Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Jayne Bryson and Andrew Joesbury.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest made.

Minutes of a meeting held on 3^rd February 2020

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor David Dixon

RESOLVED that the Minutes of a Customer Service and Transformation Scrutiny Committee held on 3^rd February 2020 be agreed as a correct record.

(Members should contact the officer whose name appears on the List of

Key Decisions for any further information.  NB: If Members wish to discuss an exempt report under this item, the meeting will need to move into exempt business and exclude the public in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Local Government Act 1972, Part 1, Schedule 12a for that part of the meeting only).

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Rita Turner

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and items to be considered in private document be noted.

Committee considered a final post monitoring report in relation to their Review of the Council’s Standards Committee.

During 2018/19, the work of the Standards Committee and how it operated had been scrutinised by Committee and seven recommendations had been made.

The Review was presented to the Executive, who had approved all seven recommendations, which aimed to assist the Council in improving existing approaches to Member training and engagement on Standards.

The appendix to the report acknowledged progress made by officers implementing the recommendations and to date, 3 out of the seven recommendations had been implemented.

Four recommendations required an extension, which was due to the timing of meetings of the Standards Committee post May 2019 Elections, the review of the Terms of Reference, the development of the new committee management system/current re-development of the Council’s website and the availability within the Parish Council Liaison meeting schedule.  It was suggested that the four recommendations be extended until June/July 2020 to accommodate their full implementation.

Moved by Councillor Rose Bowler and seconded by Councillor Ray Heffer

RESOLVED that (1) progress against the review recommendations be noted,

            (2) the suggested extension to the monitoring period where recommendations had not been fully implemented, as outlined in section 1 of the report and the appendix, be approved,

            (3) the findings of the Review be made public in accordance with Part 4.5.17(3) of the Council’s Constitution.

(Scrutiny & Elections Officer)

·         Joint Data Protection Policy

·         Joint Access to Information Policy

·         Joint Use of Overt Surveillance Systems

·         Joint Equality Policy

Committee considered the following 4 joint policies the Council had with North East Derbyshire District Council.

Joint Data Protection Policy

Previously, the councils had a combined Freedom of Information, Environmental Information Regulations and Data Protection policy.  A separate policy had now been drafted to strengthen the accountability requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

The policy set out the main requirements of the data protection legislation and how the councils would comply.  It was not a statement of how compliance would be achieved as that continued to be a matter for operational procedures and processes.

Joint Access to Information Policy

This policy covered requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulation and Re-use Regulation.  The policy had been reviewed and updated to reflect the data protection aspect being separated out.  The policy ensured compliance with the relevant legislation and that customers gained appropriate access to information on request.

In response to a Member’s query, the Information, Engagement & Performance Manager replied that the Council held performance data on the Council’s adherence to timescales in relation to responses to Freedom of Information requests.  One was a quarterly indicator and one an annual indicator.  The Council’s performance on this was always above 95%.

Joint Overt Use of Surveillance Systems Policy

This was a new policy.  A surveillance camera was a broad term to describe closed circuit television (CCTV), body worn cameras and other devices used for overt surveillance purposes.  The councils used overt surveillance systems for the purposes of public safety, crime prevention, detection and prosecution of offenders, monitoring council buildings and assets to protect the public, staff, elected members and visitors, and its property.  The councils used CCTV, body worn video (BWV) and deployable cameras and as such it was prudent for the councils to have a separate policy on the use of these systems.

In response to a Member’s query, the Information, Engagement & Performance Manager replied that ‘requirement to inform’ was part of data protection legislation.  Officers using overt surveillance, such as body worn video, had to inform individuals as soon as practicable, that this type of technology was being used.  The same applied to cameras being used at flytipping hot spots – a sign noting that overt surveillance was being used in that particular area had to be in place to notify people.

Joint Equality and Diversity Policy for Service Delivery

It was good practice to review policies every three years and this was contained within the councils’ guidance on policy development.  This policy was formally approved in 2016 and had been reviewed as part of the three year cycle.  The main change was the inclusion of the Anti-Semitism definition following recent adoption by both councils.  The other changes related to naming of forms and procedural housekeeping.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Rita Turner

RESOLVED that the joint policies be presented to Executive for approval.

The Information, Engagement & Performance Manager left the meeting.

Committee considered their Work Programme 2019/2020

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer advised Members that the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections (PCC) would be postponed and the Count would not now take place on Monday 11^th May 2020.  The May meeting of this Committee had been moved to Wednesday 13^th May at 2pm to accommodate the PCC Count and Members were asked to consider if they wished their meeting to be put back to the scheduled date of 11^th May.  Members agreed that the meeting remain as rescheduled for Wednesday 13^th May at 2pm.

Moved by Councillor Rose Bowler and seconded by Councillor Ray Heffer

RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2019/2020 be noted.

The formal meeting concluded at 1027 hours and Members then met as a working party to continue their review work.  The working party concluded at 1130 hours.