Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies were received from Cllrs Mrs E M Andrews, Mrs A R Berry and Mrs G Doe.

Councillors are reminded of the requirement to declare any interest, including the type of interest, and reason for that interest, either at this stage of the meeting or as soon as they become aware of that interest.

Cllrs F W Letch and B A Moore both declared a personal interest as trustees of Involve.

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 questions raised by members of the public present.

Members to consider whether to approve the Minutes of the last PDG meeting held on 22^nd January 2019 as a true record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 22^nd January 2019 were approved as a correct record and SIGNED by the Chairman.

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

The Chairman thanked the Members of the Group, Officers and the Clerk for assisting him over the previous three years.

To receive a presentation from Involve

Karen Nolan, the Chief Officer of Involve, gave an overview by way of a presentation on the work of the organisation. She explained that Involve had been operating for 25 years and were currently in touch with over 400 groups and projects. They were currently open for 3 days a week.

She explained that that the network offering had seen more activity and the number of groups engaging had significantly increased. She confirmed that the monies received from MDDC had been used towards funding the workshops.

She further explained that Involve were continuing to maintain their services and that they had adapted to changes in the provision offered by statutory agencies.

To receive a  report from the Group Manager for Public Health and Regulatory Services presenting the Environmental Health Fees and Charges 2019/20 and to make a recommendation to Cabinet to approve the Charges for 2019/2020.

The Lead Officer of the Commercial Team provided members with the revised *fees and charges for statutory and discretionary functions within the Public Health & Regulatory Services Commercial Team.

He outlined the contents of the report and explained that the recommended charges reflected the actual cost of the service and were not to provide the Council with a profit.

He explained the area’s in which the proposed fees showed a significant change which included:

·         Private water supplies

·         Legionella sampling

·         Asbestos surveys

·         Food safety advice

·         Food export certificates

In response to Members questions he confirmed that the private water investigation charge would reduce from £100 to £50 as it was felt that the current charge was prohibitive.

There was a general discussion on the charge for food safety visits and whether businesses would pay for this service.

With regard to the introduction of a missed appointment charge the Director of Operations advised the Group that the charge should reflect what Building Services charge for a missed appointment. A different level for missed appointments had recently been agreed at the Homes PDG and it was suggested that the fees for missed appointments should be in line with those used across Building and Housing Services.

It was therefore RECOMMENDED to Cabinet to approve the Environmental Health Fees and Charges for 2019/2020 and that the missed appointment charge to be in line with the missed appointment charge within the extant Housing Policy used by Building and Housing Services.

Note: *Report previously circulated and attached to the minutes

To receive details of the Public Health Communication Strategy from the Public Health Officer including a mock-up of web pages and the strategy for providing residents with printed information.

The Public Health Officer provided Members with an overview of the Public Health Initiatives website page by way of a presentation and explained the timeframes for the launch of the service.

He explained that the aim was to incorporate subjects that the public would be interested in and provide links to current Government health initiatives.

In response to Members questions he confirmed that the Communications team would be undertaking a social media marketing campaign and that local GP surgeries would be encouraged to signpost the website for their patients.

To consider a *report of the Principal Accountant presenting financial monitoring information for the income and expenditure to date.

The Principal Accountant provided Members with a verbal update on finances to the end of January and explained that the budget deficit had reduced by £20K to £45K due to recalculated interest payments from investments.

To provide Members with an update on performance against the corporate plan and local service targets for 2018/2019 as well as providing an update on the key business risks

The Committee had before it and NOTED a *report from the Group Manager for Performance, Governance and Data Security providing Members with an update on performance against the Corporate Plan and local service targets as well as providing an update on the key business risks.

Members were encouraged that the likelihood of the risks mentioned in the report actually occurring was at relatively low score of 2.

Note: * Report previously circulated and attached to the minutes

To receive the Chairman’s draft annual report on the work of the Committee since May 2018, which will be submitted to Council on 24th April 2019

The Committee had before it, and NOTED, a draft report * by the Chairman of the Committee, a final copy of this report would be submitted to Council on 24 April 2019.

Note: *Report previously circulated and attached to the minutes

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

Cabinet Member for Working Environment and Support Services

Air Quality Action Plan for Cullompton and Crediton

RIPA

6 Month Leisure update

CCTV Annual update

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

No items were identified.

Prior to considering the following item postponed from item 10 on the agenda, discussion took place as to whether it was necessary to pass the following resolution to exclude the press and public having reflected on Article 15 15.02(d) (a presumption in favour of openness) of the Constitution. The Committee decided that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

It was therefore:

RESOLVED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the next item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

(Proposed by Cllr F W Letch and seconded by Cllr Mrs E J Slade)

Members discussed the Community Performance Appendix 4 and the Leisure Centre memberships.

The Director of Operations gave the Group a complete overview of current performance of Leisure Services.

Following the discussion the meeting returned into open session.