Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed all those present to the meeting, with a particularly warm welcome extended to guest speakers, Mr John Kingdom, Assistant Head Teacher at QEHS, and Mr David Miller, Principal at TGA.

The Chairman advised that in light of the interest in agenda item 10 (a) – Call-in regarding Gainsborough Market proposals, with the leave of the Committee, it was his intention to vary the order of the agenda.  The intention was to hear papers H and G after the presentations from guest speakers, and subsequently return to the remaining agenda items in their order of publication. 

Meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 1 September 2016

Meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 1 September 2016

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 1 September 2016be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point and may also make them at any point during the meeting.

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

Matters Arising Schedule setting out current position of previously agreed actions as at Monday 3 October 2016

The Committee gave consideration to the Matters Arising Schedule, setting out the current position of previously agreed actions, as at 3 October 2016.

With regard to the amber action entitled “Sandsfield Lane Playing Field”, the Chief Operating Officer indicated that he was not in a position to update the Committee, but that this action would be updated prior to the next meeting.

It was also noted that the Police and Crime Commissioner had declined the invitation to attend at the next meeting of the Committee.  However, Inspector Simon Outen of Lincolnshire and Chris Davidson of Lincolnshire County Council, would be in attendance.  Officers were currently organising a separate informal meeting for lead members to meet with the Commissioner, the outcome of which would be fed back to the Committee 

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising Schedule as at 3 October 2016 be received and noted.

                  In connection with the Committee’s ongoing theme of Youth Unemployment, the Committee will have the opportunity to scrutinise the work of a selection of Secondary Schools across the District regarding the support they offer their students in terms of Careers advice.

Mr John Kingdom of Queen Elizabeth High School

Mr David Miller of the Gainsborough Academy Gainsborough

Mr Willars of De-Aston School (tbc)

 will be in attendance to each give a presentation aimed at answering the Committee’s previously prepared questions, detailed in Appendix A to this agenda.

                  This will be followed by a period of supplementary questioning from the Committee

                  Written responses have been received from Caistor Grammar School and these have been provided to Members under separate cover.

In connection with the Committee’s ongoing theme of Youth Unemployment, the Committee had the opportunity to scrutinise the work of a selection of Secondary Schools across the District regarding the support they offered their students in terms of Careers advice. Mr John Kingdom, Assistant Head Teacher at QEHS, and Mr David Miller, Principal at TGA, were in attendance to answer the Committee’s previously prepared questions, by way of presentations and a period of supplementary questioning.

The questions which had been posed were as follows: -

·       What steps do you take to ensure relevant career’s advice is offered to your pupils and how do you measure its effectiveness?

·       What links do you have in place to provide effective work experience for your pupils and what relationships do you have with businesses to provide suitable exposure to employment opportunities for your young people?

·       What positive actions do you take to raise the aspirations of all pupils with regard to both academic and vocational qualifications and how do you measure their effectiveness?

·       What efforts do you make to track the progress of pupils once they have left school and what use is made of any information you collate?

·       What do you think are the key issues facing young people in securing relevant and sustainable education, employment or training opportunities and what more could the education system do to address these?

The Chairman welcomed Mr Kingdom to the meeting and invited him to make his presentation to Members.

Mr Kindgom outlined to the Committee the various activities that were undertaken with students commencing as early as year 8 to demonstrate the multi-faceted approach which was taken.  The Committee were advised that the high school had been through the process of applying for the Career Mark, whilst the application was not submitted due to cost, this had proven to be a good audit exercise and confirmation had been received, that the application if submitted would have been successful.   This was a useful tool in assessing the effectiveness of the activities offered.  Surveys were also undertaken with students as a way of measuring effectiveness and the results used to change the programme going forward.  Examples of this were offered.

In response to Members’ questions Mr Kingdom outlined the principles of Young Enterprise to the Committee, advising on the opportunities it gave students and the real life experience it offered.  The scheme was considered invaluable and offered a good replication of working life.

Mr Kingdom demonstrated to the Committee the positive actions taken to raise the aspirations of all pupils with regard to both academic and vocational qualifications and stressed that boundaries, guidance, rules on behaviours  and clear expectations at the outset undoubtedly contributed.

The arrangements in place to provide effective work experience for the pupils were shared with the Committee together with the existing relationships with businesses that were in place to provide suitable exposure to employment opportunities for young people.

In conclusion, Mr Kingdon indicated that the three main things he considered affected pupils’ success  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

RESOLVED that the order of the agenda be amended as advised by the Chairman in his opening announcements (minute 37 relates)                                 

To resolve that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press 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 paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

                  RESOLVED that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press 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 paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

(a)            Call-in regarding Gainsborough Market Proposals

The Committee gave consideration to a call-in request received from four Members of the Challenge and Improvement Committee and were requested to determine a way forward in accordance with the agreed process.

Prior to opening the debate, the Director of Resources outlined the call–in process to the Committee as set out in the report.

It was noted that the call-in had been received on 25 September and stated that the four members were of the belief that the decision had not been taken in accordance with the following principles of Article 12

            (e)        a presumption in favour of openness

            (f)        contribute to the well-being of the area; and

            (g)        clarity of aims and desired outcome.

The Committee’s role was now to hear evidence from the four signatories supporting the call-in, in order to determine whether they agreed that the decision, taken by the Prosperous Communities Committees in relation to the Gainsborough Market Proposals, was not taken in accordance with the principles stated, and if so set out their recommendations back to Prosperous Communities Committee on how these could be achieved.  Alternatively the Committee could decide to not support the call-in and as such the original decision would become effective.

The Monitoring Officer, then read out an extract from the Council’s Constitution regarding Members involvement in the call-in during which it was noted that any member who had taken part in the original decision, now under scrutiny, were only permitted to attend this part of the meeting for the purpose of giving evidence and answering questions. They were not permitted to take part in the debate or the vote, best practice would also be for them to remove themselves from the meeting during the debate and vote.  Two Members identified themselves as affected.  It was stressed that it was important that the Committee firstly heard the evidence from the four Members and any responses offered, prior to entering debate and decision making, in order that the conflicted Councillors did not take part in the decision.

Those signatories to the call-in where then asked to address the Committee during which the following points were noted.  There was a belief that the Gainsborough Market was one of the highest priorities for the people of Gainsborough, feedback given to local Councillors from local residents was that they wanted a decent market, thriving town centre and a variety of outlets to make the town an attractive offer.  The Councillors were of the view that this matter and a call for action and change had been on the agenda for around 5-6 years and yet the decision made by the Prosperous Communities Committee would not result in change.  There was a view that the report on the whole was disappointing, low in terms of aspiration and the option selected, Option 3, offered no real opportunity for future growth, development and change.  There was also a view that it did not offer best value nor that it would lead to the best outcomes.  It was suggested that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

(a)                 Scrutiny of Public Body (Colleges & Apprenticeship Providers) in regard to investigation into the ongoing theme of youth unemployment 

Members were presented with a briefing paper for consideration, which set out a list of proposed colleges and apprenticeship providers to be invited to attend the December meeting, together with a proposed set of questions, derived from comments previously expressed by Committee, to be put to the providers.

The report suggested that a total of five providers who served the District be invited to respond to the same series of pre-determined questions. It was intended to invite five initially with the prospect that there may be a degree of unavailability.  It was Members discretion, as to how many they wished to invite, however the meeting would need to manageable

The organisations proposed were considered to represent a good geographical spread across the District and carried a range of offers for young people: vocational, academic and technical.

.

RESOLVED that: -

(a)          All of the organisations listed at Section 2.2 of the report,                      namely: -

·         Lincoln College, Acland Street, Gainsborough

·         Gainsborough Foundry, Bridge Street, Gainsborough

·         Young and Safe in Gainsborough (YASIG), incorporating Hill, Holt Wood

·         John Leggott VI Form College, Scunthorpe

·         North Lindsey College of Technology, Scunthorpe

·         Retford Post 16 Centre

·         Riseholme College, North Carlton

·         Lincoln & Gainsborough Adult Training, Lincoln

                        be invited to attend at the December meeting; and

   (b)       the series of questions, as presented, and as detailed in                    paragraph 3.1 of report CAI.31 16/17, form the basis of                      the presentations the invited organisations are asked to                prepare.

RESOLVED thatthe press and public be re-admitted to the meeting and the remaining proceedings be held in open session.

Consideration was given to a report which provided members with an update on performance, staffing and fee income in the Development Management Team.

In presenting the report, Officers outlined the service’s current performance compared to previous performance, the staffing changes which had been implemented, the level of income being received, one of the highest recorded, and the challenges which faced the service over the coming months.

Members congratulated the Planning Services Team Manager and all Team Members for the work they had undertaken.  All recommendations from the Peer review report had been implemented.  Agency staff had been replaced with permanent staff and this was welcomed.  Subject to further work being required in terms of S106 agreements, Members were very encouraged by performance to date and welcomed the report.

RESOLVED that:

(a)          the contents of the report be noted and the continued changes                    with the Development Management section to sustain an                                                improved service delivery continue to be supported; and

(b)          a final update report be received in 6 months’ time, after which                     time, performance for the service be reported through the                                           usual progress and delivery reporting mechanism.

         1.       Tackling anti-social behaviour in Ashcroft Road (question)

         2.       Out of hours response to anti-social behaviour by WLDC (motion)

            1.         TACKLING ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN ASHCROFT ROAD                            (QUESTION)

            2.         OUT OF HOURS RESPONSE TO ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR                               BY WLDC (MOTION) (CAI. 28 16/17)

In response to a question and motion to Council, a working group of Members had been established by the Challenge and Improvement Committee to investigate the issues raised. It was decided at the group that the issues raised by the question and the motion could be dealt with together as they referred to similar matters.

Consideration was given to a report which set out the result of the investigations into both the question and the motion and which made recommendations around them. The report also outlined the outcome of the review of the “localism service” (community action and community safety) as that had made changes to how these services were delivered and would address some of the issues raised.

The Committee welcomed the report and it was

RESOLVED that the recommendations of the south west ward working group be approved, namely :

(a)       That a 24/7 response which is based on the principle of the public reporting incidents of anti-social behaviour 24/7 and getting a response on the next working day be approved;

(b)       ensuring that there is clear guidance on the West Lindsey website which informs residents about the out of hours service the council offers, what people can expect when making use of it and how they will be informed of the outcome of their complaint;

(c)       ensuring that staff are aware of their role when responding to an out of hour’s complaint – including the timescales within which they are required to respond;

(d)       that the statistical analysis of the issues present in the south west ward presented by the chairman of the strategic group be presented to members; and

(e)       that the situation regarding the tackling of anti-social behaviour in South Ward of Gainsborough be kept under review and a further report be submitted to the Challenge and Improvement Committee  on improvements made in six months’ time.

The Governance and Civic Officer presented a report setting out the items of business due to be considered through the committee system and asked Members to identify any reports that they wished to be brought before the Challenge and Improvement Committee for pre-scrutiny.

No items were identified.

     RESOLVED that the Forward Plan be noted

The Work Plan for the business of the Challenge and Improvement Committee was presented.

RESOLVED that the Work Plan, subject to the inclusion of the two updates requested throughout the course of the meeting (minute 46 and 47)be noted.