The panel will note the appointment of the Chair and Vice Chair for the municipal year 2013-2014.

The panel noted the appointment of Councillor Tuffin as Chair and Councillor Bowyer as Vice-Chair, as had been agreed at the Annual General Meeting held on 17 May 2013.

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

In accordance with the code of conduct, the following declarations of interest were made –

The panel will consider the appointment of co-opted representatives and/or confirm existing co-opted representatives.

Agreed that Steve Meakin is appointed as a co-opted representative to the panel for the municipal year 2013/14.

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of Chair’s urgent business.

The panel will note its terms of reference.

The panel noted its terms of reference.

The panel will hear from the Cabinet Member for Co-operatives and Community Development on his portfolio responsibilities with a view to identifying items for inclusion in its work programme.

The panel heard from the Cabinet Member for Co-operatives and Community Development who was in attendance to provide an overview of his portfolio responsibilities.  Councillor Penberthy reported on the following four areas within his portfolio which he felt could benefit from scrutiny –

·         Civil Society Policy – this will focus on how the council engages with the people of Plymouth, including neighbourhood working and localism, and is closely aligned to the Community Asset Transfer Policy which had been approved at the last meeting of City Council;

·         Safer Plymouth (former Plymouth Community Safety Partnership Safe and Strong Board) - works collaboratively with statutory partners to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.  In addition to its new name, the terms of reference are currently being redrafted and consideration given to its current responsibilities and structure;

·         Welfare Reform – it is known that the benefit cap being applied within the next few weeks will impact on 140 families in Plymouth.  This change,   combined with the introduction of direct payments to landlords, will result in many people finding it hard to manage financially.  The Council is working with its partners to find out what the implications of these major changes will mean for those directly affected and the for the City as a whole;

·         Housing Delivery (waiting lists, homelessness, private sector housing) - there are currently not enough large properties in the city and those that are around aren’t affordable.  A major housing conference is being hosted in the City later in the year where, amongst other things, consideration will be given to how we can work differently in terms of housing provision.

In response to questions raised, members were advised that –

The panel will receive information on Housing Options and the plans which are in place to deal with homelessness.

The panel heard from Matt Garrett, Head of Housing Options, and Stuart Palmer, Assistant Director for Homes and Communities, on the ‘Housing Choices Smarter Solutions Delivery Plan’.  The report –

In response to questions raised, Members were advised that –

The panel welcomed the concise and detailed report and thanked the officers for their attendance.

(Councillor Damarel and Steve Meakin both declared personal interests

in respect of the above item).

The Panel will receive a presentation from the Assistant Director for Customer Services on progress with the Customer Services Transformation programme.

The panel heard from Councillor Smith, Deputy Leader, and Andrew Stephens, Assistant Director for Customer Services, on progress with implementing the Customer Services transformation programme. 

The presentation highlighted the Council’s vision and principles for customer services which included –

·         provision of a single point of access to most services;

·         resolution of most customer enquiries at first point of contact;

·         engaging customers in the redesign of services to make them more efficient and effective;

·         delivering services through preferred channels to make them more accessible and deliver savings;

·         making effective and efficient use of our investment in corporate customer facing ICT;

·         working with partners to make services more customer focused, better connected and more efficient.

In response to questions raised, Members were advised that –

It was pointed out that whilst the internet may be less accessible in the more deprived areas of the City, it was also those areas who made most use of the payday loan providers and who were only accessible via the internet.  Consideration should therefore be given to how this was happening and what opportunities were being missed.

The Chair thanked the Deputy Leader and Assistant Director for Customer Services for their attendance.

To consider the draft work programme for 2013-2014.

The panel considered its draft work programme for 2013/14 and agreed that Close Up Reviews be undertaken in the following order of priority in respect of –

The panel is asked to note the dates of future meetings for the 2013-2014 municipal year.  All meetings will commence at 4 pm –

Monday 30 September 2013

Monday 4 November 2013

Monday 10 March 2014

The dates of meetings for the remainder of the municipal year were noted as –

·         Monday 30 September 2013

·         Monday 4 November 2013

·         Monday 10 March 2014

All meetings to commence at 4 pm.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s)   of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

There were no items of exempt business.