Agenda and minutes

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting of 15 January 2024

The minutes of the meeting of 15 January 2024 were confirmed and signed.

A presentation attached by Clarion

Members received a presentation which gave an overview of Clarion’s work and development.

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Sennitt Clough asked Carl Grimmer regarding the subcontractors and the term rigorous used in the procurement, how exactly are they procured, how are they held to standards and if this can be answered what percentage of agency operators are currently working in Fenland? Carl Grimmer responded that 2 years ago they went through a round of procurement, this was broken into regions then subcontractors were invited who had an interest in working for the team to make an application. He continued that the application is based on two key elements one being price, which is priced against a National Housing Federation schedule of rates which is a commonly used document for a number of local authorities and housing associations who operate under volume 7.2, the subcontractors are asked to bid against that with an idea of how much work might be sent their way on a plus or minus rate, that is one element of the scheme and on the latest round this accounted for 60% of the scores. Carl Grimmer stated that the second element is based around a number of quality questionnaires, which looks at how they are going to set themselves up to deliver services in the Fenland area with examples of work that they have completed before and contracts that they have ran, how they will engage with the customer and how they will meet the SLA, which is just a few of about ten different criteria asked, and once the submission has been submitted there is a panel of people who will look at all of those quality submissions and review them with a score of one to five with one being poor and five being good. He added that the panel will agree on the overall score, this will be carried out on every subcontractor within the region that way an agreed understanding and agreed submission of what their final score would be, then the combination of the price and quality will determine who the contract will be awarded too. Carl Grimmer stated that in order for the subcontractors to be held to account there is a formal National Subcontractors meeting with each contractor each month that is led by Clarion’s own internal procurement team but also has involvement from the area manager and himself as appropriate that is if the contractor is working well, but if the contractor is causing problems then the meetings will be increased so the work can be monitored and targets set. He added in relation to agency subcontractors, currently there are none and all the workers are directly employed.

·         Councillor Sennitt Clough asked which department in Clarion is the largest user of agency staff? Carl Grimmer replied that he is not able to answer this question. Councillor Sennitt Clough stated she would like to come back to the question about holding the subcontractors to  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC34/23

A presentation to be given by North Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Care Partnership on the day of this meeting

Members received a presentation from John Rooke on the North Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Care Partnership’s Progressing Integration of Health and Care.

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Nawaz stated that there was nothing in the slides to cover substance abuse, drugs, or alcohol addiction and with an 80% increase in this category he would like to know what is tailor made for the Fenland area particularly the North? He continued the measures that were presented did not indicate the allowances to be made for the future and, therefore, there were no indicators for future assets so he would also like to know what the budget is for Fenland, for Peterborough and for Huntingdonshire and how the budget is to be distributed and allocated and to what areas. Councillor Nawaz added to give some medical facts as examples as to how funding can make a difference in many areas of the medical profession and stressed he would like to see a better plan of how this new committee will work and the measures put in place to see results year on year. John Rooke responded that today’s presentation was designed to give the panel an overview of what is available, there are some statistics on the website which he feels Councillor Nawaz will find interesting and cover most of what he has asked today, but in the short term as the committee gets better and the indicators build this will help to develop what changes are needed to be made for the future and the aim is to think about what the population needs, not just practically or clinically but holistically too and how this will be put into practice. Councillor Nawaz stated his initial question was not answered around the budget and asked how much would be allocated to the hub, how would the staff be trained and would the staff be recruited within the Council or through the NHS or from outside and how the achievements would be logged? John Rooke responded that the budget allowance comes from the NHS and is divided out to different areas, some of this will contribute to the Hub with a link to need, there will be a bid going into the local GP surgeries for a contract and a linked need for this service plus other voluntary organisations with the project being reliant on some of these partnerships’ contributions and initiatives for its success. He added that this hub is designed for the people of Fenland and ideally to employ people from Fenland, there will be a central team which be tailored and relevant as possible to the local needs of residents.

·         Councillor Sennitt Clough asked what will be said to residents who mistake the Care Partnership as just another tier and how will action be taken instead of just passing cases around? John Rooke replied there has been a new Integrated Care System formed which is about partners coming together and the hub being able to add  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC35/23

This report sets out the Councils progress in delivering the corporate objectives from April 2023 to December 2023

Members considered the progress of the Corporate Priority for Communities.

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Booth stated looking at the KPI on page 19 there are some red indicators, with these areas being about claiming housing benefit and precautions taken when claiming to be homeless, and asked what are the plans to get back on track so targets are achieved? Councillor Hoy responded most of this indicates the speed people are moving on which can be quite timely due to the housing stock available, some landlords are selling up for different reasons which can affect housing and homelessness and is something that needs investigating. Councillor Boden added there have been a lot of changes for landlords and landowners especially on the tax side, therefore, a number of landlords country wide have decided to sell which has made the market much greater than the demand for landlords which is why there has been a drop in private landlords. Councillor Booth asked is this trend because the Fenland area is seen as a cheaper area so more people are trying to get rented accommodation by moving into the area, putting more pressure on the housing stock? Councillor Hoy agreed it does not help being in a cheaper area as there are a lot of big houses that are perfect for HMOs, private care homes and asylum seeker accommodation, which is one of the reasons why there has been a conversation about not allowing asylum seekers into cheaper areas because it is adding to the social problems within these areas.

·         Councillor Nawaz stated, to pick up on Councillor Booth’s point, part of the reason for the changes with landlords is overregulation in the housing market by the Government, plus the taxation changes which means it is no longer that attractive for private landlords to invest in these houses, as to where the stock has gone some stock is in limbo and in the process of being sold, some stock has fallen into disuse and disrepair and some stock has been occupied by Eastern Europeans where they will share a house between two or three families and this is the only way some landlords can survive.

·         Councillor Imafidon stated he would like to make the point that high interest rates also affect private landlords giving some examples of mortgage rates and interest rates and Government rates which is making private landlords feel this is not a viable business to be in. Councillor Hoy responded that was a very good point and stated that there has never been any overview work done in this area, everyone plays a part in this system from private sector housing, Clarion Housing, temporary accommodation and bed and breakfast accommodations and if anyone makes a decision in the system it always has a knock on effect further down the line but without everyone there are no houses to help people move into. She added that some of this is at a national policy  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC36/23

Members to receive an update on the previous meeting’s Action Plan.

Members noted there were no updates on previous actions.

To Consider the draft Work Programme for the Overview & Scrutiny Panel for 2024/25

Councillor Nawaz requested a presentation from the Education Board to talk about children with special needs to be added to the work plan.