Agenda item

Consideration of the District Executive agenda items will commence no earlier than 10.30am.

Members considered the reports within the District agenda for 1 March 2018 and made comments including:

District-wide Voluntary Sector Grants 2018/19 (Agenda item 6)

·         Members noted the revised/updated information in the appendices regarding Somerset Rural Youth Project and Somerset Film – and were content that all the recommendations go forward.

SSDC Review of Operational Office Accommodation – Progress Report on Area Presence (Agenda item 7)

·         Recommendation 1 – a timeframe was stated of 2 years but are there any timeframes for when preliminary proposals may come forward.

·         Page 25, para 8 – it was noted that the Members’ Leadership and Development Project Group had also discussed the possibility of touchdown or hub spaces based at medical centres and other some other venues but these were not mentioned in the report.

·         Page 25, para 8 – members were supportive of the ideas put forward for possible hubs and touchdown spaces, and felt it would be an opportunity to maximise engagement with communities.

·         Members asked what the current situation is regarding discussions with Somerset County Council and the One Public Estate scheme, as we should not be duplicating the OPE.

·         Members sought re-assurance that existing commercial commitments regarding any of our property would be addressed appropriately, and in a timely manner, with those involved.

Business Rates Relief – Local Discretionary Relief, Year 2 (Agenda item 8)

·         Scrutiny made no comments.

South Somerset District Council Car Park Charging Policy Paper (Agenda item 9)

·         Page 34, para 2 – Scrutiny noted the report referred to Scrutiny Committee requesting a Task And Finish Review and wished to make clear this had not been the case, the Chief Executive had suggested officers produce a report when Scrutiny Committee stated that they were not going to undertake the Car Park Charges review in the immediate future, due to priorities and resources.

·         Some members felt that increasing charges in Yeovil and the market towns would be at odds with regeneration plans for some of the towns.

·         Members felt people often parked where it was free, and charges in some towns were already displacing some parking onto nearby residential estates.

·         Some members felt if implementing inflationary increases it should be done at regular intervals but only if cost effective to do so regarding administration costs.

·         Scrutiny were strongly against the idea of introducing a flat rate charge for parking on Sundays, as there was little evidence to support the rationale and proposed charges. For example what other Councils charge for Sunday. It was felt the income potential from doing so was not enough to consider undertaking a consultation and trial.

·         Members were against applying a 10% increase to charges at the current time as many businesses and the retail sector were already struggling in the current economic climate.

·         Many members felt applying an increase at the current time was the wrong time, especially for Yeovil with the imminent launch of the Yeovil Refresh.

·         It was also noted that residents, commuters and businesses had endured years of highway road closures and various utility works in , and around, Yeovil which had caused prolonged disruption and already had a big impact upon business in the town.

·         It was felt the statutory consultation period of 28 days was too short for such a potentially contentious issue.

·         Page 37, para 17 – Scrutiny queried how accurate and realistic was the projected income figure?

·         Members felt there was a very high reputational risk to SSDC of implementing increases to car parking charges at the current time and that this may not be reflected adequately in the risk matrix.

·         Retail centres in the smaller market towns were reducing and being replaced with residential dwellings with inadequate parking, and hence some car parks were being used for long term parking by residents.

·         Members acknowledged that whilst they felt now was the wrong time to implement increases to parking charges, that it was also unlikely there would be a right time.

·         Scrutiny proposed an alternative set of recommendations:

                    i.          To apply an automatic 4 yearly inflationary increase, subject to it being cost effective to apply such an increase, – with the first increase being made effective from July 2019.

                   ii.          In the event that any surplus is generated, this be ring fenced for projects in accordance with CPE legislation and guidelines(this includes public transport, road improvements and environmental improvements; such as public land, free public access to water or  recreational facilities);

                  iii.          Recommend a full market charges, benchmarking, and car park operational review as part of the car park strategy update to ensure alignment in the area. This is to be carried out by officers in the financial year 2018/2019 for implementation in July 2019; subject to being approved at District Executive.

                 iv.          at the time of the statutory consultation, the proposed changes and the reasons for them be clearly communicated as part of the explanation for the consultation.

(NB – In summary, compared to the original recommendations in the District Executive report this is: Rec A – deleted, Rec B – no change, Rec C – changed, Rec D – falls away due to change of Rec C, Rec E – no change, Rec F – deleted, Rec G – falls away due to deletion of Rec F, plus – an additional rec regarding communication)

The ‘Making’ of the Wincanton Neighbourhood Plan (Agenda item 10)

·         Scrutiny raised no concerns.

Key4Life – At Risk Preventative programme in Somerset (Agenda item 11)

·         Scrutiny raised no concerns and endorsed the work undertaken.

District Executive Forward Plan (Agenda item 12)

·         Members noted that quarterly reporting of Performance needed to be added to the forward plan from July or August onwards.

CONFIDENTIAL – Exclusion of the Press and Public (Agenda item 14)

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).

SSDC Review of Operational Office Accommodation – Feasibility Study Comparison of South Somerset District Council’s Future Head Office Options (Confidential) (Agenda item 15)

·         Scrutiny Committee made several comments in confidential session.