The Overview and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to meet to discuss ICT services, environmental enforcement, equality, diversity and inclusion in council parks, the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum, antisocial behaviour procedures, the cabinet work programme, the committee work programme, and cemetery memorials.

Antisocial Behaviour Procedure

The committee was asked to consider adding a review of the council's antisocial behaviour (ASB) procedure to its work programme. This was recommended by the Governance, Audit and Standards Committee after the Housing Ombudsman found fault with the council's handling of a complaint raised by a social housing tenant.

The Housing Ombudsman's report, included in the meeting documents, detailed a complaint by a resident about a neighbour who had five dogs that were running loose in the communal area of her two bedroom flat. The resident reported that the dogs were fouling the area, and she felt unsafe. The Ombudsman found maladministration in the council's handling of the resident's reports of ASB. The report noted that the council's pet policy states that residents must ask for permission to keep dogs, and permission will only be given for a maximum of two dogs. The policy also states that permission will be withdrawn if pets cause a nuisance.

The Ombudsman ordered the council to pay the resident £300 in compensation and to agree a plan of action with timescales.

Cemetery Memorials Task and Finish Group

The committee was asked to consider a draft scoping document for a task and finish group to consider unauthorised cemetery memorials in borough cemeteries. This followed a suggestion by the Cabinet at its meeting on 29 July 2025, after a decision on the matter was deferred from the 3 June 2025 meeting.

The task and finish group was expected to produce a final report detailing the history of discussions and previous reports, the legislative landscape, and the council's obligations under relevant regulations, and to make recommendations.

The scoping document set out the terms of reference and key lines of enquiry for the group, including:

• Differing views of residents in relation to the implementation and enforcement of the burial regulations.
• The views of relevant stakeholders.
• The history of the issue.
• All relevant policies and legislation relating to the operation of the cemetery and the duties and responsibilities of Broxtowe as a burial authority.

The document also listed possible sources of information, including meeting papers, interment forms, legislation, governmental guidance, practices of other authorities, court judgements and guidance from sector-leading organisations.

Possible witnesses included the Leader of the Council, the Strategic Business Development Manager - Bereavement Services, the Executive Director, the Assistant Director of Environment, the Head of Health and Safety, Compliance and Emergency Planning, members of the community group Save Our Cemetery Memorials, and other constituents with strong views on memorials.

The group may consider organising a site visit to Beeston Cemetery, Chilwell, Kimberley or Rushcliffe Cemeteries, Nottingham City Cemeteries, Sothern Cemetery and Wilford Hill Crematorium.

The projected start date for the group was 13 August 2025, with a draft report deadline of November 2025 and a projected completion date of December 2025.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Council Parks

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the ten recommendations made following the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 28 November 2024, regarding Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity across the Borough's parks.

The report noted that Broxtowe manages 62 parks and open spaces, 37 of which have a play area. Of those 37, 33 feature inclusive or accessible play equipment.

The report provided an update on the ten recommendations made in November 2024:

1. Audit all entrances to parks to allow wheelchair/mobility access where possible. An audit was undertaken, and the findings indicated that enhancing accessibility would require approximately £49,000.
2. Where a play park is fenced around, ensure the access gate for a wheelchair is close to any accessible/inclusive play equipment or consider the surface for the travel to the equipment. This is challenging to implement retrospectively, but where feasible the Parks and Open Spaces team will look to implement.
3. Where possible, ensure that every play park in the Borough has access to a minimum of one piece of accessible/inclusive play equipment. Among the 37 parks managed by the Council, 33 currently include at least one piece of accessible equipment.
4. Introduce further sensory play panels to the parks with some possibly away from climbing frames in quiet areas. Three sensory panels have been installed at Mansfield Road Recreation Ground, Redbridge Drive, and College Way Open Space.
5. When replacing play equipment that a double slide be provided instead of a single slide option. A double slide unit will only be considered where a whole play unit is being replaced.
6. Explore options to provide sensory gardens in parks and, where appropriate, to provide a sensory experience for all users to touch, smell, hear and see. To consider utilising parks already established with garden areas in the first instance. The Parks and Open Spaces team are currently delivering the first sensory garden at Bramcote Hills, near to the walled garden.
7. Provide signage across all parks for users to establish areas of rewilding, butterfly and bee planting, sensory and park areas. The Parks and Open Spaces team have completed the installation of 30 signs across the Borough, and they are planning to expand this further.
8. Consider the toilet options in large multi-use parks that are not near town centre facilities. The option to extend toilet provision across the Borough's parks remains under consideration.
9. Consider accessibility/inclusive benches as standard across all parks in the Borough and investigate the triangular benches with back supports as the standard park bench. Accessible and inclusive benches are now being installed as standard across the Borough's parks.
10. The results from the Parks Survey are made available to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The parks standard survey is currently out for consultation, with findings to be reported to Cabinet on 2 December 2025.

Appendix 2 of the report provided a park accessibility audit, detailing the number of entrance points onto each park, how many are accessible for wheelchair users, how many could be made accessible, and the approximate cost for accessible works.

Update on Review of the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the recommendations of the overview and scrutiny review of the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum.

In December 2023, Cabinet approved 11 recommendations following a review of the museum. The report outlined the progress of each recommendation to date:

1. Produce new leaflets to advertise the D.H. Lawrence Museum in Nottinghamshire Places of Interest and Tourist Centres. Completed. Leaflets were sent to locations including Inspire Libraries in Broxtowe and the wider Nottinghamshire area, Nottingham Tourist Information Centre, local businesses around Eastwood and hotels in Nottinghamshire.
2. Request that Eastwood Town Council add an item on their agenda for updates from the Museum. Officers have attended meetings of the Arts and Events Committee regularly and this has also enabled an additional £500 of funding being secured to support the D.H. Lawrence Festival.
3. Identify external funding opportunities to support appropriate projects within the D.H. Lawrence Museum. £98,500 UKSPF funding was secured for a project to create an augmented reality and audio trail about D.H. Lawrence and Eastwood heritage.
4. Consider the feasibility of Sunday opening hours and the associated costs. A business case has been completed to assess the viability of Sunday opening hours. The business case has determined that based on footfall and staffing resources at the museum, it would not be feasible at this time.
5. Review the current entrance prices to the D.H. Lawrence Museum, including the consideration of subsidies for those on low incomes. Completed. New admission charges were agreed as part of the Council budget for 2024/25. In 2024/25 an additional £1,833 income was generated as a result.
6. Identify funding to support re establishment of the Blue Line Trail and consider options for enhancing the offer digitally. A bid to refresh the Blue Line Trail was successful in securing £10,000 of UKSPF funding. A further £500 was secured from the D.H. Lawrence Society to support the project.
7. Liaise with partners such as Nottinghamshire County Council and Eastwood Town Council to improve signage around Eastwood to promote the D.H. Lawrence Museum. A new town centre monolith has been installed to promote the museum and provide directional signage.
8. Suggest to Trent Barton that the Museum be added as a departure point at the bus stop for Alexandra Street, Eastwood within their communications to passengers. Promotions about the D.H. Lawrence Festival have taken place through Trent Barton social media channels and in their summer 'what's on' leaflet.
9. Review the D.H. Lawrence action plan and financial data in 6 to 12 months' time to allow for a full twelve months of data and for recommendations from the Arts Council to be made available as part of the Museum re accreditation process The museum has not yet been selected for re-accreditation so there have been no further recommendations to take on board from the Arts Council.
10. Consider obtaining a blue plaque An application was submitted in May 2024 but has been rejected on grounds of the large numbers of applications received.
11. Carry out a review of costs six months after any implementation of the recommendations. A review of performance and financial data has been completed and is available in Appendix 2.

Appendix 2 provided finance and visitor analysis from 2019/20 to 2024/25, while Appendix 3 highlighted other museum achievements.

Progress on Review of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum

The committee was also scheduled to receive a report outlining progress on the recommendations of the overview and scrutiny review of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum.

In July 2024, Cabinet approved four recommendations relating to the museum. The report outlined the progress of each recommendation to date:

1. To consider changing the counter space at the D.H. Lawrence Museum to be more accessible to customers and incorporate an area for a wheelchair user to access the digital tour. A pop-up laptop table has been installed in the downstairs area of the Museum to provide a more comfortable space for those accessing digital tours, including wheelchair users.
2. To consider the provision of ear defenders, to offer visitors who may have sensory processing differences and additional audio headsets to enhance the D.H. Lawrence experience to all. A pair of ear defenders are now available for use. An audio tour of the Museum is currently being developed, which can be downloaded via QR code on arrival at the site, enabling visitors to use their own devices, which may be adapted to their needs as required.
3. To increase signage within the museum to increase awareness of health and safety issues and accessibility and to provide signposting to the nearest accessible toilet. Various health and safety notices are on display for visitors to advise of any hazards. A new banister has been installed to aid the use of the stairs. Signage has also been installed to direct visitors to the nearest accessible toilet to the Museum building.
4. To increase advertising of the D.H. Lawrence digital experience to promote live tours to Groups. Digital tours have been promoted through social media, on the Museum webpages and through direct engagement to schools.

Appendix 2 outlined additional work that has been undertaken outside of these recommendations.

ICT Services Report

The committee was scheduled to receive an ICT Services Report providing up-to date information relating to ICT Services performance, and recent security upgrades and improvements.

The report noted that ICT Services provides support to approximately 500 users, consisting of Officers and Members. In 2024/25, ICT Services reported 99.67% of all systems were available and accessible, and from April up to July 2025, all systems have been accessible 99.98% of the time.

The report also noted that a small group of Members informed ICT Services about difficulties accessing Council systems, including emails. A review found that over 70% of Members reported no access issues, and most concerns were resolved through password resets.

Environmental Enforcement

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the environmental enforcement pilot project, which was approved by Cabinet on 3 September 2024.

In September 2024, Cabinet approved the appointment of WISE, a third-party environmental enforcement contractor, to support the work of the Neighbourhood Wardens. The contract commenced towards the end of April 2025. To date, 758 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) have been issued, with 741 (97.8%) for various littering offences and 17 (2.2%) for fly tipping.

The report noted that early indications suggest a positive impact from the enforcement approach, with fly-tipping incidents down by 70% and collected fly-tipped waste down by 20%.

Cabinet Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to be informed of items on the Cabinet's work programme, from which items for scrutiny may be identified. The Cabinet Work Programme included items such as the Budget Timetable and Consultation 2026/27, Grants to Voluntary and Community Organisations, Local Government Reorganisation Update, Asset Management Policy, and Foster Avenue Fire Safety Work.

Work Programme

The committee was asked to approve its Work Programme, including identifying topics for scrutiny, that will help to achieve the Council's key priorities and associated objectives. The work programme for the next meetings included Markets and Cemetery Memorials Draft Final Report on 27 November 2025, and Business Plans 2025/26 – 2027/28 and Financial Estimates on 19 and 20 January 2026.