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BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL STRATEGY COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE STRATEGY COMMITTEE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON THURSDAY 8 APRIL 2010
PRESENT: Mr N A Ridley – Chairman
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Mr N A Bennett
Mr M P Booth
Mr A J Hinton
Ms J A Jenkins
Mr R E Kemp |
Dr M R Miller
Mr C M Spence
Mr A J Ward
Mrs S M Wigglesworth |
Mrs S Carpendale was unable to be present.
Mr D M Busby – Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee attended the meeting in order to present the Committee’s recommendations referred to in Minute No. 115 below.
Mr C W Arthey attended the meeting and spoke with the Chairman’s consent on the matter referred to in Minute No. 119 below (Suffolk Waste Partnership - Inter Authority Agreement - IAA).
109 - Substitutes
110 - Declaration of Interests
111 - Minutes
112 - Petitions
113 - Questions from Members
114 - Issues Arising from Overview and Scrutiny Committees
115 - Recommendations and Reports from Committees
116 - Recommendations and Reports from Task Groups/Panels
117 - Work Plan for 2010/11
118 - Babergh Development Framework: Draft Core Strategy (Preferred Options and Issues Consultation)
119 - Suffolk Waste Partnership - Inter Authority Agreement (IAA)
120 - Performance Management - Target Setting for 2010/11
121 - 2010/11 Capital Programme
122 - Exclusion of the Public (Which Term Includes the Press)
123 - Shared Revenues and Benefits Service (Exempt Information by Virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1)
124 - Recommendations and Report from the Procurement Task Group
It was noted that in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 5, a substitute was in attendance as follows:-
Mr A J Ward (substituting for Mrs S Carpendale)
Mr R E Kemp subsequently declared a personal interest in Minute No. 118
(Babergh Development Framework – Draft Core Strategy) by virtue of his Membership of Long Melford Parish Council.
Mr C M Spence subsequently declared a personal interest in Minute No. 119 (Suffolk Waste Partnership – IAA) by virtue of being a Member of Suffolk County Council.
RESOLVED
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 February 2010 be confirmed and signed as a correct record, subject to the addition of the words ‘personal and’ before ‘prejudicial’ in Nigel Bennett’s declaration of interest.
None received.
None received.
None received.
Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee 23 March 2010 – Treasury Management Strategy 2010/11.
The Chairman of the Committee, Mr D M Busby, presented its recommendations as set out in paragraphs 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of Paper J232.
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL
(1) That the 2009 CIPFA Treasury Management in the Public Services: Code of Practice be adopted.
(2) That the Council’s Constitution be updated to reflect the changes to financial regulations as set out in Appendix 3 to Paper J232 including the nomination of the Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee to be responsible for the effective scrutiny of the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy and Policies.
(3) That the proposed Treasury Management Strategy for 2010/11, including the Policy Statement and the annual investment strategy as set out in Appendix 2 to Paper J232 be approved.
(a) Report of the Babergh DC and Mid Suffolk DC Joint Member Integration and Merger Review Board
Members had before them Paper J223, circulated with the agenda, together with Paper J223A – Unison’s views – which was circulated to all Members prior to the commencement of the meeting. Mr N A Ridley, Chairman of the Review Board introduced Paper J223.
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL
(1) That value for money for Council Tax payers be confirmed as the paramount objective, and that both Councils seek to achieve through any programme of integration a jointly agreed balance between financial savings and future resilience in all aspects of service delivery.
(2) That the business case to support joint decision-making arising from this review be developed as soon as possible.
(3) That, in parallel with the development of the business case, a clear project plan for the achievement of full managerial and operational merger by April 2011 and for exploring the option of constitutional merger be jointly developed.
(4) That both Councils agree to commit the necessary human resources to support this review; to provide any necessary financial support within the budgetary constraints of each Council, and to explore all possible sources of external funding support for this review, including an application for Improvement East funding as soon as possible.
(5) That a joint strategy and protocol for internal communication with Members and staff be developed immediately.
(6) That a joint approach to media handling be adopted, and that any draft joint statements be agreed with the Chairman of Babergh’s Strategy Committee and Mid Suffolk’s Council Leader and shared with the Joint Board before publication.
(7) That, provided the business case supports operational and managerial integration by April 2011, the provisional aim should be to have a single Chief Executive in place by the beginning of March 2011 through an internal and external recruitment process commencing around October 2010.
(8) That a Human Resources (HR) work stream for this review be established as soon as possible.
(9) That, to support future joint decision-making, the two Councils work closely together during 2010 to achieve as much constitutional similarity as possible from the constitutional review that each is undertaking.
(10) That the concept of a constitutional merger to create a new single Council be supported in principle and that this option be fully explored with a view to achieving the earliest practicable implementation if this ultimately agreed as the best way forward.
(11) That the need for both internal and external consultation be identified and acted upon as part of planning the various work streams for this review and, in particular, that careful consideration be given to the planning and management of any public consultation arising from recommendations (8) and 9) above to avoid public confusion and to secure as broad an understanding as possible of what the two Councils are seeking to achieve through any proposed changes.
(b) Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs in Babergh
Mrs S M Wigglesworth presented Paper J224, the report of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Working Group.
RESOLVED
(1) That the establishment of a set of criteria for identifying suitable and sustainable sites for Gypsy and Traveller pitches, as set out in Task 1 (Paragraphs 5.5 - 5.9 of Paper J224) be approved.
(2) That the establishment of a procedure for delivering Gypsy and Traveller pitches, on sites that meet the site identification procedure in Task 1 and as detailed in Tasks 2 and 3 (Paragraphs 5.10 - 5.18 and 5.19 - 5.23 of Paper J224), be approved.
(3) That the delivery plan and timetable for pitch delivery detailed at Task 4 (Paragraph 5.24), be approved.
(4) That the Communications Strategy detailed at Task 5 (Paragraphs 5.25 - 5.31 of Paper J224) be approved.
(c) Transfer of Land to Thorpe Morieux Parish Council for Amenity Use
Mrs S M Wigglesworth, Chairman of the Housing Panel presented the Panel’s report, Paper J225.
RESOLVED
That the Babergh owned land at Bury Road Thorpe Morieux as shown on the plan attached to Paper J225 be transferred at 100% discount to Thorpe Morieux Parish Council for use as amenity land for the benefit of the parish in perpetuity, subject to Ministerial consent being obtained to the disposal.
The Director of Corporate Services submitted a report (Paper J226) on items identified for the Strategy Committee and referred to the following additional items identified for the June meeting:-
Shared Revenues and Benefits Service – recommendations from the Procurement Task Group (subject to Council decision on Paper J222 below).
Conservation Area Appraisals for Kersey and Chelsworth.
RESOLVED
That the Work Plan set out in Paper J226 and the additions referred to above be noted.
The Head of Natural and Built Environment submitted a report (Paper J227) asking Members to recommend Council to approve for consultation the Draft Core Strategy Document appended to the report.
Members were aware of the process for the gradual and incremental replacement of the Babergh Local Plan by the Development Framework. They noted that the adopted Core Strategy will provide a high level strategic overview, setting the context and parameters for all subsequent planning documents for future sustainable development in Babergh. Prior to seeking a proposer and seconder for the recommendations in paragraph 2 of Paper J227, the Chairman opened the debate. A number of issues and concerns were identified by Members during the ensuing discussion.
Whilst recognising that the Draft Core Strategy would be the subject of extensive consultation, it was concluded overall that some elements needed rewording to ensure that key issues were fully explained and that the questions for the public consultation to address were comprehensive. It was therefore agreed to defer consideration until the next meeting of the Committee, to allow the draft document to be revised in the light of the comments made by Members.
RESOLVED
(1) That consideration of the recommendations set out in paragraph 2 of Paper J227 be deferred.
(2) That the draft Core Strategy document appended to Paper J227 be amended in the light of the comments made at the meeting about various matters including the following (in summary form):-
· Various infrastructure related matters (particularly roads)
· Sustainability
· Phasing of future development (and infrastructure)
· The Key Diagram Map (concerning showing locations of some villages not yet included and the differential nature of the road hierarchy serving Babergh)
- all particularly insofar as these relate to the Sudbury / Great Cornard areas and future growth there.
· Information on commuting patterns
· Information on adequacy of telecommunications / broadband infrastructure (and impact on businesses / the economy)
(3) That the draft Core Strategy, revised as in Resolution (2) above, be the subject of a further report to the next meeting of the Strategy Committee, with a view to the Council at its meeting on 1 June being asked to approve the document for consultation.
Mr C W Arthey, the Council’s representative on the Joint Waste Member Group introduced this item. The Head of Natural and Built Environment then presented Paper J228 seeking approval to acceptance of the principles of the agreement for signature.
RESOLVED
(1) That the Committee approve the principles contained in the Inter Authority Agreement for the future delivery of waste services across Suffolk.
(2) That the Solicitor to the Council, in consultation with the Head of Natural and Built Environment, be authorised to enter into the Agreement between the members of the Suffolk Waste Partnership.
The Director of Corporate Services presented Paper J230 seeking approval for the 2010/11 performance indicator targets.
RESOLVED
That the 2010/11 performance indicator targets in Appendix A to Paper J230 be approved.
The Head of Contract and Asset Management presented Paper J231 seeking approval to implement schemes in the Council’s Housing Revenue Account.
RESOLVED
(1) That expenditure from the Council’s Housing Revenue Account be approved to carry out the proposed schemes outlined in the table in paragraph 5.1 of Paper J231.
(2) That the £7000 threshold for delegated approval be reviewed for HRA items only.
At this point the meeting adjourned for refreshments at 1.20 p.m. and resumed at
1.50 p.m. when the following Members were present:-
Mr N A Ridley – Chairman
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Mr N A Bennett
Mr M P Booth
Mr A J Hinton
Ms J A Jenkins
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Dr M R Miller
Mr C M Spence
Mr A J Ward
Mrs S M Wigglesworth |
RESOLVED
That pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the public were present during this item it was likely that there would be the disclosure to them of exempt information as indicated against the item. The Committee was satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.
Paper J222A (the Business Case for the Shared Revenues and Benefits Service was introduced by Dr M R Miller, a Member of the Procurement Task Group and considered by Members prior to their consideration of the recommendations set out in Paper J222.
At this point the public and press were re-admitted to the meeting.
Shared Revenues and Benefits Service
Dr M R Miller introduced Paper J222.
Members in considering the recommendations set out in paragraph 2 of the report took into account the information supplied in the detailed Business Case (Paper J222A).
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL
(1) That the Council continues its collaboration with Ipswich Borough Council, St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Mid Suffolk District Council to form a shared Revenues and Benefits service.
(2) That Option 1 as set out in the Executive Summary of the Business Case be developed into an implementation plan. Further, that it be recognised that there is enough merit in Option 1a for this to be considered further if Anglia Revenue Partnership (ARP) and the other partner Councils support the development of that option.
(3) That, in the event that one or more of the partner Councils does not support the preferences set out in the recommendation above, then authority be given to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Chairman of Strategy Committee, Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer, to develop an appropriate implementation plan for a shared Revenues and Benefits service with one or more of the other partner Councils.
(4) That Councillors Michael Miller and John Hinton, in conjunction with the Chief Executive, represent the Council on the Members and Chief Executives workstream and at any meetings associated with the development of the implementation plan.
(5) That the development of the implementation plan be overseen by the Procurement Task Group.
(6) That staff be deployed as appropriate to enable the development of an implementation plan in collaboration with staff from partner authorities.
(7) That on completion of the implementation plan the Procurement Task Group be requested to produce a further report to Strategy Committee on 17 June 2010 setting out its recommendations for a final decision on the proposed partnership.
The meeting adjourned between10.40 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. for refreshments.
The business of the meeting was concluded at 2.55 p.m.
............................................................... Chairman
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