Agenda and minutes

Members are reminded that at the start of the meeting they should declare any known interests in any matter to be considered, and also during the meeting if it becomes apparent that they have an interest in the matters being discussed.

The Chair reminded Members of the need to declare any known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting. Councillor Kevin Parry made a personal, non-prejudicial declaration of interest in respect of agenda item 6 (Progress towards the Council’s Vision, Priorities and Pledges) as he is employed by Honda.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th January 2021.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th January 2021 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

See explanatory note below. Please contact the Committee Officer whose details appear at the top of this agenda if you need further guidance.

During Covid-19, questions must be submitted by 3.00pm two working days before the meeting.

Mr Roy Worman, Haydon Wick resident, had submitted a question prior to the meeting relating to the closure of the Oasis being reviewed by two different Committees and a Cabinet Member Advisory Group (CMAG), and which queried the openness of information, the roadmap and the timescales involved amongst the three.

The Chair responded to the question at the meeting.

Mr Worman asked a number of supplementary questions at the meeting regarding:

• Minutes of the CMAG meetings not being publically available due to the confidential nature of the discussions held.
• Whether any of the £5m amendment to the Capital Programme as referred to at the last Cabinet meeting (which is being made available for leisure) will be spent on the Oasis.

Councillor David Renard, Leader of the Council, and Councillor Russell Holland (Deputy Leader of the Council, Vice-Chair of Cabinet, and Cabinet Member for Commercialisation, Education and Skills), responded at the meeting.

The Committee considered a report introducing decisions arising from the Cabinet meeting held on 3^rd February 2021.

Item Number 44. Budget Management Update (February)/Draft Budget 2021/22

Councillors Renard and Holland responded to questions put by Councillors Oliver Donachie and Kevin Small on the following matters:

·         The wording of the Minute for Confirmation from Cabinet to Council regarding the Budget and the perceived lack of opportunity this presents to members to discuss any details in depth, though the option for members to pass amendments or proposals to the budget will still be available in the usual manner.

·         Whether non-specific savings identified in the report will be achieved and the £1.5m contingency fund will therefore not be used.

·         The expected funding gap between what is being used as one-off money to support ongoing expenditure in 2021/2022 that will have to be found again as new in 2022/2023, the details of which will be circulated subsequent to the meeting.  

·         Whether all political parties represented on the Council had been consulted on the budget proposals.

Resolved – (1) That Minute 44 of the Cabinet be noted.

(2) That information requested by members during the course of the Committee’s consideration of this item be forwarded to them via the Committee Clerk.

Item Number 45. Capital Programme to 2025/26

Councillors Renard, Holland and Dale Heenan (Cabinet Member for the Town Centre, Culture and Heritage) responded to questions put by CouncillorsOliver Donachie, Jim Grant, Vinay Manro and Kevin Small on the following matters:

·         The Council Motion which tasked the Leader to ensure that the lease holder protects the Oasis building from criminal activity and is properly maintained, and the reports that the building is not being maintained and how likely that is to prejudice a future business case.

·         The anticipated resolution on the Oasis between GLL and Seven Capital and the options available to the Council should that not prove possible.

·         The likelihood of the Oasis continuing to be run as a not for profit amenity within any future business case, and of other GLL-run sites across Swindon not re-opening following the pandemic.

·         The option of publically subsidising the Oasis as a budget proposal.

·         Which facilities that GLL operate on behalf of the Council are subsidised, the details of which will be circulated subsequent to the meeting.

·         The interest repayments on the £5m approved borrowing for leisure facility, expected to be in the region of between £250k and £300k, and how these will be funded either by development or potential revenue.

·         How the original plans for Oasis and North Star pre-supposed that development would take place as part of the wider commercial arrangements, with the administration being open-minded to the variation of the original proposals for the North Star site.

·         The purpose behind the amendment to the capital programme being to see if the parameters of what is possible can be stretched, and to open up avenues of discussion and focus that may not have been available otherwise. The Committee noted that the amendment does  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

Councillor Renard presented to the Committee a report which provided details of the progress being made towards the Council’s Vision, Priorities and Pledges.

Councillor Renard introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

• The Vision, Priorities and Pledges were first approved by Council in 2015, and took a view on what the Council should achieve by 2030 in terms of day-to-day services, improving standards, and improving the performance of the Council.
• The Vision, Priorities and Pledges have been through one revision around two years ago, and it is proposed that they be refreshed again in summer / autumn 2021 to review if they need refocussing.

Councillors Renard, Heenan, Holland, Mary Martin (Cabinet Member for Children’s Services), Gary Sumner (Cabinet Member for Strategic Infrastructure, Transport & Planning) and Williams responded to questions put by Councillors Junab Ali, Oliver Donachie, Jim Grant, Jenny Jefferies, Jane Milner-Barry, Kevin Small and the Chair on the following matters:

·         That the link in the report to the Council Plan on the website shows an out-of-date document, which officers are aware of and plan to update shortly.

·         How the rollout of the second tranche of the Emergency Active Travel Fund from Central Government will improve the walking and cycling routes in central Swindon.

·         The upgrade works being done with CityFibre and OpenReach to deliver ultrafast broadband in Swindon, and other work being undertaken to cover the ‘notspots’ in Swindon.

·         Plans that are progressing in terms of assuring the future of the Honda site.

·         The Government’s Honda Task Force, which is still meeting regularly, and the work being done by the five sub-groups under it.

·         The detrimental impact of Covid-19 on the leisure industry, and the perceived lack of private sector appetite for investing in leisure destinations at this time.

·         The future of the Oasis being a matter for Seven Capital, which has a development agreement and planning approval in place, and it being up to them to come forward with relevant funding as and when the market allows them to do so.

·         How GLL currently has the lease for the Oasis and has a responsibility for maintaining it, but that if and when the lease goes back to Seven Capital, Seven will then take on that responsibility.

·         The current education outcomes in Swindon (as published by the Department for Education) and the work being done to improve the education and attainment of children within the Borough.

·         The report which had incorrectly identified Swindon as having one of the most unhealthy town centres in the country.

·         The projects currently being delivered upon such as the housing development in Wichelstowe, the Zurich building being built, and the £400m warehouse distribution centre at Symmetry Park.

·         The loss of senior officers at the Council and how this will affect the functioning of the Council going forward, particularly given the ongoing concerns over the impact of Covid-19 on services and staff.

·         The recent Ofsted inspection in Children’s Services, which focussed specifically on the Council’s response to Covid-19 over the last twelve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

Councillor Maureen Penny (Cabinet Member for Highways, Maintenance and Waste Services) was in attendance and presented to the Committee a report summarising progress and performance in respect of the key objectives of her role, which are to:

·         Provide the strategic direction for the Council’s StreetSmart, rubbish collection, and recycling services.

·         Set the priorities for the maintenance of the highways network.

·         To provide overall political leadership for the Demand Management within the portfolio.

·         Ensure that the Council's agreed priorities within the portfolio are delivered.

The Cabinet Member is responsible for securing the following Vision Pledges:

·         Pledge 3: Delivering improvements to the strategic town centre transport network.

·         Pledge 5: Enhance Wellington Street as a prime thoroughfare for the town.

·         Pledge 13: Find new ways to engage communities and neighbourhoods to increase the cleanliness of their local areas.

The Cabinet Member also has delegated responsibility for:

• Strategic Highways & Maintenance Works.
• Car Parks and Bus Gates.
• Building community capacity.
• Public Transport (including Concessionary Fares, Specialist Transport, Council Transport and Fleet Management).
• Political oversight of Waterside Depot, including Household Waste Recycling Centre.
• Recycling and Refuse Collection – Domestic & Trade.
• Waste Disposal / Waste Minimisation.
• Street Lighting [maintenance and strategic].
• Street Cleaning including removal of graffiti and abandoned vehicles.
• StreetSmart.
• Public Toilets.
• Ground & Tree Maintenance and open spaces.
• Parks (StreetSmart services only).
• Playgrounds, including those that are not presently utilised.
• Maintenance of Roundabouts and non-HRA verges.
• Building Services, cleaning, catering & security services.
• Gullies and drainage, minor road repairs, potholes.
• Repair and Improvements to Council Housing Stock.
• Enforcement.

Councillor Penny introduced her report and highlighted the following points:

• That the portfolio had been recalibrated in May 2020 following the dismantling of the former Communities and Housing Directorate and the introduction of a specific operations function.
• The recalibration separated out the strategic element of the former Communities and Housing Directorate and put responsibility for strategy, operations and performance in different portfolios.
• The Cabinet Member for Organisational Excellence has responsibility for parking charges policy. The Cabinet Member for Climate Change has responsibility for waste strategy. The Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Safety has responsibility for policy and strategy relating to housing matters. The Cabinet Member for Highways, Maintenance and Waste Services now presides over the operational elements of housing, highways, parking and waste.

Councillor Penny responded to questions put by CouncillorsMatthew Courtliff, Oliver Donachie, Jane Milner-Barry, Kevin Small, Timothy Swinyard, Steve Weisinger and the Chair on the following matters:

·         The focus for the new Director of Operations on improving the facilities and working conditions at Waterside, which will include around £150k investment.

·         The reasons behind the improvements in performance in highways maintenance, recycling and refuse collections, and repairs and improvements to housing stock, which included:

o   There is more structure around the management of operations.

o   Performance is reviewed on a daily basis.

o   Managers are held to account for their actions, failures are reviewed, lessons are learnt and corrective action is taken.

o   Greater focus on the customer by paying attention to complaints and driving  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

The Committee considered and noted a report of the Scrutiny Officer which set out the topics for inclusion in the 2020/2021 Scrutiny Work Programme, as agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 7^th July 2020, and updated during the course of the Municipal Year.

The Chair referred to the scope for a Task Group on the Oasis closure and potential reopening that was included at Appendix 1 to the report, and requested that members consider its addition to the Work Programme for the current Municipal Year. Following a vote, the Task Group was added to the Work Programme for the 2020/2021 Municipal Year.

The Committee received an updated report advising on the status of outstanding issues and member requests for information.

Resolved – That the report on the status of outstanding issues and member requests for information be noted.