Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors C Lacey, D Skinner and K Tait.

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or other interests, not already on their register of interests, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the Minutes of the Services Scrutiny Committee held on 9 September 2025.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Services Scrutiny Committee held on 9 September 2025 were approved and signed by the Chair.

Council Plan Targets Performance Update.

Kath Drury, Information & Improvement Manager/Amar Bashir, Improvement Officer

The Improvement Officer presented a report setting out progress on the strategies underpinning the Council Plan objective ‘A great place to access good public services’ for the period ending 30 September 2025.

Members were updated on progress under the following objective sub-categories in Appendix 1 of the report:

1) Assist and influence other public partners to improve their services in the District.

2) Continually improve Council services to deliver excellence and value for money.

The Committee was informed that the Council continued to strengthen public service delivery and partnership working, securing a new five-year lease for the Citizens’ Advice Bureau at Clay Cross Active and supporting a range of community initiatives, including grants for mental health and social inclusion projects. Progress was made on key infrastructure, such as enhancements to customer service facilities and the adoption of digital innovations like the FutureFox AI tool for planning consultation analysis and the launch of the ‘Just Do More’ leisure app. The Council maintained strong fiscal management, generating £233,550 in capital receipts from property sales. All targeted metrics were met or exceeded, with the exception of formal complaints, where 94% were responded to within 15 working days against a target of 98%.

RESOLVED – That Committee noted the report.

To receive the revised budget for 2025/26.

Jayne Dethick, Director of Finance & Resources and S151 Officer/Justine Wells, Corporate Finance Manager

The Corporate Finance Manager presented a report to the Committee detailing the original budget position as approved by Council in January 2025 and the revised position following the in-depth revised budget review. Members were advised that the same report would be presented to Cabinet on 27 November 2025.

Members referred to the section of the report which stated “the need to recruit agency staff to cover some vacancies has created a budget pressure” and asked why this had been required. The Corporate Finance Manager explained that Environmental Health had to use agency staff to continue to provide some of their services.

Members asked whether the Local Government Review was affecting vacancies.  The Committee were informed that there were no patterns to suggest that this was an issue but the Council acknowledged that this was a risk and would be monitored.

RESOLVED – That the Committee noted the report concerning the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan – Revised Budgets 2025/26.

Overview of NEDDC owned parks/play areas.

Darren Mitchell, Streetscene and Waste Services Manager/Cate Harris, Streetscene Coordinator

The Streetscene Co-ordinator delivered a presentation to Members which provided them with an overview of Council-owned parks and play areas.

The presentation included details on:

• Playground provisions around the District
• Inspections
• Play value and life expectancy
• Improvements
• Renewal Programmes for 2025/26 and for the next 3 years
• Site Review

Members asked what the ‘Play Value Score’ referred to for each park in the presentation. The Streetscene Co-ordinator explained that this was a score determined by a number of aspects, including features, signs and fences.

The Committee thanked the Streetscene Co-ordinator for her detailed and informative presentation.

RESOLVED – That the Committee noted the presentation.

To inform Committee of recent and forthcoming Cabinet business.

A digest of Cabinet decisions taken since May 2025.  This information is published by Cabinet meeting on the Council’s website.  Cabinet Agendas, Decisions and Minutes can be viewed at: Cabinet

The Forward Plan of Executive decisions.

Plans

These plans are updated to include new business.

Joe Hayden, Senior Scrutiny Officer

The Senior Scrutiny Officer presented a digest of Cabinet decisions taken since the last Committee meeting in September 2025. The digest set out key information for each decision.

The Senior Scrutiny Officer presented Members with the Forward Plan of Executive Decisions for the period up to 15 November 2025.

RESOLVED – That the update was noted.

To contribute to major Policies being considered by the Council.

The Senior Scrutiny Officer informed the Committee that there were no major policies for Members to consider.

RESOLVED – That the update was noted.

To consider the Committee’s Work Programme, and to also consider and contribute to potential changes in the operating environment which may include legislation, regulation and key projects being undertaken by the Council, for example, that could form potential topic items for the Work Programme in the future.

Joe Hayden, Senior Scrutiny Officer

The Senior Scrutiny Officer presented the draft Work Programme 2025/26 for the Committee to consider.

Members referred to a news story on the Council website about Warm Home Insulations, and asked if the Committee could receive an update on the subject. The Senior Scrutiny Officer explained that this was on the radar of the Environment Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED – That the Work Programme 2025/26 be approved.

To consider any other matter which the Chair of the Committee is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

None.

The next meeting of the Services Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to take place on 24 February 2026 at 10.00 am.

The next meeting of the Services Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to take place on 24 February 2026 at 10.00 am.