Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Gurdip Ram Bungar and Cllr Baljit Hayre; Cllr Brian Sangha and Cllr John Caller appeared as their respective substitutes.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview Scrutiny Committee held on 10 February 2022 were signed by the Chair.

Cllr Gow declared an Other Significant Interest in Item 9. Call in - Cabinet Item 15. Establishment of Rosherville Repairs & Maintenance Local Authority Trading Company (Part B) due to the fact she is an appointed Director of Rosherville Limited, the Council’s Local Authority Trading Company. Cllr Gow advised that she would leave the Council Chamber when this item was being considered.

Item ‘Called in’ from the Cabinet meeting of 21 March 2022

The Chair of the Overview Scrutiny Committee has called in the following item for the meeting on Thursday 31 March 2022:

Item 10. Support for energy bills - the Council Tax Rebate 2022/2023

Reason:

·       To examine the Council’s response to the administration of the Council Tax Rebate 2022/2023.

·       To evaluate the cost to the Council of administering the rebate and the staffing resource required.

·       To consider the challenges that may occur in administering the rebate and the audit / anti-fraud processes that will need to follow.

Cabinet Member:      The relevant Cabinet Member for this matter is invited to attend.

Officer:                       The relevant officers for this matter are invited to attend.

Please find the Cabinet reports for this item attached to this agenda.

The Director (Corporate Services) informed Members that on 3 February 2022, the Government announced a package of support known as the Energy Bills Rebate to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-2023. This included:-

·       £200 discount on their energy bill this autumn for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain. This will be paid back automatically over the next 5 years;

·       £150 non-repayable rebate for households in England in council tax bands A – D, known as the Council Tax Rebate; and

·       £144 million of discretionary funding for billing authorities to support households who are in need but are not eligible for the Council Tax Rebate, known as the Discretionary Fund.

The Director (Corporate Services) informed Members of the following:

Council Tax Rebate 2022-23

·       The Council had been allocated £5,297,100 for the core scheme of Council Tax Rebate 2022-2023. This was equivalent of paying £150 to 35,314 households, which was required to be distributed to eligible households by 30 September 2022

·       Where the Council holds live direct debit instructions for a liable council taxpayer of an eligible household (currently 27,000 for GBC), the guidance states that an automatic payment should be made as early as possible in the 2022-23 financial year, provided that there was assurance that the household was eligible and the bank details had been verified.

·       The Council has an estimated 16,000 households to contact and take through a process to obtain and verify bank details before payment of the Council Tax Rebate.

·       The Council anticipates that around 900 of these households will not be eligible for the scheme (e.g. empty households or households that fall into the exempt category)

·       The title of the scheme is misleading and can cause confusion to recipients; it’s not a rebate and operates outside of Council Tax.

Discretionary Fund

·       The Council has been allocated £249,150 for the Discretionary Fund. This was equivalent of paying £150 to 1,661 households, which was required to be distributed by 30 November 2022.

·       The guidance advised that the Council could determine locally how best to make use of this funding to provide payments to other households who were energy bill payers but not covered by the Council Tax Rebate. This could include households living in properties valued in bands E – H (currently 6,463 properties) that were on income related benefits such as Council Tax Reduction (currently 233 claimants in bands E-H) or those where the energy bills payers were not liable for council tax. The Director (Corporate Services) advised that the intention would be to work closely with colleagues across Kent to ensure commonality with the discretionary scheme.

·       Cabinet granted delegated authority to the Director (Corporate Services), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Performance & Administration, to develop a discretionary Council Tax Rebate scheme and associated policy, and to make the necessary arrangements to assess eligibility and determine award of funding to eligible households. Delegated authority was also granted to the Director (Corporate Services) to make any further technical amendments to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

In the absence of Cllr Baljit Hayre, Cllr Sarah Gow provided the following update on the Scrutiny Review of Street Cleanliness, littering, and Fly-tipping throughout the Borough:

·       The Sub-Group met in-person on 3 March 2022 where the group met ‘Street Champions’ who highlighted the following:

-        The Street Champions should be publicised better to recruit more people

-        The Street Champions are keen to extend their role further. They would like school students to get involved and would like to see more recycling points in the Borough.

-        The Street Champions advised that it was a challenge for them to report fly-tipping.

-        The Street Champions were awarded a certificate of excellence.

-        The Street Champions were very complimentary about GBC staff, especially Joel Simons - Waste Projects & Compliance Officer.

·       Apologies for absence were received from the two Conservative Members on the sub-group.

·       KCC have stopped funding for joint enforcement, but officers will speak to the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner to look at other sources of funding.

·       Members of the sub-group will visit a school to see the Council’s talk on refuse and recycling and will also visit the Brookvale Depot to look at the setup / operations.

The Committee noted the progress of the Scrutiny Review of Street Cleanliness, littering, and Fly-tipping throughout the Borough.

Resolved that pursuant to Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public be excluded from any item included in Part B of the agenda because it is likely in view of the nature of business to be transacted that if members of the public mare present during this item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Item ‘Called in’ from the Cabinet meeting of 21 March 2022

The Chair of the Overview Scrutiny Committee has called in the following item for the meeting on Thursday 31 March 2022:

Item 15. Establishment of Rosherville Repairs & Maintenance Local Authority Trading Company (Part B)

Reason:

·       To consider the robustness of the proposals.

·       To evaluate the impact that the establishment of this company may have on staffing resource and existing service provision.

Cabinet Member:      The relevant Cabinet Member for this matter is invited to attend.

Officer:                       The relevant officers for this matter are invited to attend.

Please find the Cabinet report for this item attached to this agenda.

The Overview Scrutiny Committee considered, and discussed in detail, the Part B information pertaining to the establishment of Rosherville Repairs & Maintenance Local Authority Trading Company.

The Committee considered the robustness of the proposals and evaluated the impact that the establishment of the company may have on staffing resource and existing service provision.

Resolved that the Committee noted the Part B report on the establishment of Rosherville Repairs & Maintenance Local Authority Trading Company

Note: Cllr John Burden, Leader of the Executive, spoke with the leave of the Chair on this item.

Note: Cllr Sarah Gow left the room when this item was being considered.