To consider those items which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be considered by the Meeting as matters of urgency
Minutes:
* O&S 91
The Chairman advised the meeting that a formal Scrutiny Proposal Form had recently been received from Cllr Parker (with the support of Cllrs Baldwin, Ball, Evans, Jory, Moody, Oxborough and Sellis).
Whilst using the recent proposal to construct a Hotel on the Abbey Rise Car Park, Tavistock as a learning example, the request had sought to establish a Task and Finish Group to review the procedures for proposing Development funded by the Borough Council.
In line with the adopted procedure, it was a requirement for such proposals to be determined within 7 days by a ‘Panel’ comprising of the Head of Paid Service; the Group Manager Support Services and Customer First (in his capacity as the Scrutiny Lead Officer); and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Panel.
In this instance, the ‘Panel’ had decided that this proposal should not be allowed for reasons that included:
- the Devon Audit Partnership (DAP) having already been commissioned to undertake a review. As part of this review, it was intended that each of those Members who had supported the Proposal Form would be given the opportunity to be interviewed;
- reference to the design and impact on the Heritage Status of the Abbey Rise Car Park proposals. If funding had been approved for these proposals, then matters including design and impact on the Heritage Status would then have been dealt with in detail as part of the planning process;
- the future use of Unstarred Minutes. As a governance matter, it had been concluded that the Political Structures Working Group would be a more appropriate forum to consider this matter (as opposed to a Member Task and Finish Group);
- the importance of the review being concluded before the May 2019 elections. To ensure that this was achieved, it was intended that the review would be considered at the following formal meetings:-
o the Hub Committee meeting on 19 March 2019;
o a single agenda item Special Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting at 9.00am on 26 March 2019; and
o the full Council meeting at 4.00pm on 26 March 2019.
In reaching this decision, the Chairman stated that the strength of feeling that had been provoked by the recent proposals at the Abbey Rise Car Park and Okehampton Retail Hospitality Pod was very much appreciated. However, in the interests of transparency and fairness (and the overriding wish for the review to be completed before the elections), the proposed way forward had been concluded by the ‘Panel’ to be the most appropriate means of conducting a review.
Whilst she was not willing to invite questions (or debate) on this matter at this time, the Chairman did advise that she had received some questions prior to this meeting for which the Head of Paid Service would provide a reply. In so doing, the Head of Paid Service informed that:
- immediately after the Council decision had been taken on 12 February 2019 (Minute CM 54 a iv refers), the lead Hub Committee Member had requested that the Head of Paid Service and the Section 151 Officer commission the DAP to undertake an independent review;
- the Terms of Reference for the review would be circulated to Members upon the conclusion of this meeting; and
- the review would cost up to a maximum of £4,000. However, since the Commercial Property Strategy had already been identified as a project for inclusion in the Audit Plan for 2019/20, it was hoped that the total cost would be somewhat lower than £4,000 and ways of negating the costs were being discussed with the DAP.