The Chairman of the Council, the Chairman of Committees and Sub-Committees and Portfolio Holders to answer any questions on any matters in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affect the District of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.
Minutes:
123.1 The following questions were received in accordance with Council procedure Rule 12 of the Constitution:-
Question 1
Councillor Eburne to Councillor Nick Gowrley (answered by Councillor Whitehead in Councillor Gowrley’s absence)
1. In December 2014, a £3.35 million transformation challenge award was provided by Government to Suffolk. How has this been spent across Suffolk, what amount spent in Mid Suffolk and what on?
Response:
Thank you for your question. Just under £2.5m has been spent or committed to date. The majority of this funding has been directed to the ‘Suffolk System’ as a whole; and so Mid Suffolk has been an equal beneficiary. In answer to both this question and your next question I will email you the tables which detail exactly how these funds have been allocated.
Supplementary Question
Can all of those figures be sent out to all Members?
Response:
Yes I am committed to send the figures out on behalf of Councillor Gowrley.
Question 2
Councillor Eburne to Councillor Nick Gowrley
1. As Suffolk Public Sector Leaders Group has access to funding from Government and also from business rates pooling, how much funding is currently held as at 31 December 2017; how is this funding accounted for; and where is this reported to Mid Suffolk District councillors?
Response:
As a result of the decision made across Suffolk, since 2013/14 our Councils have taken a pooling approach to Business Rates, which has enabled us to retain several million pounds within Suffolk rather than losing it back to Government.
As at 19th January 2018, when the position was last reported to the Suffolk Public Sector Leaders, there is £2.1m available to be allocated by the Suffolk Public Sector Leaders. As I mentioned previously I will ensure that the tables for both the transformation challenge award funding and the business rate pool be circulated to all Councillors.
In addition the Leaders decided at their meeting on 19th January 2018 that a review of Suffolk Public Sector Leaders governance arrangements should be carried out. The outcome of this review is likely to also improve the mechanisms for reporting discussions and decisions of the Suffolk Public Sector Leaders to Mid Suffolk.
Supplementary Question
Councillor Eburne asked if a business rates pooling briefing for all councillors could be held including the details about both business rates and how the Suffolk Public Sectors Leaders works, she also sought clarification from Councillor Passmore as to when the next meeting of the Suffolk Public Sectors Leaders would be?
Response
Councillor Passmore in response stated that the Group’s TOR had changed over the last couple of year because of the Transformation Challenge Award and the Pooled Business Rates Fund, there was absolutely no reason why the table of grant funding shouldn’t be published and that he agreed it should be much more open and transparent.
Question 3
Councillor Matthissen to Councillor Wilshaw
1. How many private householders have we helped to downsize, and at what cost?
2. Will you respond to the Commons Communities and Local Government Committee call (report on Housing for Older People published 9/2/18) to all local councils to employ a handyman to assist elderly residents?
Response:- (In the absence of Councillor Wilshaw Councillor Whitehead gave the response)
To your first question we do not currently provide any assistance to help private householders downsize and to the second the report published by the Commons Communities and Local Government Committee makes a suggestion that the coverage of Home Improvement Agencies (HIA) should be expanded so there is access to at least one HIA with a handyperson service in each local authority area.
In our district we already have an Home Improvement Agency namely Orbit East Care & Repair that already provide a chargeable handy man service to everyone over the age of 60, or disabled or vulnerable. It can help with minor repairs and odd jobs around the home. We therefore see no current business case to employ our own handyman to assist elderly residents.
Councillor Matthissen to Councillor Whybrow
Will you publish a new timetable for Joint Local Plan production to adoption? Why have delays occurred?
Response:-
The Council will publish a new Local Development Scheme in April with a revised timetable for Joint Local Plan production through to adoption.
The current Local Development Scheme identified preparation of the draft Local Plan and consultation in the summer of 2017. Public consultation did take place in the summer of 2017 commencing on 21st August for a period of twelve weeks to 10th November.
The Councils’ public consultation was effective at this first stage of the Local Plan preparation and resulted in 13,960 comments from 1,370 respondents as reported at the recent Member training event on 8th February. This was an unexpected level of response that presents challenges which the team are working through. The timetable agreed last summer did not have sufficient time allocated to enable officers to satisfactorily address the quantum of consultation responses received. However, this level of response can only be seen as positive and a sign of good community engagement. It will aid production of a robust and mature new Joint Local Plan
The timetable for the plan is important but it is equally important that we listen to our communities and I am confident that Officers are working hard to achieve the right balance.
Member briefings are arranged for March and April to develop the next draft of the Local Plan with further public consultation expected in the summer of 2018.
Supplementary Question
Are you not willing to hazard a date about when we’ll get to adoption then?
Response
A revised scheme timetable will be published in April, the effect of this slippage will enable the councils to produce a draft submission plan that takes into account the revised National Planning Policy Framework and the governments new housing needs figures for the Councils. However the timing of those may actually alter the timing of any proposed timetable so hence it is difficult to nail down a timetable. A further regulation 18 consultation is hoped to be taking place in the summer with preferred site allocations to meet any increased housing requirements before proceeding to a draft submission plan shortly thereafter. That would result if it were to take place without any further disruption in submission of a joint Local Plan to Government in March 2019 for an examination in public some 9 months later than originally planned.
Question 5
Councillor John Matthissen to Councillor Whitehead
In what way is the Council’s adopted Investment Strategy consistent with the Government’s STATUTORY GUIDANCE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT INVESTMENTS (3rd edition)
which takes effect on April 1st 2018? In particular with reference to paragraphs 34-37
Response
Thank you for your question. If you refer to paragraph 12 of the guidance, to which you kindly sent me the link, you will see that it says:
“Strategies presented to Council or equivalent before 1 April 2018 but relating to 2018-19 and future financial years do not need to include all of the additional disclosures required by this edition of the guidance should it not prove practical or cost effective to do so. If a local authority chooses not to include the new disclosures in its 2018-19 Strategy, it must include the disclosures in full in the first Strategy presented to full Council or equivalent after 1 April 2018.”
Due to the late notification of this guidance in our Budget process and approval of our Treasury Management Strategy for 2018/19, it has not proven practical to include this information, but I will ensure that the Council complies with the disclosure requirements in the 2019/20 Strategy.
Supporting documents: