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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Exe Room, Phoenix House, Tiverton

Contact: Julia Stuckey  Member Services Officer

Link: audio recording

Items
No. Item

37.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 145 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:

Following discussion it was agreed that the sentence ‘issues were raised in connection with the proposed closures for Cullompton and Crediton and letters from Devon County Council Library Service and Cullompton Town Council were reported to the meeting’ be added to Minute 32, the minutes of the last meeting were approved as a correct record and SIGNED by the Chairman.

38.

APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS

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

Minutes:

There were no apologies.

39.

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 questions from the member of the public present.

40.

MEMBER FORUM

An opportunity for non-Cabinet Members to raise issues.

Minutes:

There were no issues raised under this item.

41.

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.

42.

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Minutes:

The Chairman informed the Committee that he had received a response from Mel Stride MP in response to a letter sent on behalf of the Committee regarding the five year land supply.  The response did not address the issues raised so the Chairman would write again.

 

The Chairman also outlined the contents of a letter that had been prepared to be sent to Neil Parish MP regarding anaerobic digestion.

43.

CHIEF INSPECTOR, DEVON AND CORNWALL POLICE pdf icon PDF 6 KB

Chief Inspector Sarah Johns, Exeter, East and Mid Devon area of the Devon and Cornwall Police will be in attendance, along with Inspector Steve Bradford to answer questions from the Committee.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Chief Inspector Sarah Johns and Sector Inspector Jane Alford-Mole to the meeting.

 

The following questions were put to the Inspectors;

 

What impact did the potential demands on regional police resources to help nationally in response to terrorism threat or attack, have on local policing?  

 

Inspector Mole explained that there was a National Counter Terrorism Network.  All regions had specialist officers so when there was an incident they would be drawn on first.  This could result in an impact on local policing depending on the skills required and local reassurance work needed.  However local impact would be small as the specialist officers would be used.

 

Given that resources were already stretched in Devon and Cornwall due to the increase in activity of organised crime gangs, child sexual exploitation, and scammers all of which posed a serious threat in the rural counties, were we in an era of risk of increased petty/ conventional crime which would not be investigated?

 

The Inspector reminded Members that a lot of funding had been taken out of Policing in recent years which had caused forces across the country to look at what they did and how it was delivered.  Devon and Cornwall was clear in its mission to safeguard vulnerable people, to deal with crimes that caused the most harm to people and they were, as a force, now recognising crime that would have been unnoticed in the past, such as child sex abuse and exploitation.  These crimes had all been happening previously but were not being reported or dealt with.  Dealing with these crimes, which caused the most harm, did mean that some other crime might not be investigated.  However, the Inspectors stressed the importance of crime reporting in order that trends could be identified.  New shift patterns were being introduced, having looked at demand data over the previous 4 years, to ensure that officers were working at the times that crime was most likely to be reported.  Overnight shifts would look at intelligence over the previous 2 weeks to help identify crime trends.  A lot of recruitment had taken place within Devon and Cornwall and there was an uplift of 120 officers.  There was also good use of Special Officers in the force and in the previous year they had contributed 19500 hours.  Continued training for Special officers was encouraged.

 

Is there not value in having local policing on the streets?   Surely it would have potential to pick up local intelligence which may assist in resolving more serious crimes?

 

The Section Inspector responded that intelligence was about smarter working and that the Police Community Support Officers and Neighbourhood Teams still worked in their local areas, building relationships with the public.

 

I am, almost on a daily basis receiving complaints about the speed of traffic and dangerous driving on the Silverton to Killerton Road.  Would it be possible to address this problem?

 

We also have a problem at the end of Park Road where there is a bollard; people are driving on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

44.

PEER REVIEW pdf icon PDF 294 KB

To receive a report from the Chief Executive regarding the Peer Review.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it and NOTED a report * from the Chief Executive regarding the Peer Review.  During the 6-9th March 2017, the authority had received a delegation of external officers and members to conduct a ‘peer challenge review’. The process generated a review report which contained a number of specific recommendations for the council to consider. The report which Members had before them provided an update on that process and outlined how this process would be contributing to the council’s improvement programme moving forward.

 

The Chief Executive outlined the contents of the report, explaining steps that had already been taken, for example an organisational design framework, organisational values, managerial competencies, Medium Term Financial Planning and Efficiency Statement, a refreshed council constitution, a revised staff survey and new approaches to member engagement and development. There were a number of areas in progress such as a performance framework refresh, a business transformation programme, a staff charter, comprehensive benefit-tracking and realisation, strategic options appraisal and business case development for discrete service change.  The Chief Executive informed Members that a report detailing his plans to fully align performance indicators to the Corporate Plan would be submitted to the Cabinet shortly.

 

A restructure to appoint three Directors had been put in place and the next stage, the Group Manager structure, would be confirmed in the near future. When appointed these Group Managers would be tasked to look at options for service delivery.

 

The Chief Executive outlined some recommendations from the review:

 

Produce an economic development plan that conformed with Exeter and the Heart of Devon strategy for economic growth and prosperity but provided greater detail on what this would look like for Mid Devon, the benefits that would be delivered, and how this would be achieved

 

This had been discussed at the Economy PDG to set out what was best for Mid Devon and officers were now pushing forward with this piece of work.

 

Ensure that major projects were supported by a robust business case agreed by the council

 

The Chief Executive explained that the authority was moving in this direction, particularly in relation to capital investment.

 

Agree a strategy for influencing partners to win more external funding to support investment in major schemes in Mid Devon.

 

The Chief Executive explained that there had been some success in the last year or so and gave examples such as funding for the link road scheme and resurfacing as part of National Productivity Funding. In addition the council has secured capacity funding to continue unlocking growth, as well as smaller sums from the LGA as part of their Productivity Expert funding.

 

Review internal and external communications, along with community engagement, and take advantage of IT and social media efficiencies that could support these

 

This was a resourcing issue and the Chief Executive explained that he was looking to introduce a new officer role regarding community engagement but there would be a cost implication attached to this.

 

Continue with the commitment and resources to work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

45.

AGENCY WORKERS pdf icon PDF 202 KB

At the request of the Committee to receive information from the Waste and Transport Manager regarding on the use of agency staff in operational services.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it and NOTED a report * from the Waste and Transport Manager regarding the use of agency staff in operational services. This information had been requested by the Committee at its last meeting.

 

The officer explained that all agency workers received full health and safety training prior to starting work and that this requirement was set out in the contract with the agency.  The bill for agency staff totalled 7% of the annual staffing bill for the financial year and the use of agency staff was cheaper than appointing permanent staff.  The agency staff were used to cover short term issues such as sickness and annual leave and also to allow for fluctuation in service requirements on different days of the week. This ensured that all permanent staff were fully occupied at all times.  Vacancies were not left open for very long and recruitment tended to take place 3 or 4 times a year.

 

Discussion took place regarding:

 

·       An information request for an hourly rate for permanent staff and an hourly rate for agency staff;

 

·       A new contract for agency staff which would be submitted to Cabinet shortly;

 

·       The number of staff in the Waste service and the amount of leave per employee;

 

Members thanked the Waste and Transport Manager for the savings that he had made.

 

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

46.

AGEING WELL pdf icon PDF 447 KB

The Committee to review a draft report that was produced by the Aging Well Working Group in December 2013 and to agree a way forward.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it and NOTED a report * that had been produced by the Aging Well Working Group in December 2013. The Chairman had asked that it be revisited in order that the Committee could decide whether or not it should be taken forward.

 

The Director for Corporate Affairs and Business Transformation explained that a lot of work had been undertaken previously but there were resource issues involved in progressing the recommendations.  She suggested that this might be an area that the new Policy Officer could look into.

 

Discussion took place regarding:

 

·       Statistics and the increasing number of elderly people in the District;

 

·       Duplicate work with Devon County Council and other District Councils and whether joint working might be appropriate;

 

·       A lack of Gypsy and Traveller provision in the District;

 

·       A lack of suitable housing for the elderly within new build developments and difficulties in ensuring that this happened;

 

·       Plans by the Chief Executive to liaise with Members of the Planning Committee to explore effective ways to engage and to help them support appropriate development, which might include Lifetime Homes Standards.

 

·       A changing social environment in the way that families care for each other;

 

·       Positive action that had taken place in Hemyock;

 

It was AGREED that any future work regarding ageing well be delayed until after the Corporate Plan review and that in the meantime officers explore opportunities to work closely with Devon County Council and liaise with Exeter University and Dr Dixon of Cullompton to establish what is already taking place.

 

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

ii)        Cllr N A Way declared a personal interest as he was a Devon County Councillor.

47.

CABINET MEMBER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT pdf icon PDF 218 KB

The Cabinet Member for the Environment will update the Committee regarding areas covered by this remit.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it a report * from the Cabinet Member for the Environment providing an update on areas covered by his remit.

 

Discussion took place regarding:

 

·         The Litter Busting team and the good work being undertaken by them;

 

·         Grass cutting and a number of complaints and problems created by a lack of understanding regarding which areas of land should be cut by the Authority and which areas were parish or county land.  There was an acknowledgement that the service was not perfect but open spaces was a topic being looked at by the Environment PDG and it was hoped that over-winter a service level could be set, for which resources could be put in place in time for the next growing season.  However, Members needed to be aware that funding had been cut so the service would never be what it had been in the past.

 

·         The Cabinet Member AGREED to visit Lapford with a Parish Councillor to review the situation there;

 

·         Liaison with Town and Parish Councils and how they may request grass cutting services from the authority in the future;

 

·         The restructure at Director level meant that services were now all under one Director,  allowing for more ‘joined up’ working;

 

·         Roundabouts directly off the A361 were outside of the 40mph speed limit which meant the workforce were unable to work on them without a road or lane closure being put in place. This had been highlighted by the Health and Safety Officer and solutions where currently being investigated;

 

·         The importance of ‘one stop shop’ when the public called to report incidents as they could not be expected to know which council was responsible for areas of land;

 

·         Compliments were given regarding the wild flower displays in the District.

 

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for his report.

 

(Note: - Report previously circulated and attached to Minutes)

48.

RIPA SIX MONTHLY UPDATE

The Legal Service Manager and Monitoring Officer has not received any requests for RIPA authorisations since joining the Council in April 2017. No authorisations were given in the preceding 6 months. However, advice has recently been given in relation to CCTV in communal parts of residential council premises and the need to ensure that any new installations are not covert – otherwise RIPA will apply.

Minutes:

The Legal Service Manager and Monitoring Officer had not received any requests for RIPA authorisations since joining the Council in April 2017. No authorisations were given in the preceding 6 months. However, advice had recently been given in relation to CCTV in communal parts of residential council premises and the need to ensure that any new installations were not covert, otherwise RIPA would apply.

 

The officer reiterated that RIPA powers should only be used sparingly, in appropriate circumstances. 

49.

FORWARD PLAN pdf icon PDF 478 KB

Members are asked to consider any items within the Forward Plan that they may wish to bring forward for discussion at the next meeting.

Minutes:

The Committee NOTED the Forward Plan.

50.

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:

 

Cabinet Member for Housing

Performance and Risk

Car Parking 6 Monthly Update

Cross Parks update

 

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

Minutes:

Cabinet Member for Housing

Performance and Risk

Car Parking 6 Monthly Update

Cross Parks update

Devon County Council closed homes and what was going to happen to them