Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Browne and Jones.

To approve the record of the meeting held on 27 November 2025.

The record of the meeting held on 27 November 2025 was amended to include the attendance of Councillor Lammas and agreed and signed by the Chairperson as correct.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.

There were none.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests (DPI)

There were none.

Other significant Interests (OSI)

There were none.

Other Interests

There were none.

This annual report provides an account of the role of the Portfolio Holder for Business Management. It details their ambitions for their areas of responsibility, how they have and will undertake political challenge and leadership and what their priorities and ambitions are for the year ahead.

Discussion:

The Portfolio Holder commented that she was pleased to present the report to Committee and the 5% pay increase which was awarded to staff in April 2025.

The following issues were discussed:

Financial stability – in response to a question whether Council remained financially stable, the Portfolio Holder stated that the administration had inherited a difficult financial situation. It was vital that Council provided services to residents and the request for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) was made to support delivering those services.

A Member asked whether the proposed £2m additional funding for the department in the budget showed that the Portfolio Holder had not been successful in achieving efficiencies, the Portfolio Holder stated that the monies in the proposed budget was required to provide services to the residents of Medway.

Pay increase 2026-27 – it was asked whether the pay award in the last two years and the proposed pay award for the next financial year would continue in the future. The Portfolio Holder stated that it was important to remember that the Council had previously had to employ expensive locum staff and the pay award had helped to alleviate recruitment and retention issues. She was proud of the proposed pay award which reflected a cost of living increase and that 80% of staff were Medway residents.

Telephone queries from residents – it was asked if it was known which department received the most queries and what the demographic profile of residents so the Council could ensure services remained accessible to all residents. The Chief Information Officer explained that it was known which departments received the most queries, however, the personal details of residents were not currently collected so the profile of callers was not tracked. The Council was developing a new platform to support customer management systems and data could be collected through the resident’s account in the future.

In response to a question whether there was any data available whether the reduction in phone calls to the Council was due to residents being unable to contact the Council by phone, the Chief Information Officer stated that the reduction in phone calls was due to residents using digital services to find Council information. The fall in phone calls has freed up telephone lines for residents who prefer to call regarding their query so they received an improved service. He added that the Council had not reduced the number of phone lines open to the public and had no plans to do so.

A Member commented that calls to the Council had fallen by around a third in the last two years. It was asked which departments had seen that largest falls and the reasons for this, the Chief Information Officer stated that the largest fall had been in the switchboard number which dealt with calls where residents did not have a direct number or were not aware of who they needed to speak to. This was due to the improved function of digital services which enabled those queries  ...  view the full minutes text for item 685.

This report presents the 2026-27 key performance indicator refresh of the One Medway Council Plan 2024-28.

Discussion:

The Chief Information Officer introduced the report which outlined proposed amendments to the One Medway Council Plan for 2026-27. He highlighted that the majority of indicators remained unchanged, 24 amendments were proposed to reflect current performance, 11 indicators would be removed because data was no longer available or relevant and seven new indicators were proposed.

The following issues were discussed:

Delegation to the Chief Executive – the Committee discussed the proposed delegation to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council to agree new key performance indicators. A Member raised concern that the delegation to officers could enable indicators to be amended to provide a more favourable outlook for the Council. He added that in his view the ability to change indicators should be reserved to the Committee.

The Chief Information Officer stated that changes to the indicators had been brought to the Committee for consideration to ensure transparency. The Chief Operating Officer stated that the report was considered as part of pre-decision scrutiny, so any comments by the Committee would be noted and if Members did not want the Chief Executive to have the delegation that could be considered and voted upon at full Council.

The Chief Operating Officer added that the purpose of the delegation to the Chief Executive was to add new measures to reflect changes in priorities or schemes during the year. The delegation did not provide authority to the Chief Executive to remove targets, and performance was presented to the relevant Committees on a quarterly basis with complete transparency in relation to all targets.

A recommendation was proposed to note the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s concern that the Chief Executive had a delegation to amend indicators. On being put to the vote, the recommendation was lost.

Scrutiny and Review – in response a to a question whether the development and scrutiny of key performance indicators reflected best practice, the Chief Information Officer stated that the development and scrutiny of performance was open and transparent and this reflected good practice.

Business Creation – It was asked for further information to support the amended target for KPI 2.2 business creation which had been reduced from 8,000 to 4,000 new businesses over the Council Plan period. The Chief Information Officer undertook to provide a response from the service following the meeting.

A Member commented that there was not a specific indicator which related to the survival of small businesses and inward investments to the areas high streets, it was asked if further information could be provided as to how the Council measured investment into the high street and the survival of businesses. The Chief information Officer stated that whilst there was some indicators relating to regeneration there was not a specific indicator for inward investment in high streets and business survival, he undertook to request a briefing note form the service on the current situation.

Swimming – in response to a question regarding the numbers of young people swimming and whether this had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 686.

This report sets out the Draft Capital and Revenue Budgets for 2026/27. In accordance with the Constitution, Cabinet is required to develop ‘initial budget proposals’ approximately three months before finalising the budget and setting Council Tax levels at the end of February 2026. The Draft Budget is based on the principles set out in the Medium Term Financial Outlook 2025-2030 (MTFO) considered by the Cabinet on 26 August 2025.  This report also provides the comments of the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees on the Draft Budget proposals, for this committee to consider.

Discussion:

The Head of Revenue Accounts introduced the report which had been presented to the Committee in November and been updated to reflect the comments of the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees which could be found at appendix 1 to the report. He added that the Local Government Finance settlement had been announced in December which was the first year of a multi year settlement. The settlement was positive for Medway, however, the benefits of the settlement would not be felt until years two and three of the settlement. In 2026-27 the Council would receive £8m less than was originally forecasted. The final settlements would be received by the Council shortly and incorporated into the report provided to Full Council.

The following issues were discussed:

Council Finances – The Chief Operating Officer was asked for his assessment of the Council’s finances in light of the proposed £8m less income from central government than was forecast and the need for further Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) when it had been the aim of the administration for no further EFS to be sought. It was asked whether the positive forecasts previously provided had been unrealistic. The Chief Operating Officer stated that the budget gap had been reduced from £26m in November, however, funding from central government was £8m lower than had been forecast.

The Chief Operating Officer explained that the forecast had been made with the help of advisors based on previous government announcements. The Chief Operating Officer stated that the modelling had been positive, however, the phasing of the settlement over the three-year period meant that there was a lower than anticipated level of funding in year one. When the Cabinet budget report was published in February, the three year projection would show increased funding to Medway to be received in years two and three of the settlement.

The Cabinet budget report, when published, would highlight that following significant work by Portfolio Holders and senior managers, the budget gap would be reduced to around £10.2m for the coming financial year. This gap would require an application for further EFS.

Current year budget Overspend – it was asked to what extent the overspend on the current year had impacted on the budget for the next financial next year. The Chief Operating Officer explained that there were two significant areas of overspend for the current financial year, being Treasury Management and Adult Social Care. Each year the budget was built on a set of assumptions, for Adult Social Care external factors such as the pressure on the NHS and its subsequent effect on adult social care were greater than had been anticipated and that would impact next years budget. With regard to Treasury Management, whilst interest rates had fallen, the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) rate had not fallen in line with predictions made by treasury advisors in November 2024. This had created a pressure in terms of higher interest rate costs, this pressure will also continue into the next financial year.

Capital Strategy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 687.

In accordance with the Council’s Risk Strategy, this report presents the annual review of the Risk Strategy.

Discussion:

The Chief Information Officer introduced the report, he highlighted the principal changes to the strategy which include the re-establishment of the Corporate Risk Management Group

It was noted by Members that the Audit Committee had previously considered the report.

Decision:

The Committee considered the 2026/27 Risk Strategy as set out in Appendix 1 to the report and submitted comments to Cabinet.

The report presents the findings of the 2025 Staff Survey.

Discussion:

The Chief Organisational Culture Officer introduced the report. The Staff Survey had been undertaken during the summer of 2025 and the results shared with the Corporate Management Team, Service Managers and the Employment Matters Committee during October and November. The Chief Organisational Culture Officer highlighted some areas where the survey had shown positive results the Council.

The Behaviours and Values the Council set for staff were well understood with 90% of respondents stating they knew what this meant to them and how to implement in their working day. There had also been a 15% rise in colleagues feeling empowered, a 10% rise in colleagues feeling proud to work at Medway and a 17.5% rise in colleagues satisfied with the rewards package.

The Chief Organisational Culture Officer added there were some areas which required improvement, in particular. 5.8% of staff felt they could not be themselves at work, and 6.7% of respondents reported experiencing discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Areas which required improvement were being addressed.

The following issues were discussed:

Discrimination and Harassment - a Member commented that there were some very positive results in the survey but also some results which would raise concerns, such as the 22% of respondents did not know how to report discrimination and harassment. The Chief Organisational Culture Officer stated policies were easily available on the intranet and in clear language so further investigation was undertaken into the potential causes for the results. At engagement sessions with staff, some officers reported having a concern but wanting advice rather than to raise a formal complaint with their manager or HR. In response officers was considering ways in which that could be addressed to signpost staff to effective advice.

Staff Retention – in response to a question how important was staff pay in securing retention of staff the Chief Organisational Culture Officer stated that the staff turnover rate had fallen from 16.5% to around 11% in the last two years. It was her ambition to have a turnover rate of 10% which would reflect bringing in new people with fresh ideas and developing staff in their career pathway. She stated that in her opinion, the staff reward package had been a contributing factor to both the improved retention rate and the Council’s ability to recruit. In addition, the Medpay review had enabled staff to progress and in their career at the Council and this had a made a significant difference to the stability of the workforce.

Comparator data was requested to from other authorities to compare the numbers of staff who reported wanting to leave in the next two years. The Chief Organisational Culture Officer stated there was no comparable data with other local authorities available on that specific issue as the surveys were not a set of standardised questions and the results of internal authority surveys were not always made publicly available. She added that one of the reasons why a number of people planned to leave the Council in the next two  ...  view the full minutes text for item 689.

This item advises Members of the current work programme and allows the Committee to adjust it in the light of latest priorities, issues and circumstances. It gives Members the opportunity to shape and direct the Committee’s activities over the year.

Decision:

a)     The Committee agreed the provisional work programme at Appendix 1 to the report.

b)     The Committee noted the work programmes of the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees at Appendix 2 to the report.