Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 June 2022. The draft minutes can be viewed at: http://modgov.southsomerset.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=141&Year=0

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 June 2022 were approved as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Paul Maxwell, and an apology for late attendance was received from Councillor Robin Bastable.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no members of the 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.

The Chairman briefly reminded members that the Committee had been addressed by a member of the public at the meeting in May. He advised that he was following up on the comments as he felt there needed to be a response.

The Chairman noted there had been a meeting between himself, the Vice-Chairman of Audit Committee, and senior officers to discuss the work programmes of Audit and Scrutiny. From the discussion there had been an agreement to hold a joint workshop for members of the Audit and Scrutiny Committees, and the intention was to hold the workshop before the end of July.

The Chairman reminded members that the report regarding Millers Garage in Crewkerne had been withdrawn from the District Executive agenda at the start of the meeting on 9 June 2022.

Members considered the reports within the District Executive agenda for 7 July 2022 (Informal Consultative Meeting) and raised comments as detailed below. Responses to most questions and comments were provided at Scrutiny Committee (Informal Meeting) by the relevant officers – except those marked by an asterisk:

Leisure Operator Introduction and Presentation. (Agenda item 6)

·      There were no comments or questions raised on this item.

Discretionary Energy Rebate Scheme Policy (Agenda item 7)

·      *A member asked how will this scheme fit with the £3.2m that was allocated to County for the emergency household scheme? Will applying for one scheme impact on applying for another?

·      *Para 9 -A member was intrigued as to why SSDC is offering the top up of £27, we appear to be offering more than the other districts?

Review of 2022/23 Capital Programme (Agenda item 8)

·      A member asked what might happen if corporate contingency is no longer sufficient? At what point would there need to be discussions about the affordability of a project?

Item 9. 2021/22 Revenue Budget Outturn Report (Agenda item 9)

·      One member asked a question about the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) and capital finance charge raised relating to SSDC Opium Ltd and linked to information within the confidential appendix for item 12 – it was agreed that this question would be raised again in confidential session.

2021/22 Capital Budget Outturn Report (Agenda item 10)

·      *Page 51 - Deletti EV Charger project - why has the project not started yet. What have been the difficulties with the legal documents and why had they not been foreseen?

·      *Page 51 - One member asked if EV chargers currently being installed in Chard and Crewkerne are Deletti or something else?

·      Page 51 - Huish Pool - concern that SSDC no longer represented on the Board due to changes in operator. Need to be cautious to ensure community use continues - needs to be monitored.

·      Chard Regeneration - seem to be some elements which have not be reported to Area West Committee e.g updates regarding access to the A358 and extension to the car park. What is the likelihood of these projects actually being delivered?

·      Page 58 - Table in appendix A - details a lot of capital expenditure for our investment properties. Was this spending foreseen / planned?

·      Page 59 - Crematorium - Understand there is still only one cremator in operation. Is the project going to be delivered according to plan and on time? A member thought the new cremator might have been operational by now.

Wincanton Regeneration Budget – Change of Scope (Agenda item 11)

·      A member asked if these are the final cost figures to complete the project? How close are we to securing these costs to avoid further increases due to inflationary market pressures?

·      Para 6 mentions property grants – a member asked if it would be possible for members to have details of who or which properties have received grants and the amounts please?

·      Para 8 - seeking the necessary consents due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

The Chairman provided a brief verbal update on progress of Task and Finish groups including:

Flooding in South Somerset - the draft Section 19 flooding investigation report had been considered by Area West Committee at their meeting in June. Scrutiny Committee members were asked to attend the workshop after this committee meeting (Scrutiny Committee) to also review the Chard Section 19 report and provide feedback.

Productivity Analysis - Members noted this was still on hold.

Remote meetings – an urgent, single Task and Finish meeting had taken place to support senior officers with a report to Full Council about the future of remote meetings. The work was now complete and he thanked those who assisted with this.

During a brief discussion the Specialist (Scrutiny & Member Development) and the Chairman responded to comments made and also advised that:

·        The Specialist (Scrutiny & Member Development) would follow up further with officers regarding a query raised at the previous meeting about car parking charges in Chard.

·        A discussion had taken place between the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee,  Vice-Chairman of Audit Committee, Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance Officer to discuss the roles of the Scrutiny and Audit Committees. A workshop would be arranged for members of the Scrutiny and Audit Committees before the end of July.

·        Scrutiny Committee and Audit Committee had both received representation from a member of the public, and both Chairmen of those meetings were of the opinion a reply needed to be made.

A member noted that the anticipated reports for CIL and Section 106 funding did not have a confirmed date and this had been the case for a number of months. In response, the Chairman asked the Specialist (Scrutiny & Member Development) to follow up again with officers to ascertain a date when the reports may be available.

Some members believed a report regarding Section 106 funding was due to be circulated to Area Committees around September, and a request was made for Scrutiny Committee to receive the report prior to it being considered by the Area Committees. The Specialist (Scrutiny & Member Development) was requested to follow up with the appropriate officers to ask for the report to be made to Scrutiny Committee in September.

Members were content to note the Scrutiny Work Programme.

Members noted that the next meeting of Scrutiny Committee was scheduled for Tuesday 2 August at 10.30am. with meeting arrangements to be confirmed nearer the time.