Agenda item

This report and appendices summarise how the Council performed in Quarter 3 (Q3) 2020/21 on the delivery of the programmes and measures which fall within the remit of this Committee which are Priority and Ways of working. The report also contains a performance summary of all services and a summary of discussions at the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

This report also presents the Q3 2020/21 review of strategic risks.

Discussion:

The Committee considered a report presenting a summary of the Council’s performance in Quarter 3 of 2020/21 on the delivery of programmes and measures which fell within the remit of the Committee; a performance summary of all services; and a summary of the discussions at the other overview and scrutiny committee meetings. The report also presented the Quarter 3 2020/21 review of strategic risks.

Members raised the following comments and questions which were responded to:

·            Digital/internet poverty – In response to Members’ concerns about the effect of internet poverty on people, a briefing note would be provided giving a breakdown of data on digital access, including the data source; take up and dropout rates; demography; and a comparison with other forms of customer interaction.

·            Risk definitionssuch as critical and catastrophic – Clarification was sought on the strategic risk definitions. Members were advised that the risk definitions would be included in the risk framework review this year.

·            Electric Bus Bid – Further information was sought on why the Council’s “All Electric Bus Town” bid to DfT in Quarter 1 had been unsuccessful. A written response to Committee members would be provided, including whether any further bids were under consideration.

·            Cyber security – Information was requested on what lessons had been learnt from the Hackney Council data breach and what was being done to protect Medway from cyber-attack. A written response to Committee members would be provided.

·            Households living in temporary accommodation – Asked why the Quarter 2 risk was ‘red’ status, the Head of Strategic Housing advised that this had been due to a backlog in repairs to properties due to the suspension of works during the first Covid-19 lockdown.

·            Unlicensed HMOs – In response to a question on the Council’s approach, the Head of Strategic Housing said that the service responded to any complaints about unlicensed HMOs and worked with landlords to help them reach the required standard for licensing.

·            Rough sleepers – To provide more clarity on the ‘business as usual’ approach that the team had moved back to, the Head of Strategic Housing said that much was happening to support rough sleepers, particularly with regard to hotel and temporary accommodation, and few people stopped using the service for negative reasons.      

·            Court backlog of possession cases – In response to concerns about the impact of this backlog, the Head of Strategic Housing advised that the stay on evictions had been extended until May. The service worked with landlords to encourage them to raise cases early to prevent homelessness. Good support was provided by the Revenues and Benefits Service to help those tenants who were in need to seek assistance.

·            Housing repairs and maintenance contract – Asked for clarification on why the contract had been extended, the Head of Strategic Housing said that, on the basis of performance, value for money and resident satisfaction levels, the Procurement Board had concluded that the best option had been to exercise the extension clause in the contract. 

·            Scaffolding training project and Kickstart placements – Officers undertook to provide Members with further information on these training initiatives.

·            The Council’s property portfolio – In response to questions in relation to Gun Wharf, the Chief Legal Officer advised that the running costs of the building were £1.1m a year and its current occupancy rate was 8%. The Council was in discussions with a significant potential tenant to take some space in the building, which would require some remodelling as a result. Members were assured that appropriate space would be retained for Member meetings.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Quarter 3 2020/21 performance against the measures used to monitor progress against the Council’s priorities, and noted the amended Strategic Risk Register as set out in Appendix 4 of the report.

In accordance with Council Rule 12.6, Councillors Khan, Murray and Andy Stamp asked that their votes in favour be recorded.