Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the District Executive meeting held on 6^th September 2018.

The minutes of the District Executive meeting held on 6^th September 2018, copies of which had been circulated, were taken as read and, having been approved as a correct record, were signed by the Chairman.

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.

The Chairman advised that three members of the public wished to speak on Agenda Item 7 – Update on the Development Consent Order Application for the Dualling of the A303 Sparkford to Ilchester and that she would allow them to speak at the time of the item.

The Chairman made no announcements.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture introduced the report and highlighted the importance of hostel provision and support services to vulnerable individuals who might otherwise be homeless.  She referred to the key elements provided by the services and the need to ensure funding was provided for future years.

The Welfare and Careline Manager noted that in response to Scrutiny Committee’s clarification on the financial implications, further information on the funding and costs had been provided.  She was recommending that some of the recommended funding came from the Flexible Homeless Support Grant, received from the Government, is used for hostel provision and some for other preventions and initiatives.  The Welfare and Careline Manager explained that the Hostel relied on funding from Somerset County Council to undertake additional health and well-being work with clients and it was not known whether the grant would be forthcoming next year.

Mr Nick Watkins from Home Group referred to the importance of addressing the deeper needs of people accessing the service.  He explained about some of the support services provided to clients through the Home Achievement Programme, Peer Support Programme, Volunteering and Health and Well-being work.

In response to questions, the Welfare and Careline Manager and Senior Housing Options Officer advised:-

·         Last year Pathways provided an extra ten beds during the severe winter months, a number of people were given meals and everybody was taken off the streets;

·         The Positive Lives Operational Group had written to the Chair of the Positive Lives Strategic Board asking for an early indication as to whether one off grant funding from Somerset County Council would be repeated;

·         The Rough Sleeper Outreach Team covered the whole district which was run by Home Group through Pathways.  A member of the team, once alerted, would go out and provide support and assistance;

·         Street Link was a national organisation for reporting rough sleeping.  Contact details for the service and the process for reporting rough sleeping would be provided to the town and parish clerks and all SSDC Members.

The Scrutiny Committee Chairman confirmed that they supported the recommendations of the report.

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

The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Planning (Place Making) introduced the report.    

The Specialist for Strategic Planning explained the progress made since her last report in July 2018.  She updated that a wider project working group had been set up in partnership with Somerset County Council to identify the areas that fall within the remit of the District Council and those that fall within the remit of Somerset County Council.  The Working Group would look at the key issues that need to be resolved and agree as much as possible prior to the Examination Stage in order to be clear on the conditions and mitigations sought by the District Council as part of the Scheme.  She explained that the need to delegate authority for the Council’s Relevant Representation was due to time pressures and that a letter was being sent to the Planning Inspectorate expressing concerns as there was potential for the Examination to move forward to the end of November.

The District Executive was addressed by representatives from Sparkford Parish Council, Queen Camel Parish Council and West Camel Parish Council who spoke in objection to Highway England’s design of the Hazelgrove road junction.  Points raised related to:

• Increase in traffic through Sparkford High Street
• No traffic calming measures being proposed
• Advantages of a parallel road
• Queried how the suggested diversionary routes would be policed

• Potential for traffic to back up and divert through West Camel

The Specialist for Strategic Planning confirmed that the design of the junctions was part of the Development Consent Order application that had been submitted by Highway England and it would be those junctions included that the Inspectorate would be considering, it was not the District Council’s intention to submit alternative junctions to the Examination.  She noted that the relevant Parish Councils had registered with the Planning Inspectorate to become an Interested Party to make their own representations.  She confirmed that she would provide support in terms of mitigation measures.  She advised that the impact of the Development Consent Order was being looked at including the impact of the diversionary route on local communities and businesses.

The Scrutiny Committee Chairman noted that they had expressed concern that the process should not be delayed and that officers were stretched and that it had been acknowledged that additional support was needed.

During discussion, members requested that the relevant Ward Members be kept informed on the Relevant Representations prior to submission to the Planning Inspectorate.  Comment was also made on the existing flooding issues near to Podimore and that the proposed dualling should not exacerbate this.

At the conclusion of the debate, members were content to confirm that delegated authority for the Council’s Relevant Representations be given to the Lead Specialist, Strategic Planning with the relevant Portfolio Holders.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment, Economic Development & Transformation advised that the Transformation Programme was on track and that going live with the operating model would be phased in gradually and a communications campaign would be launched to promote the Customer and Business Portal.  

In response to a member question, the Chief Executive advised that a Member Working Group had been established to develop Area+ proposals and that the Area Committee system would remain as part of those proposals.  Locality Teams would be operational in January 2019 and would be responsible for taking forward area priorities and the delivery of projects.  It was acknowledged that it would take some time for the changes to be implemented. 

The Chairman of Scrutiny Committee said that they had asked about the position of the Streetscene service and it was confirmed that in order to deliver the business plans, there would be some restructuring required in the Streetscene service.

At the conclusion of the debate, members were content to note the progress report of the SSDC Transformation Programme. 

The following amendment to the Forward Plan was noted:

·      Economic Development Strategy – moved to December 2018

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of the District Executive would take place on Thursday, 1^st November 2018 in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil commencing at 9.30 a.m.