost of 6.10 million. The report was the final report in a series of financial monitoring reports to Cabinet and set out the year end revenue budget outturn position, in light of actual costs and income. The Council had an overspend position of 8.8 million before mitigation, this was due to significant pressures, demand on market placements across social care, home to school transport, and inflation remaining high in 2023-2024. It was advised that pressures were forecast to reduce by saving via central services and the use of the corporate budget risk contingency plan of 8.7 million. During 2024 the Council delivered agreed savings to help mitigate some of the forecast pressures which had risen from wider financial impacts and as a result the final outturn improved to 0.1 million from 1.2 million. The Council's final overspend position of 0.1 million had been funded by treasury management savings. Funding uncertainty remained for the local government sector beyond 2024 and the Council would continue to face significant challenges moving forward in social care funding. The Council was in a stable position in comparison to other local authorities.

The Chair invited the Director of Finance and Customer Services and the Assistant Director of Financial Services to present the report.

The Council anticipated potential future budget pressures throughout the budget setting process, this contributed to a positive end outturn. There were pressures in certain parts of the Council and mitigation in place within the budget to account for the ongoing pressures. The main pressure areas were children’s placements and home to school transport, work was on-going to monitor the pressures and to develop a final settled budget for those areas. Treasury management helped and supported the pressures on an on-going basis, via tight management of cash flows and dependency on interest rates.

Councillor Blackham asked officers whether there was any significant pressure building on next year’s budget, as the main part of this year’s mitigation had been the treasury management of 3.7 million, which was dependent on interest rates and cash balances available. The Assistant Director for Financial Services advised that the treasury management savings were expected to be available during the current financial year, interest rates were high and cash balances were still available, therefore a benefit could continue to be generated for the Councils treasury management services, which would help to support the Councils overall position. Treasury management was not a long-term solution to the Councils budget pressures; therefore, recovery plans were being addressed to bring services back into budget.

Councillor Carter queried why the report framed the use of using fewer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Report from the Interim Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet approve:

1.    The delivery of the Dinnington Principal Areas of Growth project within the scope and budget as detailed in Appendix 2.

2.    Confirmation of the provisional allocation of £1m of the Towns & Villages Fund to works at Dinnington.

As resolved in Minute No.12 (Exclusion of the Press and Public), the Chair excluded the press and public from the meeting for the remainder of the item.

The Chair invited Councillor Taylor, Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy to introduce the report and provide a high-level overview. It was advised that the report would be presented to Cabinet on 29^th July 2024 to request the approval of the recommendations listed within the Report. The Cabinet Member viewed the project as an essential part of regeneration efforts within the Borough.

The Chair invited the Interim Strategic Director for Regeneration and Environment to present the report.

It was advised that the funding for the project had been allocated by Government in March 2023 and the funding agreement was received in June 2023. Cabinet approved the start of the scheme in June 2023. The Service had a completed the design phase and was going to ask for Cabinet’s approval to enter into the delivery of the scheme, over the next few years.

The Chair thanked the Officers for the high-level overview of the report and invited members to ask questions in a closed session.

Resolved:- That Cabinet be advised that the recommendations be supported.

That Cabinet:

1)    Approve the delivery of the Dinnington Principal Areas of Growth project within the scope and budget as detailed in Appendix 2.

2)    Confirm the provisional allocation of £1m of the Towns & Villages Fund to works at Dinnington.

To review and identify items for pre-decision scrutiny from the Forward Plan of Key Decisions covering the period from 1 July 2024 - 30 September 2024

The Board considered the Forward Plan of Key Decisions from 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024.

Resolved: - That the Forward Plan be noted.

To consider any issues referred for call-in from recent Cabinet meetings.

There were no call-in issues.

To determine any item which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.