Agenda and minutes

To consider the minutes of the previous meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on 8 April 2025 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 8 April 2025, 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.

There were no questions from members of the public and the press.

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

There were no items on the agenda that required the exclusion of the press and public.

Report from the Assistant Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1. Recommend to Council that the Council Plan 2025-30 be approved.
   
   
2. Agree the Year Ahead Delivery Plan for 2025-26.

3. Note that future progress reports will be presented to Cabinet in January and July 2026.

The Chair invited the Leader of the Council, Councillor Read to introduce the new Council Plan and Year Ahead Deliver Plan, supported by the Chief Executive, Sharon Kemp OBE and the Assistant Chief Executive, Jo Brown.

The Leader introduced the presentation and made the following points:

·       The Council Plan was a strategic document that set out the vision, priorities, and objectives for the next five years.

·       The Year Ahead Delivery Plan sat underneath the Council Plan and detailed all the key activities for the next year.

·       The Council Plan was structured to ensure a "golden thread" from the council's vision down to individual staff objectives.

·       The Council would carry forward any objectives not delivered in the previous Year Ahead Delivery Plan.

·       Consultation was conducted between September and November 2024, and included online surveys, focus groups, and public engagements at various locations such as Clifton Park, Dinnington, Maltby, Aston, and Rawmarsh.

·       The consultation resulted in 2,000 interactions.

·       Some positive aspects reported in the consultation included access to green spaces, the physical environment, so close to amenities and easy of travel between places, and the community spirit.

·       Some areas for improvement highlighted in the consultation were community safety, tackling antisocial behaviour, cleaner streets, road improvements, and town centre regeneration.

·       The new plan focused on outcomes rather than just outputs.

·       There were five main themes to the new Council Plan which were:

o   Thriving, safe and clean places.

o   An economy that works for everyone.

o   Children and young people achieving.

o   Residents living well.

o   One council that listens and learns.

The Chief Executive continued the presentation and made the following points:

Thriving, Safe, and Clean Places:

·       This theme focused on vibrant communities, better public spaces, town centre revitalization, and community safety.

·       This built on the work already undertaken though the Thriving Neighbourhood Strategy, ward plans and the investment throughout the borough.

·       Some of the key actions would be the launch of the Street Safe team, redevelopment of Rother Valley and Thrybergh Country Parks, and investment in community facilities.

Economy that Works for Everyone:

·       This theme focused on support for local businesses, enhancing skills, and connecting people to opportunities.

·       This focused on having a comprehensive package of support and advice that enabled businesses to start, develop and grow along with building on the Council’s award-winning Social Value Policy and activity.

·       Some of the key actions would be support for 20 businesses to improve shop units in the town centre, economic inactivity trailblazer to help those who were economically inactive to re-enter the workforce, and new tram train stop at Magna, working with partners.

The Assistant Chief Executive continued the presentation and made the following points:

Children and Young People Achieving:

·       This theme focused on the following three priorities:

o   Fun activities.

o   Enabling children to thrive.

o   Keeping them safe from harm.

·       The key actions for this theme were the investment in Clifton Park water splash facility, the legacy program from Children's Capital of Culture, and improving access to youth activities.

Residents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 119.

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendations:

That approval is given to consult on a new Adult Care Charging Policy, that includes both non-residential and residential charging and will include consideration of the following areas:

1. The removal of the maximum charge for non-residential care, while maintaining the minimum charge of £1. Recommended.

2. The introduction of an administrative charge for organising care for people who fund their own care. Recommended.

3. The inclusion of all disability benefits when carrying out non-residential financial assessments for services. Not Recommended.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health presented the report explaining that the Council charges for social care based on the ability to pay. The policies for non-residential charges were last reviewed in 2019, and it was recommended that another review be undertaken after five years. The report sought approval to consult on introducing two changes to the non-residential element of the policy and incorporating residential charging into a new combined policy.

Regarding the proposal to abolish the maximum charge it was noted that the current policy capped the amount charged for home care, direct payments, and support for living at the standard rate for in-borough residential care (£690 a week). The proposal was to remove this cap, affecting those assessed as able to pay more but currently subsidised by others.

Concerning the proposal to charge a feel for arranging care for self-funders it was noted that the Council had the right to charge for arranging care for people who funded their care themselves. The proposed fee was around £250 a year, affecting 224 people currently in this category.

As regards to the proposal regarding the inclusion of all disability benefits in financial assessments, it was noted that this proposal was considered but not recommended for inclusion in the consultation.

The consultation would be conducted through an online questionnaire and face-to-face drop-in sessions over a 12-week period during the summer. Letters would be issued to inform people of their opportunity to provide feedback. The outcome of the consultation exercise would inform a future joint residential and non-residential charging policy for adult social care, subject to Cabinet approval before the end of 2025.

The Strategic Director for Adult Care, Housing and Public Health clarified that this was part of the process in terms of seeking approval to consult but explained that the Council had gone through a process of reviewing the non-residential policy and upon legal advice, felt the residential and non-residential charging policies should be combined. This would be a new policy even though there would not be any material changes.

The Chair highlighted that additional benchmarking information had been circulated by email outside of the meeting to members of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

The Chair invited members of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) to raise questions and queries on the points raised earlier.

Councillor McKiernan asked for clarification on what the lower middle rate and higher rate was? The Strategic Director for Adult Care, Housing and Public Health explained that the numerous benefits discussed came at different rates depending on the assessment that the person had received in terms of their needs by benefit agencies. There could be a lower rate and a higher rate or different rates within that which were dependent on the assessment for the disability benefit. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health explained that people were asked a number of questions about things such as feeding, washing, their mobility, and interactions with the social environment etc.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.

To consider the Board’s Work Programme.

At the Chair’s invitation the Governance Manager provided an update on the work programme as detailed below:

• The Spotlight Review into Life Saving Equipment:
  • An initial meeting was held on 7 May.
  • Further information on bylaws, education, and other aspects would be provided by the Assistant Director within the next two months.
  • A further meeting would be scheduled to take this forward.

• The Grass Cutting and Grounds Maintenance Review:
  • An initial meeting was also held on 7 May.
  • A presentation was being prepared around the subject matter and the previously considered scope.
  • Availability from members of the review group was being sought to hear the presentation and progress the review.

Resolved: That the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board:

1.    Approved the current work programme.

2.    Agreed that the Governance Manager be authorised to make any required changes to the work programme in consultation with the Chair/Vice Chair and reporting any such changes back at the next meeting for endorsement.

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Select Commission on work undertaken and planned for the future.

Cllr Brent, as a substitute member from the Improving Lives Select Commission advised that the Commission had received and scrutinised reports on the Local Kinship Care offer, including an update on the new procedures, expectations and polices, a progress update on the Youth Justice Service, which included an update on the new inspection framework and the Domestic Abuse Strategy 2022-2027.

The Improving Lives Select Commission had also scrutinised the Family Prosperity Strategy, before it would be presented to Cabinet for consideration. The Commission felt that the Strategy successfully highlighted the activity in Rotherham to address child poverty and support children and families experiencing poverty.  The Commission was interested in Gulliver’s Skills Street, the available community mental health support for children and adults, activities for families in school holidays, and the impact of family hubs. A recommendation was provided by the Commission that further information should be included in the strategy about how support for children and families experiencing poverty can be accessed.  To address this, further additional information was added into the relevant sections of the Strategy.

The Improving Lives Select Commission had completed a scoping session for a suggested review of “Trauma and Children Missing Education”, which had been suggested by a member of the Commission. Members contributed to developing the scope for the review and were happy to take the review forward.

Councillor Yasseen, Vice-Chair of the Health Select Commission advised that an annual update on the adult mental health pathway had been received. The Commission had held a closed session on the oncology transformation programme, focusing on making cancer services more accessible locally. The Commission was in the process of conducting the annual quality account reviews for the hospital, ambulance service, and RDaSH.

To review and identify items for pre-decision scrutiny from the Forward Plan of Key Decisions covering the period from 1 May 2025 to 31 July 2025.

Link to the latest Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

The Board considered the Forward Plan of Key Decisions 1 May 2025 to 31 July 2025 and agreed to consider three items at the next meeting: financial monitoring update, social value annual report, and employment solutions 2025-2026.

Resolved: That the items discussed in the Forward Plan be submitted to June’s OSMB meeting for pre-decision scrutiny.

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 however the Chair offered the Boards thanks to Councillor Marshall for all the work she’s undertaken on behalf of OSMB over the last twelve months and wished she well with her proposed appointment to the Cabinet. 

The Chair looked forward to welcoming Councillor Allen, Councillor Brent and Councillor Monk to the Board, depending on the outcome of the coming Council meeting where committee appointments would be considered.