Agenda and draft minutes

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personalinterest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it.  If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

49.1     No interests were declared.

Items not on the agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances, including cases where the Committee needs to be informed of budgetary or performance issues affecting matters within its terms of reference, which have emerged since the publication of the agenda.

50.1     No urgent matters were raised.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2024 (cream paper).

51.1     Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2024 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

51.2     A member who had missed the meeting raised a question on item 43.12 recommendation 1 asking what specific action was being taken and on recommendation 6 wished for more information.  The Chairman undertook to follow up the questions and report back to Scrutiny Committee members.

The Committee is asked to note the responses to recommendations made at previous meetings of the Committee.

52.1     The Committee noted the responses to recommendations made at previous meetings.

52.2     Cllr N Jupp did not understand the revised wording under the Major Schemes Lessons Learned item.  He felt it sub-contractors should have the same contract standards and not “where possible”.  The Chairman agreed to refer this back to officers for a response as it did not adequately answer the concern.

52.3     A member asked about highways updates expected every 2 months had not been received and the Chairman agreed to follow up and another about the county-wide data on TRO/Community Highways Schemes

52.4     The Chairman also agreed to follow up with officers what would be done on traffic accidents in rural areas not being reported.

Report by Director of Finance and Support Services, setting out the finance and performance position as at the end of December 2023.

The Committee is asked to examine the County Council’s corporate performance, finance, savings delivery and business performance for services within the remit of this Committee and to make any recommendations for action to the relevant cabinet member.

Members are reminded that only the performance data on Community Support in Section 4 (Community Support, Fire and Rescue Portfolio) falls within the remit of this Committee.

53.1     Members reviewed the Quarter 3 Policy and Resources Report and members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

Communities

53.2     The national issue of excessive death rates continued to be higher than the long-term average but was not continuing to grow and most recent data had showed a slight reduction.

53.3     Specialist training for front-line library staff on managing difficult situations continued to be rolled out to library staff and volunteers.  Focus had been on the libraries most impacted and would be rolled out to part-time and Saturday staff along with volunteers in due course.

53.4     Household Support Fund (HSF) – The funding had been managed to ensure sufficient is available for quarter 4, which also covers the holiday activities and food programme (HAFF) for the Easter holidays.  A decision is expected from Government in early March as to whether the HSF will continue.  It was hoped that the increase in Government benefits from April 2024 would reduce the need for HSF. 

53.5     KPI 33 – Use of virtual/digital library services by residents – The pandemic had seen an increase in the number of residents using online library services.  Whilst the same number of books were being borrowed compared to pre-pandemic levels, the number of visits to libraries had reduced. 

53.6     KPI 34 – Community Hub provides positive outcomes for residents at first point of contact – A definition of “a positive outcome for every caller” would be difficult as they all have an individual need.  Measuring and tracking does take place but is not included in the PRR.  A paper on the Community Hub would be coming to Scrutiny Committee soon and could include such information. 

53.7     Gypsy and Traveller site – Pressure on the budget was largely to do with sewerage and the emptying of tanks, together with some reactive maintenance as the result of a power failure.  With sites being close to water sources it was important to ensure drainage was maintained.

Environment

53.8     KPI 22 – Equivalent tons of CO₂ emissions from WSCC activities – The baseline was reduced at the beginning of the financial year by removing academy schools from the numbers.  Work this year had been carried out through a staff survey on working practices to establish emissions from staff travel and commuting, which were not previously reflected.  Data will get better over time and the base line will be reviewed and adjusted in accordance with that information, for example this year the Fire and Rescue Service had supplied mileage details.

53.9     KPI 23 - Household waste recycled, reused or composted – The latest statistics published showed that West Sussex recycling rates are static, we remained fourth out of 29 disposal authorities.  The three authorities above us all collect food waste, however collection rates had fallen for all authorities.  Factors such as weather had impacted on green waste levels and the cost-of-living increases had impacted on people replacing belongings.

53.10  Persistent Organic Pollutants POPs –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

Report by Assistant Director (Highways, Transport and Planning).

The Committee is asked to scrutinise how the authority responds to major incidents related to highways (such as the Midhurst fire and the A29 at Pulborough) and consider any lessons learned which could be applied in the face of any such future incidents.

54.1     The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Cllr Joy Dennis, introduced the report highlighting that most incidents had been weather related following heavy rainfall.   Cllr J Dennis felt it was important to review how the incidents had been responded to and have the views of the Scrutiny Committee as there could well be more incidents in the future.

54.2     Members of the Committee gave comments and asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

54.3     A member who had experienced major incidents in their area felt it would be useful to convene a formal steering group involving the local member(s), officers and critically the Communications Team.  This could also give weight, through the local members, to the views of residents on the impact of an incident and the response on the local community.  The Cabinet Member considered this was a good idea as there were lots of informal meetings but no formal structured one which could handle communications with residents.  Lessons had been learned on communications and it was suggested that a link to the County Council website to a list frequently asked questions would be useful for residents.

54.4     It was noted that no resources were allocated in the highways budget for major events, and this needed to be considered as part of the Emergency Planning response.  A member suggested that the Highways Service should have a specific contingency set aside in the budget for major incidents.  The Cllr J Dennis reported that expenditure incurred during a major incident was primarily capital but could also be revenue costs.  Currently expenditure was currently covered from a general contingency fund, but the Cabinet Member would consider whether there was a better way forward.  The costs for ongoing incidents, like Pulborough, were not possible to predict and could only be established once the incident was resolved.

54.5     Diversionary routes are set up in accordance with the Roads and Streetworks Act using a hierarchy of roads.  It is recommended to keep traffic diversions to A roads, but B roads can be used where appropriate. Traffic management measures are put in place straight away.  Some satellite navigation systems pick up delays and closures quicker than others which can impact journeys through incident areas. Large vehicles and heavy goods vehicles should use a dedicated satnav service which can avoid narrow roads or low bridges.  Local traffic usually found unsuitable routes through local knowledge.  The Service would also put out information signs such as “businesses open as usual”.  The Service was aware of the damage that an increased number of vehicles could cause to routes used as diversions.

54.6     Disruption to bus services during incidents was discussed with bus operators to ensure sensible diversionary routes were available for the affected bus services to use.  Cllr J Dennis reminded members that there were also community buses available which have a much more flexible service. 

54.7     Members felt incidents were likely to become more common and asked what the service could do to help  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

Report by Assistant Director (Highways, Transport and Planning).

Further to the report received by the Committee at the meeting of 6 March 2023, the Committee is asked to scrutinise how the money was spent, with a view to informing how an additional allocation for 2024/25 should be spent, and how the additional Government local road repair/improvement grant might be spent.

55.1     The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Cllr J Dennis, introduced the report informing the Committee that on top of the inflationary increase to budget, an additional £4m revenue funding had been made available for the Service.  The report looked at how the additional funding for 2023-24 had been spent, what had been learnt and how that fed into proposals for the additional funding for 2024-25.  The aim had been to focus the funding on areas that would have the greatest impact.

55.2     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

55.3     A member asked what quality control was in place for defects in the highway and repeat problems on drainage and flooding.  Officers reported that repairs were audited with over 20,000 safety defects being reviewed since the start of the contract.  It was hoped to increase the inspection team to be more proactive with auditing.  Work teams take photographs of sites before and after as a record of the work done.  The Service welcomed customers feeding back on the quality of repairs.  Reactive drainage and visits are noted on the work system so data is building up.

55.4     Some of the additional resources from 2023-24 had been put into reactive drainage jetting and CCTV to work on reducing a significant backlog.  Other problems had been identified during the course of this work.  Additional resource has been added for 2024-25 to maintain this work.  It was anticipated there would be a backlog of about 8,000 cases, down from the previous year’s 11,500 cases. 

55.5     A member highlighted a concern for cyclists was not just potholes but the edge of the road itself.  The Cllr J Dennis reported that in rural areas there had been an increase in usage and erosion of verges.  Work was underway to explore other funding options. 

55.6     The ‘value added defect repair’ trial would involve a select number of highway inspectors and gangs looking to see if dealing with defects in close proximity, that do not yet meet the investigatory criteria for being dealt with, at the same time added value to a defect repair.  Trial details were not yet available.  Feedback on performance would be sought from the community. 

55.7     There was confidence that the additional funding for 2023-24 would be spent within the year.  A member asked, as the budget rise for 2024-25 was less than inflation, was it considered adequate?  Officers reported they would always be in the position of being able to spend more money on the highways, as could many other County Council services. 

55.8     Recruitment of additional staff had been undertaken with a longer-term commitment to keep roles like riparian duty-related officers. The Service was also reviewing different ways of working, digitisation and efficiencies.  Low staff morale was being addressed by supporting staff with external resources if needed, and pausing activities if necessary.  A recent away-day had helped staff morale, with managers and the Cabinet Member joining to support staff.

55.9     A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

Report by Assistant Director (Highways, Transport and Planning).

The Committee is asked to consider how the pilot schemes have performed to date and if/how future schemes will be rolled out.

56.1     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

56.2     The trial had involved three schools as two had dropped out at the last minute.  Around 13 other schools had expressed interest in the School Streets project. 

56.3     The trials were working well for schools both on main roads and in self-contained areas with people keeping to the restrictions.  Work would be undertaken to collect perception surveys at the schools to understand how travel had changed but early data showed significant improvement and the environment in front of all three schools was better.  Work would continue with all three trial schools once the trial period ended with monitoring through sensors placed in the highway within the school’s free zone.

56.4     The final feedback and decision report would be reviewed by the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport.  A copy would be appended to the Active Travel Strategy when reviewed by the Committee.

56.5     The current pilots run with only signage.  There were no plans currently to do marshalled road closures as that required a lot of school community engagement.

56.6     There are two levels of enforcement, firstly through civil parking enforcement with the district and borough councils, and potentially, in the future should the County Council introduce a Moving Traffic Enforcement policy, using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment. 

56.7     A member asked if any parking arrangements had been made with, for example, community centres and village halls, for displaced parking.  Officers reported that it had not been possible to identify any venues for the pilots but was aware that some other schools had taken this approach and it worked well.

56.8     Members suggested an all-member briefing session to explain the project, once the results from the pilots were ready.

56.9     Resolved – That the Committee:

1.   Welcomes the good news so far from the three trial schools which seemed to bringing about a change in walking and wheeling habits.

2.   Acknowledges that some school areas may require civil parking enforcement and that in the future, if a Moving Traffic Enforcement policy is introduced, there could be an opportunity to use ANPR equipment, but that the authority would have to investigate cost implications.

3.   Welcomes the opportunity of an all-member session on the School Streets Project to widen knowledge and understanding of what is involved.

The Committee is asked to agree its current draft work programme (attached at Appendix A and B), taking into account the Forward Plan of key decisions within its remit (attached at Appendix C) and any suggestions from its members for possible scrutiny taking into account the attached scrutiny checklist (attached at Appendix D). 

57.1     The Committee reviewed the Work Programme and the Forward Plan of key decisions and:

57.2     Asked BPG to look at the decision for the Halewick Lane battery storage site for its suitability for scrutiny by the Committee.

57.3     Asked for the scrutiny committee to look at the monitoring of repairs to highway defects to ensure all monitors met the same standard.  Consider whether an all-member session would be appropriate so all members were given the opportunity to be involved.

57.4     Asked that highways flood prevention mitigation be considered by BPG for areas of scrutiny.

57.5     Asked that the conclusions from the February and June Water Summits be considered by BPG for areas of scrutiny.

57.6     Asked that the quality of road and pavement repairs from utility companies, e.g. broadband suppliers, be reviewed.  BPG to consider whether this could be picked up under the Lane Rental item at the June meeting.

There have been no requests for call-in to the Scrutiny Committee and within its constitutional remit since the date of the last meeting.  The Director of Law and Assurance will report any requests since the publication of the agenda papers.

58.1     There had been no request for call-in to the Scrutiny Committee within its constitutional remit since the date of the last meeting.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 14 June 2024 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester.  Probable agenda items include:

·       Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman

·       Business Planning Group Appointments

·       Performance and Resources Report 2023-24 – Quarter 4

·       Lane Rental Scheme

·       Household Support Fund

·       Climate Action and Adaptation Plan 2024-27 (CAAP)

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by Friday 31 May 2024.

59.1     The date of the next meeting would be held on 14 June 2024.