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

Items
No. Item

2.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Minutes:

2.1There were no declarations of interests.

 

3.

JOS/19/14 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 19 AUGUST 2019 pdf icon PDF 199 KB

Minutes:

3.1             The minutes of the meeting held on the 19 of August 2019 be confirmed and signed as a true record with the follow amendment:

 

Paragraph 9.45: ‘agreed’ to be replaced with ‘discussed’

 

4.

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

Minutes:

4.1             None received.

 

5.

QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC

To consider questions from and provide answers 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 Procedures Rules.

Minutes:

5.1                 None received.

 

6.

QUESTIONS BY COUNCILLORS

To consider questions from and provide answers 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:

6.1             None received.

 

 

8.

JOS/19/16 COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY (CIL) EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK REVIEW pdf icon PDF 404 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

8.1             Councillor Clive Arthey, Cabinet Member for Planning and Member of the CIL Member Working Group, introduced the report and outlined the main points of the report.  He then welcomed the witnesses to the Committee.  The witnesses were:

 

·       Robin Morley – Parish Councillor for Cockfield Parish Council

·       James Cutting – Head of Planning at Suffolk Country Council

·       Daniel Turner – Representative for the Clinical Commissioning Group – Health

·       Chris Crisell – Representative for Clinical Commissioning Group

·       Steve Holman – Representative for Network Rail

·       Clive Arthey – Member of the CIL Member Working Group

 

8.2              Robin Morley, Parish Councillor for Cockfield Parish Council outlined the amount of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding applied for and received for Cockfield Parish Council. He said the village had already spent all the Section 106 received.  He detailed the various projects which had been funded by CIL and how they had benefitted the community.  The total amount of funding applied for during the last few years were approximately £58,000. It had been possible to apply for this funding as the village had grown by nearly 20% due to new developments.

 

8.3              In response to Councillor Mellen’s question, Mr Morley clarified the different funding streams which made the collective sum of £58,000 being a combination of Section 106, CIL, funding from Babergh District Council and the Cockfield Parish Council.

 

8.4              Councillor Arthey recommended that any community applying for funding should contact the CIL team at the District Council as they had been supportive and provided useful advice.  He stated that in his role as a Cabinet Member, he would like to congratulate Christine Thurlow and her team for the work they had undertaken for the CIL funding scheme and the current review.

 

8.5              James Cutting – Head of Planning for Suffolk County Council detailed the work he undertook. He explained the programme projects and the department’s work with business developers and other stakeholders.  He explained how funding was allocated and that the department advised stakeholders on how to spend the funding provided.  He was mindful that the application process for schools did not become too cumbersome. CIL and Section 106 funding were part of a variety of funding available to schools.

 

8.6              Councillor Grandon enquire whether CIL could be spent on additional items on top of Government funding or if the funding could only be used on essential projects. Mr Cutting responded that fundamental expenditure was part of the education funding. However, additional resources were often required to maintain schools and CIL could form a part of such projects.

8.7              In response to Councillor Field’s concern for Section 106 funding and CIL, Tom Barker, Assistant Director for Planning and Communities, provided a brief clarification of CIL and Section 106 funding, the application process and the funding options.

 

8.8              Councillor Mansel enquired how academies applied for CIL funding, since they were no longer under SCC. In response Mr Cutting responded that SCC still maintained a strategic function in the area, which made it possible to identify specific  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

7.

JOS/19/15 WASTE COLLECTION ROUTE CHANGES JULY 2019 pdf icon PDF 581 KB

Minutes:

7.1             The Corporate Manager – Waste Services, introduce the Report and detailed how the change of waste bin collection routes had been implemented.  He advised Members that after the first week of the route changes, calls to the customer Service Centre had resume to normal levels. 

 

7.2              In response to Councillor Welham’s question the Corporate Manager for Waste Services responded that lessons had been learnt for any future route changes.  He added that the teams involved had work hard to ensure that the implementation of the new bin collection routes were executed as smoothly as possible.

 

7.3              Councillor Grandon thought that that the report had been clear and was well written.  She had received no complaints from her ward despite that refuse collection days had changed. 

 

7.4              Several Members suggested that recycling stickers or leaflets for recycling material were distributed to households again.  However, the Corporate Manager for Waste Services explained that cost had to be considered in relation to the benefits achieved for such projects.  He added that nationally recycling processes varied across authorities but that in Suffolk the recycling processes were consistent between authorities.

 

7.5              Councillor McCraw enquired if there was a method of feedback from the Waste Service collection crews, as waste collection in one street had been completely missed.  The Corporate Manager for Waste Services responded that SERCO collected and managed feed-back from the Waste Collection Service Teams and provided data sets of collections to the Councils.

 

7.6              Members discussed the method for logging missed bin collections and how the Call System was collecting data.  Suggestions were made for a call-back to customers, who had been unable to get through to the call-centre.

 

7.7              Members also queried if the vehicles were fit for purpose and if extra vehicles and crews had been used during the route changing period, which was confirmed by the officer.

 

7.8              Councillor Mansel thought that there had been a missed opportunity for informing resident of how to recycle, as 65,000 residents had received a leaflet regarding route changes. She sought that recycling information could have been included in this despatch. 

 

7.9              The Corporate Manager for Waste Services explained that it had been considered to send a leaflet to all residents, however it had been decided that the benefit of sending information to all 84,000 residents was outweighed by cost of the distribution.

 

7.10           Councillor Adrian Osborne stated that contaminated recycling bins were an issue in Sudbury and that the Waste Collection Service collection teams dealt with these issues well.

 

7.11           Councillor Muller queried several issues including that the residents had no confidence that the content of the recycling bins was recycled as some crews had collected recycling waste in the refuse collections.

 

7.12           It was clarified that collection crews had not been encouraged to tip recycling waste into the refused collections, and that this would be discussed with SERCO.

 

7.13           Councillor Caston felt that there had not been a huge disruption and that it should be remembered that the route changes had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

10.

FORTHCOMING DECISIONS LIST

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

 

Please note the most up to date version can be found via the Website:

 

Forthcoming Decisions List

 

Paper copies will be available at the meeting.

 

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Forthcoming Decisions List be noted.

 

9.

JOS/19/17 INFORMATION BULLETIN pdf icon PDF 362 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.

 

This Information Bulletin contains updates on the following subjects:

 

Review of the impact and implementation of Universal Credit and its effect on Income Management within the Babergh and Mid-Suffolk Housing Service

 

 

Minutes:

 

9.1             Councillor Jan Osborne briefly introduced the Information Bulletin, summarising the information provided and updating Members on recent developments.

 

9.2              The Corporate Manager for Tenant Services explained that the reduction in voids was working well and that it had been a team effort to achieve this.  However, as the number of claimants increased there would be continued challenges for the team to deal with.

 

9.3              Members disused the Information Bulletin and Councillor McCraw suggested that unless there were any changes in voids that no further reports be submitted to the committee.

 

It was RESOLVED:-

 

That no further Information Bulletin updates be submitted to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee unless there are any significant changes in Voids

 

11.

JOS/19/18 BABERGH OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 428 KB

To agree the Work Plan

Minutes:

1.1          Members discussed agenda item 11 and 12.

 

1.2           Councillor Ayres updated the Committee on the work of the Gipsy and Traveller steering group. The representatives would bring updates to the Committee in the future.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Babergh Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan be noted.

 

 

12.

JOS/19/19 MID SUFFOLK OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 430 KB

To agree the Work Plan

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan be noted.