Agenda item

The Panel noted its terms of reference and received a brief outline of the role of the overview and scrutiny panels and their working relationship with the Cabinet.  They also received a presentation from officers on the main priorities of the Council which fell within the Panel’s terms of reference.  (A copy of the presentation is attached as an Appendix to these minutes.)

Members noted that a new Corporate Plan would be developed in the autumn, but current Council priorities related to this Panel’s role were likely to be in the following areas:-

·                  ‘Delivering Where it Counts’

- Council tax as low as possible

- Greater efficiency

- Maintain and improve assets

·                  ‘Supporting Local Business’

- To grow and prosper

·                  ‘Improving Customers’ Services’

- Listen to local residents

- Protect front line services

Members noted that there would be a Central Government emergency budget produced on 8 July, though the detailed implications for the Council were unlikely to be known until December 2015.  Hampshire County Council were also undertaking a major spending review consultation which would also be likely to have an impact on NFDC.  NFDC Council Tax had remained at the same level for the last six years, yet £3 million had been removed from the Council budget over this time.  Replicating this over the next six years would not be easy. 

Efficiencies, financial performance, Value For Money and efficient use of assets would all be key areas for the Panel to examine.  Assets such as the depots, Hardley Industrial Estate and the Health & Leisure Centres would all undergo change.

On delivering customer benefits through technology, members noted the aspiration for channel shifting where the costs of transactions with customers were:

Web per enquiry £0.08

Customer Services Centre per telephone call: £2.47

Local Offices face to face per enquiry: £3.96

As the above figures showed, there were very good reasons to try to achieve channel shifts with customers, but the Council should also be mindful of demographics and the needs of all residents.

There were eight information offices including Appletree Court and Lymington Town Hall.  During the last administration, four of these moved to being managed by local councils, receiving contribution grants from NFDC towards running costs.  The Customer Services Centre received 154,000 phone calls in 2014/15 as well as 24,000 emails.

With ‘supporting Local Business’, the Council sought to encourage opportunities for jobs and economic benefit to the area.  There were 8,000 businesses in the District, of which 85% employed less than 10 people.  Reference was made to the New Forest Business Expo in Lymington on 3 June at which more than 70 local businesses attended and exhibited.  The Expo gave local business the opportunity to showcase what they offered, meet new customers and be part of the thriving local business community.  This was very much a part of the Council’s role in supporting and enabling the local economy to flourish.  On the Brand New Forest initiative, over 200 businesses had signed up to the discount card.

Ongoing challenges included the provision of broadband, continuing involvement with the Local Enterprise Partnerships, and provision of business sites and facilities (e.g. Hardley Industrial Estate).  In this connection, there were still some challenging decisions to be made about how the Council engaged with the delivery of employment land.

It was noted that there were 30,000 people under 19 years of age in the District, which was something for the Council to consider.  Another aspect was workforce skills for the local care sector.  Marine and engineering sectors were significant business areas locally and the Council worked hard to support these.

Having heard a brief summary of the possible areas for the Panel to focus on, the Chairman gave an outline of the challenges for the Council and proposed the Panel’s future approach to some of these issues.  He pointed out that the Council would need to continue to save money and increase income.  He suggested that, like the partnership working with other local councils for audit services, the Council should consider whether there were other opportunities for sharing the cost of services in this way. 

In order to determine the agenda for the next twelve months and the direction of travel for the next four years, he proposed that the Panel separate into three groups to look at the three main themes for the Panel as follows:-

Delivering Where it Counts:

Cllrs Colin Wise (leading), Derek Tipp and Mark Steele

Supporting Local Business:

Cllrs Alan O’Sullivan (leading), Mrs Alexis McEvoy and Mrs Anna Rostand

Improving Customers’ Services:

Cllrs Alan Alvey (leading), Bill Andrews and Mel Kendal

The Chairman would try to attend all three group meetings.  Each of the groups would look at their areas and identify potential projects for Task and Finish Groups or areas for investigation by the whole Panel, as appropriate, to be submitted to the next meeting of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 17 September 2015.  The Panel would then prioritise these projects.

Budget Task and Finish Group

Cllrs O’Sullivan and Wise volunteered to be members of the Budget Task and Finish Group, and it was agreed that Andy Rogers would email all members of the Council to invite them to be members of the Group for the forthcoming year.  The Chairman of the Panel was delegated to appoint members to the Group and to nominate a Chairman of the Group to take matters forward.  The terms of reference of the Group would be agreed at their first meeting.

Any appointments to ICT Groups would be brought back to the September meeting.