Agenda and minutes

to approve as a correct record and authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 1 February 2018;

E.69/17          

The minutes of the Executive meeting held on 1 February 2018 were confirmed as a true and correct record and signed off by the Chairman.

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;

E.70/17          

Members and officers were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of this meeting and the following were made:

Cllr R J Tucker declared a personal interest in Item 7: ‘Waste Policies Review’ (Minute E.73/17 below refers) by virtue of a family member using the Clinical Waste Collection service.  Whilst he remained in the meeting during consideration of this agenda item, he vacated the Chair, did not take part in the debate and abstained from the vote on this matter.

a period of up to 15 minutes is available to deal with questions submitted to the Council in accordance with the Executive Procedure Rules;

E.71/17          

It was noted that no public questions had been received for consideration at this meeting.

E.72/17          

Members were presented with a report that sought approval of the proposed Treasury Management and Investment Strategies, together with their associated prudential indicators.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)    the proposal to invest in the CCLA (Churches, Charities and Local Authorities) fund.  Whilst acknowledging that there were some risks associated with investing in CCLAs, there was widespread support expressed for this proposal.  In the event of an alternative proposal to invest in local projects (e.g. social housing) coming forward, assurances were given that monies could still be withdrawn at relatively short notice from the CCLA fund;

(b)    the decision-making route for the Strategy.  Prior to its consideration by full Council, it was confirmed that the draft Strategy would be presented to the Audit Committee at its meeting on 22 March 2018.  In reply to a series of questions, a Member of the Audit Committee was encouraged to provide these to officers outside of this meeting to enable for full and detailed responses to be given during the Audit Committee meeting;

(c)    the authorised limit for External Debt.  Officers advised that the authorised limit for External Debt for 2018/19 was £14 million.

It was then:

RECOMMENDED

E.73/17          

Members were presented with a report that proposed revisions to the following policies:

-         Assisted Collection;

-         Bulky Waste Collection;

-         Clinical Waste Collection;

-         Collections from Private Roads; and

-         Collection from Private Roads Review.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)    some minor typographical amendments.  The lead Executive Member for Commercial Services introduced the report and highlighted some minor cross referencing amendments that were required;

(b)    the Clinical Waste Collection.  Despite receiving assurances that the use of yellow clinical waste sacks was an accepted industry standard, some non-Executive Members nonetheless had health and safety concerns over this practice;

(c)    the Assisted Collection policy.  Instead of the bureaucracy associated with proposing a review every two years, a Member suggested that records could be kept up to date through closer working with the Elections team, who were responsible for maintaining the Electoral Register.  In reply, Members of the Waste Working Group committed to investigating the merits of this idea at their next meeting;

(d)    collections from Private Roads Review.  For clarity, it was proposed that the 2018/19 Review would see the process for Unadopted Roads be the same as that adhered to for Private Roads collections.  Whilst the Review was to look at each road on an individual basis, it was also recognised that a number of roads on new development sites had still to be formally adopted by Devon County Council;

(e)    bulky waste collection prices.  In reply to a question, it was confirmed that the proposed charge of £18 per item had been benchmarked against other local authorities. Whilst it would not always result in costs being fully recovered by the Council, an £18 charge was felt to be appropriate for this service.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1)      That the policy updates (as detailed in Appendix 1 of the presented agenda report) be approved, subject to inclusion of the minor typographical amendments highlighted by the lead Executive Member; and

2)      That such minor changes considered necessary to the highlighted terms be delegated to the Commissioning Manager (Waste), in consultation with the lead Executive Member for Commercial Services and the Chairman of the Waste Working Group.

E.74/17          

Members were presented with a report that sought approval of the publication of the South Hams Special Area of Conservation draft Joint Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for public consultation.

During discussion, the following points were raised:-

(i)      Some Members highlighted the success of the Ecology Training Session that had taken place on 8 March 2018;

(ii)     All Members were encouraged to partake in the consultation exercise on this draft SPD.  Furthermore, a number of Members expressed the view that this was a valuable piece of work;

(iii)   A Member highlighted that, in the consultation statement, there was reference made to a ‘series of advisory notes that were being developed to sit alongside this SPD’.  The Member emphasised the importance of these being available to be read in conjunction with the draft SPD.  In response, officers gave an assurance that these would be circulated to interested Members;

(iv)   Some Members had specific queries which they were asked to send to the lead Executive Member for a response outside of this meeting;

(v)    Assurances were given that the local ward Members and parish clerks for those relevant areas listed in the presented agenda report would be contacted at the start of the consultation exercise;

(vi)   In reply to a request, it was agreed that officers would provide interested Members with the proposed changes since the 2010 document had been adopted.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That approval be given to the publication of the South Hams Special Area of Conservation draft Joint Supplementary Planning Document for joint public consultation.

“That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in order to avoid the likely disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”;     

E.75/17          

RESOLVED

That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the Act is involved.

E.76/17

Consideration was given to an exempt report that sought to recommend that the Council delegate the responsibility for the administration of the land on the terms as outlined in the presented agenda report.

Following a brief discussion, it was then:

RESOLVED

2.  That, so as to comply with Charity Commission regulations, approval be given to the end of the lease with the organisation referred to in the presented agenda report.

(NOTE: In accordance with Executive Procedure Rule 1.9.4, Cllr Wright abstained from the vote on this item by virtue of being a local ward Member).

(NOTE: THESE DECISIONS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF E.72/17 AND E.76/17 PART 1, WHICH ARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING TO BE HELD ON 29 MARCH 2018, WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE FROM 5.00PM ON MONDAY, 26 MARCH 2018 UNLESS CALLED IN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SCRUTINY PROCEDURE RULE 18).