Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the District Executive meeting held on 4^th October 2018.

Councillor Nick Weeks raised two points regarding minute 61: Update on the Development Consent Order Application for the Dualling of the A303 Sparkford to Ilchester.  It was agreed to defer the signing of the minutes to clarify the points raised.

There were no apologies for absence.

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (as amended 26 February 2015), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the Agenda for this meeting.

Members are reminded that they need to declare the fact that they are also a member of a County, Town or Parish Council as a Personal Interest. Where you are also a member of Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council within South Somerset you must declare a prejudicial interest in any business on the agenda where there is a financial benefit or gain or advantage to Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council which would be at the cost or to the financial disadvantage of South Somerset District Council. 

There were no declarations of interest made by members of the Committee.

There were no members of the public present at the meeting.

There were no announcements from the Chairman.

The Director - Strategy and Support Services introduced the report and noted that the format had changed in response to feedback from staff and Councillors.  The report included an update on the Council Plan priority projects which would be reported bi-annually in the future.  In response to the question raised at Scrutiny Committee relating to target setting, she confirmed they were now being standardised and compared to other Local Councils and would be ready in April 2019.

During discussion, it was noted that:-

·         The Direction of Travel overview was not helpful as the amber rating suggested further work was required.

·         The Council was failing to promote alternative Broadband options for rural businesses.

·         The progression and support for key site developments should be included in the priority projects.

In response to a point raised at the Scrutiny Committee, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Economic Development said there were issues with the reliability of refuse collection vehicles as the contract to purchase new vehicles had been delayed.  She noted there may be further issues if there was a cold winter but the contractors were bringing in vehicles from other areas.  She also agreed to investigate the progress of key site developments with the Economic Development team.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to note the Corporate Performance Report 2018-19: 2^nd Quarter.

This agenda item was deferred to a future meeting of the District Executive.

It was noted that this item had been deferred to a future meeting of the Executive.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services introduced the report and advised that a small budget underspend was predicted for year end.  He noted that the Council Tax relief scheme spending was high due to the introduction of Universal Credit and the Business Rate collection had increased.  A report on Council Tax on empty homes would be presented shortly.

In response to questions from the Scrutiny Committee, the Portfolio Holder confirmed that car parking and excess charge income was less than the expected budget and the budgets would be adjusted accordingly. 

The Portfolio Holder for the Building Control service said the market was very competitive and the service required new IT and some staff training in order to compete with private companies.  

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to note the recommendations of the report.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services introduced the report and asked that the recommendations be agreed.

In response to questions raised at the Scrutiny Committee, it was noted that:-

·         A report on the gas control system at Birchfield Park, Yeovil would be circulated to all Members shortly.

·         The contingency funding for the Capital Programme and reserve schemes (Table 4) was detailed in the appendix to the report and this would be cross referenced in future reports.

·         The Lyde Road Pedestrian and Cycleway scheme was led by Somerset County Council but there would still be an SSDC officer responsible for progressing the project and the Ward Members would be advised who the officer was.

Councillor Nick Weeks thanked officers for communicating to local communities the Section 106 funding available to them.

The Portfolio Holder also noted several small consequences of the Chancellor’s Budget announcements on Local Authorities earlier that week.  At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to confirm the recommendations of the report.

The Chairman introduced the item and explained the urgent decision had been taken to vary the lease with Somerset County Council to protect both parties.  There was no debate and the urgent decision taken was noted. 

During a short debate, it was agreed the a report on the impact of the Local Government Finance Settlement which was due to be announced on 6^th December would be presented to District Executive in January 2019.

The Chief Executive also agreed to address any effects the Transformation Project was making on local communities in the next Transformation Report to the Executive in January 2019.

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of the District Executive would take place on Thursday, 6^th December 2018 in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil commencing at 9.30 a.m.