Agenda item

Members considered the reports within the District Executive agenda for 2 November 2017 and made the following comments:

Presentation by SPARK Somerset (Voluntary and Community Action) (Agenda item 6)

·         Members sought re-assurance that SPARK were meeting targets and performing as expected, as they were financially supported by SSDC.

2017/18 Revenue Budget Monitoring Report for the Period Ending 30^th September 2017 (Agenda item 7)

·         Members noted both budget reports seemed to be lacking context in places with addresses of some projects being omitted. E.g. Page 7, para 7 – the comment doesn’t refer to the notes being related to the Westlands project, Page 30, para 10 table – Millers site doesn’t detail that this is in Crewkerne etc.

·         Page 9, para 18 – members queried how relevant was the drop in collection rates, and was the reason for the drop known? Scrutiny also asked if we benchmark our collection rates with other authorities?

·         Page 12 – New Homes Bonus – it was noted that changes were likely in the future and queried if officers knew the likely effect should those changes happen, or if  they might have a major or minor impact. Some members queried if it was possible to scope for any likely scenarios.

·         Page 14 – bottom line of table. Scrutiny queried if the canteen facility is subsidised?

2017/18 Capital Budget Monitoring Report for the Quarter Ending 30^th September 2017 (Agenda item 8)

·         Page 30, para 9 - members queried whether the word ‘income’ should say expenditure instead, as otherwise the sentence did not seem to make sense?

·         Appx B on page 43 – members commented it would be useful if the Leadership Board Proposals were SMART and had an indication of timeframes detailed.

·         Middle of lower table on page 41 – Scrutiny sought clarification about when the funding allocation for ‘Investment in Market Housing’ had been agreed it would useful if all future monitoring reports could have an additional column with the decision date and link to the report so you could refer back to the report and minutes

The Installation of a 14.8 kW Photovoltaic Array at Yeovil Innovation Centre (Agenda item 9)

·         A member asked some technical questions about the project (issues around insurance, potential vandalism, and types of meters etc) , and Scrutiny were satisfied that the comments had been adequately addressed by the Portfolio Holder at the Scrutiny meeting.

·         Members sought reassurance that there would be no business rates liability regarding the installation of the photovoltaic panels.

·         Some members were concerned about the timeframes involved for the project, and if there were to be any slippage with the project installation if there would be a risk of failing to meet the deadlines to receive the specified feed-in tariff?

·         Scrutiny queried the risk matrix, and noted the increased risks of proceeding with the project seemed unusual.

Increase in Councillors and Change of Name of Barwick Parish Council – Community Governance Review (CGR) (Agenda item 10)

·         Members acknowledged the parish council wished to change its name and why. However members did note that the number of councillors requested seemed high for a parish of its size, and the reason for the increase in councillors seemed to not be based on population and representation.

District Executive Forward Plan (Agenda item 11)

·         Scrutiny made no comments.

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 the following items 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).

Notification of an Urgent Executive Decision: Disposal of 11-12 South Western Terrace, Yeovil (Confidential) (Agenda item 14)

·         Scrutiny made several comments in confidential session with regard to the processes relating to the disposal.