Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of substitute Members (if any).

Apologies were received from Cllr R M Deed, who was substituted by Cllr D K Knowles, Cllr Mrs R Berry and Cllr N A Way.

To receive any questions relating to items on the Agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.

Note:   A maximum of 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

There were no members of the public present.

An opportunity for non-Cabinet Members to raise issues.

There were no issues raised under this item.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the last meeting of this Committee (attached).

The Committee is reminded that only those members of the Committee present at the previous meeting should vote and, in doing so, should be influenced only by seeking to ensure that the minutes are an accurate record.

The minutes of the last meeting were approved as a correct record and SIGNED by the Chairman.

To consider any decisions made by the Cabinet at its last meeting that have been called-in.

The Committee NOTED that none of the decisions made by the Cabinet at its last meeting had been called in.

Discussion took place regarding Car Parking Charges which had been called in at the previous meeting by Cllr Mrs J Roach.  The Councillor informed the Committee that she understood that the matter could not be called-in again but that she still did not consider that the economic effect of the increased charges on the local economy had been taken into consideration.  She suggested that the Town Centre Manager and Economic Development Officer should have been asked to investigate this further.

The Head of Finance explained that detailed work had been undertaken as part of the process, that the proposed charging was consistent across the main towns and that prices were competitive with other areas. He informed the Committee that they would be able to monitor the effects of the revised charges by reviewing financial updates that Members would receive, but that prices were not the only impact on vends and that, for example, weather, fuel costs and road works could all affect income.

It was RESOLVED that the Committee receive a six monthly update regarding Car Parking Charges and that the report include input from the Town Centre Manager and Economic Development Manager regarding the impact on the towns, as well as financial information.

(Proposed by the Chairman)

To receive any announcements that the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee may wish to make.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that a Special Meeting had been put in place for 11 March 2016 at which Mr Mel Stride MP and Mr John Finn of the Clinical Commissioning Group would be in attendance.  The Chairman requested that questions be submitted to the clerk in advance of the meeting.

To receive a report from the Head of Finance requesting Members to consider options available in order for the Council to move towards a balanced budget for 2016/17.

The Committee had before it a report * from the Head of Finance for it to consider options available in order for the Council to set a balanced budget for 2016/17 and agree a future strategy for further budget reductions for 2017/18 onwards.

The Officer explained that in December 2015 the Council received formal confirmation of its Formula Grant Settlement. The provisional formula grant award for 2016/17 amounted to £3.04m. This was unlikely to change significantly and was approximately £130k lower than what had first been estimated. This had increased the draft 2016/17 General Fund budget deficit but other savings proposals had helped to reduce it to circa £405k.

The Head of Finance explained that the formula grant announcement gave provisional figures for the three years up to 2019/20: As predicted the Revenue Support Grant, which currently stood at £1.7m, would completely disappear by 2019/20. The current and provisional future formula grant amounts were:

                                                    15/16      16/17      17/18     18/19      19/20

                                                     £m         £m          £m        £m          £m

Revenue Support Grant          1.7       1.02           0.5       0.18        0.00

Business Rates                       2.0        2.02          2.06     2.13        2.19

Total Formula Grant                3.7        3.04          2.56     2.31        2.19

Using the provisional Business Rate Retention and Revenue Support Grant figures in the Medium Term Financial Plan showed that by 2019/20 the authority would need to find approximately £1.1m of savings, close to the amount previously forecast. At this point there were no details on the proposed changes allowing Councils’ to retain more of the business rate income.

Since the budget had first been discussed at the Policy Development Groups and at Cabinet meetings the Finance team and service managers had revisited budgets to strive to deliver more savings or increase income levels.

This process had improved the General Fund budget by circa £422k and now left a budget gap of £405k.

The Officer informed the Group that to date this authority had used the New Homes Bonus Grant to fund economic development projects, help fund the capital programme and to fund certain “one off” revenue projects. It was a possibility that some of these funds could be used to off-set the budget gap but that it should be noted that there was uncertainty regarding the future of the New Homes Bonus and that it could not be guaranteed for future years.

Discussion took place regarding:

·         Reserves and how much it was appropriate to hold. The Head of Finance informed the Committee that he considered 25% of net expenditure to be an appropriate level.

·         Priorities within the draft Corporate Plan;

·         Town and Parish Councils being able to add to their precept and therefore their ability to make contributions to services;

·         Public consultation and the priorities that the Citizens Panel had highlighted as important to them;

·         Income generation from solar investments and Market Walk;

·         Devolution and how the cost of this would be met;

·         A Council Tax increase of 1.99% was included in the proposed budget;

·         Policy Development Groups and whether there was a need for a further Group to cover the economy.

·         T  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116.

As Councillor Mrs N Woollatt and Councillor B A Moore will no longer be Members of Scrutiny, the Committee to agree replacements for membership of the joint East and Mid Devon Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel 2015-16. Current membership comprises Cllr T G Hughes and F J Rosamond.  Councillor B A Moore was the substitute Member.

As Councillor Mrs N Woollatt and Councillor B A Moore were no longer Members of Scrutiny Committee there was a need to agree replacements for membership of the joint East and Mid Devon Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel 2015-16. It was AGREED that Mrs J Roach would join Cllr T G Hughes and F J Rosamond with Councillor T W Snow as the substitute Member.

At the request of Councillor Mrs N Woollatt, regarding an incident of contamination of a Mid Devon river, the Committee to receive a report from the Environment Agency.  An article referring to the incident is also attached.

At the request of Cllr N Woollatt the Committee had before it a report * from the Environment Agency regarding an incident of contamination of a Mid Devon river.  A newspaper article referring to the incident was also attached to the report.

Discussion took place regarding the contents of the report.  The author of the newspaper article had made reference to the Environment Agency claiming that there had been ‘no evidence of fish kill’. 

It was RESOLVED that a letter be sent to the Environment Agency asking how they concluded that there had been no fish kill.

Note: - Report * previously circulated and attached to Minutes.

Members are asked to note that the following items are already identified in the work programme for future meetings:

Closure of Hospital Wards

Rural Broadband

Digitalisation for Members

St Andrews Street Project

Planning Enforcement Performance

Cabinet Member for Working Environment and Support Services

Mel Stride MP

Policy for the removal of Gypsies and Travellers from Land

Safeguarding

Note: - this item is limited to 10 minutes. There should be no discussion on items raised.

Website

Safeguarding

Planning Policy and Procedures Review