Agenda and minutes

Izzi Hurst requested a nomination for Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

It was proposed by Councillor Purser, seconded by Councillor Topgood and resolved that Councillor Miscandlon be elected Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel for the Municipal Year.

It was proposed by Councillor Miscandlon and seconded by Councillor Bristow that Councillor Hay be nominated as Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel for the Municipal Year.

Councillor Miscandlon asked if there were any other nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

It proposed by Councillor Booth and seconded by Councillor Cornwell that Councillor Yeulett be nominated as Vice-Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Panel for the Municipal Year.

A vote was taken which resulted in the need for a casting vote by the Chairman for this Item, Councillor Miscandlon, resulting in Councillor Hay being appointed Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel for the Municipal Year.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting of 18 March 2019.

The minutes of the meeting of 18 March 2019 were confirmed and signed, subject to the following amendments;

1.    Councillor Booth asked that Minute Number OSC45/18 point 16, be amended to reflect that Clarion had mentioned that they have grant funding for community groups available and are keen to promote this across the district.

Councillor Miscandlon proposed that the ratification of the Previous Minutes be deferred as only Councillor Booth was present at the meeting of 18 March 2019.

Following advice from Carol Pilson (Monitoring Officer), members agreed to ratify the minutes of the meeting of 18 March 2019.

Members to receive an update on the previous meeting’s Action Plan.

There were no updates provided to members in relation to actions raised at the previous meetings.

Councillor Booth highlighted that there was an outstanding action from the previous Municipal Year regarding Contact Centre Statistics. Izzi Hurst agreed to follow up the response for this action.

Izzi Hurst informed members that she would suitably capture any actions raised during this meeting and include them in the action plan for future meetings.

To update Overview and Scrutiny on the performance and activity of the Planning Service in 2018/19.

Members considered the 2018/19 Planning Service Annual Review, presented by Councillor Mrs Laws and Nick Harding.

Councillor Mrs Laws highlighted that Planning is a key service within the Council enabling both housing growth and regeneration. She stated that the report being considered today includes key statistics and a broader content of the service, following feedback from the Overview and Scrutiny Panel last year.

Nick Harding informed members that there were two minor amendments to the report as follows;

·         Paragraph 5.12 the second bullet point should read; 96% of minor applications decided within 8 weeks (or within alternative extension of time agreement) – Government Target is 70%

·         Paragraph 5.13 refers to ‘both councils’ and should only refer to Fenland District Council.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows;

1.    Councillor Yeulett asked what the biggest challenges are faced by the Planning Service. Councillor Mrs Laws explained that the Local Plan Review will involve a great deal of work with multiple outside bodies and organisations.

2.    Councillor Mrs Laws confirmed that the Council will be visiting all Town and Parish Councils to present the review to them. She highlighted the importance of consulting and working with them, developers and Internal Drainage Boards as they will all form part of the review.

3.    Nick Harding reiterated that the Local Plan review is the largest piece of work within the planning service currently. He explained that Local Authorities are under increasing pressure to improve the delivery of development and serious consideration needs to be given to this in the future.

4.    Councillor Yeulett asked if the planning service has the staffing capacity to cope with this impending work. Nick Harding confirmed that they had as the Council will be using the services of Peterborough City Council’s planning policy team to assist. The team have a wealth of knowledge in this area.

5.    Councillor Booth asked if there is staffing capacity within the planning service to cope with the day-to-day workload, aside from the Local Plan Review. He highlighted that previously there had been recruitment issues within the team. Nick Harding highlighted the improvements from the previous year’s statistics and confirmed that the service has less agency staff now following a successful recruitment drive. He explained that staff shortages are the nature of the job market however the Council have recently recruited new members of staff, including potential candidates for apprenticeships within the planning service.

6.    Councillor Booth suggested that officers provide tangible statistics in the future to show members the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff working within the service and where there are vacancies in the team.

7.    Councillor Booth asked for clarification on the validation statistics provided on page 10 of the agenda pack as he has heard varying statistics during recent seminars and meetings. Nick Harding agreed to look in to this further.

8.    Carol Pilson highlighted that often these statistics fluctuate as they can change daily. She confirmed that the team are working with developers and  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC5/19

The Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report reflects what has been undertaken and achieved by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee during 2018/19 and takes a forward look at the programme of work and challenges for the Overview and Scrutiny in 2019/2020.

Members considered the Draft Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report.

Members asked questions, made comments and received response as follows;

1.    Councillor Cornwell queried whether members were in a position to approve the report as they were not members of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel the last Municipal Year.

2.    Councillor Booth explained that this report is considered as a backward look on the progress of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel. He did suggest that the previous Chairman’s name, Councillor Boden, be included on the report to reflect his past contribution.

3.    Councillor Booth highlighted a formatting error with the bullet points on page 27 of the agenda pack, point 5.6.

4.    Councillor Booth asked that point 5.25 and 5.26 referencing the Economic Development Review (page 29 of the agenda pack) be merged and incorporated into one point.

Proposed by Councillor Booth, seconded by Councillor Miscandlon and AGREED;

3.1       To approve the annual report for forwarding to Council.

To consider the Draft Work Programme for Overview & Scrutiny Panel 2019/20.

Members considered the draft Future Work Programme 2019-2020.

Member asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows;

1.    Councillor Booth asked that members invite Councillor Tierney to a future meeting to discuss his portfolio; Transformation and Communication as this is a new portfolio.

2.    Izzi Hurst confirmed that the Wisbech 2020 agenda item is to be moved to a meeting date later in the year.

3.    Councillor Bristow noted a future agenda item referencing Wisbech 2020 and Wisbech Rail Update. He asked an item be included in a future meeting informing members of updates in relation to the other town’s Railway Stations.

4.    Councillor Cornwell asked if an item could be included in relation to a review of the Freedom Leisure contract. Sam Anthony confirmed that the contract had started in December 2018 so this would be best placed in December’s meeting.

5.    Councillor Booth asked if the Clarion review scheduled for the meeting on 20 April 2020 be moved to an earlier meeting date to allow members to assess earlier if there are any ongoing heating issues during the winter months.

6.    Councillor Cornwell asked if the Overview and Scrutiny Panel could consider an item in regards to the relationship between Fenland District Council and the Town and Parish Councils. Councillor Miscandlon highlighted that this may be difficult due to the number of town and parish councils. He agreed to consider this item.

7.    It was agreed that Councillor Miscandlon, Anna Goodall and Izzi Hurst would arrange a meeting to discuss the Future Work Programme.