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BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (COMMUNITY SERVICES) COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (COMMUNITY SERVICES) COMMITTEE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON TUESDAY, 12 JULY 2005
PRESENT: Mr C J Hunt – Chairman
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Mr K Grimsey |
Mr J A B Long |
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Mr D G Grutchfield |
Mr J W Roberts |
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Mr B D Hurren |
Mr J R A Sayers |
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Mr R E Kemp |
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Mr D L Wood was unable to be present.
12 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
There were no declarations of interests.
13 MINUTES
RESOLVED
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2005 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
14 PETITIONS
None received.
15 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS
Mr D G Grutchfield asked the following question of which due notice had been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 15.4 – (a) and (b):-
"Heavy rain has again caused flooding in Toppesfield Close, Hadleigh. What plans are in hand to safeguard these Council owned properties, most of which are occupied by elderly tenants?"
The Chairman responded as follows:
"The flooding is to the highway with no flooding of the properties. Suffolk County Council have attended and carried out maintenance to the highway drainage system which is a system that relies on soakaways. However, they appreciate a long term solution is required and would like a direct link to the river. Mr Alan Moyser, the Area Highways Manager, has a technician dealing with the matter. As engineers with knowledge of the area we will assist Suffolk County Council with finding a route for their pipeline through our property as soon as they need our help."
As a supplementary question, Mr Grutchfield asked whether it would be possible for any scheme dealing with the problem to be in the form of a partnership between Babergh District Council and Suffolk County Council.
Mike Hammond, Corporate Director, on behalf of the Chairman, confirmed that the District Council was liaising with the County Council on this matter in order to prevent any further flooding to the road or gardens concerned.
Mr R E Kemp then asked the following question of which due notice had been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 15.4 – (a) and (b):-
"Does this Committee have any remit to examine the proposed closure of Walnuttree Hospital Sudbury in relation to its scrutiny role?"
The Chairman responded as follows:-
"Under Babergh's Constitution this Committee does have a remit, however, this Committee is not a statutory consultee as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2001."
16 YOUTH STRATEGY
The Head of Leisure and Community Services presented a report (Paper E52) summarising the actions achieved in 2004/05 with regard to young people and setting out an action plan for 2005/06. It was suggested that in future the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee should be the lead Committee for the Youth Strategy.
Stuart Everitt, Sports Development Officer, and Greg Cooper, Leisure Inclusion Officer, made presentations to the meeting on their work with young people. The Committee thanked them for their presentations and for their hard work in promoting sport and leisure throughout the District. During the course of their talks and in the discussion on Paper E52, the following were among the points noted:-
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Members were very pleased to note that Babergh's team had come second in the Youth Games held on 10 July 2005.
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A brochure entitled ‘South Suffolk Summer’ would shortly be sent out to young people to let them know what sports and leisure activities were planned for the summer. Copies of the brochure were available for Members.
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Ms Susie Tyrell, the new Arts and Community Development Officer, would be taking up her post on 8 August 2005 and would work closely with the Sports Development Officer and the Leisure Inclusion Officer.
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It was recognised that for some young people transport was a difficulty. The County Council had issued all young people with a card entitling them to discounts when using public transport, but had run into legal difficulties over the name of the card, so its future was currently under discussion.
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A Leisure Services database was currently being developed which it was hoped would provide a very effective monitoring, evaluation and reporting tool.
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A new youth website would soon be in existence and it was hoped that this would help to publicise what Babergh was delivering and achieving for young people. In addition, it was suggested that a brief presentation might be made to a meeting of the Council.
RECOMMENDED TO STRATEGY COMMITTEE
That the proposed Youth Strategy Action Plan as set out in Appendix B to Paper E52 be approved.
RESOLVED
(1) That the summary of actions achieved in 2004/05 as set out in Paper E52 be noted.
(2) That the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee be the lead Committee for the Youth Strategy in the future.
17 WORK PLAN
The Head of Legal and Administrative Services submitted a report (Paper E58) which provided details of the Committee's work for the remainder of 2005/06, including items which may be the subject of call-in procedures (Appendix 1) and a planning assessment sheet relating to a possible review of Babergh's approach on the corporate priority of health improvement (Appendix 2).
In the discussion on the Work Plan the following were among the points noted:-
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The Housing Panel would be including information about anti-social behaviour in its report to be considered by the Committee on 23 August.
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The annual report of the Development Committee would not be considered at the Committee's meeting on 23 August 2005 but on 4 October 2005.
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It was hoped that a report on the future use and occupation of East House could be brought forward to be considered on 4 October 2005.
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It was noted that on 12 December 2005 there would be a joint meeting of the two Overview and Scrutiny Committees to consider a report from the Service and Financial Planning Group.
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Officers were asked to clarify whether or not the report on the future of Hadleigh Swimming Pool to be considered by the Strategy Committee on 15 September 2005 would subsequently be considered by a meeting of the full Council.
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The Council at its meeting on 19 April 2005 had agreed that the Committee should be requested to consider including in its Work Plan a review of Babergh's corporate priority of health improvement. The Head of Environmental Services had prepared a planning assessment sheet (Appendix 2 to Paper D58) setting out what might be examined and what questions asked.
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Members believed that a report such as the one suggested in Appendix 2 would be useful in countering negative comments made by the CPA Inspector. However, they did not wish to see an excessive amount of officer time expended on the review.
RESOLVED
(1) That the Work Plan submitted as Paper E58 be noted.
(2) That the Committee take no further action other than to go through the consultation process as set out in Appendix 2 to Paper D58 on a review of Babergh’s corporate priority of health improvement.
18 2004/05 BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND FUTURE TARGETS
The Corporate Support Manager presented a report (Paper E59) setting out the final position for the 2004/05 Best Value Performance Indicators and targets for the period up to 2007/08.
He gave the Committee updated information on a few performance indicators. He also highlighted some areas of concern such as waste minimisation where the amount of household waste to be collected was due to increase significantly, and community safety where the percentage of domestic burglaries per 1,000 households had increased significantly. A further report would be presented to the Committee on 23 August, setting out details on the queries raised through the report and by the Committee.
Members were particularly concerned about Best Value Performance Indicator 109 relating to the timescale within which planning applications were determined. Performance in 2004/05 had deteriorated and this had contributed to a decrease in the planning delivery grant.
It was suggested that some of the delays in determining planning applications might be due to inappropriate planning policies, for example in the area of rural businesses. It was noted that the annual report of the Development Committee would be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee at its meeting to be held on 4 October 2005. It was suggested that this report should address the issues relating to support for rural businesses, recruitment and retention of planning officers, and the planning delivery grant.
RESOLVED
(1) That the report submitted as Paper E59 be noted.
(2) That it be noted that Members are extremely concerned about the Council's performance relating to Best Value Performance Indicator 109 (concerning the determination of planning applications) and that they wish to highlight in particular the situation with regard to loss of planning delivery grant.
NOTE: The Committee adjourned for refreshments between 11.10 and 11.20 a.m.
The business of the meeting was concluded at 1.p.m.
Chairman
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