The Scrutiny Committee of Mid Devon Council met on 8 September 2025, and among the topics discussed were the Community Safety Partnership report, the Establishment report, and Local Government Reorganisation. The committee noted the verbal update on whistleblowing complaints, and agreed to forward a proposal form regarding street marshals and ASB reporting to the Head of Housing and Health. They also agreed to send a proposal form regarding MMC self builds to the Director of Place and Planning Policy Advisory Group.

Community Safety Partnership Report

The committee reviewed the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) report from the Head of Housing and Health, which provided an overview of the East and Mid Devon CSP's activities in 2024/25 and outlined priorities and pressures for 2025/26 and beyond. Paul Wilson, Specialist Lead for Community Safety and Safeguarding, was introduced to the committee.

Key points from the report included:

• The CSP's updated priorities, which now align with the Statutory Serious Violence Duty introduced in 2023.
• Ongoing pressures related to the CSP's responsibilities in conducting statutory Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR).
• National developments impacting community safety.
• A strong emphasis on addressing anti-social behaviour (ASB), including increased use of ASB powers, the introduction of New Youth, antisocial behaviour intervention panels, and the deployment of marshals in Tiverton town centre.
• Collaboration with the Community Alcohol Partnership and the Devon wide Let's Talk Programme, offering sessions for children and parents on topics like online exploitation, serious violence, and knife crime.
• Crime levels in Mid Devon remained low compared to the national average, but ASB remained a concern.
• New priorities for the CSP would focus on youth, ASB (including drinking, drugs, and nuisance behaviour in town centres), domestic abuse, sexual violence, harmful sexual behaviour, and child exploitation.
• Despite a lack of government funding, the CSP had a duty to provide complex DHRs managed at a county level, which created funding pressures.

Discussion among committee members covered:

• Proactive measures to address ASB, including increased use of Community Protection Notices and Community Protection Warning powers, along with training for council staff.
• Consideration of drug rehabilitation programmes.
• The council's budget for street marshals and how it was being utilised, with clarification provided on patrol levels defined by the Home Office.
• Clarification on the increase in domestic violence.
• Shoplifting in the Tiverton area.
• Publicly available information on ASB and reporting arrangements.
• The future focus of priority three, domestic abuse, sexual violence and harmful sexual behaviour, and the year of the increase.

Establishment Report

The committee reviewed and noted the Establishment Report from the Head of People, Performance and Waste, which provided a six-month update on the council's workforce and its performance.

Key highlights from the report included:

• The six-month update report complemented the Annual Establishment Report and Pay Policy presented to Cabinet each February.
• The period of 2024/2025 saw some of the best performances for turnover, sickness, and agency spend in recent years.
• Data for 2025/2026 was tracking close to the previous year's figures, with a further update planned for February 2026.
• A staff survey would be conducted in early 2026, including questions related to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and changes in service delivery.
• Staff were being regularly updated on the progress of LGR through briefings and internal communications.
• The 2025/2026 pay award had been signed off at the start of August, the earliest it had been concluded in many years.
• The Local Government Association (LGA) was interested in exploring a three-year settlement for 2026/2027, 2027/2028, and 2028/2029.
• Sickness absence levels in 2024/2025 were the lowest since the pandemic, with 7.35 days per full time equivalent (FTE), a significant reduction from 10.45 days in 2023/2024.
• Staff turnover in 2024/2025 was 16.3%, the lowest since the pandemic.
• Agency spending during 2024/2025 was lower compared to the previous financial year.
• The council continued to support apprentices, with 16 currently employed across all services.
• Data from the year ending 2024 showed that 90% of the council's apprentices became employees.
• Work was underway to consider improvements for work experience pupils in 2026.
• Staff welcomed the six-monthly health checks offered by Active Mid Devon.

Discussion among committee members covered:

• Potential increases in staff turnover due to LGR and measures to address it. Exit interview data so far did not indicate LGR as a primary reason for leaving, but this would be closely monitored.
• The importance of offering work experience placements.
• The proportion of staff interviewed upon exit, with a review underway to maintain high participation rates.
• The impact of LGR on the recruitment process, with data indicating no drop in applications.
• Strategies to further reduce staff sickness absences, with each absence being treated on a case-by-case basis.
• Factors contributing to increases in the number of employees, total Taxable Gross Pay, national insurance, and pension contributions, which required further investigation.
• The possibility of sharing information from other authorities for comparison purposes.
• Recognition of the work and commitment from officers and managers in reducing sickness absence.
• Awareness among officers of expected agency fee expenditure.

A member of the public, P Elstone, submitted questions regarding the Establishment Report prior to the meeting, asking for clarification on the increase in pension costs, the annual cost of pension scheme administration fees, and where to find details of the council's pension fund financial status for public viewing. The Chair of Council, Councillor Gordon Czapiewski, confirmed that these questions would be answered in writing within ten working days.

Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution

The committee discussed Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution, with Councillor Gordon Czapiewski explaining that any specific points raised by members would be recorded in the minutes and addressed at the next Scrutiny Committee meeting on 29 September 2025.

Discussion points included:

• The importance of keeping the public informed to prevent rumours, particularly regarding the possibility of a single Unitary Authority across Devon.
• The lack of schedules or timings for LGR, and whether proposals and recommendations would come before the Scrutiny Committee before being submitted to the government.
• How the transition would take form, whether it would involve a Shadow Organisation, and how this was anticipated in the detail.
• The potential impact of increased travel time for meetings across Devon on councillors' ability to fulfil their roles.
• The difficulties of ensuring that the needs of dispersed rural settlements were made clear to the authorities.

Work Programme

The committee reviewed the Forward Plan and the Scrutiny Committee Work Programme, and the changes to the work programme for the September meetings were explained.

Two work proposals were considered:

• Street Marshals and ASB Reporting: The committee agreed to forward this proposal form to the Head of Housing and Health.
• MMC Self Builds: The committee agreed to send this proposal form directly to the Director of Place and Planning Policy Advisory Group. The proposal form, submitted by Councillor Gordon Czapiewski, suggested that the council should provide suitable, relevant and up to date information to assist residents who wish to build a self build using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). ¹

Other Matters

• Apologies were received from Councillors Chris Adcock, David Broom, Emma Buczkowski and Claudette Harrower. Councillor Barry Holdman substituted for Councillor David Broom.
• No declarations of interest were declared.
• The minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 July 2025 were approved.
• The Chair thanked Councillor Sue Robinson, his predecessor, for her service. He also announced that he had stepped down as Director of Devon Association of Local Councils (DALC) due to potential conflicts of interest related to Local Government Reorganisation.
• The committee noted that none of the decisions made by the Cabinet on 2 September had been called in.
• The committee noted a verbal report from the Head of People Performance and Waste with an update on whistleblowing complaints in the past 6 months.