Time: | 7.30pm | Place: | Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City |
PRESENT: | Councillor R.L. Shakespeare - Smith (Chairman), Councillor Michael Paterson (Vice - Chairman), Councillor Mrs A.G. Ashley, Councillor A. Bardett, Councillor David Billing, Councillor John Bishop, Councillor Richard Harman, Councillor Cathryn Henry, Councillor David Kearns, Councillor Paul Marment, Councillor Alan Millard, Councillor Gerald Morris (substitute), Councillor M.R.M. Muir (substitute), Councillor Lawrence Oliver and Councillor Mike Rice. NB Councillor John Bishop arrived at 7.40 p.m. |
IN ATTENDANCE: | Councillor Judi Billing, David Scholes (Strategic Director of Planning, Housing and Enterprise), John Robinson (Strategic Director of Customer Services), Liz Green (Head of Policy and Customer Services), Katie White (Corporate Legal Manager), Andy Beavan (Local development Framework Manager) and Hilary Dineen (Committee and Member Services Officer). |
ALSO PRESENT: | At the commencement of the meeting 4 members of the public. |
Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
PART I | ||||
1 |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors John Booth, Bill Davidson and Steve Jarvis. Councillor Gerald Morris advised that, having given due notice, he would be substituting for Councillor Bill Davidson. Councillor M.R.M Muir advised that, having given due notice, he would be substituting for Councillor John Booth. |
Noted | ||
2 |
MINUTES Minutes Project Boards - Answer RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2011 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and signed by the Chairman. |
Agreed | ||
3 |
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS No other business was submitted for consideration by the Committee. |
Noted | ||
4 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION There were no presentations from members of the public. |
Noted | ||
5 |
URGENT/GENERAL EXCEPTION ITEMS No urgent or general exception items were received. |
Noted | ||
6 |
CALLED IN ITEMS Since the last meeting, no decisions had been called-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. |
Noted | ||
7 |
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS (1) The Chairman welcomed everyone to the first meeting of this Committee of the Civic Year. He particularly welcomed newly elected Councillors, Councillor Judi Billing (Chairman of the Task and Finish Group on Facilities for Teenagers), and members of the public, especially those who had contributed towards the Task and Finish Groups; (2) The Chairman announced that he would be making a number of changes to the practical operation of the Committee and had some suggestions regarding the way that the Committee conducted business as follows: (i) The effect of the Committee's decisions and resolutions needed to be monitored and it was necessary to ensure that items requested are brought to the committee. To achieve this there would be a new standard item "Outcome of Overview and Scrutiny Committee Resolutions" which would include responses from Cabinet; (ii) Lay members who had contributed to Task and Finish Groups would be invited to attend the meeting at which the report would be debated; (iii) Portfolio Holders would be invited to address the Committee with a focus on particular issues and to help guide the discussions the responsibilities of the Portfolio Holder would be presented in the work programme to the meeting before their presentation; (iv) In order to streamline decisions regarding the subjects that the Committee would wish to discuss in future meetings, "the Forward Plan" would be amalgamated into the Work Programme. This item would also include the responsibilities of the Portfolio Holder due to speak at the next meeting. (3) The Chairman informed Members that, as the Partnerships Scrutiny Sub-Committee and the Finance and Performance Scrutiny Sub-Committee had now been abolished, some of the work previously allocated to these sub-committees would revert to this Committee. Therefore the Terms of Reference of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been revised and a copy had been circulated to Members; (4) The Chairman announced that Item 13 - Local Development Framework - Core Strategy and Development Policies Development Plan Documents - Revised Consultation had been withdrawn from the agenda and invited the Strategic Director of Planning, Housing and Enterprise to explain the reasons for this. The Strategic Director of Planning, Housing and Enterprise advised that some 10 days previously there had been a Court of Appeal case which had changed how strategies could be progressed in light of the emerging Localism Bill. It was now necessary to reconsider the delivery of our Local Development Framework. Members asked that a copy of the Court decision be circulates to them; (5) Members were reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, and the nature of the interest, should be declared as either a prejudicial or personal interest at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a prejudicial interest should leave the room and not seek to influence the decision during that particular item; (6) The Chairman gave a further reminder that any advice from a Member of the Committee concerning a party whip direction should also be declared. |
Noted | ||
8 |
OUTCOME OF OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE RESOLUTIONS The Chairman outlined the framework of this new item and advised that the aim was to be updated on the progress of resolutions made by this Committee until such time as they came to a conclusion at which point the Committee would decide to remove them from monitoring. To enable this item to be effective it would be necessary to ensure that all future resolutions were succinct, clear and time limited. Members welcomed this initiative, but expressed concern that resolutions from Task and Finish Groups were often overlooked or not monitored and agreed that these should be included in the monitoring scheme. RESOLVED: (1) That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to work with the Chairman on the format that this item is to take; (2) That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to take responsibility for updating the Committee at each meeting regarding the progress of resolutions. REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that the resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are effectively monitored until conclusion. |
Agreed | Scrutiny Officer |
|
9 |
THE REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT 2000 Report Appendix 1 The Corporate Legal Manager presented the report entitled "the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA)". She advised that the Act provided the framework under which NHDC could undertake covert surveillance. Members would take a strategic role regarding monitoring of the RIPA policy, which was agreed by Cabinet on an annual basis. She advised that there had been no RIPA authorisations during 2010/11, mainly due to investigations being undertaken in an overt rather than covert manner. An update to this report would be presented to the Committee on a quarterly basis. Members asked to be made aware if there was a sudden increase in the use of covert surveillance. RESOLVED: (1) That the report entitled "Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA)" be noted: (2) That the Corporate Legal Manager be requested to update the Committee regarding NHDC use of powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) on a quarterly basis; (3) That the Corporate Legal Manager be requested to inform this Committee of any sudden increase in NHDC use of powers under the regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) as soon as is practicable. |
Agreed | Corporate Legal Manager |
|
10 |
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY TASK AND FINISH GROUP REPORT ON TEENAGERS FACILITIES IN NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE Report Appendix A Councillor Judi Billing, the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Task and Finish Group on Teenagers Facilities in North Hertfordshire presented the draft final report of the group. She advised that this had been a complex piece of work, which had taken far longer than originally anticipated. Many Officers had supported and helped the group and thanks were offered to the people in the field for instance in youth clubs and sports facilities. The group had an interesting time and saw some worrying and difficult settings for informal activities as well as some areas of magnificent quality of service. The Group found that, if a teenager was keen to take part in activities there was a lot of choice available, however less formal, social space was patchy. She acknowledged that due to the length of time between starting the investigation and completion a number of circumstances had changed. She gave examples as Sub-Zero had closed and Groundwork had secured £140,000 to undertake work over the next 2 years to establish new and sustainable social spaces in Hitchin. It was acknowledged that some of the recommendations would not be completed, but she asked that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee ensure that the work undertaken by the group is put to good use. Members were impressed by the thorough nature of the review and the diversity of the evidence gathered. In respect of paragraph 3.10.10 it was suggested that the Community Development Officer for Letchworth be requested to contact the Grange Youth Club in order to support improvements to physical access there with funding applications. They were concerned that there was some duplication of services, whilst there remained some needs not being met and these needed to be identified and quantified and considered that the conclusions and recommendations in the report could be more focused. The Chairman invited Judith Sutton of Youth Connexions and Gill Taylor of Groundwork to comment on the report Judith Sutton stated that she welcomed any opportunity to work with partners. Gill Taylor advised that the findings of the Task and Finish group had supported the findings of other groups and would help identify where there were gaps in the services offered. The Chairman of the Committee suggested that the recommendations of the Task & Finish Group could be both more succinct and specific and suggested an alternative approach. The Head of Policy and Community Services advised that the Corporate Management team had similar queries about the recommendations and, given all of the circumstances, it may be helpful to the the Task and Finish Group could reconvene for one further meeting. Such a meeting with partner agencies and Community Development Officers would look at the changes in circumstances that have occurred to update and refine the recommendations of the Group. RESOLVED: (1) That the draft final report from the Overview and Scrutiny Task and Finish Group on Teenagers Facilities in North Hertfordshire be noted; (2) That the Overview and Scrutiny Task and Finish Group on Teenagers Facilities in North Hertfordshire be requested to reconvene for one final meeting with a view to updating and refining the conclusions and recommendations in the report; (3) That the Overview and Scrutiny Task and Finish Group on Teenagers Facilities in North Hertfordshire be requested to present their final report to the next meeting of this Committee, due to be held on 19 July 2011; (4) That the Community Development Officer for Letchworth be requested to contact the Grange Youth Club, with a view to supporting them with funding applications to improve access for people with disabilities. REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to comment on the draft final report of the Task and Finish Group on Teenagers Facilities in North Hertfordshire. |
Agreed | Community Development Officer - CM, Scrutiny Officer |
|
11 |
TASK AND FINISH GROUP REPORT - THE INVESTIGATION INTO SHARED SERVICES Report Appendix 1 Appendix 2 The Head of Policy and Community Services presented the Report of the Task and Finish Groups Investigation into Shared Services. She advised that a clear intention had been expressed from the outset that one of the outcomes of the review should be the development of a toolkit for application in the event of considering sharing NHDC services with other agencies, however it was identified in the review process that toolkits and guidance already existed and did not need to be further developed. The Chairman invited Mr Julian Cunningam, as a participant in the review, to make any comments. Mr Cunningham stated that he was mildly disappointed with the report as he felt that some issues had not been addressed. He advised that NHDC should learn from the best practices of other organisations and be considering and reporting the benefits derived after the event. Members acknowledged that since the group had started its review Shared services had moved on and considered that the recommendations in the report were more in the nature of conclusions and principles rather than action points. They agreed that the Strategic Director of Finance, Policy and Governance should be requested to present a report to this Committee within 6 months time regarding an update on shared services, the development of business cases and the benefits achieved by the sharing of services. RESOLVED: That the Strategic Director of Finance, Policy and Governance be requested to present a report to this Committee in 6 months time, regarding an update3 on shared services, the development of business cases and benefits achieved by the sharing of services. RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That the Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Task and Finish Group entitled "Investigation into the potential for Shared Services" be supported. REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to comment on the report of the Task and Finish group entitled "Investigation into the Potential for Shared Services" prior to submission to Cabinet. |
Agreed | Strategic Director of Finance/Policy & Governance |
|
12 |
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK: DESIGN SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING DOCUMENT (SPD) Report Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 The Local Development Framework Manager presented a report entitled "Local Development Framework: Design Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)" and advised that the draft Design SPD had been presented to Cabinet on 7 November 2010. He suggested amendments to paragraphs 49, 50 and 51 which were required due to updated Building Regulations. Public consultation had been undertaken over 6 weeks from 17 January 2011 to 25 February 2011 from which many positive comments arose and drew attention to page 93 of the report which contained Officer responses to representations. He informed the Committee that the purpose of the SPD was to be a signpost to other guidance and policies rather than replicate them. The aim was to get architects and developers to be thoughtful about design and provided a checklist which would have to be considered The document covered 4 towns, 21 larger villages and general guidance for rural areas. It also contained guidance on issues such as sustainable technologies, design standards and 9 key design principles. Members congratulated Officers on the standard and content of the report and asked how it would be used in practice and whether the status of the checklist for developers should be made more clear. Members questioned whether paragraphs regarding the design of higher density development should be strengthened and felt that the Council's position on gated developments should be mentioned. Members also considered that the statement regarding travel plans should be strengthened and that the document should be made available to all who responded to the consultation. The Local Development Framework Manager advised that the documents would become valid once Council had adopted it and would be used as guidance for developers who would be required to complete and submit the checklist. He advised that the Council was no longer governed by set densities. Guidance on the design of higher density developments were already contained in the document at paragraphs 86 and 87 and that paragraph 123 could be amended to included a comment regarding gated developments. He advised that the paragraph regarding travel plans would be emphasised and that the document was on the NHDC website and people would be directed to this. He concluded by stating that more emphasis was being placed on the sense of place, character etc than previously and that this document would not only give guidance to developers but would give Development Control more strength when considering applications. RESOLVED: That the Local Development Framework Manager be requested to make the following amendments to the Local Development Framework: Design Supplementary Planning Document: PAGE 4 - 1.4 FORMAT - Paragraph 21 Emphasise the weight which will be given to the contents of the checklist when considering an application for a new development; PAGE 16 - DESIGN STANDARDS PARAGRAPH 123 That paragraph 123 be amended to include reference to gated developments. PAGE 17 - TRAVEL PLANS PARAGRAPH 134 That the emphasis on the need for travel plans be strengthened. RECOMMENDED TO CABINET: That, subject to the amendments above being incorporated in the final document, the Local Development Framework: Design Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) is supported by Overview and Scrutiny Committee and should be adopted at the earliest opportunity. REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to effectively scrutinise the Local Development Framework Design Supplementary Documents. |
Agreed | Local Development Framework Manager |
|
13 |
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK - CORE STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT POLICIES DEVELOPMENT PLAN DOCUMENTS - REVISED CONSULTATION The Chairman had previously announced that this item had been withdrawn from the agenda (Minute 7 refers). |
Noted | ||
14 |
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2011/12 Report Appendix A The Strategic Director of Planning, Housing and Enterprise presented the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2011/2012. He advised that information and decisions from each meeting would be added to the Work Programme and drew attention to the following aspects: TASK AND FINISH TOPICS The Strategic Director of Planning, Housing and Enterprise informed Members that the following topics had been considered in the previous Civic Year for Task and Finish Groups: - Review of E-Benefits - Review of the Joint Member Panel - Streamlining the use of I.T. The following topics were additionally suggested: - Project Boards, mechanisms and methods of operation - Consultations Arrangements, the use of consultants, value for money and control - Customer Services, the processing of queries Members considered that a list of task and finish groups completed in the last 5 years would be useful and were asked to consider subjects for the next Task and Finish Group and were asked to email the Committee Clerk with suggestions. The Chairman was concerned that future Task and Finish Groups completed their work whilst the subject was still relevant and recommended that there be 3 types of Task and Finish Groups - Half Day - Full Day, this could be timed to take place in the afternoon and evening - Longer Term, with a time limit of 8 - 10 weeks PORTFOLIO HOLDER PRESENTATIONS Members agreed that the Portfolio Holder for Finance and I.T. be invited to attend the meeting of this Committee due to be held on 19 July 2011; FORWARD PLAN Members reviewed the Forward Plan and agreed that this should continue to be included in the Work programme in future. RESOLVED: (1) That Members consider subjects suitable for Task and Finish Groups and email these suggestions to the Committee Clerk by 5pm on Monday 13 June 2011; (2) That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to invite the Portfolio Holder for Finance and I.T. to present to this Committee at the meeting due to be held on 20 September 2011; (3) That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to present a list of Task and Finish Groups that have been completed in the last 5 years to the next meeting of the Committee due to be held on 19 July 2011; (4) That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to include the most recent version of the Draft Forward Plan in all future Work Programme reports. REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to plan and carry out its workload efficiently and effectively. |
Agreed | Scrutiny Officer |
|
15 |
MEMBERS QUESTIONS Councillor David Billing had asked the following questions. (A) Supervising Architect - North Hertfordshire Museum and Community Facility project "Why was the period for advertising in the Official Journal of the European Union the post of "Supervising Architect" for the North Hertfordshire Museum and Community Facility, not built into the project timetable initially? Could earlier advertising have enabled that part of the procurement to have been carried out in parallel with other tasks, rather than adding 160 days to the programme? Are there any other procurement processes for the project that will have to be extended for OJEU advertising? Why does the project plan show already show a year to tender the main contract?" The Strategic Director of Customer Services provided the following verbal response: The period for advertising the post of Supervising Architect had not been included as officers had been asked to submit a projection illustrating the shortest possible timescale. This was referred to in the project plan and risk log for the project considered by Council. Earlier advertising was not feasible as until 31 March, Community Builders had required a signed Development Agreement to be in place and this work had to be prioritised and completed before funding for the project could be confirmed. Councillor Billing expressed concern that alternative plans had not been made to take into account the possibility of OJEU approval. The Strategic Director of Customer Services advised that it was important to view processes in context. There had been a 3 month period during which all paperwork and applications for planning permission, listed building and conservation area consent had to be completed and until the Development Agreement had been completed there had been no guarantee of funding. Ordinarily, Development Agreements of this sort would typically take in the region of 12 months to complete. The Strategic Director confirmed that there was a further OJEU procurement for construction and that this was incorporated within the project plan. (B) Closure of Hitchin Town Hall during main contract works for the North Hertfordshire Museum and Community Facility project "Is it the case that the Hitchin Town Hall will be closed significantly in advance of the start of the main contract works on site for the North Hertfordshire Museum and Community Facility?" The Strategic Director of Customer Services provided the following verbal response: There would not be a significant gap between the closure of the Town Hall and the start of the development. Details of this were being finalised and hirers would be advised as a matter of urgency. Councillor Billing asked whether there were any other consequences or risks relating to the completion date of December 2013 and expressed concern that extending the closure period would result in hirers not being retained. The Strategic Director advised that the consequences for NHDC were that for every year that the project is not completed the Council would forego £160,000 of savings. It was more difficult to define the effect on the retention of hirers, however work was being undertaken to retain them and mitigate other risks in partnership with Hitchin Town Hall Ltd. |
Noted |