To note that Council has appointed Councillors Michael Young and Mike Cordingley as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of this Committee respectively, for the Municipal Year 2017/18.

RESOLVED: That Councillors Michael Young and Mike Cordingley are appointed as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee respectively for the municipal year 2017/18, as determined by Council at the Annual Meeting held on 24 May, 2017.

To note the Membership of this Committee for the Municipal Year 2017/18, as determined at the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 24 May 2017.

RESOLVED: That the Membership of the Scrutiny Committee for the municipal year 2017/18, as determined by Council at the Annual Meeting held on 24 May 2017, be noted.

To note the Committee’s Terms of Reference as agreed at the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 24 May 2017.

RESOLVED: That the Committee’s Terms of Reference, as agreed at the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 24 May 2017, be noted.

To receive and, if so determined, to agree as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings held on the following dates:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meetings held on 22 March 2017 and 11 April 2017, be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

No declarations of interests were made by Members.

To receive a presentation of the Corporate Director, Transformation and Resources.

The Committee received a presentation of the Corporate Director, Transformation and Resources, detailing Trafford’s crisis management capabilities and procedures. Scrutiny had requested the update following the recent Manchester attack and the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The response to these types of incidents were coordinated at a Greater Manchester (GM) level by the GM Civil Contingencies and Resilience Unit. In addition to this unit, Trafford had its own local level system. Members were advised that GM and Trafford had robust systems in place to deal with such events, but these were continually reviewed and retested, both at AGMA level, as well as by the Trafford Resilience Forum at a local level. The presentation also detailed Trafford’s on-call process, which had a rota system maintained by the Emergency Planning Manager and held by a 24 hour control room with the responsibility of contacting the relevant on call Officer in the event of a disaster.

It was noted that the borough’s leisure centres were the designated reception centres in the event of a disaster. Although the Officers did not have the exact capacity information for the leisure centres to hand, Members were informed that in the event of the centres reaching capacity during a disaster, the GM level processes would come into effect. Members were also advised that a satellite system was in place to ensure emergency communications could be maintained in the event of local and mobile phone system failure.

Officers detailed the several high profile events hosted by Trafford since the Manchester attack, and felt that the current systems in place were robust in dealing with any future incidents. The Authority was in the process of formulating a specific plan to deal with a Grenfell type disaster, and arrangements would be made for AGMA to independently assess and review.

            RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

To receive a report of the Director of Growth and Regulatory Services.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Growth and Regulatory Services providing an update on the current position in Trafford in relation to fire safety following the tragic event at Grenfell Tower. Trafford Housing Trust’s Director of Property Services was also in attendance to answer Members’ questions.

The report stated that of the nine high rise buildings owned by social landlords in Trafford, eight of those were managed by Trafford Housing Trust. Five of those tower blocks had external cladding, and the results of the independent tests showed that all five blocks posed a fire safety concern. The report explained how the situation was being addressed at both local and national level. The Council were in the process of identifying and contacting privately owned tower blocks to seek assurance on any cladding systems and fire safety procedures.

In response to a question relating to the conversion of office blocks into residential blocks, and whether this would raise any issues, Members were advised that the companies undertaking these conversions would be required to obtain the necessary sign offs to demonstrate they adhered to building regulations. Questions were also raised in relation to whether the Local Authority had the required resources to carry out the necessary safety inspections for these buildings. Members were advised that the Authority had the required resources for inspections; the question was whether the current regulations were sufficient to ensure tower blocks were safe, which should be addressed during the Grenfell Tower inquiry. In the meantime landlords recognised that these issues needed to be addressed and were being proactive to ensure the safety of residents. It was noted that Trafford Housing Trust were in regular contact with residents to provide assistance and reassurance, and would continue to monitor the situation closely.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To receive a report of the Executive Member for Corporate Resources.

The Committee received a report of the Executive Member for Corporate Resources providing a summary of performance against the Council’s Annual Delivery Plan, 2016/17. The report covered the period 1st January to 31st March 2017, as well as the full year-end performance.

The Committee highlighted the unachieved target in relation to the level of sickness absences, which continued to be an issue. Members were reminded that this was an ambitious target, and section 5 of the report explained why the target had not been met. The Corporate Director, Children, Families and Wellbeing confirmed that an exercise was due to be undertaken in attempt to understand how the directorate could improve and reduce these absences, and would report the results back to the Committee in six months’ time.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Executive Member for Corporate Resources and the Chief Finance Officer have been invited to discuss the 2018/19 Budget Scrutiny process.

The Chairman led a discussion with the Executive Member for Corporate Resources and the Chief Finance Officer on the Committee’s expectations for the 2018/19 Budget Scrutiny process.

Scrutiny felt that last year’s process had been limited, especially in relation to the scrutiny of health budgets, and hoped that this year’s process would be more in depth. The Executive Member for Corporate Resources apologised if the perception was that last year’s process had not been transparent, which was not their intention. The Chairman requested that the Committee be provided with the draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) at an early stage this year to provide a full picture of how the budget was being shaped.

            RESOLVED: That the discussion be noted.

To receive the Executive Member for Children and Families’formal response to the Scrutiny Committee’s review of the Education, Health and Care Plan process, considered by the Executive on 26 June, 2017.

The Committee received a report of the Executive Member for Children and Families providing a formal response to Scrutiny’s report and recommendations following the Task & Finish Group Review of the Education, Health and Care Plan process.

It was noted that all recommendations from the report had been accepted and had either been implemented or were in the process of being implemented. The Committee welcomed the response.

The Chairman reported that he had received information questioning whether recommendation 5 could be legally implemented. The Chairman agreed to forward this information to the Executive Member for Children and Families and the Corporate Director, Children, Families and Wellbeing for their consideration.

The Vice-Chairman thanked both Members and Officers for their contribution during the review.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To receive the Executive Member for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services’ formal response to the Scrutiny Committee’s review of the Joint Venture Contract between Trafford Council and Amey, considered by the Executive on 26 June, 2017.

The Committee received a report of the Executive Member for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services providing a formal response to Scrutiny’s report and recommendations following the Task & Finish Group Review of the Joint Venture Contract between Trafford Council and Amey.

It was noted that all recommendations from the report had been accepted and were in the process of being implemented. The Chairman advised that the Committee would be conducting a further Task and Finish Group review into the Council’s CRM system, as per recommendation 4 of the report. Members welcomed the response to recommendation 2 and looked forward to this being implemented to improve performance monitoring and transparency.

Members advised that concerns remained about the contract’s performance, with many complaints still being raised by Trafford residents. The Executive Member for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services acknowledged this, and assured the Committee that high profile issues were being addressed. Members were reminded that the contracted performance expectations were high, and poor performance would be addressed in line with the agreed terms of the contract.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee received a report of the Chairman setting out the proposed work programme for the 2017/18 municipal year. Following discussions, the Committee agreed to undertake the following Task and Finish Group reviews over the year:

i.              A Review of the Council’s CRM System

ii.            Loneliness in Trafford (A joint review with the Health Scrutiny Committee)

iii.           Scrutiny of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Offered to Schools

Members were asked to contact Democratic Services to register their interest in the review(s) they would like to be part of.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.