Agenda and draft minutes

An apology of absence was received from the Chairman, Councillor Mrs S Bayford. The Vice-Chairman, Councillor N J Walker Chaired the meeting in her absence.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 23 January 2023.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 23 January 2023 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

To receive any declarations of interest from members in accordance with Standing Orders and the Council’s Code of Conduct and disclosures of advice or directions received from Group Leaders or Political Groups, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged.

There were no deputations made at this meeting.

To consider a report by the Director of Planning and Regeneration on a proposed rolling 5-year vehicle replacement programme for the whole vehicle fleet.

The Panel considered a report by the Director of Planning and Regeneration on the Vehicle Replacement Programme and received a presentation (appended to these minutes) from the Policy, Research and Engagement Manager and the Policy, Research and Engagement Officer which provided a summary of the key points of the report.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Mrs T Ellis, Chairman of the Climate Change Scrutiny Panel, addressed the Panel on this item.

Members asked questions of officers regarding the battery life of electric vehicles (EV), training of staff for maintenance and repairs of EV’s, costs of renting and purchasing of vehicles, fuel and maintenance costs, and the rationale behind the proposed recommendation for the Executive.

Members acknowledged that the market for Electric Vehicles is still very much an emerging market and that the future use of electric for some vehicle types is currently unknown. They acknowledged that this has been factored into the proposed replacement programme and the proposals for increased EV use is typically limited to those vehicle types where there is greater usage data to draw on. The Panel was also pleased that the programme will be reviewed annually to take account of any changes in the market that may have arisen during the period, which then provides the Council with the opportunity to adapt the replacement programme accordingly.

RESOLVED that the Panel:

(a)  notes the contents of the Executive report on the Vehicle Replacement Programme (and accompanying appendices);

(b)  recommends the report to the Executive at its meeting on 15 May 2023 for endorsement; and

(c)  thanks the Policy, Research and Engagement Manager, and the Policy, Research and Engagement Officer for their informative presentation.

To consider a report by the Director of Leisure and Community on the Council’s Corporate Strategy for 2023-2029.

The Panel considered a report by the Director of Leisure and Community on the Corporate Strategy 2023-2029.

The Policy, Research and Engagement Officer addressed the Panel to update them on a few amendments to the draft Executive report since it has been published. The title of the report has now been updated to ‘Draft Corporate Strategy 2023-2029’, and that the recommended to the Executive has now been updated to ‘It is recommended that the Executive approves the draft Corporate Strategy to be circulated for public consultation’.

Members commented that the Strategy document was easy to read and well set out. They took note of the updates to the strategy and felt that these represented the Council’s values well.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Mrs Trott addressed the Panel on this item and pointed out an error on page 14 of the Strategy document in that the picture shown is not of Fareham Creek but that of the River Hamble, and that this needs to be changed.

RESOLVED that the Panels comments above be noted by the Executive when considering this item at their meeting on 15 May 2023.

To consider any items of business dealt with by the Executive since the last meeting of the Panel, that falls under the remit of the Policy and Resources Portfolio. This will include any decisions taken by individual members during the same time period.

The Panel considered the Executive items of business which falls under the remit of the Policy and Resources Portfolio, including Executive Member decisions and Officer delegated decisions, that have taken place since the last meeting of the Panel on 23 January 2023.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

There were no comments received.

Councillor D Hamilton asked a question on this item.

To provide an opportunity for Members to consider the scrutiny priorities for the Policy and Resources Panel.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer addressed the Panel on this item, giving members an update on the items that they had reviewed over the past 12 months, and the two items that have yet to come forward on Town Centre Regeneration and the Review of the Council’s approach to Consultation and Engagement, which will be scheduled into the Priorities Plan for the next municipal year.

Members were given the opportunity to put forward suggestions for any additional items of business that they would like to scrutinise. No suggestions were put forward.