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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Phoenix Chamber, Phoenix House, Tiverton

Contact: Julia Stuckey  Member Services Officer

Link: audio recording

Items
No. Item

31.

APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS

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

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Cllr Mrs H Bainbridge who was replaced by Cllr Mrs J D Binks for this meeting only, Cllr Mrs C P Daw who was substituted by Cllr Miss C E L Slade, Cllr Mrs S Griggs, Cllr J L Smith who was substituted by Cllr R Dolley and Cllr N A Way.

32.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

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.

Minutes:

There were no members of the public present.

33.

MEMBER FORUM

An opportunity for non-Cabinet Members to raise issues.

Minutes:

There were no issues raised under this item.

34.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 148 KB

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.

 

Minutes:

Subject to the addition of wording at Minute 29 to include ‘discussion took place regarding the evidence base; Members sought clarification regarding data protection and the sharing of information and that an update be received from the Head of Communities and Governance following the October meeting to clarify that action was being taken, the minutes of the last meeting were approved as a correct record and SIGNED by the Chairman.

35.

DECISIONS OF THE CABINET

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

Minutes:

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

36.

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Minutes:

The Chairman informed the Committee that the Vice Chairman had fallen and suffered an injury, the Committee sent their best regards.

37.

MEETING MANAGEMENT

Minutes:

The Chairman informed the Committee that he intended to rearrange the order of agenda items so that items 8, 10, 11, 13 and 14 were taken prior to items 7, 9 and 12.

38.

WHISTLEBLOWING UPDATE

The Head of Communities and Governance informs the Committee that there has been one case reported since the last update and that this is currently being investigated.

 

Minutes:

The Head of Communities and Governance informed the Committee that there had been one case reported since the last update and that this was currently being investigated. The Officer informed the Committee that there was a robust policy for whistleblowing in place and that there were other HR Policies available that staff could use to raise concerns if they wished.

39.

SHOP FRONTS (00:08:00) pdf icon PDF 233 KB

To receive an update from the Head of Communities and Governance regarding the Shop Front Project.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it a briefing paper * from the Head of Communities and Governance providing an update on the Tiverton Shopfront Facelift Scheme. 

 

The Officer explained that following the unexpected resignation of the Grants and Funding Officer for Cullompton at the beginning of July, the shopfront scheme had not been actively promoted. However, one outstanding application had been approved, and two queries followed up. It would probably be necessary to re-advertise the scheme in the autumn, once the long-term administration of the scheme was confirmed.

 

Discussion took place regarding:

 

·         Whether there was a fund available for Crediton;

 

·         Levels of funding available;

 

·         Officer attendance at the Tiverton Business Forum to promote the scheme;

 

·         The resignation of the Tiverton Town Centre Manager and the responsibilities of the Economic Development Team;

 

·         Street furniture and the need to ensure that the town centres looked as attractive as possible.

 

Note: - * Briefing Paper previously circulated an attached to Minutes.

40.

EQUALITIES/HATE CRIME (00:25:39)

The Head of Communities and Governance has provided the following update regarding Equalities and Hate Crime.

 

Members asked me to provide information as to whether the number of hate crimes reported in mid Devon had increased in the run up to and post Brexit.  Inspector Bradford from the Police has confirmed that there has not been an increase in incidents prior to or after the EU referendum as recorded by the Police.

 

In terms of the statistics for Mid Devon, Inspector Bradford looked at the period 01/06/16 to 31/07/16 and compared the same period in 2015

 

Overall there were 3 crimes recorded in 2015 and 2 in 2016

 

None of the crimes in 2016 are attributable to the EU referendum

 

The breakdown is

 

One crime in Tiverton and one in Crediton with no crime recorded in Cullompton in 2016

 

In 2015 there was one crime in Crediton and two in Tiverton with none recorded in Cullompton

 

Minutes:

The Head of Communities and Governance provided an update regarding Equalities and Hate Crime.

 

Members had requested information as to whether the number of hate crimes reported in mid Devon had increased in the run up to and post Brexit.  Inspector Bradford from the Police had confirmed that there had not been an increase in incidents prior to or after the EU referendum as recorded by the Police.

 

In terms of the statistics for Mid Devon, Inspector Bradford looked at the period 01/06/16 to 31/07/16 and compared the same period in 2015. Overall there were 3 crimes recorded in 2015 and 2 in 2016 and none of the crimes in 2016 were attributable to the EU referendum.

 

The breakdown was one crime in Tiverton and one in Crediton with no crime recorded in Cullompton in 2016. In 2015 there was one crime in Crediton and two in Tiverton with none recorded in Cullompton.

 

The Chairman raised the matter of an email that had been received by a number of Members regarding racist and xenophobic incidents and it was AGREED that in instances such as this the Police must be called.  The Equalities pages of the website would be updated to make this clear.

41.

PARISH LIAISON (00:32:35) pdf icon PDF 189 KB

The Chairman has requested that the Committee discuss communication with Town and Parish Councils.  Do we do enough to inform and to help individual Councillors liaise with their parishes?

Minutes:

The Chairman had requested that the Committee discuss communication with town and Parish Councils following reports he had received from Parish councillors regarding information that had not been passed to them.  He asked that Members considered whether the Authority did enough to inform and to help individual councillors liaise with their Parishes? He explained that with more responsibility being passed to town and Parish Councils it was important that good channels for communication were in place.

 

The Head of Communities and Governance raised the issue of how much information was appropriate and reported that in the past town and Parish Councils had complained that they received too much information.  There could also be issues with the cascade of information from Parish Clerks to councillors.

 

Discussion took place regarding:

 

·         Two way communication and the need for local Councils to keep the District Council informed regarding changes to their Membership;

 

·         The need for District Councillors to ensure that their local council was kept informed;

 

·         The Parish Matters newsletter, which had been discontinued following reports that it was not read.

 

It was RESOLVED that a working group be put in place to scope the extent of the issue and that the Group consist of Cllrs Mrs G Doe, Mrs A R Berry and Cllr F J Rosamond.

 

(Proposed by the Chairman)

42.

RIPA 6 MONTHLY UPDATE (00:42:00) pdf icon PDF 83 KB

To receive an update from the Head of Communities and Governance regarding RIPA.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it an update * from the Head of Communities and Governance regarding the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).

 

The officer reminded the Committee that at its meeting on 18th April 2016 it was agreed that progress against the remaining outstanding action be brought back to the Scrutiny Committee in 6 months’ time.  The outstanding action was to ensure that future training addressed weaknesses set out in the report and the officer confirmed that following this four officers had undertaken Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) training on 19th July 2016. Following this training a corporate policy was now being developed and training was being rolled out to staff in respect of RIPA, CHIS and Open Source Research.  The Head of Communities and Governance would attend staff team meetings where appropriate to brief them on these matters.

 

Cllr Mrs J Roach raised the matter of a question that she had asked at Council on 9th September 2015 when she was informed that covert surveillance was not being used.  The Head of Communities and Governance explained that covert surveillance could be a useful tool but that the regulations had changed with the Protections of Freedoms Act to mean that it could only be used for crimes that received a sentence of 6 months or more.  Housing Benefit fraud did not receive a sentence of 6 months and therefore the main reason for using it had diminished.  There had been no cause to use RIPA in the last few years but it could be used if appropriate.

 

Discussion took place regarding other methods of investigating fraud, such as data matching and what did and did not constitute ‘covert’ regarding social media.

 

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

43.

DIGITALISATION FOR MEMBERS (00:55:09) pdf icon PDF 197 KB

To receive a report from the Head of Customer Services and the Member Services Manager regarding digitalisation and the introduction of iPads for Members.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it a report * from the Head of Customer Services and the Member Services Manager regarding digitalisation and the introduction of iPads for Members.

 

The Head of Customer Services explained that as part of the Business Transformation Programme to modernise working practices and to ensure efficient and best use of information available, a range of new services had been provided to Members over the past 18 months. This had included the issue of new ICT equipment and the move to Modern.Gov as the administrative system for Member Services.

 

The Member Services Manager explained that Modern.Gov removed a lot of double entry work for officers as it was an automated system for publishing agendas and Minutes and that this had allowed one member of staff to reduce her hours.  Ongoing savings were also being made by the team taking on additional parish liaison work therefore allowing savings to be made to the corporate budget. The aim was to support Town and Parish Councils alongside Members.

 

Discussion took place regarding:

 

·         The number of Members receiving paper copies of agendas;

 

·         Some training needs regarding iPads and potential workshop style sessions to be arranged to address this;

 

Members reported that IT staff had been very helpful in addressing issues and asked that their thanks be passed on.

 

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

44.

CAR PARKING (01:08:47) pdf icon PDF 238 KB

To receive information from the Head of Finance regarding Car Parking charges.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had before it a report * from the Head of Finance providing an update on car parking after the first 3 months of the new charging strategy.

 

The Head of Finance reminded the Committee that during 2015/16 the Managing the Environment Policy Development Group had set up an officer and Member working group to review the current car park charging policy and then made recommendations on a new policy to be implemented in April 2016. The review had looked at usage levels, benchmarked charges against neighbouring Councils, considered more free periods, reviewed concessions and considered economic consequence. 

 

After an extensive consultation process, reported at all of the 34 car parks and advertised in the local press and at the Council offices, the main changes were made to the new charging policy were:

 

·         The removal of the £1 tariff for 5hrs parking in the 3 long stays

·         But freezing the £2 tariff for all day parking

·         Introducing a 30min free period during the evening and freezing the overnight charge at a £1

·         Extending the free period at Westexe and Phoenix House to 30 mins

·         Introducing a 30 minute free period at William St and Wellbrook St

·         Reducing Sunday and BH charges to £1.

 

At the last meeting of the Committee a question had been raised regarding the fact that the parking tickets issued in the multi storey car park indicated that ticket holders could stay until 2.am although the car park actually closed at 8.00pm.  The Head of Finance explained that this was an issue with the vending machine settings which the contractor has been asked to change.  He also pointed out that the car park may become 24 hour when the Premier Inn was operational.

 

The Officer explained that the report contained 3 months’ worth of data (a further month was now available) but that the vend analysis for May and June was not accurate due to a fault in the system and therefore only the data for April and July could be used for analysis.

 

The data provided clearly showed that income had increased across all of the councils pay and display car parks since the new fee structure had been introduced. However, without accurate vend analysis it was impossible to draw meaningful conclusions from the vend data provided.  The officer reminded Members that other issues such as weather, fuel prices and road closures for example, could affect overall vend data and therefore it would be difficult to prove any direct cause.

 

The officer confirmed that income had increased on the same period last year by 13%.

 

The working group would be reconvened when there was 6 months’ worth of data available to review.

 

Discussion took place regarding:

 

·         Improvement works to the multi-story that were outstanding;

 

·         Negative feedback from members of the public regarding the £2 charge for a whole day and the removal of the 5 hour tariff;

 

·         Positive feedback from visitors to Phoenix House regarding the charging levels;

 

·         Officers would ask the Business Forum for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

45.

ANNUAL REVIEW LETTER 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 26 KB

To receive information from the Local Ombudsman.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had before it the Annual Review Letter 2015/16 * from the Local Government Ombudsman which provided an annual summary of statistics on complaints.

 

The Head of Customer Services informed the Committee that this was an annual report and that it had been included within the annual complaints report to Cabinet.  No complaints to the Ombudsman had been upheld in the past year.

 

Discussion took place regarding the Ombudsman and the fact that it did not accept complaints from Members.

 

It was RESOLVED that a letter be sent from the Committee requesting that the Ombudsman consider accepting complaints from Members as part of their reform.

 

(Proposed by Cllr Mrs J Roach and seconded by Cllr F J Rosamond)

 

Note: - * Annual Review letter previously circulated and attached to Minutes.

46.

NEIL PARISH MP

The Committee to welcome the MP and put questions

 

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed the Member of Parliament for the Tiverton and Honiton Constituency, Neil Parish, to the meeting.

 

The following questions were put to the MP:

 

Local Authorities draw up Local Plans to control development.   Common sense says that these should stay in force until replaced by an updated version.   The Planning Inspectorate seems to have carte blanche to ignore these plans, particularly Settlement Limits, which means that sooner or later our much loved Devon villages will become towns.   Would you please ask the Government to put the Planning Inspectorate back in its cage?

 

Mr Parish said that he considered that the Planning Inspector needed to recognise Local Plans and not overrule.  He had written to the inspectorate to point out issues on previous occasions but had no powers to intervene.  He asked Members to forward specific instances to him so that he could take them forward.

 

Does Mr Parish share concerns that there appears to be no way that action can be taken to ensure that Japanese knotweed is dealt with appropriately? Will he take this matter up with a minister?

 

The MP said that he was more than happy to take this matter up and that he would also make enquiries regarding ragwort.

 

Isthere a realistic prospect regarding the alternate quarry route at Longwood Lane, Burlescombe ever being developed, seeing that Aggregate Industries will not contribute because they feel they already pay enough tax and the LEP criteria is not satisfied?  Also the present estimate from Devon County Council did not seem adequate given the improvements required and by the time anything happened would doubtless have increased, current £7m plus. Should we now cease to raise false hopes amongst the residents?

 

Mr Parish said that he had attended a meeting with the quarry management and that they had said that they would not contribute towards the road as they already paid taxes.  He had asked to meet with the Swiss owners and was proposing a parliamentary debate regarding this. He had suggested a potential alternative route and was planning to meet with an officer from the County Surveyors Office to walk it.  The quarry had a long life left and he didn’t know if he would get the road but he was ‘upping the temperature’.

 

Patients in Mid Devon have very long waiting times for cataract surgery.  This is not cosmetic but vital surgery to ensure quality of life, enable people to work and prevent accidents. They may not be in pain but it has a huge impact on their lives, their independence and in the case of younger people their ability to carry out their job or business - particularly inhibiting their ability to drive in the winter months when daylight is short.    What is the government doing to improve the situation?   Can you press the Minister to address this as a priority?

 

Mr Parish said that he would contact the Clinical Commissioning Group to find out if this type of surgery could be carried out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

47.

IDENTIFICATION OF ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING

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

 

 

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

 

Establishment

Member Development

Cabinet Member for Housing

Performance and Risk

 

Minutes:

Establishment

Cabinet Member for Housing

Performance and Risk

Clinical Commissioning Group and Devon County Council