Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 August 2015.

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 August 2015 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Martin Wale. Councillor Amanda Broom was in attendance at the meeting as substitute for Councillor Martin Wale.

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (adopted July 2012), 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. A DPI is defined in The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012 No. 1464) and Appendix 3 of the Council’s Code of Conduct.  A personal interest is defined in paragraph 2.8 of the Code and a prejudicial interest is defined in paragraph 2.9. In the interests of complete transparency, Members of the County Council, who are not also members of this committee, are encouraged to declare any interests they may have in any matters being discussed even though they may not be under any obligation to do so under any relevant code of conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were questions from members of public present at the meeting.

This is an opportunity for Members to question the progress on issues arising from previous meetings.  However, this does not allow for the re-opening of a debate on any item not forming part of this agenda.

There were no issues raised.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

Members noted the update given by the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee.

Members considered the reports outlined in the District Executive Agenda for
3 September 2015. It was agreed that the following comments would be taken forward to District Executive for consideration:

Future of Westland Leisure Complex (Agenda item 6)

In order to discuss this item fully, it was proposed and agreed that the Committee would move into confidential session, as some of the financial information contained in the appendices is confidential.

CONFIDENTIAL – Exclusion of the Press and Public

In accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the Committee resolved that the press and public be excluded from this item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, i.e. “Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

·         Members made comments in closed session.

Update on the SSDC 5 Year Housing Land Supply (Agenda item 7)

·         Members noted the significant implications in terms of Local Plan policy documents represented by the shortfall in the 5 Year land supply and the subsequent shift in perspective required. Scrutiny members agreed that all necessary support and resources should be provided to the Spatial Planning Team so that every effort can be made to improve the situation.

·         Scrutiny members noted the importance of planning decisions needing to be made in accordance with the adopted Local Plan and potential impact this could have.

·         Not being able to demonstrate a 5 Year Land Supply means that policies carry less weight than previously.

·         More work needs to be done to proactively engage with the Development Sector and landowners to ensure more deliverable applications are brought forward.

·         A member stated that if a lower target had been adopted then we would not be in this position. The Portfolio Holder responded that the figure had been carefully and rigorously arrived at and had been approved by the Local Plan Inspector.

·         The housing requirement figure is the number of homes needed that are capable of occupation within 5 Years not the numbers of homes that have been given permission to be built.

·         The 2014/15 housing figures are encouraging.

·         The 20% buffer is best practice and Officers are looking into this.

Quarterly Performance and Complaints Monitoring report – 1^st Quarter 2015/16 (Agenda item 8)

Members noted that the only performance exception related to the PI031 - % calls to Contact Centre resolved in the Contact Centre. This was showing as an exception due to the technical issues discussed by Scrutiny last month, is not currently possible to capture this data.

The Scrutiny Managers updated the Committee on the current Task and Finish Groups:

Council Tax Reduction policy and monitoring Task and Finish Group – The group had met since the last Scrutiny Committee to:

·         Review the interim consultation results.

·         Agree what performance/monitoring information they require in terms of collection, arrears and costs monitoring for the current scheme.

·         To identify what information and data is required to monitor the impact on different households to ensure no specific type is adversely affected.

Licensing Fees Task and Finish Group – the group has three more meetings planned and is on target to report back to the November Scrutiny Committee meeting.

There were no updates regarding matters of interest.

Members noted the Scrutiny Work Programme including the addition of the Equalities Action Plan 2012-16 for 1 March 2016.

ACTION:  That an item regarding the Equalities Action Plan 2012-16 be added to the Work Programme for 1 March 2016.

Members noted the next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee would be held on Tuesday 29 September 2015 in the Main Committee Room, Brympton Way, Yeovil.