Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
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Agenda and minutes

Venue: King Edmund Chamber, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich. View directions

Contact: Henriette Holloway  01449 724681

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTES

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Sue Ayres, James Caston, John Field, Elizabeth Gibson-Harries, Lesley Mayes, Derek Osborne and Stephen Williams.

 

Councillor Dave Muller was substituting for Councillor Lesley Mayes.

 

2.

JOS/18/3 CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THE 21 MAY 2018 pdf icon PDF 235 KB

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 21 May 2018 be confirmed as a true record

3.

JOS/18/4 CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THE 28 JUNE 2018 pdf icon PDF 134 KB

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 28 June 2018 be confirmed as a true record

 

4.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interests.

5.

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

Minutes:

None received.

6.

JOS/18/5 SCOPING OF THE PRE-PLANNING APPLICATION FEE pdf icon PDF 351 KB

To scope a review of the Pre-Planning Application free introduced last year.

 

Philip Isbell – Professional Lead – Growth and Sustainable Planning

Gemma Walker – Area Planning Manager

Additional documents:

Minutes:

6.1        Councillor Ridley, Cabinet Member - Planning, introduced the item and detailed some of the responses of the attached Planning Pre-application Service Customer Questionnaire on page 15 to page 45.

 

6.2       The Professional Lead – Growth and Sustainable Planning, explained that the fee charge service for pre-planning had been in place for approximately one year and that overall the survey was positive. He said that the department was in the process to of evaluating the responses to make improvements to the service.

 

6.3       Members proceeded to complete the scoping document and asked the following to be added:

 

·       That 60% to 70% of customers were fairly satisfied with the service;

·       That the timing needed to be improved and was to be addressed in the report;

·       That the apparent difference between the advice provided at the site visits and the written advice produced by the Planning Department;

·       A request for Suffolk County Council Highways to be invited as witness to the Committee meeting;

·       A copy of the pre-application form to be attached;

·       Analysis of how many responses included other departments such as flooding and heritage;

·       The Planning Department was to invite professional agents for larger developments if possible and inform the Chairs of their attendance;

·       Investigate if customers were discouraged by having to pay a fee for pre-planning advice. The outcome was to be split between the percentage of private customers and professional agents;

·       Resource requirements in relation to site visits for householders.

7.

JOS/18/6 REVIEW OF THE SHARED LEGAL SERVICE pdf icon PDF 161 KB

A review of the Shared Legal Service following report JOS/17/2 on 18 December 2017

 

Emily Yule, Assistant Director – Law and Governance

Additional documents:

Minutes:

7.1           The Assistant Director – Law and Governance forwarded an apology on behalf of Councillor Suzie Morley, Lead Member for Organisational Communications and Organisational Delivery. 

 

7.2           She then introduced the report and pointed to the list of recommendations made by the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee in December 2017. The report included responses to the points made by the Committee in December and data on the progress on workloads, case management and arrangements for instructing the legal team.

 

7.3           A new intranet page and reinforcement of the Business Partner arrangements had also been implemented. There were still some challenges for the team such as staff recruitment and retention, which was being addressed. 

 

7.4           Members asked questions in relation to paragraph 11.6, page 73 and Appendix 2, page 81 and queried the variance between the figures.  It was agreed that an Information Bulleting for Appendix 2 be provided to the Committee.

 

7.5           Further questions were raised in relation to Paragraph 11.16, page 75, and that any contact could result in an expenditure. Members expected that relevant information received would be linked to the appropriate cases before an expenditure could be raised. The response was that the Shared Legal Service officers maintained a record for the time they spent on individual cases.  This was not recorded as an expenditure, but keep on record for possible future use.  The cost of the Service was split 60% to West Suffolk District Council and 40% to Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council. 

 

7.6           Questioning continued, and officers responded that all officers at the Shared Legal Service had access to the Case Management System and could update on the progress status on all cases.  However, it was possible to lock down access to individual cases, such as confidential and covert cases.

 

7.7           Members ask for clarification on how the cost was allocated for cases won or cases lost.  Council would receive any costs in connection with won cases and the department who raised the case would be allocated the cost for cases lost.

 

7.8           The split of the cost between the Councils was questioned further and although it was possible in the future to allocated specific costs for individual cases but it was not currently a cost-effective method of allocating costing.

 

7.9           Members asked about the key performance indicators and how long it took for cases to be completed as there was a difference between the two Councils.  This was explained as due to the judicial reviews currently being undertaken by both Councils.

 

7.10       Councillor Davies felt that the service for the Shared Legal Service had improved, and that the Website for the Service was a good indicator of this improvement.

 

7.11       The Service Manager for the Shared Legal Service said that the new management system was efficient, and the Service would be able to deal with the increasing case load and provide progress reports. The system would also enable officers to maintain detailed records and to provide information to Members in accordance with the General  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

JOS/18/7 DEVELOPMENT OF THE JOINT HOUSING STRATEGY 2018- 2036 pdf icon PDF 492 KB

Members are asked to comment and agree recommendations.

 

Robert Hobbs, Corporate Manager – Strategic Planning

Gillian Cook – Strategic Housing Officer

Additional documents:

Minutes:

8.1           Councillor Osborne, Cabinet Member – Housing, introduced the report by summarising the recent development in the Housing Strategy and that emphasis was on strong, safe and resilient communities.  Supply of housing in the future depended on corporation between key stake holders and Member involvement.  She referred to the recent Member workshop and reminded Members that further workshops were to take place, and that the final one was to be held in November.  The Housing Strategy Consultation period also ended the first week in November 2018.

 

8.2           Robert Hobbs, Corporate Manager – Strategic Planning, explained it was the legal requirement of the Councils to provide a Housing Strategy and that the focus had been on the four main issues identified in the scoping document as priority 1 to 4 (page 112 to 114). An action plan was in place for the next five years and was to be presented to the Cabinets in December 2018.

 

8.3           Councillor Welham asked questions including:

 

·       If a key development was to included energy and water efficiency;

·       That the report appeared to have too much consideration for homeownership; 

·       If the Housing Strategy was robust enough to withstand Central Government’s policy changes or flexible enough to adapt to Government policy changes;

·       Were there potential staffing implications in relation to monitoring the number of houses being completed and to the monitoring of the progress of stalled sites.

 

8.4           The Cabinet Member - Housing responded that there was no specific emphasis on homeownership, houses with affordable rent or shared Ownership in the strategy and if this was felt to be the case the report was to be amended.  The main focus was to provide the right housing in the right place and with the right tenure. She also said it was difficult to pre-empt future Government legislation, but that the Strategy was flexible enough for this.

 

8.5           Fuel and energy efficiency were included as key objectives in the document, and that solar panels were installed on Council properties.

 

8.6           Officers continued that staffing was being addressed and that the team was being restructured to progress with the demand of the Housing Strategy.

 

8.7           An allowance of £60,000 had been allocated for Mid Suffolk to work on the blockage of stalled sites and attempts had been made to fill a post to manage this project.  However, this had been unsuccessful and the engagement of a consultant for Navigus Planning had been employed to work on this project and on an on-going database with up-to date information for the sites.  It was a challenge to the right people and was not just a question of resources.

 

8.8           Councillor Osborne added that the Action Plan for the Housing Strategy would have the ability to adapt to Central Government Legislation. 

 

8.9           Members then asked about paragraph 4.5 (page 103) and that the expected increase in the population would be 21,000.

 

8.10       The Corporate Manger – Strategic Planning, responded he would provide the information outside the Committee.

 

8.11       Councillor Hurren generally felt the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

JOS/18/8 INFORMATION BULLETIN pdf icon PDF 111 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.

 

1.     Five-year Housing Land Supply – To follow

 

 

Minutes:

9.1           The Corporate Manager – Strategic Planning referred to the table paper ‘Information Bulletin for Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Five Year Housing Land Supply’

 

9.2           Members thanked the Planning Team for the work conducted to achieve a Five-year Housing Land Supply.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Information Bulletin be noted

10.

JOS/18/9 FORTHCOMING DECISIONS LIST pdf icon PDF 488 KB

To review the Councils’ forthcoming Decisions List and identify any items to be brought before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Forthcoming Decisions List be noted

11.

JOS/18/10 BABERGH OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 259 KB

For Members to agree

Minutes:

Members suggested topics to be added to the work plan including:

 

·       The effect of Brexit on employment opportunities in the Districts

·       Retention of staff

·       The financial strategy for Babergh District

·       Shared Service Agreements

·       Shared Revenues Partnerships

 

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Babergh Work Plan be noted

12.

JOS/18/11 MID SUFFOLK OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 152 KB

For Members to agree

Minutes:

12.1   Members discussed the work plan and if the Disability Facility Grant should be added, as there currently was underspend of 70% in Mid Suffolk District Council.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Mid Suffolk work plan be noted

 

 

13.

EXCLUSION THE PUBLIC (WHICH TERM INCLUDES THE PRESS)

To consider whether, pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public should be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the public were present during this item, it is likely that there would be the disclosure to them of exempt information as indicated against the item.

The authors of the reports proposed to be considered in Part II of the Agenda are satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

 

PART 2

Minutes:

 

 

The resolution was proposed and seconded.

 

By a unanimous vote

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12AA of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the pubic were present during this item, it is likely that there would be the disclosure of them of exempt information as indicated against the item.

 

The Committee was also satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

14.

JOS/18/12 CONFIRMATION OF THE CONFIDENTIAL MINUTE FROM THE MEETING HELD ON THE 28 JUNE 2018

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Confidential minute from the meeting held on 28 June be confirmed as a true record.