Agenda and minutes

to approve as a correct record and authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meetings of the Annual Council held on 17 May 2018 and the Special Council held on 26 July 2018;

27/18  

The minutes of the annual meeting of Council held on 17 May 2018 and the special meeting of Council held on 26 July 2018 were both confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

to consider business (if any) brought forward by the Chairman;

28/18 

The Chairman highlighted that his Civic Service would take the form of a Christmas Carol Service.  As a result, Members were asked to make a note in their diaries of the intention for this Service to be held at Ugborough Church on the afternoon of Sunday, 16 December 2018.

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;

29/18 

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 P C Smerdon declared a personal interest in Item 13(h): ‘Reports of Bodies: Executive – 13 September 2018’ Minute E.36/18 (iv)(b) Community Funding (Minute 36/18(h) below refers) and specifically part 1 of the recommendation by virtue of being a Council appointed representative and trustee of the South Hams Community and Voluntary Service (CVS).  Having sought the advice of the Council’s Monitoring Officer, Cllr Smerdon advised that he would make an introductory statement before leaving the meeting room during the debate and vote on this item; and

Cllr K Pringle also declared a personal interest in Item 13(h): ‘Reports of Bodies: Executive – 13 September 2018’ Minute E.36/18 (iv)(b) Community Funding (Minute 36/18(h) below refers) and specifically part 1 of the recommendation by virtue of being a Council appointed representative of the South Hams CVS and remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon.

Cllrs D Brown, J P Green and J D Hawkins each declared a personal interest in Item 13(h): ‘Reports of Bodies: Executive – 13 September 2018’ Minute E.36/18 (iv)(b) Community Funding (Minute 36/18(h) below refers) and specifically part 2 of the recommendation.  Cllrs Brown and Green both declared their interests by virtue of being the two Council appointed representatives on the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership Committee.  Cllr Hawkins declared his interest by virtue of being the Devon County Council appointed representative on the Committee.  All three Members remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon.

30/18              

Consideration was given to a report that sought to adopt the draft Commercial Property Strategy.

During his introduction, the Leader of the Council reminded those in attendance that the draft Strategy had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel and Audit Committee at their respective meetings on 6 September 2018.  The Leader advised that both meetings had made a series of suggested revisions to the draft Strategy and these had been reflected in the version that was being recommended for approval at this meeting.

In the ensuing discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)   an additional recommendation was PROPOSED and SECONDED that read as follows:

‘That, before a final decision to proceed with a development or acquisition is made, local Ward Members will be briefed and be able to share their views with Executive Members.’

In introducing his addition, the proposer felt that increased emphasis should be given in the process to local Ward Members and that there was a current lack of recognition of the need for these Members to report back to their local town and parish councils and communities.

During the debate, the proposer and seconder of the original motion confirmed that they were happy to accept this addition and it was therefore included as part of the substantive motion;

(b)   a further addition to the recommendation was then PROPOSED and SECONDED as follows:

‘That there will be a mechanism for Commercial Property decisions made by the Executive to be called-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel using the existing Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.’

The proposer of the addition introduced his amendment and felt that, when considering the potential sums of money involved, any decisions that fell within the Strategy (regardless of whether they were defined as being ‘Development on Council Owned Land’ or ‘Commercial Property Acquisitions in the South Hams’) should be able to be called-in.  Furthermore, other Members expressed their support for the addition and highlighted that this amendment was reflective of the significant public concern over the proposals.

Other Members spoke in opposition to the amendment and cited reasons that included:

-     the call-in provision would already be in place for those decisions defined as being ‘Development on Council Owned Land’;

-     in most instances, decisions relating to ‘Commercial Property Acquisitions in the South Hams’ required a very quick response.  As a result, in the event of a call-in being invoked, it was highly likely that the Council would miss out on the opportunity to acquire a property; and

-     the inclusion of the additional recommendation whereby, before any final decision was made to proceed, local Ward Members would be briefed and able to make their views known to the Executive Members.

When put to the vote, the amendment was declared LOST.

(c)    the views of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel and Audit Committee.  A number of Members acknowledged that the revised draft Strategy had taken into account the views expressed by both Member Bodies.  As a consequence, these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30/18

31/18              

The Council was presented with a report that outlined its Medium Term Financial Position to 2023/24.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)   the Business Rates Pilot Scheme.  By way of an update regarding the unfairness that those local authorities that were located in London did not have to re-apply for Pilot status for 2019/20, the Deputy Leader informed that he had already spoken to one of the local MPs and he would also be contacting the other local MP to express his frustrations;

(b)   Negative Revenue Support Grant.  Whilst early indications were suggesting that the Government was intending to eliminate Negative Revenue Support Grant for 2019/20, it was noted that there were no guarantees beyond that year;

(c)    the use of New Homes Bonus funding to support the revenue base budget.  Although noting that it was purely for modelling purposes at this time, some Members still felt this proposal to be regrettable and were of the view that all of these monies should be re-invested to help those local communities that had received recent development.  In reply, other Members highlighted the financial pressures faced by the Council due to the loss of Revenue Support Grant to the Council and the fact that a proportion of these monies had been transferred to the New Homes Bonus funding source;

(d)   the Pension Fund.  In response to a question, it was noted that Devon County Council was the Administering Authority for the Fund and the District Council therefore had no control over investment decisions;

(e)   reviewing the Green Book.  The view was expressed that any proposed review would require careful management to ensure that staff morale was maintained.

       It was then:

RESOLVED

1.     That the forecast budget gap for 2019/20 of £0.638 million and the position for future years be noted;

2.     That the current options identified and timescales for closing the budget gap in 2019/20 and future years to achieve long-term financial sustainability be noted;

3.     That the Council set the strategic intention to raise Council Tax by the maximum allowed in any given year, without triggering a Council Tax Referendum, to enable continued delivery of services.  (NB. the actual Council Tax for any given year will be decided by the Council in the preceding February);

4.     That an application be submitted for Pilot status for 2019/20, with agreement being given to a 40% District / 34% Devon County Council / 1% Fire split for the 75% scheme.  In the event of the Bid not being successful, it was agreed that the Council should remain part of the Devon Business Rates Pool for 2019/20;

5.     That Central Government and Devon MPs be actively lobbied to support a 2019/20 Devon Pilot bid;

6.     That the Government, Devon MPs and other sector bodies (such as the District Councils Network and the Rural Services Network) be actively lobbied and engaged with for a realistic business rates baseline to be set for the Council for 2020 onwards;

7.     That the Council respond to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31/18

32/18              

Members considered a report that presented the outcome of the Pay on Entry Procurement Exercise.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)   the consultation exercise with town and parish councils.  The lead Executive Member advised that discussions had been held with those potentially affected town and parish councils and the consultation exercise was due to conclude on 28 September 2018.  Following the conclusion of this exercise, assurances were given that local Ward Members would be consulted before any final decisions were taken;

(b)   there being total flexibility (without any penalties) within the proposed contract.  In addition to these assurances being given, officers also confirmed that the underpinning business cases would include income and expenditure information, including potential costs relating to maintenance, control units and vandalism.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.     That the recommendation to award the contract for the provision and installation of Public Toilet Pay on Entry Equipment to the highest scoring bidder (‘Bidder B’) be approved; and

2.     That any changes considered necessary to the terms, or type of equipment used at each facility, be delegated to the Environment Services Community Of Practice Lead, in consultation with the lead Executive Member for Commercial Services.

33/18  

Members were presented with a report that outlined the process of the       review of the Management Plan for the South Devon AONB and the   issues identified for consideration within this review.

During discussion, it was confirmed that the imminent ‘Call for Evidence’ with respect to the Designated Landscapes Review would include the ability to review the existing AONB boundaries.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.     That the content of the Consultation Draft of the Management Plan be noted;

2.     That Members send any comments to the Community Of Practice Lead for Place Making for incorporation into a forma Council consultation response before the end of October 2018;

3.     That authority be delegated to the Community Of Practice Lead for Place Making to finalise the content of the formal Council consultation response; and

4.     That it be noted that the final Management Plan for 2019/24 will be brought to Council for adoption in early 2019. 

to consider the following question received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 8:

(a)  From Cllr Baldry to Cllr Bastone, lead Executive Member for Customer First

‘According to a report in the local press, new Housing Benefit claimants in the South Hams had to wait more than 3 weeks (23 days) for their claims to be processes.  The figures are for April 2017 to March 2018.  This is worse than the British average and exceeds the legal requirement for claims to be processed within 2 weeks.

Would the Executive Member comment on the figures please?  Housing Benefit / Universal Credit is not a luxury that people can wait for.’

(NOTE. Cllr Birch has provided the following preamble to questions (b), (c), (d) and (e)):

In the introduction to the 2017/18 Annual Report, the following is stated: “One of the key priorities over the coming year will be to research the possible building of Council houses to support the need of affordable houses for the residents of the South Hams.”

(b)   From Cllr Birch to Cllr Tucker, Leader of Council

‘What research has been carried out in respect of the building of affordable social rented housing by the Council and, if such research has been carried out, when will its findings be shared with Members?  Who has carried out the research on behalf of the Council?

(c)  From Cllr Birch to Cllr Bastone, lead Executive Member for Customer First

‘What fresh initiatives are planned by the Council to reduce the current Housing Waiting List which stands at 1,635?

(d)  From Cllr Birch to Cllr Bastone, lead Executive Member for Customer First

‘What is the Council’s target for the provision of affordable social rented housing in the South Hams for the years 2018/19 and 2019/20?’

(e)  From Cllr Birch to Cllr Bastone, lead Executive Member for Customer First

‘In respect of the numbers provided in response to the previous question, how many is it anticipated will be provided by:

-        The Community Housing Strategy;

-        Registered Providers; and

-        Developers pursuant to Section 106 Agreements?’

(f)     From Cllr Hodgson to Cllr Bastone, lead Executive Member for Customer First

‘Over the past five years, how much money has been channelled through SHDC to Housing Associations to assist them in the delivery of affordable housing and how many affordable homes has this delivered?’

(g)   From Cllr Hodgson to Cllr Tucker, Leader of Council

‘What legal right does the Council have to prevent local Members from attending meetings in their ward that the Council has organised?  With regard to the recent meeting between Totnes Town Councillors and SHDC Executive Members and SHDC officers, what was the basis of refusing the attendance of the local Ward Members?

(h)  From Cllr Birch to Cllr Bastone, lead Executive Member for Customer First

‘How many affordable social rented houses have been facilitated by the Council in the last five years?’

34/18  

It was noted that eight questions had been received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 8.

From Cllr Baldry to Cllr Bastone, lead Executive Member for Customer First

(a)   ‘According to a report in the local press, new Housing Benefit claimants in the South Hams had to wait more than 3 weeks (23 days) for their claims to be processes.  The figures are for April 2017 to March 2018.  This is worse than the British average and exceeds the legal requirement for claims to be processed within 2 weeks.

Would the Executive Member comment on the figures please?  Housing Benefit / Universal Credit is not a luxury that people can wait for.’

In response, Cllr Bastone stated that the report in the local press had been produced by a national charity and distributed to all local press agencies across the country and the article did contain a number of inaccurate facts.  Unfortunately, Cllr Bastone advised that our local press had not contacted the Council for comment or had shared the article with the Council ahead of publication.

Cllr Bastone proceeded to inform that the national target for the processing of New Claims for Housing Benefit was 24 days.  Therefore, he was pleased to reassure the Council that processing times were within target during the period stated.  Furthermore, the service in the last two months had been less than 21 days, which equated to top quartile performance for New Claim processing.  Whilst there was not a legal requirement to process claims within two weeks, it was acknowledged that there was a historic Performance Indicator.

Finally, Cllr Bastone had received assurances from the Community Of Practice Lead for Housing, Revenues and Benefits that there were sufficient safeguards in place to ensure that cases were prioritised in the event of there being a genuine threat of homelessness.

From Cllr Birch to Cllr Tucker, Leader of Council

(b)   ‘What research has been carried out in respect of the building of affordable social rented housing by the Council and, if such research has been carried out, when will its findings be shared with Members?  Who has carried out the research on behalf of the Council?

Cllr Tucker replied that the Place Making Team had not looked at the council building Social Rented housing.    The Assets team were looking into the feasibility of a small Social Rented housing scheme, factoring in the economics of cost savings on rehousing resident’s currently occupying temporary Bed & Breakfast accommodation.

In addition, Cllr Tucker informed that the whole of the south west had been included in the recent announcement by the government to be eligible for funding from Homes England to deliver Social Rent in High Value areas.  Enabling officers were asking RP’s to deliver Social Rent on Section 106 schemes where possible.  This was a recent announcement and therefore we were yet to see where this could be delivered.  This would also be factored in to the SPD which was currently being written.

A supplementary question was raised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34/18

to consider the following motions received (if any) in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10.1

35/18  

It was noted that no motions had been received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10.

At the discretion of the Chairman, a Member was permitted to make the point that, whilst a motion she had submitted in relation to Brexit had been ruled to be ‘out of scope’ she felt this to be very unfortunate and she highlighted that a similar motion had been permitted for consideration at a recent meeting of the North Devon District Council.

to receive and as may be necessary approve the minutes and recommendations of the under-mentioned Bodies

* Indicates minutes containing recommendations to Council.

36/18              

RESOLVED

That the minutes and recommendations of the undermentioned bodies be received and approved subject to any amendments listed below:-

(a) Salcombe Harbour Board                            16 July 2018

(b ) Audit Committee                                                                                26 July 2018

(c) Development Management Committee         1 August 2018

DM.22/18: Amendment to Public Participation Scheme

It was then:   

RESOLVED

1.  That the proposed amendments to the Development Management Committee Public Participation Scheme (as set out in Appendix 1 of the presented agenda report to the Committee) be approved; and

2.  That authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to make minor amendments to the Scheme as and when deemed necessary.

(d) Overview and Scrutiny Panel                       2 August 2018

O&S.23/18: Code of Conduct Hearing Panel Recommendations on the Complaints Process

During the debate, a Member expressed his total support for the recommendation and felt that the current rules were an expensive process with totally meaningless sanctions.

It was then:   

RESOLVED

That representations be sent to the Secretary of State and local MPs outlining the Council’s concerns over the current regulations (e.g. the lack of any meaningful penalties and the unfairness of District Councils having to absorb the costs of administering the scheme for its local Town and Parish Councils).

(e) Licensing Committee                                    23 August 2018

L.7/18: Adoption of Procedures and Fees in Relation to the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018

RESOLVED

1.  That the Discretionary Powers contained within the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 be adopted;

2.  That the Scheme of Delegation be amended whereby decisions relating to the determination of licences and enforcement action be delegated to the Community Practice Lead for Environmental Health;

3.  That the Constitution be amended to reflect a new Sub-Committee structure to consider objections to conditions on an Animal Licence; and

4.  That the proposed Fees and Charges (as outlined in the agenda report presented to the Committee) be adopted.

(f) Overview and Scrutiny Panel                       6 September 2018

(g) Audit Committee                                           6 September 2018

(h) Executive                                                      13 September 2018

E.34/18: Civil Penalties for Breaches of Housing Standards Enforcement Notices

RESOLVED

That the existing Enforcement Policy be updated with the Civil Penalty Policy.

E.36/18: Reports of Bodies

(a) Community Funding

Such had been the levels of correspondence on the two recommendations to reduce funding contributions to the South Hams Community and Voluntary Service (CVS) and the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) that the Chairman informed of his intention for these matters to be dealt with separately.

In the ensuing discussion on the CVS proposal, an alternative recommendation was PROPOSED and SECONDED as follows:

‘That any decision to reduce funding to the South Hams Community and Voluntary Service be deferred to enable for further consideration as part of the wider 2019/20 Budget Setting process.’

In support of this proposal, the following points were raised:-

o  A Member highlighted the support provided by the CVS towards creating positive, healthy and safe lifestyles and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36/18