Agenda and minutes

Any apologies for absence will be noted at this point.

There were none

To approve the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 17 January 2023.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2023 were agreed as an accurate record.

The Chairman will announce any urgent items that due to special circumstances are to be dealt with under the agenda item below relating to late items.

There were no urgent items for consideration.

Members and officers are reminded to make any declarations of disclosable pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests they may have in respect of matters on the agenda for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The procedurefor submittingpublic questions in writingbyno later thannoon 2 workingdays before the meetingis availablehereorfromthe Democratic Services Officer (whose contactdetailsappear on thefrontpage of thisagenda).

There were no public questions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and its appendices and make the following recommendation to Full Council:

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee is requested to consider and agree its 2022-2023 Annual Report and the 2023-2024 Work Programme and to recommend them to the Council for noting.

The chair invited Louise Rudziak, Director of Housing and Communities to present the Work Programme 2023-2024.

Mrs Rudziak explained that the Work Programme was drawn up based on the Council work plan, with some standing items. Additionally, it was explained that the work plan was flexible and that a workshop had been planned with the committee so that topics for the Work Programme can be discussed and agreed.

One member raised the topic of disability and stated that considering the high percentage of people who have a disability in the district; this should be an area that the committee investigate further. Additionally, it was suggested that there should more overview of the Chichester Contracts Services as it has not had a substantial input on the Environments Panel due to lack of time.

Members stated that they were aware of some issues regarding Hyde Housing Association and that it would be useful for a representative to attend a future Committee meeting to discuss some the issues affecting the residents. Officers responded by stating that an induction day for Hyde Housing had already been planned for September and that they would ask a representative to attend a future Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.

Members pointed out that they did not want to suggest too many issues at one time as this might take away from the key major issues that were more deliverable.

RESOLVED:

That the 2022-2023 Annual Report be considered, agreed, and recommended to Councill for noting.

The Committee is requested to consider the report and make the following recommendation:

The Committee notes the completion of the project to join Coastal Partners in order to provide coastal and land drainage services and the associated transfer of the Council’s staff and provides any comments.

The chair invited Alison Stevens, Divisional Manager of Environment and Health Protection to present the report.

Ms Stevens explained that the Coastal Partners project was established in 2020 and involved two phases. The first stage included Chichester collaborating with four other Hampshire councils which were Portsmouth, Havant, Gosport, and Fareham to provide costal and land drainage services. Phase two of the project involved Chichester District Council (CDC) transferring their staff to Havant Borough Council as they hosted Coastal Partners.

Ms Stevens stated that the aim of the project was always resilience and the Councils ability to deliver large capital schemes.

Members enquired about how the standards were measured within the project and asked if there were any other similar schemes to compare it to. Officers responded by stating that despite the delegation of work to Havant Borough Council, there is still a close working relationship. Members discussed how any failures would be dealt with. Members also asked how the corporate risks were being managed. Officers responded by stating that an audit is sent to the team which monitors the financial risks. The committee discussed the age of the flood defences and asked if they were still suitable for use. The officers responded by stating that the staff routinely monitor the assets using drones.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the completion of the project to join Coastal Partners be noted to provide coastal and land drainage services and the associated transfer of the Council’s staff.

The Committee is requested to consider the report and its appendix and make the following recommendation:

The Committee notes progress and outcomes to date for the Social Prescribing service.

The Chair Invited Elaine Thomas, Community Wellbeing Manager to present the report.

Members enquired about the funding provided by Hyde housing and asked if it would still be provided. Members discussed the engagement of young people and suggested partnering social prescribers with educational facilities to increase youth engagement. Officers stated that they had visited schools and given assemblies to the children to try and increase youth engagement. Officers stated that when they established the young people’s social prescribing service, they wanted it to be a self-referral service as that would mean the young people would already be invested. Members expressed concern about the aspect of self-referral as they felt it would slow the process down. Officers reassured the committee they have worked closely with young people to help design the Chichester youth connections website make the scheme more relatable to the youth.

Members enquired about the use of other evaluation tools to measure youth engagement. Members also asked about whether there were any issues regarding the number of sessions provided. Members noted that across the district pharmacies were closing and whether that was affecting the social prescribing sessions. Members enquired about a specific focus on families with young children in more rural areas. In response officers stated that there had been some work done in that regard.

Members also asked if there were any differences in the effectiveness of the social prescribing service were due to the geographical location of certain areas. Members discussed how knowledge is shared amongst social prescribers and enquired about the scope of the social prescribing project. Officers responded by stating there a lot of team meetings take place where social prescribers share any new information, and the team are always in constant communication.

RESOLVED:

1.    That progress and outcomes to date for the Social Prescribing service be noted by the committee.

Consideration of any late items as follows:

a)    Items added to the agenda papers and made available for public inspection.

b)    Items which the Chairman has agreed should be taken as matters of urgency by reason of special circumstances reported at the meeting.

There were none.

The Committee is asked to consider in respect of the following item(s) whether the public, including the press, should be excluded from the meeting on the grounds of exemption under Parts I to 7 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as indicated against the item and because, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption of that information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The reports dealt with under this part of the agenda are attached for members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and senior officers only (salmon paper).

Or

There are no restricted items for consideration.

There were none.