Apologies were received from Councillor Paule.

The meeting observed a minute’s silence in memory of Councillor Jennifer Pegg who had, until her passing, been a member of the committee since  January 2016.

The Chair said that Councillor Pegg had been a highly valued member of the Committee and one who would often ask the question that others would be hesitant to put. She would be greatly missed.

The Chair reminded the Committee that the last Council meeting had appointed Councillor Michele Paule to the Committee in place of Councillor Pegg.

None.

Recommendation: That the minutes of the meeting held on 07 November 2017be APPROVED as a true and accurate record.

Subject to the following amendments, the committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2017 as a correct record.

·         The latter half of the first recommendation on the review of community grants to be recast to read as follows: “This might include the identification of an existing group which can support underrepresented BAME communities  in building capacity and making grant applications”

·         A typographical correction to an earlier paragraph on the same item.

Contact Officer: Andrew Brown, Scrutiny Officer,

Tel 01865 252230, abrown2@oxford.gov.uk

The Committee was pleased to note that all of its recommendations in relation to the report on community grants had been accepted.

The Scrutiny Officer alerted members of the Committee to changes to the CEB Forward Plan as a consequence of which there were now two substantive items for the January meeting of the Committee:  Air Quality; and Community Protection Notices.

Following the passing of Councillor Jennifer Pegg, the Committee is asked to consider who it would wish to appoint as a replacement for her on the Housing Panel of the Committee. The Committee may appoint any Councillor to the Panel other than a member of the City Executive Board.

The Committee was asked to appoint a successor to Councillor Pegg on the Housing Panel of Scrutiny Committee. The Chair advised the Committee that the operating principles for the Panel meant that the 6th member of the Panel could be appointed from any political group.

Councillor Henwood, on behalf of the Labour Group proposed Cllr Paule. Councillor Thomas proposed Councillor Simmons on behalf of the Green Party. On putting the matter to a vote a majority supported the nomination of Councillor Paule who was therefore appointed to the Panel.

Councillor Sinclair said the request from the Committee for this report was timely and thanked Dave Growcott for his work on it. The balance of old and younger people in the City was atypical because of the size of the student population but the older population was both significant and growing. While the City Council had a role in making provision for older people it was by no means the only provider and, indeed, the burden of responsibility fell elsewhere.

In an extensive discussion the following points emerged.

The report provided a useful account of what was available via the City but was relatively silent on the question of how to engage older people in the first place.

Social prescribing by GPs and other health professionals was a valuable means of supporting older people. The City’s Community Centres had the potential to play a more significant role through, for example, the promotion of activities or use by some groups which might otherwise not engage. This was potentially of greatest significance to some BAME groups and women in particular.

In relation to provision for the BAME community, language and cultural barriers often discouraged engagement with older members of the community. Outreach activities might mitigate this to some extent.

The Council no longer had an officer with dedicated responsibility for older people which was seen as very regrettable. The designation of an officer as a ‘champion’ might help but there was a view that it was necessary to give dedicated responsibility to an officer in order to make a real difference. Thought might be given to a joint County/City Council post. 

Many older people lived alone in houses with spare rooms. There was enthusiasm for exploring the possibility of facilitating means by which those rooms could be used by younger people. As well as addressing, in some small measure, the housing shortage, it would provide companionship for older people. Councillor Sinclair said that this had been looked at before (and some funding made available to assist) but the project had not gained much traction at that time. It was recognised that this was a model which required careful risk assessments and capacity to deliver; the latter was lacking at the moment. It was agreed that it would be helpful to hear from a representative from Age UK at a future meeting about this matter.

It was noted with regret that society was generally less protective towards older people than it had been in the past (and as it remained in some communities and some other parts of the world). Social isolation was “corrosive.” There was universal agreement that there was a shared and collective community  responsibility for the welfare of older people. One of the key means of engaging with older people was through Councillors’ day to day constituency work.  The may be merit in a ‘reach out’ day or week for older  people,  something with would be enhanced with the support of Parish Councils, Community Centres and Food Banks.

Dave Growcott  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

Chris Harvey reminded the Committee of the background to the Equality and Diversity Review which had resulted in an action plan and that the report before the Committee was to update members with progress in relation to it.

Paul Adams said that recruiting to posts in the City was difficult and steps were being taken to enhance the employment offer. The appointment process had been simplified. Unsuccessful interviewees were now given feedback on their performance as a matter of course.

He was pleased to note that the percentage of BME colleagues employed by the Council had risen from 5-6% to 9-10% which compared favourably with comparable authorities. The Council continues to recruit apprentices  40% (of a total of about 50) of whom were from the BME community. The Council had a rolling programme of unconscious bias training which was targeted to the extent possible at those who would shortly be responsible for recruiting. An anonymous application process had been trialled for a few months but it had made no discernible impact. He recognised that there was more to be done to improve these figures still further.

There were evident advantages in having employees who were fluent in more than one language, particularly for front line services but making that an essential criterion for employment would limit the number of applicants to an unsustainable degree.

The Committee were pleased to hear about the increase in the proportion of BME staff but noted that there were few of them in more senior and managerial positions, something which other authorities seemed to be more successful in achieving.

There was a concern that an insufficient number of BME were getting through to the interview stage and it was alleged that some candidates were not shortlisted because of their name.  The Committee commented that, notwithstanding the comments about it having made little difference, there was no disadvantage to the organisation in continuing with anonymised shortlisting.

Officers confirmed that a significant amount of data were available in relation to recruitment. Data about BME applications were however partial because candidates and employees were not obliged to declare their ethnicity (about one third of the workforce had not declared).

In relation to recommendation 13 (identification of Diversity Champions) in which “The OD team have been trying to make diversity part of business as usual” it was suggested that  “business as usual” was  insufficient and a more robust approach was desirable.  The more regular inclusion of BME representatives on appointment panels would be desirable but difficult to achieve. 

Chris Harvey said that the HR team no longer had a colleague with specific responsibility for diversity. The absence of a dedicated lead was of concern to the Committee. For there to be any meaningful improvement in relation to the BME issues more leadership needed to be shown at a strategic level within the organisation to really effect change, supported by measurable corporate objectives. This was, also, a political issue which warranted a portfolio responsibility. 

Agreed that the Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

This item had been included on the agenda in anticipation of the City Executive Board receiving a report on Community Protection Notices on 20 December. In the event the CEB would not be receiving that report until its meeting in January. This item was therefore deferred until the January meeting of the Committee.

Meetings are scheduled as followed:

Scrutiny Committee

·         15 January     2018

·         06 February    2018

·         06 March         2018

All meetings start at 6.00 pm

Housing Panel

·         11 December                         2017 (3.30)

·         16 January                 2018

·         08  March                    2018

·         09 April                        2018

All meetings start at 5.00 pm unless otherwise stated

Finance Panel

·         07 December            2018

·         31 January                2018

·         14 March                   2018

All meetings start at 6.00 pm

Companies Scrutiny Panel

·         14 December            2017

Meetings are scheduled as followed:

Scrutiny Committee

·         15 January     2018

·         06 February    2018

·         06 March         2018

All meetings start at 6.00 pm

Housing Panel

·         16 January                 2018

·         08  March                    2018

·         09 April                        2018

All meetings start at 5.00 pm unless otherwise stated

Finance Panel

·         07 December            2018

·         31 January                2018

·         14 March                   2018

All meetings start at 6.00 pm

Companies Scrutiny Panel

·         14 December            2017