Agenda and draft minutes

To be notified of the appointment of any Substitute Members.

There were no substitute Members reported.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

Item 4. How we Encourage Benefit Take Up

Councillor Davey Drummond, Non-Registerable Personal Interest, has a relation employed by the CAB, and is on their Board of Trustees.

Item 5. 2024/25 Performance & Financial Management Report to 31 January 2025

Councillor Martin Murphy, Non-Registerable Personal Interest, has a family member who is employed by North Tyneside Council.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on

Resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 January 2025 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

The Committee will receive a presentation at the meeting.

The Social Inclusion Manager and Senior Client Manager for Revenues and Benefits gave a presentation to members on what the Authority was doing to encourage Benefit take up amongst residents.  Members were asked to consider the information presented.

A member enquired as to whether information was available as to where in the Borough take ups for both Winter Fuel payments and Holiday activities were most prevalent.  Officers confirmed that as these were targeted provisions, they were therefore mapped and timetabled, and the information was available for members.  Officers agreed that the access detail for this information would be shared with members after the meeting along with the presentation.

Members queried the 16% increase in Universal Credit uptake compared to the same period last year, and what the reasons behind this were.  Officers explained that these figures were due to residents on legacy benefits being migrated to Universal Credit.

Regarding a question about whether there had had been a commitment made for next year’s Winter Fuel payments.  Officers stated that while nothing had been formally committed to as of yet, priorities and funding were being explored.  Officers confirmed that officers identified those who should receive the Winter Fuel payment based on low income and the non-receipt of pension credit. 

A question was asked if the Authority auto-enrol eligible children on free school meals, and officers confirmed that this was the case, with the option of an opt out if they wished.

To receive and scrutinise the Authority’s performance and financial management report. The report provides a full overview of both the budget and service delivery performance position across the Authority as at 31 January 2025.

The Committee received a report that had been considered by Cabinet at its 17 March 2025 meeting on both the service delivery performance and budget position across the Authority as of 31 January 2025.

The Committee was informed that performance across the Authority was on track, in particular delivery of the Our North Tyneside Plan 2021-2025 policy priorities.  However, the Authority continued to experience challenges in some areas of delivery due to increased demand and complexity which impacts on the overall financial forecast.  This included areas such as Education, Health and Care Plans, children in the Authority’s care, children in need, residential and nursing care placements and temporary housing accommodation.  Officers informed members that the 13 Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) workstreams continue to address these pressures and have previously identified £10.882m of savings.

With an improvement of £1.282m compared to the position reported in November, there remained a £7.665m forecast overspend for 2024/25 which was a significant risk for the Authority.

A member asked what active plans were in place to deal with issues of external residential placements.  Officers confirmed that along with recent investment work, there were currently plans to create a 4/5 bed home, funded from Council resources, and 3 2-bed homes which were subject to a DfE bid and more information on these would be sent to members after the meeting.

Officers stated that whilst the number of external placements had come down, the costs were still very high and the Commissioning workstream was continuing its work.

A question was asked if the Authority had altered its 2-3 bed home maximum provision limit.  The Deputy Mayor confirmed that provision tended to be limited to 3 beds or below but the authority had to remain flexible and balance the cost of a possible internal provision against those of an external placement.

Regarding a question about Business Rate and Council Tax Write Offs, a member asked if there was any way to intervene earlier or step up enforcement to prevent these financial build-ups.  The Cabinet Member responsible for Finance and Resources reported that officers are unable to collect Business Rates in advance but are very vigilant in terms of legal enforcement and issues across the Borough throughout the financial year.  It was stated that there is case information recorded for each potential Write Offs explaining the full decision making process.

For Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination and Finance Committee to consider a draft Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2024/25.

The Head of Governance presented the Committee with a draft Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2024/25, summarising Scrutiny work performed during the current year.  All members of the Committee had been invited to contribute to the draft prior to the meeting.  There were no questions or comments from the Committee.

The Chair took the opportunity to thank the Chairs and Deputies of the Scrutiny Committees for their work during the year.

The Committee noted the work undertaken by both itself and the five Scrutiny Sub-Committees during 2024/25 and approved this draft for submission to the next Annual Council meeting.

To provide Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination and Finance Committee with a summary of recommendations made by previous Scrutiny Task and Finish Groups together with an update on actions take in response to those recommendations as at March 2025.

The Head of Governance presented the Committee with a summary of recommendations made by previous Scrutiny Task and Finish Groups, together with an update on actions taken in response to those recommendations as of March 2025.

The Committee noted the summary and the high level of recommendations which had been implemented and resolved that they were satisfied with the update.

To update Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination and Finance Committee with the formal response from Cabinet to the recommendations made by the Highways Delivery Scrutiny Task and Finish Group.

The Head of Governance presented the Committee with an update on the agreement by Cabinet on 20 January 2025 to all the recommendations made by the Highways Delivery Scrutiny Task and Finish Group.

The Deputy Mayor informed the Committee on the signifcant progress which had been made in a number of areas e.g. gulley cleaning and thanked the Committee and members of the Task and Finish group for their work.

To discuss potential topics for the 2025/26 work programme.

The Chair asked members for suggestions for the 2025/26 Work Programme.

With no items forthcoming, the Chair stated he would follow up this request with an email reminder.

2 July 2025 at 6.00pm

The Chair confirmed the next meeting would take place on 2 July 2025.

The Committee will be requested to pass the following resolution:

Resolved that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and having applied a public interest test as defined in Part 2 of Schedule 12A of the Act, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The Committee Resolved that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and having applied a public interest test as defined in Part 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Reason: Information relating to any individual.

For the Committee to consider a Freedom of the Borough Nomination.

The Chair and Committee unanimously expressed their concern that a confidential item, marked as restricted to members, had appeared in the local press before the meeting.

After a discussion on the substantive item, the Committee agreed that the recommendations as put to the Committee should be approved.