 Good afternoon everyone welcome to this meeting of South Cambridgeshire District Council scrutiny and overview committee My name is councillor Stephen Drew and I am chair of this committee May I make a few housekeeping announcements those present including any members of the public observing or any public speakers? I'll ask them know that this meeting is being filmed and live streamed by your presence You are deemed to have consented to be filmed and to use of your of those images and sound recordings for a webcast May I please remind members that when speaking they should not disclose any Perseveration for any individual as this might bring to the right so that individual and breach the data protection act Please make sure your microphones are switched off unless you're invited to speak for those participating remotely when you're invited to address the meeting Please make sure your microphone and camera switched on and then when you finish addressing the meeting Please turn your microphone off again Please with members who are attending remotely indicate a wish to speak through a chat message in the teams meeting Those present in the chamber should indicate they wish to speak by raising their hand I will ask the vice chair to note the order of speakers based virtually and in the room Committee members present I will now invite each of you to introduce yourselves Members after I call your name, please introduce yourself and say which ward you represent as I said earlier My name is councillor Stephen Drew, and I am one of the members for Camborn. My vice chair is councillor Graham Cove And I'm one of the members for the Fendt Ditton and Fulbourne Ward councillor Anna Bradnam Good evening, I'm councillor Anna Bradnam, and I'm one of the members for the Milton and Water Beach Ward councillor Tom Beygot Good evening. I represent Longstown to North Stoke, Okington and Westwick councillor Sue Ellington Good evening. I'm Sue Ellington, and I represent Swavesy Ward councillor Sally Ann Hart Good evening chair. I'm councillor Sally Ann Hart, and I'm one of the members for the Melbourne Ward councillor James Hobro Good evening. I'm James Hobro, and I'm the member for Foxton Ward And councillor Helen Leaming Good evening. I'm Helen Leaming. I'm one of the three members for Camborn Ward councillor Richard Stobart Thank you chair. I'm Richard Stobart. I'm one of the members for Gerton Ward that includes Dry Drayton and Maddingley And councillor Peter Fane No Good evening. Good evening chairman, and my apologies for joining you remotely. I'm one of the members for Shelford Ward And councillor Bill Handley Bill Handley, I'm one of the members for Over and Willingham And councillor John Bachelor Good evening. I'm John Bachelor. I'm one of the members for Linton Ward, and I'm the lead cabinet member for Foxton And councillor Brian Milnes Good evening chair. Brian Milnes Deputy leader and member for one of the members for the Sourston Ward First of all, can I check that that is all the councillors who are present who has now introduced themselves. Thank you very much I think I believe some clicking has taken place and hopefully that will make them louder Colleagues who are online if you could just be aware we may not be able to hear you So if possible, could you make sure you're near your microphone or speaking up? Should that be something you know you need to do? We also have with us several officers Liz Watts And Gareth Bell Evening members Gareth Bell and the comms and community service manager Thank you Ben Thackeray Good evening chair and Ben Thackeray development officer for the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Apologies for not being able to be there in person tonight Thank you Ian senior. Hello. I'm scrutiny in government Thank you and Lawrence Demare honan We can confirm that Lawrence has introduced himself I Believe I have covered all those who need to introduce on my apologies and if we can now turn to councillor Heather Williams Thanks chair Thank you very much, I should have another go at my drawings will close at this point Is there anyone else present in the room who needs to introduce themselves? We'll take that pause as being in no I Can confirm the meeting is quarrelled They're being at least four scrutiny in overview committee members here in the chamber If at any time a member leaves the meeting could they please make that fact known to me so it can be reported in the minutes Finally reported this meeting will be presented to cabinet on the 15th of May as neither the vice-chair No, I is likely to be at that meeting. Is there any other committee member willing to present that report? councillor Badnam. Thank you very much Apologies Ian are there any apologies for absence? I just want to share from councillor Judith Thank you very much Next item on the agenda is a declaration of interest members are required to declare the existence and nature of any interest Which affects or relates to any item of business to be considered an expansion note for councillors included immediately after the agenda seats Counselors if you need to make a declaration of interest because you raise your hand at this point Councillor Helen Lee me Thank you chair and I must declare an interest in the agenda item six homes for Ukraine project status and future challenges And I am a Ukrainian host. I've hosted Ukrainians since June and so this is a personal interest of mine. Thank you chair Anybody else needs to raise their hands and clear an interest in that case then I should raise my hand and Counselor Stephen Drew declaring the same interest as councillor Leeming in relation to item six home to Ukraine as a host for Ukrainian refugees Thank you very much Councillor Handley, I think probably my introduction I should have added the time the lead man for communities It's particularly relevant on this in this case because one of the gender items is in my portfolio. Sorry. Sorry for that omission Not to talk out so heavily. Thank you very much for adding that So therefore we have a set of minutes related to the 28th of February 2023 meeting Does anybody wish to raise any points of accuracy about the draft minutes of the meeting held on the 28th of February 2023 In the absence of any hands raised either in the chamber or online I would like to propose that by affirmation we accept the minutes of the meeting of the 28th of February 2023 Can I ask for that? Oh Councillor Bradman It's just to Excuse me. It does to report chair that I reported the Blindings of that meeting to cabinet on the 20th of March as requested. Thank you very much So if I can ask by affirmation for councillors present to affirm the minutes of the 28th of February 2023 Agreed. Thank you very much colleagues Which brings us to item number five, which is public questions There are no public questions to be asked this evening. Therefore we will move on to item number six Item number six is the homes for ukraine item And we have been asked to note the report to provide feedback to the homes for ukraine project team on its content Including specific suggestions if any for improvement so If anybody within the committee would like to raise their hand and raise a question in relation to this item We have the presence of both cabinet member and officers in order to ask questions We will start by going to councillor sally and heart Thank you chair Just wanted to check on page 14 Under welfare checks it reads to ensure both ukrainian guests and guests were settled and safe once living together I'm assuming that means guests and hosts I'm seeing nods. Yes. Yes, that's true. Um, may can I just say chair at this point that um, Yeah, I'm the community the lead communities Lead for communities this this project is a big one covers a lot of different parts of the council And I'm really pleased that gareth who's heading up the operation side of this Is he I may have to defer to him on some of the questions Just I thought I'd explain that right at the beginning. Oh, that's absolutely fine. Thank you councillor hamley so Question answered. Do you have another question at this point? I do that That was just really just to get some clarification and and I just really wanted to thank This is for the report found it really interesting and amazing how much that's been done I just had a another query under pay on page 15 paragraph 10 When it talks about payments being made And the line that says an additional 150 pounds opt-in payment was offered to host each month For the 29th september I just wondered where that additional where the funding for that payment came Was it part of the government tariff or was that something local to south cans? Councillor handling I can confirm that the the money came from the same source from the government tariff Okay, councillor are we able to move on? Thanks very much councillor hobro So thank you chair. Yeah, I I mean first of all I'd like to say thank you to the officers for the tremendous work That's gone into this report and all the work behind it that's being reported on it It's clear that this is an immensely important project for the council and it is It's wonderful to see a summary of the work that's gone on over the past year I did have several questions. I could start with a couple of typos As as councillor heart did which is that on page 15 paragraph 9 Easier information should be easier for information. I think page 15 paragraph 11 In under three bikes in partner should read in partnership with I think they're just small Small things that I spotted when reading this through but but I had um, I actually had five different questions here So chair, would you like me to ask these ones at a time or? Do you want to ask maybe two of them now and then I'll pass over to another councillor and then I'm sure we'll be able to come back to you Thank you. I will ask the two questions in that case. Thank you So the first question was It was about the health and well-being support which is mentioned several times in the report And which I think is directed at hosts and guests in the scheme And and I was wondering if there had been much feedback from hosts On the health and well-being support and what that feedback had been and whether we had any What our view was at this point in the scheme a year in At a point where quite a few guests have moved on And so it seemed to me that this is a good time to take a retrospective look At the issue of health and well-being in particular and I wondered if we had done that or what information we had On that issue from our experience during the last year I Said the second question that should we take the first question they come back to you because it was quite a long one That was all certainly councillor hampton Yeah, I'm going to do 30 gals on that one. Okay. Thank you gals Thanks chair So I think on health and well-being We're really pleased we managed to get some schemes in place to support hosts as well as as well as guests to make Sure that there's that support for hosts in regards to kind of having More understanding what they're what they're taking on and support through that process And we've tried our best to sort of try and have a sort of a balanced program of supporting Our guests as well using the tariff funding and I mean, I think in a lot of these things is probably the support that we've provided We ask people kind of what's needed and actually we don't get that much feedback I think that's probably because probably people have Are thankful to have kind of a safe place to call home If we're honest and probably the support that we're providing Probably is You know exceeds probably what people expect And so I think in regards to kind of feedback It's probably limited and I think that probably it would be We'd really welcome more feedback So I think that's definitely something we can kind of take on board and continue to ask those questions And I'm sure we'll come on to it. The biggest area that we've really received feedback on is the area We've really been focusing on which I'm sure someone have a question on so I won't spoil that in regards to The moving on element and why I've got and Ben Thackeray on on the call who's been leading that work So I'm sure we can come on to that on a different question But in regard to health and well-being Um, I've had lots of positive feedback, but not a great deal of feedback on on what else people need Thank you, councillor Hoagbrick. Sorry, councillor Hanke. I just just wanted to add a comment that one of the things that I've been really pleased with Is the communications that we've had between the council and hosts and with and guests Two-way And that's allowed us to build a database which So that we can be Reactive dynamic As gala said, we haven't got any clear Indications But it's something that we can we can follow The point is that it's through those communication channels So thank you very much and um, I mean it's been really good to see health and well-being at the center of The of the report like this I suppose my my own my main comment would be that it's just after the point of moving out is is probably a good time to survey hosts in particular to get a retrospective understanding of how the whole experience went and I think guests as well So I don't know if there's a general survey going out for hosts and guests retrospectively, but It's it seemed as if that it seemed to me that that would be a very good time to try and gather that kind of feedback So thank you And you had a second question at this stage. That's right. Yes. So thank you chair So my second question was um, so in in paragraph 28 then The main risk was cited as the possibility of an increase in homelessness And I just wondered whether I mean no comment was made in the report on whether or not that risk is materialized during the past year So I just wanted to ask has the risk materialized and Do you have any more information on that? For some time now, um, we've been thinking about the I think our business would describe two parts to the hopes for you claim We've been through the first part to become business as usual, you know Finding homes for these people and helping them through the first first months um, moving on to phase two is trying to Understand the potential problem. I think I'm writing saying that three months ago. We were in a We were much more worried than we perhaps are now um, some of our ukraine guests Have moved on of their own volition have found their own place to stay um, some some of them even gone back to ukraine um I'm I'm going to again ask gareth just to comment because um, he's closer to this than I am My feeling is that perhaps we are less worried now than we were three months ago and that we are One can never say that something else might be thrown our way Another another problem, but at the moment we feel as though it's Reasonable under control but gareth can be done anything to add. Thank you. Yeah Thank you chair, um So I think from my perspective probably I bring us back to the sort of what the council um tackles in regard to supporting people through With our housing service for rural residents anyway, so our housing team deal with day and day our people who need support with their housing needs um, so I think we've got an additional cohort of people who need that support and I think that the the government's Scheme is adequately funded to make sure we can bring in additional resources to make sure that that additional burden can be Cated for so I think that that's a really fortunate position. So I think that gives us comfort um, I think for me that We've been quite innovative in regards to Things such in the report as our sort of interim hosts to make sure people get that supported environment when perhaps relationships break down That's reduced that risk for us in regards to homelessness applications and I think because we've had so many hosts step forward in South Cambridgeshire um It does give us quite a challenge in regards to Finding more hosts because we do have people who just their personal circumstances mean they're not able to continue hosting Um, but we're at that tipping point where some people are looking to move on But we are have got some people are still looking for kind of rematch. So it certainly is a risk we're aware of In regards to kind of the reality of that I think the schemes we've put in place such as discretionary housing payments supporting people with rent deposits Rent in advance has meant that we've seen very little impact there, but I'm just going to if okay chair I think Ben Thackeray who's been leading that piece of work might be able to just give us a little bit more information If if you wanted to bring Ben in chair Great. Thank you Ben Thank you gareth and chair again, I kind of echo what gareth was stating and the fact that the initiatives that we have launched such as the rent in advance and the rent deposit schemes have certainly um made us less worried about the potential increase of homelessness applications in regards for the homes of ukraine program Um, I know we have had we we haven't taken too many on we only have one group in temporary accommodation at the moment Uh, and I believe the initiative the initiatives that we've launched have been a result of that and So that that's all I can really comment. That's all I can comment on this Thank you. Thank you very much council. Hi, bro So thank you. I mean, they're very comprehensive answers and thanks very much for that I mean, I suppose my only comment really would be I think it would be good to have something a brief summary in the report of Um, that that comes what you've just said if that's if that's possible Great. Thank you. Happy for me to move on. We'll come back to you after another counselor counselor brad man Yes, that was you. Yes Thank you. Well, I think the answer given uh by garras Um has broadly answered but I will ask the question case There is a nuance here that you'd like to respond to and that was I was noting in paragraph 23 of the report That you said that guests still arrive on a weekly basis And that at the end of paragraph 24 you've said, um The gap between private rent and the local housing allowance means that good quality and affordable housing will remain the greatest pressure we face over the coming months and years um, and indeed that gap between um Local housing allowance and local rents is something that's actually just been flagged up recently on programs on radio 4 I just wondered how are you coping with that gap? Uh, or How are we going to try and manage that? I know we're talking about private rental here But I wondered how that's going to impact on our ability to find places for Ukrainian guests to stay Councilor Hanley again, I'm going to either ask garras will bend to chip in but um We we apart from the the interim I post that garras already mentioned you do have a buddy screen which has been introduced which will allow people to work together to um Which will our Ukrainian guests to work together to be able to afford properties? Whilst bang in mind the rules and regs are out about HMOs here houses of multiple occupancy yeah Just just a small bit to add on this one um chair, um, I think that The the schemes that we've launched the the rent deposit scheme rent in advance help essential items such as furniture discretionary housing payments I think that we've managed to mimic the support that we can provide for All residents coming through the kind of housing advice service for the scheme using specific funding The tariff to do so That's definitely helped us A lot there um I think it's just fair to say in South Games here is to say not just for this scheme But for all residents in regards to sort of private rental. Um, it doesn't matter what your position is It's really difficult because it's a very very competitive market um We were really fortunate to resource up and moving on the team early We've been leading that um with uh some additional um housing officers um to put us in a really good position so we were able to begin to explain options to um to guests so they could think about those carefully And clearly, you know, there's an opportunity to apply for council housing for the registers there And it does depend on individual circumstances But we've tried to really look at as wide a range of options as we possibly can and I I completely agree with council handy in regards to That buddying scheme of something that we we looked long and hard at it was a really detailed piece of work to ensure that we were able to Um offer an option that helped to close that gap And I think that what we're looking at this scheme is looking at as many options as we can that all can have A small impact on the the challenge that we face rather than one option being the thing that's going to kind of resolve that That challenge in its entirety So it's a risk we're aware of but probably a risk that the council faces anyway for all of our residents Okay, thank you. Um, I see councillor john bachler has something to add in relation to housing. I see him Yeah, thank you very much chair. Yeah, I just wanted to add that uh another string to this bow is that uh, we have Uh government money to actually purchase Um properties So we're in the process of purchasing 30 properties Which are 40 funded by the government and the rest we're funding through our normal processes Uh, we already have 14 going through The purchase process. So hopefully we have some up and running fairly swiftly 28 of those are specifically for the Ukrainians if they need them Uh, and two of them will be for at large houses for Afghans Um apart from that we currently have of 14 families Ukrainian families living in uh south gams properties That's all I had to add. Thank you Okay, thank you. Thank you for that now. Thank you very much Thank you very much council. Hi Brad can come back to you Thank you chair. So um, yeah, I had to cover more questions if uh, if that's okay um, so the First one that I was going to ask was um, it was to do with the moving on process And um, I mean I understand this is one of the most complex areas that we've had to deal with Um from the team and but it's also the area where where I've been approached by hosts about difficulties So I just wanted to ask about coordination between the social housing team and the ukraine support team and and whether whether To what extent there has been coordination Um, because I've sensed that there might have been some difficulties there and whether we're looking at that Um to see if we might might be able to help to improve the coordination and at the point of moving on that's the handling And I think we'll have to defer again to gareth on that one so it cuts across two portfolios Yeah, thank you chair and So I think for me, um, we we had to come out as the council hand describes or face one of the program And one of the work streams was around welfare visits And suhowsky who is that he manages the housing advice and homelessness team Was the lead officer on that work stream And when we began to look at the kind of moving on aspect we quickly realized that there was just a complete It was going to really work hand in hand with that team. So Um, ben was appointed to to work on the moving on work But to work in complete coordination as the same work stream as the suhowsky and her team to ensure complete coordination I know that calzado bro. We talked about kind of a piece of case work Um, but I think in general in regards to the coordination I think we've actually done a really good job in regards to linking those two services kind of really hand in hand um and Ben Thackeray was a member of the community's team that Was successfully applied for succumb and into this role and we do see it as a very much a corporate project But he's been absolutely embedded within the sort of housing service To make sure there's that real kind of cross kind of working So I think with the scale of the project Um, there's always going to be some things that we probably reflect on and kind of go in that particular case We could have done better But I think we've got a huge that's hugely outweighed by the number of cases that actually have worked fantastically I think that we've structured ourselves in a in a you know A really good way to ensure that kind of um complete kind of coordination, but we will always try and do better obviously Thank you councillor Hoveray Thank you very much for the answer. Thank you chair. So so I had kind of one or two related questions to finish If that's okay, always yours councillor Hoveray. Um, thank you. So the first really was uh, so in paragraph 26 It talks about the financial cover for the scheme being covered by the 10.5k The money that came through the county council Um, I just wondered it wasn't quite clear in the paragraph whether that includes Our staff time that isn't additional staff. That's the time of our existing staff So I just wanted to ask whether or not that that that was included because it was just wasn't quite clear in the report And and also, I mean when reading this it made me wonder whether I mean how difficult it had been To deal with officer time being required for the different aspects of the scheme as they've changed over time And I wonder if you had any comments on The how that's changed over time and where essentially where our officer time has ended up going mostly Um, you know, which which aspects of the scheme we're spending most time on and we weren't beginning and which was Only most time on now Thank you Yeah, I can confirm that the the money that we're talking about here came from the same source with the government parrot um The other second part is a question I will go back to is it you or Ben? Carol, thank you so as councilor The staff time was covered that whether that's additional resources or parts of existing resources such myself That the the tariff helps to cover those costs um In regards to the resource and I perhaps bring Ben in the in regards to the moving on sort team um When the scheme was kind of launched and we use existing resources and and kind of just pull people off existing duties for a short period of time to get our work streams up and running ranging from welfare visits and dbs checks through to data management and and kind of community work so um So we use existing resources But it was pretty quick that we realized that there wasn't sustainable model when we needed to make sure that we had Sufficient resources to make sure that we can get all those process managed. So we've brought in the additional resources quite quickly um Paid for by government tariff to make sure that we can carry out all of the mandatory and necessary processes um And I think probably the biggest thing that's changed recently was the moving on kind of project In terms of actual and Ben could give a bit more detail in regards to the kind of structure of that that team um But the one thing I would say in regards to I think that You know, obviously we talked to our neighbouring councils around the scheme I think that we took a really early decision around our moving on team It was really clear that this was something that was going to be a pressure for a longer period of time and we went out early to bring in some additional resources and And we had to be quite agile. We've got some fixed term contracts for a couple of years for housing offices But we've also utilised what we call our bank staff So kind of more casual contracts to fit in roles where it was a bit more unknown how long we would need those roles for And actually that's worked quite well for some of the post holders as well as the council because that's been a You know a contract that they've been able to access more more easily as well um, and as part of that I'm really pleased to say that we've managed to um We've had some of our guests um that have successfully applied for roles and have been working and embedded as part of the kind of moving on team Chair, I'm sure Ben can give you more detail on the moving on team if that's helpful for members Yes, of course, Ben I believe you are going to add Yeah, of course. Thank you chair and gareth. Um, so the vast majority of the work that the moving on team currently partaking is Uh, essentially contacting guests when they are at the 56 day point before they have to move out of their property So the 56 day point Um, essentially is that when you are 56 days from facing homelessness The local authority has a prevention duty Um to to essentially enable to ensure that you don't become homeless. So We the moving on team essentially conducted a survey to hosts Uh to ascertain the different move updates that hosts have given guests So we now have we've had around about a 70 percent response from hosts so That data has been captured and the majority of work at the moment is uh officers contacting guests to start the process to discuss the moving on options Uh other tasks and things that are involved is um discussing with hosts about potentially Uh finding new rematches and as well having housing advice Uh appointments with guests uh with translation needs to discuss what their next options would be Okay, that's that's all Great. Thank you very much council. I hope right Um, thank you. These are really excellent answers and and it's it's really interesting and and and It's a great gratifying to hear that some of our guests have actually ended up working in the support team That that's very nice to hear. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much councillor Ellington Thank you, chairman. I Really feel that congratulations should be given to the team For the work that they've done and I think this is an excellent report And I really am impressed with all things that have happened and I hear things In my village as well as here. So believe me if I um Heard anything I needed to pass on I would have done so But I think there is It could be seen as a negative question and I really don't want it to be seen as a negative question But one or two people have said to me Are the ukrainian Families jumping the queue for social for social housing And so I need to just ask What is the process? Um, the points process gets people into social housing How have we managed to do that? And are those 14 that are in paragraph 22 the 14 that councillor Bachelor was saying you've managed to buy housing for or are they a different lot? Yeah, I'm going to ask gravity cover that off the housing issue Yeah Thanks. Thanks chair So, um Home to ukraine guests have the the same access to services as as your residents Um And all the same rules apply in effect chair so the same process for applying for Council housing social housing Apply to all residents including our ukrainian guests as well Um, I think what which is a complete level playing field for all of our residents including our ukrainian guests, um, so The process is the same I think probably what's different here is we we've recognized that we've needed some additional officers to make sure we could deal with the demand So we put that in place with with ben's team to make sure we could do that Thank you council elington Thank you That's reassuring. Thank you. Okay. Thank you councillor peter fine Thank you chair my Question really follows what councillor sue elington has just asked about and I would endorse her comments from the Reports I've heard in shellford ward from hosts at how well This whole scheme has been handled by by staff And how much that is appreciated the support is appreciated Um, there is a reference in the number of paragraphs to the and we've talked about it already the moving on project um, my question I'm afraid you may chair will be out of order It has been reported today in the times that 9500 afghan refugees currently housed in hotels Are to be asked to find new houses within three months Um, or to declare themselves homeless, and I'm just wondering whether this is likely to impact on our ability to move on ukrainian refugees and whether It is expected that funds will be available to south cams to help with the the housing of afghan refugees bearing in mind that the total number provided for under the Existing safe route scheme is in theory three times those Who have arrived so far so there could be further pressure from this source Thank you Bear with us one moment I think we're having a conversation about who's going to answer the question Yeah, I'm going to be am I coming to you go go go go again. I think Okay, gary Um, I think the short answer is we don't know yet. Um, so it's obviously early reports. Um So I think we've got various Schemes we've got the home to ukraine scheme as members know we've got A hotel at bar hill that's being used to house people Whilst their asylum application is being processed and just to be clear the reports today that councillor fein refers to that's a different cohort of Of refugees that have arrived under different schemes that doesn't affect the bio scheme as as we We read it at the moment But I think we need more detail. It is the honest answer and it's probably one for us to come back to at a future meeting Thank you councillor fein Entirely satisfied with that answer chairman. Thank you I'm just worrying of the next person Just councillor handi is obviously the person responsible on cabinet for this bigger scheme Would it be fair councillor handi for me to suggest that south country's councillor will simply continue to do everything It possibly can within the realms of what is possible to support everyone who lives in our district whether they are permanent residents Or they are refugees. Would that be a reasonable thought for me to have? Absolutely chair yes, um, yeah, every confidence will do whatever is needed Yeah, thank you very much, uh councillor stovart Thank you chair So just glancing through the report and listening to the the previous questions It's clear that's quite quite a lot has happened in the organization To accommodate this this big project and deliver it so successfully And and just perhaps one aside Before I pose the question which is it's great to see the alignment of some of the project achievements with the council priority areas That's that's very satisfied. That means lessons learned, but I just wanted to ask From an organizational point of view and I think gareth mentioned cross functional working Is one thing that was developed during the course of the project But what are key lessons learned from an organizational point of view that could be carried forward? Maybe even noted as as an achievement of the council in the context of this project And there's more general on when we do projects like this. I mean normally the council is is running the kind of steady state And then these things arrive Um, is there any extra effort that we need to put in just to do Make sure that the good practice gets remembered and propagated So those two questions what was learned and how do we somehow preserve that good practice for Hopefully this one kind of thing won't happen again, but similar things might So, uh, that's the question chair council handling I I completely agree with the council for stovar that um, you know, we've had a A brilliant response from our officers and certainly Uh, we I think I think it's true to say that this council is held up as an example of Um, as to how to do it problems like this and actually if you think about it follows on from The work that they've done on the co vid response and also latterly the cost of living crisis, um That frankly the um, I can say this because I I'm not an officer that I'm in their response has been quite fantastic And I've seen it close up uh, and I perhaps you'll allow me that Allow me the opportunity to thank them all from lis SRO through gareth down to all the rest of the the team who will be bringing away. It's been a phenomenal Phenomenal response. I agree. We need to learn lessons from it because when I when I say that good lessons, you know We've done things right Obviously never going to do everything right, but mostly it's gone. Well, and yeah, I think we I suspect that we may well be asked You know what the positives were from this in going forward and I hope people do Yeah, yeah, that'd be great to hear from officer perspective as well um, so I think from my perspective chair just to kind of add in regards to kind of lessons, um I think we've kind of got quite a world trodden path now with a sort of a senior responsible officer normally a member of leadership team lives in this case, um And kind of appointing a kind of a strategic officer lead in this case myself and this project um I found that incredibly helpful and I think that we realized immediately. It's a corporate project This isn't this isn't sort of siloed into any part of the council um, and in effect any part of the council could have been a lead on on this project. Um And I think that Lots of things that perhaps we've had to do recently around cove it and this and other projects It's kind of helped make sure we continue to develop that kind of corporate approach to some of these big programs So I think that's definitely a positive lesson um, I think we're really fortunate You know, so speaking to some other sort of counterparts, perhaps they found it more difficult to kind of begin to resource things adequately Um, I think we took sort of early and brave decisions because we knew that government funding was in place to put resources in place and I think that's definitely a lesson because We started quickly and we're able to respond um, I think for me the other lesson is just the incredible skills we have within the organization, you know, I kind of The conversations I have a councilor Hanley and council bachelor We talk more about the moving on project because The team have everything under control on phase one all of the things that we worried about six eight set, you know 12 months ago If I'm honest, I don't really think about those things really very much because the you know, we've got brilliant officers who are just getting that stuff done and that's just sort of that's unseen now really um and I think for me the other thing that is good and obviously bends on the call is We've provided really good development opportunities as well and really develop our staff You know, it was a lot of pressure in regard to resource and it would have been probably quite easy for us to sort of look externally a lot to resource up this additional work But actually, you know our our members and our Officers know the council and know how we can kind of work with our communities And I think we've really Harnessed that those relationships and that cross working um, so I think for me that's worked really well and I think in regards to the um Making sure we also just work really closely with with our members who are our kind of community champions as well to make Sure that we kind of really work hard on our comms has been really important I know that's been something that council hand me and Have council bachelor when this become more of a housing project have been really keen on as well So I think that's for me. That's the kind of key lessons for from my perspective I'm council back to do you want to come in on this question? Yes, please if I might thank you very much chair um Well one I'd just like to echo Bill's words about the brilliant job that The staff have done here But perhaps More surprisingly, I'd like to thank the government Because this has been funded properly Uh, and you know, we've got to give credit where credit is due that without the Really what what is really quite generous Funding from the government. We could not have Achieved what we have achieved So, you know, my thanks there as well Great, thank you very much council stay bar Great answers chair. Thank you very much But at this point, I have nobody else no other councillors whose hands have gone up with any further points to add So assuming that that brings us to the end on that item I just now need to ask for Is everyone in the committee happy to affirm that we have Accepted the reports and added any comments that we wish to add Agreed, okay. Thank you very much Which brings us on to the item number seven which is our work program. Um I'll talk briefly about our work program before going forward in a moment But at this point, I'd like to ask councillor Stobart to provide us with an update in re sorry councillor Stobart. I Clearly hadn't changed the tone of my voice sufficiently to make you realize that he was coming to you there So councillor Stobart if we could have an update regarding the youth engagement project at this point, that would be helpful. Thank you Thank you chair So, um, I'll I'll give a brief update. Um, I know we we have a meeting of the task and finish group coming up next week And we've got a lot to think about and decide but let me Outline what we've done so far Um, so after having met and kicked the project kicked off the project last year End of last year. Uh, we got going early this year with setting up meetings discussions across the range of if you will youth engagements, uh with which The council is involved in some respect Now naturally, uh, that's a relatively slow process I know the chair himself councillor drew was quite quick on too because You know, you're in the education sector. You're able to start talking to school groups quite quickly But the rest of the program was a little slow. Um, simply because it took time to have those discussions To communicate what our objectives were and so I think we're sure the kind of the people we were talking to Um, that this was a kind of a wholesome event that would deliver Sensible and helpful outcomes So I have to commend Gareth who, you know in amongst all the other things that he's been doing He put a lot of time into this and actually quite a lot of the strands of our investigation Gareth kicked off And I think also, um in in the business team We've had good support In making contact with local businesses So we have spoken to schools and councillor drew has been doing that As well as that we spoken to the children in care council The student council at Cambridge regional college Group of Gertin college students. We've had a brief discussion with Um and a group of young employees and apprentices at Coulson It's it's been our our one commercial contact so far. And what's coming up Is a series of Sessions with groups that have been the best suggested by Amanda Sylvester at county Um, so it's well underway and if I may chair if I could just Pick out Perhaps two things that have been themes now, um, it has been said by some Social scientists computer scientists that in fact one of the things one of the great kind of safety valves for Social networks and the kind of pressure that social networks put particularly on young people Is being outside is being in green space And and while we of course Would recognize that being in green space is a good thing for us Um and for people in general actually it is becoming particularly acute for for younger people And so um, actually it came to regional college. I brought this one up and there was a very vigorous nodding offence amongst the amongst The um the people meeting So we kind of underlined that connection with planning and um, in fact it Came up almost every time when we talked about planning Strategic sites the local plan green space always green space was So that's one, uh, rather intriguing Kind of observation this is actually coming through consistently. Um, the girtland college students were Interesting. I mean some of you might know Um, I knew it at the old I was a The cambridge student and would visit girtland. It's strange to meet male students at girtland actually But um, I was picking up those same kind of cues that I saw way back Which was it's it's almost like a village community And actually one of the girtland students used The the word community where we were talking about safety of the of the travel between girtland college and the camp with the Departments in town Um, and I thought I was particularly telling that that was the only time I think in all of these discussions that I've heard the word community Mentioned And I think that needs a little more digging into but it was very gratifying and that was an excellent discussion And so just to finish off and maybe it's a slight negative, but um one of the Interactions I had with the the team at calls and was a disappointment in a sense and you It was interesting to hear it come from a young person that they proposed something to their town council town not to be mentioned um, and They had been given the firm opinion. You need to go to the county for this. This is not our business And it does seem to come up from time to time that we get this pushback According to who you ask But it's not our business as district or county or whatever and I think we we need to have a think about that Particularly how we present to young people Um, that they raise an issue. It's an issue And we are councillors And I think that's something that will perhaps come back as we dig a little deeper so the question that I think the The group will face or I'll raise with them is are we gathering enough evidence? Um, are there more things that we can do? Um, and of course, I need to encourage my colleagues also I've been having quite a lot of these meetings and councillors been having quite a lot of these meetings Um, can we kind of spread the net a little bit? I know time is short But we would really like to have everybody involved in some capacity But so far it's been an intriguing experience and uh, I think we're going to get some very useful conclusions from it Um, any other councillors any thoughts about it? What do you think councillor Williams hand go up and then councillor Bratton hand? So councillor Heather Williams Thank you chair and obviously it's something that I'm quite keen on since it stems from my uh, motion for council Um, just a couple of things that might help on on what's been related there Is perhaps a member workshop on it That might be something that then you can help if you want more ideas and things like that to come out of it I might say broadening the net. So for example, I'm not member of scrutiny. So I'm I'm not on the but Pat obviously got an interest I was I want to put them out to the first place. Um, the other thing was An idea that was mooted previously and is that came into this remit. I don't know if it's something you would like to revisit um, was the idea of having an event where parishes or towns um, would be able to nominate somebody to A young person from the community or on the parish council To sort of come to almost like a big workshop at the at the council to hear that unique perspective and and I would say that the the real thrust of the motion chair Was about how do we get people not just get their views, but how do we get them involved? Um, and the the idea behind the concept that was proposed before and I accept it was wasn't adopted But you never know try and get any chair. See what happened the second time um, was to almost encourage that there be A younger councillor on on each parish and essentially we would it would be a filter into us Because by that point we would then get younger people involved in non-partisan parish, you know politics And local government and then that understanding would would come and and what have you through through that And and that would be not just a single event But a regular voice at the table and we also thought it would help if we did an event like that It would help to encourage parishes and parish councils To actively recruit in that category um, so that was some third for thought perhaps chair That uh, you might want to take forward or you we just might not Thank you very much. Josh, we'll just take councillor Bradlum's comment and then come back to councillor Stovart and then move on councillor Bradlum Thank you. I wanted to thank councillor Stovart and the team for All of the meetings that you've been having it. I think it's been brilliant I'm particularly pleased that you went to visit the Children and Care Council and hear their views This is the community of children in the care of the county council I looked after children and young people and I'm very pleased that you took the time and trouble to engage with them because A rep a representative group of them come to the corporate parenting subcommittee at county Which I chair and I'm very pleased that you've engaged with them because they're full of ideas I just wanted to clarify You you I think you said I might have misheard you that you had two themes emerging and I understood those to be The importance of green space And then you said two other things one was the business of community and relating to the safety of travel From in this particular instance Gertin college campus into town and then you talked about the fact that The representatives from Coulson Were didn't feel they'd been responded to in a helpful manner And I just wanted to clarify was that actually three themes or Two in a bit. Thank you Okay So could I deal with those points in terms of councillor Heather Williams first? The the idea of of having a group of young people Interactive the council in a in a kind of a serious deliverable way I think is It's an important conclusion So I don't want to preempt too much, but I think we haven't You know if we don't actually allow a group of young people to to bring something to the council in some way You know the results in a chain, so I've got my negatives mixed up with the What we should be looking to do is to Uh, take the cues and The thoughts and actually deliver something practical now. I think your point is an excellent one Can town and parish councils actually Accommodate that process Because that would be great and it would head off some of the these kind of issues of I can't engage with my parish council I don't know where they meet and so on but if there was a young representative On a parish council, for example, uh, then they could be that point of contact And uh, bring those fresh ideas to some parish councils who might be a little Kind of on the older side So I I think delivering something practical implementable something actionable That the council can then work on perhaps towards a policy Would be invaluable as an outcome to this to this work Through you chair is that a satisfactory reply? What yes, but I'm saying yes I should be looking at my two colleagues neither of whom are waiting because at me so I will at that point move on if that's okay Yes, okay. Great. Thank you Councilor Bradman, I didn't um, so I got carried away Councilor Bradman, um, I was going to come up with the two positives and I thought I better add the negative as well Just to counterbalance But it was it was actually three things Thank you very much Excellent, great. Thank you very much Okay, so then the other part right to the work program So you've seen within the the pack about future work obviously myself and Graham and Ian continue to constantly review the forward work plans of the council And meet regularly to Consider what should go on to the agendas at that point and then show obviously with you as a committee Um, our next meeting is actually tomorrow So therefore myself, Graham and Ian cannot get enough of scrutiny and overview So we're having a third scrutiny and overview related meetings tomorrow And that happens to be related to forward work program And obviously we'll share with you where we are on that So then our final point is that the date of the next meeting of the scrutiny overview committee is Tuesday the 25th of April 2023 at 5 20 p.m And as I always like to do at this point before we close I will turn to Ian senior and say Ian is there anything that we have not covered this evening that we should have dealt with Excellent. Okay. Thank you very much in that case then in Literally just over an hour