Agenda and minutes

Members and officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda. Declarations should also be made at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting.

If in doubt contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

Councillor Carl Walker declared interest as part of the decision making body with regards to sale of Teville Gate

To approve the minutes of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 7 March 2024, copies of which have been previously circulated.

The minutes of the meeting of the 7th March 2024 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

So as to provide the best opportunity for the Committee to provide the public with the fullest answer, questions from the public should be submitted by 12.00 noon on Wednesday 10th July 2024

Where relevant notice of a question has not been given, the person presiding may either choose to give a response at the meeting or respond by undertaking to provide a written response within three working days.

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk 

(Note: Public Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

There were no questions from the public

Councillors who are not members of this committee can ask questions under CPR 12  Questions should be relevant to the committee where the question is being asked and also relevant to an item on the agenda. Please contact Democratic Services for more information

Members question time is 30 minutes and questions should be submitted no later than 12.00 noon on Wednesday 10th July 2024.

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

(Note: Members’ Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

There were no questions from Members

To consider any items the Chairman of the meeting considers to be urgent

There were no urgent items

To consider a report from the Monitoring Officer, attached as item 7.

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 7, which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to a signed copy of these minutes. Paragraph 18.3 (e) of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Rules confirmed that ‘if the Monitoring Officer, following consultation with the Joint Chairs of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee, rejects a request for Call-In, they shall provide a report to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee providing details of the request for Call-In of a decision and reasons given for the request being rejected. Such a report will be received by the next Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, following the determination of the request for Call-In.’

A Member made an observation that in the report to the Joint Strategic Sub Committee in March 2024 made no reference to any timescale for the completion of sale or the urgency for the decision.

The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered and noted the contents of this report.

To consider a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources, copy attached as item 8

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 8, which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to a signed copy of these minutes. This report set out the recommendations from the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) Working Group which was created as part of the JOSC Work Programme to review the effectiveness of the Overview and Scrutiny process that was operated by the Councils.

Members discussed the effect of a pre decision protocol on current workloads and time sensitive decisions, how protocols would be examined and developed, timescale of implementation and engagement with the public using the community infrastructure group. An amendment was proposed to, develop the protocols on pre decision scrutiny and Cabinet/Scrutiny relationship together/at the same time, while keeping them as separate issues.

The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee 

• Recommended that the proposed pre-decision protocol and Cabinet/Scrutiny relationship Protocol should be created at the same time but remain as separate issues

• Considered the report and recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Working Group and referred the recommendations to the Councils, Joint Strategic Committee and Joint Audit and Governance Committee as appropriate for consideration and comment.

To consider a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources copy attached as item 9

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 9, which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to a signed copy of these minutes. This report set out a new draft JOSC Work Programme for 2024/25 which was submitted to the Committee for consideration and comment.

Members asked about the creation of a business planning group, the ability of JOSC to scrutinise other matters that arose, pressure on officers, bringing the topic of communication forward in the schedule and how scrutiny requests are scored.

Members were informed that there were no plans for a business planning group as the committee considers all its’ business every meeting; that Members and Members of the public are always able to submit scrutiny requests, that officers had been involved in creating the new work programme and were fully Supportive. Members were also informed that bringing forward communication in the work programme could be looked at, other existing items had been deemed more urgent and that scrutiny requests are judged on the PAPER criteria on a score of 1-5 with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest.

Councillors Roser, Sparkes, Flower and Albury were appointed to the Finance/Budget Scrutiny working group along with Councillor Julia Watts as a co-opted member.

Councillors Baine, Harvey, Jenner, Mercer and Walker were appointed to the Workforce development Strategy working group. 

Councillor Albury was appointed as the JOSC member of the Adur Homes Advisory Board.

The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee 

• Considered and confirmed its Work Programme for 2024/25 including the setting up a Finance/Budget Scrutiny Working Group and a Workforce Development Strategy Working Group;

• Approved the confirmed draft JOSC Work Programme for 2024/25 for reporting to the Full Council meetings in July 2024 for approval.

To consider a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources copy attached as item 10

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 10, which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to a signed copy of these minutes.

Members asked about the participation of the public and Council in the design and planning stages of Homes Englands’ plans for the site, the confidence in the development helping to alleviate some of the increasing pressures of social rent needed in the borough, the number of equality impact assessments since 2012 and if there had been another formal deal in place to sell the site between 2022 and 2023.

Members were informed that the sale to Homes England had been an unconditional sale of the freehold, so there was no legal requirement for Homes England to consult with the public or the Council outside of the planning applications but; that part of the reason for selling to Homes England was an expectation that there would be public consultation and involvement. Members were also informed that officers were confident in their recommendation to the JSC in March, that as a sale of land there had been no equality impact assessment but as part of the development, Homes England would be expected to engage in an Equality and impact assessment and that while the officer would have a further look, there was no record of a formal deal to sell the site between 2022 and 2023.

Members also discussed the possibility of getting updates during the development stage and who would receive those updates and the requirements and responsibilities of Homes England, 

The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered and noted the contents of this report and the decision making process leading to the freehold land sale of the Teville Gate site.

To consider a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources, copy attached as item 11

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 11, which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to a signed copy of these minutes. This report set out the draft Annual report for the Committee covering the 2023/24 Municipal year in accordance with the terms of the Councils’ constitutions.

Members discussed an upcoming meeting with Southern Water and other local authorities to help develop a Protocol for holding Southern Water to account. Some Members had also attended a meeting of Pub Watch which provided information on the groups aims, purpose and role in the community.

The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee

• Approved the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual report for 2023/24 

• Recommended that the Annual report be submitted to the Adur and Worthing Council meetings in July 2024 for approval.