Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Itrat Ali.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 4^th April 2025.

The Chair provided updates for Members as follows:

·       Further to consideration by this Committee, the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan had been approved by Cabinet, on 8^th April, and noted by Council on 23^rd April. The feedback from the Committee had been reported to these bodies.

·       Additional information in relation to the Parks and Greenspaces Team had been provided to Members, as requested as part of the item on the Quarter 3 Financial Management Report.

RESOLVED –

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 4^th April 2025 be agreed as a correct record.

Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the agenda in which they have any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items.

No disclosures of interest were received.

Most agenda items take place in public. This only changes where there is a need to consider exempt information, as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. You will be informed at this point which items are to be recommended for exclusion and to be resolved by the Committee.

All items were considered in public session.

To receive any public questions.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the period for the asking and answering of public questions shall not exceed 15 minutes.

Any questions must be submitted in writing at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting.

No questions were submitted.

The Committee will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public.

A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, members of the public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting.

No deputations or petitions were received.

A report will be submitted in relation to the refresh of the Kirklees Strategic Intelligence Assessment and the priorities for the Communities Partnership Plan for 2025-2026.

The report also highlights the intention to undertake a full review of the Strategic Impact Assessment and the Communities Partnership Plan during 2025 and includes highlights of some of the work that has taken place in 2024-2025.

Contact: Sarah Mitchell, Head of Communities

Jill Greenfield, Service Director, Communities and Access Services

A report was submitted in relation to the refresh of the Kirklees Strategic Intelligence Assessment (SIA) and the priorities for the Communities Partnership Plan (CPP) for 2025-2026. It highlighted the intention to undertake a full review of the SIA and the CPP during 2025 and included highlights of some of the work that had taken place in 2024-2025.

Councillor Amanda Pinnock, the Portfolio Holder for Education and Communities and Chair of the Communities Safety Partnership, was present at the meeting and gave an introduction to the item explaining that the Communities Partnership Plan was overseen by the Communities Board. She welcomed the work that was taking place with key partners, guided by in-depth data and intelligence, across the whole of Kirklees. It was important to understand the root causes of the challenges being faced by communities in terms of crime, anti-social behaviour and community safety so that an appropriate, effective and sustainable response could be progressed, including robust early intervention and prevention. The priorities set out in the report were those areas identified, led by the evidence, as the focus for resources through the partnership approach to achieve the required outcomes. Feedback from the Committee would be presented to the Communities Board for consideration.

Sarah Mitchell, the Head of Communities presented the report alongside Jill Greenfield, the Service Director for Communities and Access Services.

Also in attendance, to respond to questions and comments from Members were; Superintendent James Griffiths, District Commander - West Yorkshire Police; Dale Gardiner, District Commander - West Yorkshire Fire Service, Liz Cussick, Kirklees Highways; Chris Walsh, Safer Kirklees and Jaqui Theaker – Data and Insight Enablement Lead.

The following points were highlighted:

·       It was proposed that the current priorities be retained whilst a full review of the Strategic Impact Assessment and the Communities Partnership Plan was undertaken over the next few months, with a view to implementation of the new plan in 2026/27.

·       Work was being undertaken in respect of revised Key Performance Indicators to ensure that progress and performance was constantly monitored.

·       It was acknowledged that the perception and fear of crime impacted on local communities and there was more still to be done to ensure people felt safe but noted that Kirklees had the lowest average crime rate per 1000 of the population in West Yorkshire. It also compared well statistically with other areas in the country with a similar make-up to the district. Total crime in the district had reduced by over 7% in the last twelve months, including reductions in the areas of violent crime, violence against women and girls, and neighbourhood crime.

·       A high-level overview of the data within the four strategic themes and the areas of particular focus for 2025/26, which would be subject to regular review in light of the performance data:

(i) Tackling Violence, Abuse and Exploitation:

Domestic Abuse and Violence against Women and Girls.

(ii) Reducing Anti-Social Behaviour and Neighbourhood Crime:

Anti-Social Behaviour; personal, nuisance and environmental.

(iii) Building Resilient and Inclusive Communities:

Community Tensions, Hate Crime,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

A report will be submitted to provide an update on the Armed Forces Covenant and the work of the Kirklees Armed Forces Covenant Board.

Contact: Vina Randhawa, Democracy Manager

A report was submitted to provide an update on the Armed Forces Covenant and the work of the Kirklees Armed Forces Covenant Board.

Councillor Beverley Addy, the responsible Portfolio Holder was present at the meeting and gave an introduction explaining that she worked closely with Councillor Masood Ahmed, as the Council’s Armed Forces Champion, and the Armed Forces Covenant (AFC) Board. The Board was formed of a number of partners who came together to progress work to fulfil the legal duty and support the armed forces community. It aimed to understand the needs of the community by working with local organisations such as Tommy’s Lounge and the Royal Veterans Hub. The Council was committed to supporting the armed forces community by working across the range of Council services, in partnership with external partners, local and national charities, other public sector organisations and businesses. The mandate was to remove disadvantage, not to give advantageous treatment, although special consideration was appropriate, in some cases, for those who had given the most.

Vina Randhawa, the Democracy Manager and Councillor Masood Ahmed, the Armed Forces Champion and Chair of the AFC Board gave a presentation with the following points being highlighted:

·       The background to the Armed Forces Covenant, which was a promise made by the nation to ensure that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces and their families were treated fairly and with respect.

·       The principles of the covenant were to remove disadvantage faced by the armed forces community and to recognise the unique challenges they faced and the sacrifices that they had made. There was a legal obligation on certain public bodies to have due regard to the principles when exercising certain functions. The Government had stated that focus was particularly needed to remove disadvantage in the areas of healthcare, education and housing.

·       Kirklees Council had signed the covenant in July 2017 with cross-party and partner support. This had led to the establishment of the AFC Board which encouraged collaboration between partners; fostering understanding of needs and sharing information but also about looking at how the community could be actively supported.

·       Kirklees took a partnership approach; 47 organisations in the district had signed the covenant, a number of which were actively engaged in the AFC Board. Connections were maintained across West Yorkshire to share good practice and Board members participated in forums and attended national and regional events. All the local NHS Trusts were now involved and significant work had been done to engage with GP practices across the district.

·       The Board had developed an action plan which included both Council and partner priorities. It had achieved a ‘strong’ silver in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and was working towards Gold.

·       A number of initiatives had been undertaken in respect of decision-making, training (including four e-learning modules), recruitment and relevant policies.

·       The progress made since the last visit to the Committee (in June 2023) including:

-       A specific webpage to help members of the community find the information  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

A report will be submitted to provide an update on the activities undertaken to implement the Procurement Act 2023.

Contact: Ruth Calladine, Head of Procurement and Commissioning Support

A report which updated the Committee in respect of the progress made in respect of the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 was presented by Ruth Calladine, Head of Procurement and Commissioning Support, supported by Samantha Lawton, the Service Director for Legal, Governance and Commissioning, highlighting the following points:

·       The Act had gone live on 24^th February 2025.

·       It combined all existing procurement legislation into one refined regime.

·       Detail of the key changes introduced in respect of how public contracts are tendered and managed:

-       Increased transparency and publicity requirements.

-       Simplified procedures for competitive award

-       Record keeping, primarily in relation to conflicts of interest.

-       Contract Management, including supplier performance management.

-       Updates to documentation.

-       A broader interpretation of value for money and the requirement to consider social value.

-       The drive for growth and opportunities within all procurement processes and the need to have regard to the barriers faced by small and medium sized enterprises.

·       Contracts that had been in place prior to 24^th February, and any new procurements under existing public sector framework agreements, would continue to be governed by the previous legislation, until the framework was renewed.

·       The implementation activities already completed, those currently being undertaken and those planned for the future.

·       Risks, which included; staff capacity, contract management processes; administrative workload associated with increased transparency; and engagement with small and medium enterprises and the associated mitigations.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       In relation to what could be done to ensure that money was retained in the local economy and to build capacity it was explained that work was ongoing with the Business Team within the Economic Development Service to build this link, particularly in respect of lower value contracts and to establish which suppliers were available in the district to try and ensure that they were ready to bid when the opportunities arose.

·       A pipeline of projects was being pulled together, including those below the statutory level of £2 million which might appeal to local small and medium enterprises. This would be published on the website so that suppliers were aware and could be prepared to bid when needed.

RESOLVED –

1.    That the Head of Procurement and Commissioning Support and the Service Director, Legal Governance and Commissioning be thanked for attending to update the Committee.

2.    That the progress made to date in respect of the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 be welcomed.

The Lead Members for the Children’s, Growth & Regneration, Environment & Climate Change and Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panels will update the Committee on the work currently being undertaken by their panels.

Contact: Sheila Dykes – Principal Governance Officer

The Lead Members for the Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel and the Environment & Climate Change Panel updated the Committee on the work currently being undertaken by their panels.

The Chair gave a brief update on the visit to the Employee Healthcare Service which had taken place the previous week. The visit had been arranged further to the consideration of an update on the People Strategy at the meeting in February. Members had toured the building to see the facilities and heard about different elements of the provision: clinical, wellbeing and restorative practice.

79                    

80                   As this was the last meeting of the municipal year, the Chair thanked all  members for their contributions to the work of scrutiny over the last twelve months. It had been a busy and productive year and the positive involvement of scrutiny at an early stage in decision-making and reviews of practice and policy was encouraged and welcomed.

He and the other Lead Members expressed their thanks to all who had attended meetings of the Committee and its Panels including representatives of partners and external organisations, and officers from different services, including the members of the Governance Team who supported these meetings.

The latest version of the Committee’s Work Programme for 2024-25 will be submitted for consideration.

Contact: Sheila Dykes – Principal Governance Officer

Members noted the Work Programme for 2024/25. The Committee would hold a workshop to consider the programme for 2025/26 in mid June.