Agenda and minutes

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.

            If Councillors have any questions relating to predetermination, bias or interests in items on this Agenda, then please contact the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

*HC 33          

Members were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be discussed but none were made.

Minutes of meeting held 1 November 2016

*HC 34           

The Minutes of the Hub Committee Meeting held on 1^st November, 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to the inclusion of comments made by the Chairman at that meeting under ‘Urgent Business’ (Minute *HC 25 refers) in respect of an update on the progress made by the Heart of the South West (HotSW) Devolution Project Group.  The Chairman had advised the Committee that he had recently attended a meeting with the Executive Directors and Tracy Lee, Chief Executive of Plymouth City Council who had responsibility for one of the work streams within the HotSW Devolution project.  Discussions were ongoing with colleagues across Devon and many agreed that the concept of an elected Mayor would be a red line to the proposals.  Regardless of this, authorities were continuing to look at arrangements for a Combined Authority as the intention was to make sure the good work undertaken so far was not lost.  A number of similar bids across the country had collapsed, and all eyes were on the Autumn Statement for any further information.

*HC 35           

(a)  1Life (formerly Leisure Connections)

The Chairman invited representatives of 1Life, formerly Leisure Connections, to update the Hub Committee on progress in respect of Meadowlands Pool.  Theresa England, the Regional Director, Lauren Parker, the West Devon Contract Manager and Nick Cotton, Meadowlands Pool Duty Manager were all in attendance.  Theresa England confirmed that an issue had been discovered with the flue during preventative maintenance work.  The flues had been replaced and the work completed to a good standard, however, it was subsequently discovered that there was a fault with a pressurised unit.  It was expected that the Pool would reopen no later than Monday 5 December, and they were working with Fusion, the new leisure contractor from 1 December 2016, to ensure a consistent message was going out to the public. 

                        The Chairman thanked the representatives for attending, and thanked them for the work undertaken during their time as contractors for the West Devon leisure centres.  Theresa England thanked the Members and stated that they had worked well in partnership and that there had been a real sense of collaboration and partnership working.  Other Members asked that appreciation be recorded to 1Life for their work in developing leisure services, and that the positive attitude of staff and management be noted.     

(b)   Lead Hub Committee Member Update – Cllr Edmonds

As agreed at the previous meeting (minute *HC25 refers), the Chairman invited Cllr Edmonds to update the Hub Committee on matters within his area of responsibility.  Cllr Edmonds advised that a special meeting of the Hub Committee had been convened for 19 December, 2016 to discuss budget and capital programme matters.  He updated the Committee on the headlines from the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and brought Members attention to a letter from SPARSE to the Local Government Minister that made the case for rural areas who currently received less funding per head of population compared to urban areas.  In terms of the other areas within his remit, the Transition Resources monitoring report was presented to the O&S (Internal Committee on 8 November and all fixed term resources were now recruited.  An ICT Strategy was currently being developed and the new website should be available in the New Year.  He had attended the Standards Committee meeting that morning and since January 2016, there had been only three Code of Conduct complaints made against Borough and Parish Councillors.  This was testament to the professionalism of the councillors and the sound guidance of the Monitoring Officer.

Members thanked Cllr Edmonds for his comprehensive update.

HC 36             

The Lead Member for Environment introduced a report that proposed formal adoption of the UAV/Drone Policy.  Members had a number of questions of clarity on the policy such as:

- Was the fee appropriate?

-  How would the policy be enforced? 

- What was the definition of UAVs and were kites included? and

- Did the proposed policy align with neighbouring authorities?

The COP Lead Assets advised that the purpose of the policy was to ensure a consistent approach to anyone who applied to fly drones from Council owned land.  The fee would ensure that any costs were covered. 

As there were a number of queries, Members agreed to amend the recommendation to enable the Policy to be amended prior to presentation with the minutes at full Council.

It was then RESOLVED that Council be RECOMMENDED to:

1.    consider formal adoption of the UAV/Drone Policy as set out at Appendix A of the presented report, if not already addressed by the use of bye laws; and

2.    authority be delegated to the COP Lead Assets in consultation with the Lead Member for Environment to make minor amendments as necessary.

*HC 37           

The Lead Member for Health and Wellbeing presented a report that requested Members to consider the draft South Hams and West Devon Homeless Strategy 2017-2022.  The strategy would be subject to public consultation during December and January with a view to Council adoption and approval from 1 April 2017.

Members welcomed this Strategy and officers were congratulated on an excellent report. 

It was then RESOLVED that:

1.         The content of the draft homeless strategy 2017-2022 be noted; and

2.         The Homeless Strategy be presented for public consultation from 1 December 2016 – 1 February 2017.

HC 38             

The Lead Member for Health and Wellbeing presented a report that asked Members to consider the results of the public consultation scheme and recommended that no changes were made to the scheme so that the 16/17 scheme continued for 17/18.

The Leader advised that across Devon there had been plans to put a single scheme in place, however, that was no longer appropriate for 2017/18 and a full review of the scheme would take place in time for next year. 

It was then RESOLVED that Council be RECOMMENDED:

1.   To note the results of the public consultation for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme; and

2.   That the 2016/17 scheme be retained for 2017/18

*HC 39           

The Lead Member for Strategic Housing and Planning presented a report that informed Members of the updated five year housing land supply for West Devon based on a monitoring point of 31 March 2016.  He set out the mechanism for how the figures within the presented report had been arrived at.  He also introduced Richard Grant, Local Planning Manager, Plymouth City Council who was leading the joint work on the Joint Local Plan.  Richard Grant responded to a number of detailed questions, particularly in light of recent appeals and how the figures could be used, and the weight to be given to Neighbourhood Plans.    The Chairman also brought Members attention to the second recommendation as it would confirm the figures for minimum housing need for 2014 to 2034.

It was then RESOLVED that:

1.  The updated five year housing land supply for West Devon (excluding Dartmoor National Park) be noted; and

2.  The emerging Joint Local Plan minimum need for housing development in West Devon (excluding Dartmoor National Park) of 3200 for the period 2014 to 2034 be endorsed.

            PART TWO    ITEMS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS ON THE GROUNDS THAT EXEMPT INFORMATION IS LIKELY TO BE DISCLOSED

The Committee is therefore recommended to pass the following resolution:

“RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the Meeting on the grounds that exempt information may be disclosed as defined in the paragraph given in Part 3 of Schedule 12A to the Act.”

HC 40 

The Lead Member for Economy presented a report that set out a number of recommendations that had previously been presented to the Overview and Scrutiny (Internal) Committee, and included their views.  He set out the background and reasoning behind each of the recommendations, examples of which include the following: 

The Working Group wanted to support the Business Information Point as they undertook consultations and provided advice and, as an organisation, could have a major impact on businesses within the Borough.

The Teenage Market was an initiative that Members had heard about as at a Department of Communities and Local Government event and would result in extra support to local authorities who were willing to engage.  This was a programme that had already been rolled out in 26 authorities nationwide, and would provide a complete approach to engaging young people to encourage them to market their own goods by providing marketing, administration, support and advice.

The Group felt it was no longer necessary to support Villages in Action or South West Museum Development to the same extent and prioritised other initiatives. The Group also felt that there was more work to be undertaken in respect of supporting the economy in the Borough, for example, compiling a database of all businesses to better understand the economic demographic in the area. 

In respect of the recommendation for additional staffing resource, Members had a detailed debate on how best to achieve the resource, and also on where Members could influence operational decisions.  As a result, the published recommendation was amended.

It was then RESOLVED that Council be RECOMMENDED to:

1.         Adopt the proposed WDBC Our Plan Annual Delivery Plan, as shown in Appendix 1, for the period to March 2018

2.         Increase funding to Business Information Point for business support services from £8,340 in 2015/16 to £15,100 in 2016/17 (pro-rata) & maintain this funding level for 2017/18

3.         Reduce funding to Villages in Action from £8,000 in 2015/16 to £4,000 in 2016/17 and 2017/18

4.         Reduce funding to South West Museum Development (SWMD) from £2,000 in 2015/16 to £1,000 in 2016/17

5.         Cease offering economy grants in WDBC with immediate effect

6.         Support the Youth Markets initiative from 2016/17 with funding of £1,000

7.         Task the Head of Paid Service with utilising the staffing establishment to deliver the activities detailed in paragraph 3.6 of this report, identifying a lead officer of a suitable grade 

8.         Establish a West Devon Economy Working Group (WDEWG) consisting of 4 Members

9.         Request that the WDEWG submit periodic reports to the Hub                         Committee

*HC 41           

(Resolved that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that exempt information is likely to be disclosed as defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12(A) to the Act).

The Lead Member for Commercial Services presented a report that updated the Hub Committee on the progress made by the Waste Working Group to date in entering into a two year external waste management arrangement, subject to specific conditions as set out by Council in July 2016 (Minute CM 27 refers).  Members discussed the proposals and the Group Manager Commercial Services responded to a number of questions.

It was then RESOLVED that

1.    The progress made on the negotiations for a two year managed service contract for waste and cleansing with the incumbent contractor and the next steps to be taken at this stage are noted;

2.    Providing the conditions are met as outlined at para 1.1 of the presented report, an award is made in line with Council recommendations;

3.    Authority be delegated to the Lead Specialist Waste Strategy (Strategy & Commissioning) in consultation with the Lead Hub Member for Commercial Services to make any minor changes to the terms as highlighted that are considered necessary; and

4.    Any additional cost pressures identified through the final negotiations requiring urgent decisions to agree funding for the service outside of the base budget are presented to the Hub Committee within the Budget Report at the special meeting on 19 December 2016.