Agenda and minutes

Report of the Chief Executive

The Constitution of the Committee for municipal year 2023/24 was noted.

The minutes of the last Committee held on 15 May 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director of Corporate Services and Governance

The remit and terms of reference of the Committee as previously agreed by the Cabinet and Council were noted.

Report of the Strategic Director of Resources and Digital

The Committee received a report which provided them with the Council’s Performance and Improvement Framework, reporting performance on the delivery of Council priorities for the period April 2022 to March 2023. It also provided an overview of performance relevant to the role and remit of this Committee.

The analysis of performance for 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 against each of the 6 policy objectives of the Health & Wellbeing Strategy and the Balanced Scorecard was set out at Appendix 1. Areas of particular relevance to this Committee were highlighted in the report however, the full Performance Management & Improvement Framework is provided to enable members to see the full picture of performance across all priority areas at Appendix 1.

The report outlined the challenges, achievements, actions and resources for each policy objective. It also contains performance data including strategic and operational measures and is informed by qualitative and quantitative assessment to inform policy and resource decisions.

A review of measures is being undertaken to understand where changes may be needed to ensure the PMIF remains robust, particularly where data is still not available for reporting.

Following a request in June 2022, for additional support in relation to the Performance Management and Improvement Framework, the Commercialisation and Improvement team are working with the Workforce Development team on a focussed training session for councillors. A training brief has been drafted and is being shared  at the next meeting of the Councillor Support and Development Group (date TBA) for their consideration. It is intended that this training opportunity will be delivered in late September.

In addition to the report the Committee received a presentation on the Deep Dive area: Update on Apprenticeships. The Committee were advised on the national picture and the current position in the Council with regard to apprenticeships.

Details were also outlined on recent trends in number of apprentices and levy spend, the barriers to apprenticeships and entry requirements as well as actions to increase apprenticeship numbers and the apprenticeships delivered by colleagues from Learning and Skills.

Report of the Strategic Director of Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities

The Committee received a report advising them about the regulations relating to housing design and energy efficiency.

In response to its commitment to Net Zero by 2050, the Government have introduced targets to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. As 17% of national emissions come from heating, heat and buildings will need to be de-carbonised to meet the net zero target by 2050.

The energy efficiency of new housing and for works to existing houses is controlled via the Building Regulations 2010 and the Building Act 1984.

In 2021 Building Control Approved Documents were amended with interim guidance prior to further, more extensive Future Homes Standards coming into force in 2024/25.

Since June 2022, new development must comply with the guidance set out in approved documents parts F, L, O and S:

·        Part F – requires improved ventilation

·        Part L – relates to the conservation of fuel and power

·        Part O – requires measures to prevent overheating

·        Part S – requires new homes to provide infrastructure for charging electric vehicles

The Future Homes Standard is currently being drafted and could include measures such as mandatory low carbon heating systems, higher energy efficiency standards, higher insulation requirements.

RESOLVED – That the information be noted

Report of the Strategic Director of Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities

The Committee received a report which provided an update on proposed targets for the suite of HEHC Key Performance Indicators (KPI) targets 2023/24.

To ensure that the suite of HEHC KPI’s remain relevant, challenging and support delivery of key objectives a review was carried out in 2022/23 and a report was presented and agreed by this group on 7 November 2022.

The Committee were advised that it was also agreed that the revised KPI suite would reflect the introduction of the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM’s) by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The TSMs will provide a new system for assessing how well social landlords in England are providing good quality homes and services.

There are 22 tenant satisfaction measures in total. 10 of these will be measured by landlords directly, and 12 will be measured by landlords carrying out tenant perception surveys. It is mandatory for all social landlords including Local Authorities to collect, publish and submit performance to the Regulator of Social Housing.

The Committee were informed that there are a further 22 KPI’s that will be measured and reported that support delivery of the strategic aims of the Directorate.

HEHC Service Directors met on 23 May 2023 to review and ensure the 2023/24 KPI’s suite remained relevant, aspirational and realistic. Below are the proposed changes to the KPI suite presented and agreed by this group on 7 November 2022.

It was considered that the following KPI’s should be removed as they are reported via the Council’s Performance Management Information Framework (PMIF). To lessen the burden of Elected Members receiving the same performance data by two different performance reports it was considered by HEHC Service Directors that these indicators should be removed from the HEHC specific Performance report and would continue to be reported via the PMIF:

·        % of new homes built against annual housing requirement

·        % of new homes built that are affordable by the council

·        % of new homes built that are affordable by RP’s

·        % of new homes built that are affordable by developers

The Appendix attached to the main report set out in detail the revised suite of KPI’s and their proposed target. A comments field provides relevant information on what specifically informed the proposed target.

The Committee were informed that a future report will be brought to this group regarding the Building Safety Compliance Key Performance Indicators and their 2023/24 targets.

The Committee were advised that all targets have been reviewed using SMART methodology. To ensure that targets set are challenging and demonstrates the Council’s commitment to improve service delivery a number of factors are considered.

Where performance data is available for 2021/2 and 2022/23 it is used to identify trends to help inform 2023/24 targets.

In addition, benchmarking data from HouseMark is used to identify our current quartile position and compare current performance against the wider housing sector. We aim to improve our performance towards the top quartile or the next available quartile in the shortest possible time, except where we are  ...  view the full minutes text for item CPL74

Changing Futures Northumbria

The Committee received a presentation from Mark Smith, Director of Public Service Reform on ‘Changing Futures Northumbria’

The project is a £64m funded national systems change programme from DLUHC/Lottery until March 2024 and comprises of 15 projects nationwide.

The focus is upon identifying ways of improving outcomes for adults with multiple and complex needs, services and the wider system, and is driven by the estimated 363,000 people experiencing multiple disadvantage who see no benefit from their engagement with the system.

Results are already being felt with reduced repeat presentations to touchpoint services & other services (75% reduction in presentations to alcohol team in SST), improved citizens engagement with services, a reduction in individual citizens rates of offending, personal changes with individuals around how they view themselves and others and some services defaulting to yes when provided with context.

The Committee were advised that there are two years to go, with building evidence both historical and impact and a desire to inform future policy, structure and provision.

Further updates will be presented to the Committee as the project develops.

People at the Heart Programme

Suzanne Henderson provided the Committee with a presentation on the ‘People@theHeartProgramme’ which is a jointly funded 2-year programme, reporting to the Gateshead Cares System Board. The Committee were advised that the aims of the programme are:-

·        To facilitate services to deliver to the people when they need it

·        Right door every time

·        Bringing the system together to remove any barriers as they arise for people

·        Peer training and development for all staff

·        Strength based and psychologically informed practices

·        To link and support interdependencies around health inequalities, transformation, changing futures and housing review

·        Opportunities for people to engage in support when in transitional services

·        Increase workforce engagement and sharing lessons, and

·        Looking at a person’s needs holistically as opposed to individual services addressing individual needs

The Committee were advised of work to date, work stream development and next steps.

Further updates will be presented to the Committee as the project develops.

Homelessness Review

Amy Davis provided the Committee with a presentation which outlined the Homelessness Review. The Committee were advised on the background and work to date, the next 12 months, the floating support review, the person-centred floating support and details of links between the reviews

Further updates will be presented to the Committee as the project develops

RESOLVED – That the information be noted

Joint report of the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director of Corporate Services & Governance

The Committee received a report which provided details on development of the work programme for OSC’s and the provisional work programme for Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities OSC for the municipal year 2023/24.

The proposed 2023/24 work programme was attached to the main report at Appendix 1 and remains provisional as:-

·        Cabinet may wish to refer further issues to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further consideration

·        It does not take into account of new policy issues which may be identified during the year, which Cabinet may wish to refer to Overview and Scrutiny, and

·        It does not include issues identified by members of committees on an ongoing basis during the year as a result of scrutiny decisions, call in and councillor call for action.