Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Cathy Bakewell, Marcus Barrett, Mike Beech, Amanda Broom, Hayward Burt, Adam Dance, Gye Dibben, Carol Goodall, Anna Groskop, Peter Gubbins, Kaysar Hussein, Sarah Lindsay, Tony Lock, Paul Maxwell, Sam McAllister, David Norris, Tiffany Osborne, Stephen Page, Ric Pallister, Clare Paul, David Recardo, Garry Shortland, Linda Vijeh, Martin Wale, and Colin Winder.

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday, 15^th November 2018.

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 15^th November 2018, copies of which had been previously circulated, were approved as correct records of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

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.

A resident of Langport asked what was delaying the sale of Amphora House in Langport?  She said the developer who was purchasing the house had agreed to rent it to local businesses, but, because the sale was delayed, they could not use building.

She understood the issue was Land Registry and boundaries and asked if this was the case, when what was being done to resolve them.

Councillor Henry Hobhouse, Portfolio Holder for Property and Climate Change and Income Generation, responded that it was very unfortunate that there had been a number of issues arising with the completion of this property sale involving third party organisations. Utilities and Land Registry records appeared to have held either incomplete or inaccurate information, which had taken time to resolve before the sale could complete.  Both the purchaser and SSDC were very keen for the matter to conclude, so that the property could be put back into use as soon as possible for the benefit of the local economy. The issues had been regularly progressed and followed up, however SSDC had no control over third party response times. It was understood there was only an access rights matter that now remained outstanding and were therefore hopeful of completion early in the New Year if not before.

A resident of North Perrott asked what South Somerset District Council were planning to do in response to the recent UN statement that "we have 12 years to limit the rising global temperature to 1.5 degrees, or face runaway climate change".  He noted that a number of councils had declared a Climate Change Emergency including Bristol and London City Councils and asked SSDC to urgently review the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Councillor Henry Hobhouse, Portfolio Holder for Property and Climate Change and Income Generation, responded that since 2011, SSDC had invested in low-carbon technology including Thin Client servers which used 30% less energy, and Photovoltaic panels on SSDC buildings.  He noted that the shortage of Transmission Lines in the Yeovil area was holding up the switch to electric vehicles and SSDC had invested in a battery storage scheme to store excess energy for when it was needed.  He said the electric charging points in SSDC car parks would be supplied with PV panels and battery storage and the Council would be announcing further plans in February 2019.

There were no announcements from the Chairman.

The list of Chairman’s engagements were noted.

The Portfolio Holder for Property, Climate Change and Income Generation introduced James Divall, Income Opportunity Development Manager within the Commercial Services and Income Generation team to present the work of the team.

The Income Opportunity Development Manager provided a short power point presentation, advising that his team were working on

•       Supporting new business cases & feasibility studies

•       Reviewing & adjust (if needed) SSDC Pricing policy, fees & offerings

•       Developing plans (where possible) for ‘full cost recovery’ or profitability on all traded statutory  services with quantification of financial impact

•       A framework & campaign for progressing new propositions from staff and residents for income generation ideas (#WeShape)

•       Reviewing opportunities to bid for external funding including using Grant Finder

•       Investigating and establishing opportunities for staff commercial awareness training across the organisation

•       Establishing a frame work for a SSDC trading vehicle for new revenue streams.

He concluded that his target was to increase income by £250,000 and review the 5% annual yield improvements across SSDC services.

In response to questions from Members, the Income Opportunity Development Manager advised:-

·         The target was to increase income by £250,000 by 2021

·         He would be working with service managers to ensure their services were fully costed for the actual cost

·         A productivity expert would help to review the fees and charges and produce a toolkit for managers for the future.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Chairman thanked the Income Opportunity Development Manager for attending and updating Members on the work of the service.

(Voting: 32 in favour, 1 against, 2 abstentions)

The Leader of Council advised that the Heart of the South West (HotSW) – Joint Committee had been established to improve productivity in the area and to influence Government.  They had agreed a challenging ambition to double the size of the economy in the South West over 20 years with a vision of productivity and prosperity for all.  There were three cross cutting themes on inclusive growth, capitalising on distinctive assets and to maximise the potential from digital technology. The Local Industrial Strategy was key to this as it encouraged joint working with combined authorities and it had been expanded to include the nuclear and aerospace industries.

During discussion, the following points were made:-

·         Priorities would be set by this partnership and SSDC was one of 14 councils who must work to get the maximum from it for the area.

·         The Growth Board must work as a team to come up with projects it wishes to progress with money from the Local Enterprise Partnership.

·         Concerned that the Great South West Partnership would become another quango and projects could fall between authorities.

·         Concern this was creating another layer of Government.

·         Pleased to see that aerospace was now included as a priority under the Local Industrial Strategy and Smart specialisations.

At the conclusion of the debate, the Leader of Council said that the cost of £1,400 to SSDC for administration of the Joint Committee was a small price for inclusion in the partnership.

(Voting: 32 in favour, 1 against, 2 abstentions)

The report of executive decisions was noted.

There were no Motions submitted by Members.

There were no Motions submitted by Members.

There were no questions submitted under Procedure Rule 10.

There were no questions submitted under Procedure Rule 10.

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of the Full Council would take place on Thursday, 17^th January 2019 in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil commencing at 7.30 p.m.