Items
No. |
Item |
O&S64/17 |
Minutes PDF 110 KB
to approve as a correct record and authorise
the Chairman to sign the minutes of the Panel held on 12 October
2017;
Minutes:
O&S.64/17
The minutes of the
meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 12 October 2017
were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the
Chairman.
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O&S65/17 |
Declarations of Interest
Members are invited to declare
any personal or disclosable pecuniary
interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they
may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;
Minutes:
O&S.65/17
Members and officers were invited to declare
any interests in the items of business to be considered during the
course of the meeting. These were
recorded as follows:-
Cllr M F Saltern declared a Personal
Interest in Item 8: ‘Community Safety Partnership’
(Minute O&S.68/17 below refers) by virtue of being an advisor
to the Police and Crime Commissioner and left the meeting during
consideration of this agenda item.
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O&S66/17 |
Public Forum PDF 5 KB
A period of up to 15 minutes is available to
deal with issues raised by the public;
Minutes:
O&S.66/17
In accordance with the Public
Forum Procedure Rules, two issues were received for consideration
as follows:-
1.
From Cllr
John Birch
Ref.
Section 106 Case Manager
‘In
welcoming the appointment of Julie Rowdon as the S106 Case Manager,
it is noted that in the recent Bulletin sent to Members it is
stated that ‘her current priorities are to bring all records
up to date, monitor finances ensuring that deadlines are met and to
streamline S106 processes.’
I am
concerned that the extent of the officer’s duties may not be
sufficient in that they may not extend to the monitoring of the
imposition of non-financial obligations on developers arising out
of completed S106 Agreements and other completed planning
agreements such as unilateral undertakings and management plans
submitted in order to satisfy a planning condition.
I have
recently come across three examples on major developments in Totnes
where it appears the Council has not sought to impose non-financial
obligations on the developer.
Can
Members be sent a copy of the Section 106 Case Manager’s
detailed Job Description and an assurance that she will have
sufficient resources to undertake the monitoring of the imposition
of non-financial obligations in respect of completed S106
Agreements and other completed planning agreements as mentioned
above?’
In response, the Head of Paid Service stated that,
whilst largely an operational matter, he would speak to Cllr Birch
outside of this meeting with regard to the Job Description for this
role. However, the Head of Paid Service
did assure those in attendance that he was satisfied that the
content of the Job Description was appropriate for this
role.
Whilst noting the concerns in the question relating
to planning conditions, Cllr Birch was informed that these would
not be part of the postholder’s
roles and responsibilities, with the focus instead being on
ensuring development compliance with each S106
Agreement.
In reply to a supplementary question related to
whether or not the allocated resource would be sufficient to meet
the associated work demands, it was agreed that officers would
discuss this matter with Cllr Birch outside of this
meeting.
2.
Follaton
House Car Parking
‘Barriers have recently erected in
parts of the car park without reference to or in consultation with
local Members. Upon the barriers
becoming operational members of the public will suffer a loss of 35
car parking spaces in an area of limited parking.
Why has
this restrictive car parking scheme been implemented without
reference to or in consultation with local Members? Can the new scheme be put on hold until such
reference and consultation has taken place?’
In reply, the Head of Paid Service stated that, in
line with the Council’s delegated authority arrangements, the
Community Of Practice Lead for Assets had taken the decision to
erect these barriers. This decision had
been taken in response to recent difficulties being experienced
from the car park being used as a facility for second vehicles
(often camper vans) to be stored for a significant period of time.
...
view the full minutes text for item O&S66/17
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O&S67/17 |
Executive Forward Plan PDF 92 KB
Note: If any
Member seeks further clarity, or wishes to raise issues regarding
any future Executive agenda item, please contact Member
Services before 5.00pm on Monday, 6
November 2017 to ensure that the lead Executive Member(s) and
lead officer(s) are aware of this request in
advance of the meeting.
Requests have already been made for the following future items
to be raised at this meeting:
(a)
Formation of a Community Lottery for
South Hams & West Devon (Darren);
and
(b)
IT Procurement Options – Verbal
Update (Mike).
Additional documents:
Minutes:
O&S.67/17
The Panel was presented with the most
recently published Executive Forward Plan. In accordance with Procedure Rules, a request had
been made for the Panel to formally consider the following agenda
items:
(i)
Formation of a
Community Lottery for South Hams and West Devon
The Panel considered a report
that set out the proposal to implement a joint local community
lottery scheme to benefit the residents of South Hams and West
Devon.
In discussion, the following
points were raised:-
(a)
For clarity, the Leader of
Council had confirmed that, whilst most joint working with West
Devon Borough Council had discontinued until further notice, the
proposal to form a Community Lottery Scheme would not be
affected. Whilst the proposals included
provision to share the set-up costs, it was recognised that the
lottery schemes themselves would be wholly separate;
(b)
Without wishing to be
presumptuous, it was noted that discussions had yet to take place
with the Voluntary Sector to ascertain the extent of potential
interest in the scheme. As a potential
indicator, it was noted that Torbay Council had implemented a
similar scheme earlier this year, which was predicted to generate
£42,000 for good causes and, to date, had seen over 100
groups sign up;
(c)
The Panel acknowledged that any
decisions relating to existing Partnership funding contributions
would be a matter for the Council to determine during the draft
Budget setting process;
(d)
A Member expressed his concerns
at the close linkages between this process and gambling and did not
feel that the Council’s reputation would be enhanced through
the implementation of such a scheme. To
counter this view, it was recognised that the presented agenda
report did outline a number of mitigating measures to combat any
potential for problem gambling;
(e)
It was noted that the overall
intention of the scheme was to help local good causes that may be
struggling for income to survive;
(f)
Before the views of the Panel
were considered by the Executive, it was agreed that officers would
circulate to Members a list of useful websites that were of
relevance to the proposal;
(g)
Some of the experiences from
Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) were shared with the Panel
and it was acknowledged that the scheme at that authority was
working successfully. Furthermore, the
representative from AVDC stressed that it was in the interests of
the good causes to promote the scheme and players had the ability
to specifically choose which causes their monies
supported;
(h)
In highlighting the view that
the country was suffering from ‘lottery fatigue’, a
Member queried the projected ticket sales and whether or not this
figure was realistic. In reply, it was
confirmed that the figures were based upon up to 3% of the
potential player population (those who were aged over 16 years old)
in the South Hams and West Devon purchasing a ticket;
(i)
Officers informed that the
actual set up costs of the scheme would equate to £13,000 (to
be shared equally between the ...
view the full minutes text for item O&S67/17
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O&S68/17 |
Community Safety Partnership PDF 64 KB
Minutes:
O&S.68/17
Consideration was
given to a report that provided Members with the opportunity to
scrutinise the work of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP), as
defined by Sections 19 and 20 of the Police and Justice Act 2006
and the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations
2009.
The Vice-Chairman
introduced and welcomed the Partnership representatives to the
meeting and invited them introduce their published
report. In so doing, the
representatives reminded those present that it was a statutory
responsibility for local authorities to scrutinise their local CSPs
on an annual basis and they proceeded to highlight a number of the
key achievements that had been referred to in the agenda
report.
In the ensuing
discussion, reference was made to:
(a)
support for the work of the CSP. A number of Members were of the view that the CSP
provided excellent value for money.
Whilst thanking the Members for these comments, the representatives
highlighted that future funding for the CSP was
uncertain. A Member also requested that
he receive a cost breakdown of the CSP (including officer support
costs).
In adding his support to the value of the CSP,
Inspector Tapley was of the view that
the Police would be particularly vulnerable without the support it
received from this Partnership;
(b)
the recent letter from the CSP to the Police and
Crime Commissioner. Some Members
commended the contents of the letter on the Neighbourhood Policing
Review (dated 9 October 2017) and it was suggested that the Council
should add its support by way of a notice of motion being submitted
to the next Council meeting on 14 December 2017. Furthermore, it was also felt that Members should
encourage their local town and parish councils to add their support
to this letter;
(c)
local concerns in Dartmouth relating to a perceived
increase in incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour. A local Ward Member raised some very specific
concerns to Dartmouth and it was agreed that he would follow these
up with Inspector Tapley outside of
this meeting;
(d)
the value of Police Community Support Officers
(PCSOs). A number of Members lamented
the reduction in numbers of PCSOs in the area and highlighted the
value of the role, particularly in rural areas;
(e)
the amount of work undertaken by the
CSP. At the suggestion of the
Council’s appointed representative, it was agreed that a
future Informal Council session on the CSP should be
arranged. The Panel felt that the main
purpose of this session would be to increase all Member knowledge
and understanding of the CSP, the statutory functions that it
upheld and the relevant responsibilities of the District
Council;
(f)
youth gangs. The
increase in youth gang culture in the South Hams was recognised as
a real challenge to the CSP. The Panel
noted that the CSP was keen to work with all local youth groups in
the South Hams in an attempt to reverse this trend;
(g)
the contact details of the
representatives. In reply to a request,
it was agreed that ...
view the full minutes text for item O&S68/17
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O&S69/17 |
Devon Home Choice Annual Review and South Hams Allocation Policy Review PDF 59 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
O&S.69/17
The Panel considered a report that presented
a review of Devon Home Choice and that recommended that the Council
remained a Devon Home Choice partner.
In
discussion, the following points were raised:-
(a)
With regard to the vast decrease in numbers on the
Housing Register, officers advised that this was attributed to a
detailed review having been undertaken on the list and the problems
with the old software having now been rectified. Whilst ongoing spot checking would continue,
officers confirmed that they were satisfied that the current
Register was now an accurate reflection of the current housing
situation in the South Hams.
Officers also confirmed that there remained a
significant demonstrable need for ‘intermediate’
housing (e.g. provision for housing for first time buyers) in the
South Hams;
(b)
Whilst there was felt to be validity in some of the
concerns related to Devon Home Choice (e.g. the publicity around
advertising secondary lets), the majority of Members were of the
view that the present arrangements were broadly working
well. Some Members also cited their
experiences that town and parish council complaints and perceptions
regarding the suitability of those being allocated local housing
proved, when investigated, to be groundless.
Once approved by the Executive, it was also
requested that all town and parish councils in the South Hams be
sent a copy of the adopted South Hams Allocation Policy.
(c)
Members wished to put on record their support for
the proposal to continue with the practice of registering those
applicants in Band E with no housing need for the purpose of Devon
Home Choice. Continuation of this
practice was considered by Members to be particularly invaluable in
the smaller rural villages;
(d)
In response to a request, officers committed to
providing an update on the Sovereign / Spectrum Housing
arrangements. Furthermore, officers
also agreed to provide the contact details for a local
representative from Spectrum Housing;
(e)
The Chairman highlighted the Tenants Incentive
Scheme and requested that officers provide Members with details
relating to:
-
How
many people the Scheme had dealt with;
-
How
much had been spent; and
-
How
much remained in the budget.
In the event of any monies remaining
unspent, the Chairman emphasised the importance of Members raising
awareness of this fact amongst their constituents.
It
was then:
RECOMMENDED
That
the Executive be RECOMMENDED:
1.
That the Council continue as a
partner of Devon Home Choice;
2.
To continue the registering of
applicants in Band E (no housing need) for the purpose of Devon
Home Choice; and
3.
To accept the minor changes of
updated wording to the South Hams Allocation Policy.
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O&S70/17 |
Village Housing Initiative Review PDF 58 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
O&S.70/17
The Panel considered a report that sought to
recommend to the Executive that the Village Housing Initiative
(VHI) continued to be utilised in the South Hams.
In
discussion, reference was made to:-
(a)
the time taken for VHIs to be
completed. In highlighting the Newton
Ferrers Scheme as an example that took
eight years from start to finish, Members expressed their concerns
at the length of time it took for VHIs to be completed. In expressing these concerns, the Panel also made
the point that VHIs were wholly reliant upon willing landowners
coming forward and finding suitable sites was also proving to be an
issue;
(b)
the future. Officers
informed that they still recognised the merits of VHIs and would
like to see reference to the promotion of these include in the
Joint Local Plan. It was however
recognised that the larger Registered Housing Providers were more
enthused by Section 106 sites, so it may be necessary for officers
to work with smaller Providers to ensure the future delivery of
VHIs;
(c)
the VHI principle.
Several Members expressed their views that they remained very
supportive of the VHI principle;
(d)
the additional safeguards put in place by a
Registered Provider in the event of a small scale developer going
into liquidation. In reply to a
request, officers agreed to forward to interested Members details
relating to those safeguards that had been put in place.
It was then:
RECOMMENDED
That the Executive be RECOMMENDED to:
1.
continue promoting and utilising
the Village Housing Initiative model and to include this model of
delivery within the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) once the
Joint Local Plan is adopted; and
2.
agree to the inclusion of Band E following the
cascade for Village Housing Initiative schemes (as set out in the
presented agenda report).
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O&S71/17 |
Joint Local Plan Progress: Verbal Update
Minutes:
O&S.71/17
By
way of an update into the progress of the Joint Local Plan (JLP),
the Panel Member, who was one of the Council’s Member
representatives on the JLP Joint Steering Group, advised
that:-
-
the JLP had been formally
submitted to the Inspector on 31 July 2017. The Council had subsequently received some initial
comments and the content of these had been deemed to be
positive;
-
the appointed Inspector had
similarly been the Inspector who had dealt with the North Devon
Local Plan;
-
the whole process was now being
driven by a Programme Officer;
-
the Strategic Housing Land
Availability Assessment (SHLAA) had been taking up a considerable
amount of officer time;
-
the Department of Communities
and Local Government had published a consultation document recently
proposing a new way of calculating need. The Member confirmed that clarification had now
been received whereby those Plans that had already been submitted
to the Inspector would be progressed in accordance with the
existing system.
In
the subsequent debate, reference was made to:-
(a)
the outline programme for the
Examination Hearings. Current
indications were that the Hearings would run for a four week period
spread from the end of January 2018 until the end of March
2018. It was hoped that more definitive
timescales would be apparent following the next meeting of the
Joint Steering Group on Monday, 13 November 2017;
(b)
the procedure for being able to
make representations during the Hearings. It was confirmed that the Hearings were
effectively public meetings at which any interested parties could
attend. With regard to the public being
able to participate during the Hearings, it was noted that any
individual who had commented on the JLP during the consultation
process had been contacted by the Programme Officer inviting them
to take part at these Hearings. In the
event of those individuals not confirming with the Officer their
wish to take part, then they were unlikely to be invited to address
the Hearings.
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O&S72/17 |
General Data Protection Regulation - Readiness Update PDF 43 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
O&S.72/17
The Panel considered a report that outlined
the changes that the Council would need to implement in order to
achieve compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation by
25 May 2018.
By
way of an update to the published agenda report, officers informed
that the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) had been in recent
contact regarding the need for all Members to be registered as
‘Data Controllers’. This
requirement was necessary in light of part of the role of being a
Member resulting in the likelihood of information being collected
that related to local constituents. The
cost to the Council of implementing a blanket scheme for all
Members was approximately £1,000 and the Panel was supportive
of this proposal.
The Panel recognised the potential
ramifications arising from these Regulations and requested that a
related Member Training and Awareness session be held in the New
Year.
Specifically regarding the two Data
Protection complaints that had been referred to the ICO for
investigation, officers committed to providing Members with details
outlining how this compared to both previous years and the numbers
referred from other similar sized local authorities.
It
was then:
RESOLVED
That the Panel
support:
1.
the
approach to General Data Protection Regulation readiness ahead of
its implementation in May 2018;
2.
the
proposal to implement a blanket scheme covering all Members to be
registered as ‘Data Controllers’; and
3.
the request to arrange a Member Training and Awareness session on
the General Data Protection Regulation in the New Year.
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O&S73/17 |
Quarterly Performance Indicators PDF 52 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
O&S.73/17
The Panel considered the Quarter 2
performance report for 2017/18. In
conclusion, the report highlighted that the performance measures
for this Quarter had been generally good.
In
the ensuing discussion, reference was made to:-
(a)
the % of benefits change of
circumstances completed online.
Officers advised that this was a new performance measure and the
target (25%) was considered to be particularly
stretching;
(b)
planning enforcement
performance. The Panel noted that the
newly appointed Enforcement Specialist was due to start his role in
the upcoming weeks. One of the first
objectives for the postholder was to
convene a series of meetings with all Members to discuss
enforcement cases within their local Ward;
(c)
performance related to missed
bin collections. A local Member
highlighted some of the problems (and subsequent complaints) that
he had been made aware of in the Totnes area and he felt it was
difficult to justify the action response outlined within the
presented agenda report. In reply, the
Head of Paid Service advised that there had been some staffing
issues within the service that had now led to a review of rounds
equalisation. Furthermore, this review
had already recognised that the extent of recent development in the
area had resulted in some round collection areas now being too
large to be completed on time;
(d)
recycling service
performance. A Member highlighted the
promotional board in the Follaton House car park that referred to
some misleading information relating to recycling service
performance and consequently requested that the accuracy of the
information outlined on this board be revisited;
(e)
Member access to performance
measures on their IPads. Officers gave
a commitment that, within the next month, a link would be available
on the front page of each Member IPad that enabled Members to
directly access the Council’s performance
measures.
It
was then:
RESOLVED
That Members note the
performance levels against target communicated in the Balanced
Scorecard and the performance figures supplied in the Background
and the Exception report.
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O&S74/17 |
Task and Finish Group Updates
(a)
Performance Measures.
Minutes:
O&S.74/17
(a)
Performance
Measures
Following the recent directive
issued by the Leader of Council, the Panel agreed that work on this
Review should be suspended until further notice.
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O&S75/17 |
Actions Arising / Decisions Log PDF 55 KB
Minutes:
O&S.75/17
The contents of the latest version of the
Log was presented for consideration.
In
so doing, the following points were raised:-
(a)
Officers confirmed that a Member
Briefing session on Universal Credits would be added to the Member
Meeting Calendar during December 2017;
(b)
With regard to the
Council’s current partnership arrangements, assurances were
given that lead officers were currently in discussion with these
organisations.
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O&S76/17 |
Annual Work Programme 2017/18 PDF 20 KB
to consider items for
programming on to the annual work programme of the Panel, whilst
having regard to the resources available, time constraints of
Members and the interests of the local community
Minutes:
O&S.76/17
In
consideration of its Annual Work Programme, the following comments,
additions and amendments were made:-
(a)
The Panel requested that an additional meeting be
scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, 18 January
2018. In so doing, it was agreed that
the substantive agenda items for this meeting would be:
-
Update
on Community Housing Scheme;
-
Sherford
Delivery Team; and
-
Local
Enforcement Plan.
(b)
It was agreed that the ‘South Hams CVS Annual
Update’ should be removed from the Work Programme for the
Panel meeting on 8 February 2018. In
light of this removal, the Panel requested that a ‘Universal
Credits Update and Direction of Travel’ agenda item take its
place on the Work Programme for this meeting;
(c)
Regarding the IT / Civica lessons learned proposal (Minute
O&S.67/17(ii) above refers), it was agreed that the Chairman
would liaise with lead officers to agree a suitable meeting date
for this matter to be presented for consideration by the
Panel.
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