Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Democratic Services

Mobile menu icon

Agenda and minutes

Contact: Committee Services 

Items
No. Item

32.

APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTES

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Clive Arthey, Bryn Hurren, Alastair McCraw and Fenella Swan.  Councillor Sue Carpendale was substituting for Councillor Bryn Hurren and Councillor Simon Barrett was substitute for Councillor Fenella Swan .

33.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interests.

34.

BOS/17/12 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18 SEPTEMBER 2017 pdf icon PDF 215 KB

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Minutes of the meeting held on the 18 September 2017 be confirmed as a true record.

35.

TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COUNCIL'S PETITION SCHEME

Minutes:

None received.

36.

QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC

To consider questions from, and provide answer to members of the public on any matter in relation to which the Committee has powers or duties and of which due notice has been given in accordance with the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedure Rules.

 

Minutes:

None received.

37.

QUESTIONS BY COUNCILLORS

To consider questions from, and provide answer to Councillors on any matter in relation to which the Committee has powers or duties and of which due notice has been given in accordance with the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedure Rules.

Minutes:

None received.

38.

BOS/17/13 UPDATE ON JOINT SCRUTINY RECOMMENDATIONS - NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING pdf icon PDF 95 KB

To receive a progress report on the recommendations agreed by the Joint Scrutiny Committee on 19 April 2017

Minutes:

 

38.1 The Planning Consultant for Strategic Planning introduced the report and

         informed the Committee that following the review carried out by the Task and

         Finish Group to examine the Councils’ role in supporting the production of

         neighbourhood plans a number of specific actions had been agreed.

 

38.2 The Committee were being asked to review the progress of the actions in

         appendix 1 of the report. 

 

38.3 Councillor Simon Barrett asked if the Committee were happy that the right

        guidance was being given to the Groups engaged in the process?

 

38.4 In response the Planning Consultant for Strategic Planning confirmed that

        Groups were being offered 1 to 1 meetings with officers to look at how their

        emerging Neighbourhood Plans and the Joint Local Plan would work together,

        the Plans coming forward were now addressing site allocations in them.

 

38.5 The Officer also confirmed that following recommendations from the Task and

         Finish Group a recommendation for an additional post in the team to support

         the process had been approved and the recruitment process was now being

         undertaken.

 

38.6 The Planning Consultant for Strategic Planning went on to inform the committee  

        that a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was now in place with one

        Neighbourhood Planning Group with further draft MoU’s being shared with a

        number of others.

 

38.7 Councillor Gasper expressed his concerns that the parish councils were not

        able to access the information that they needed.

 

38.8 In response the Business Support Officer for Planning for Growth confirmed that

        website viewers and those making enquiries through other means were being

       directed to the My Communities website which contained information and

       resource guides that covered all aspects of neighbourhood planning, in particular

       the Neighbourhood Plans Roadmap Guide/ Roadmap Worksheets which

       contained clear and helpful guidance.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

(i)               That the Committee noted the progress of the actions from the Joint Scrutiny recommendations for Neighbourhood Planning.

 

39.

BOS/17/14 REVIEW OF WESTERN SUFFOLK COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP (WSCSP) pdf icon PDF 160 KB

To receive the annual report of the Western Suffolk Community Safety Partnership as the Committee for Crime and Disorder for Babergh District Council

Additional documents:

Minutes:

39.1 The Chair welcomed Cllr Robert Everitt, Chair of the Western Suffolk

        Community Safety Partnership and the Communities Officer for Safety to the

        Meeting.

 

39.2 The Chair delivered a short presentation on the work of the Western Suffolk

       Community Safety Partnership (WSCSP) and told the Committee that the

       WSCSP were statutorily responsible for:

 

·        Making an assessment of community safety issues

·        Producing a plan which responded to those issues

·        Reviewing and reporting on progress against that plan

·        Carrying out Domestic Homicide Reviews

 

39.3 The Chair went on to talk about the substantial costs implications and work

        burden for carrying out a domestic homicide review.

 

39.3 Councillor Gasper asked the Chair, if the Council had enough resources to deal

        with a Domestic Homicide Review?

 

39.4 In response the Chair stated that the cost and resource was shared across the

        network of partners in the WSCSP and they had coped so far, however there

        may be a need to provide additional resource if there was a rise in domestic

        homicides in the region.

 

39.5 Councillor Carpendale commented that she felt that there needed to be more

        resources provided at the business end to support those people suffering with

        mental health issues and domestic abuse to try and prevent domestic homicides

        from happening.

 

39.6 In response the Assistant Director for Communities and Public Access stated

        that an action plan was formulated by the WSCSP, however the funding from

        the Community Safety Partnership had now been transferred to the Police and

        Crime Commissioner and was administered by the Suffolk Community

        Foundation. Bids could be made for funding but this was not guaranteed.

 

39.7 Councillor Gasper asked if this funding model worked?

 

39.8 In response the Chair for the WSCSP confirmed that it did appear to work.

 

39.9 The Chair thanked Cllr Everett and the Communities Officer for the update.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

(i)               That the report be noted.

 

 

 

 

 

40.

BOS/17/15 SCOPING SUPPORTING BUSINESS GROWTH pdf icon PDF 325 KB

To undertake a scoping of the scrutiny how business rates retention could be maximised and how growth of the micro businesses could be supported

Minutes:

40.1 The Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviewed the scoping document for

        Supporting Business Growth and made the following comments: -

 

a)     Purpose of Review – Establish what plans are in place to provide as evidence and review including a copy of the draft development strategy to be provided for comment, Cabinet member to be invited to the meeting.

b)     Criteria for discretionary business rates to be provided, including information about the relief that is available and the take up rates for this relief

c)     Witnesses to be called- Invite representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, Representatives from industry and small business to be invited to the meeting.

 

40.2 The Committee requested that the scoping document be updated with the

        comments above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

41.

BOS/17/16 INFORMATION BULLETIN pdf icon PDF 153 KB

The Information bulletin is a document that is made available to the public with the published agenda papers.  It can include update information requested by the Committee as well as information that a service considers should be made known to the Committee.

 

The Information Bulletin contains updates on the following subject:

 

1.     Update on the scoping exercise for Public Realm Transformation Project with the Corporate Manager for Countryside and Public Realm

 

Minutes:

The Information Bulletin is a document that is made available to the public with the published agenda papers.  It can include update information requested by the committee as well as information that is service considers should be made known to the Committee.

 

This Information Bulletin contains updates on the following subjects:

 

Update on the Scoping Exercise for Public Realm Transformation Project

 

41.1 The final report has now been received from WYG, with Senior Leadership

        Team having a first look on the 11th October 2017, the report has also been

        shared with Cabinet members. The intention is to bring the Public Realm  

        Transformation Task and Finish Group back together to finish their role.

 

41.2 There will be a pre-scrutiny around future delivery options once a firm date has

         been received from the Task and Finish Group this will inform the timetable for

         review in the New Year.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

(i)               That the report be noted.

42.

BOS/17/17 FORTHCOMING DECISIONS LIST pdf icon PDF 144 KB

To review the Council’s Forthcoming Decisions List and identify any items to be brought before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Minutes:

42.1 Councillors requested that the Future Options for the Headquarters site be

        scrutinised.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

(i)               That the report be noted

43.

BOS/17/18 FORWARD PLAN pdf icon PDF 149 KB

To agree the Forward Plan

 

Minutes:

43.1 The Committee requested that the CIL item be deferred until the December

        Meeting.

 

43.2 The Committee also requested that a Joint Scrutiny be undertaken to review the

         the cost of the move to Endeavour House and the impact on staff. This item to

         be scheduled in three months after the move is completed.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

(i)               That the above requests be noted and the Forward Plan updated accordingly.

44.

BOS/17/19 MSDC OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY FORWARD PLAN pdf icon PDF 147 KB

For information.

Minutes:

44.1 Councillors discussed the MSDC Forward Plan and suggested that the CIL item

        scheduled for November be deferred until the joint meeting in December.

 

44.2 Other topics for joint discussion include reviewing the cost of the move to

        Endeavour House. This should be scheduled on the Forward Plan three months

        after the move is completed.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

(i)               That the report be noted.