Agenda and minutes

Any Member who is substituting for another Member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant absent Member.

There were no substitutes declared.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Andrew Speed.

Councillor Anthony Williams was also not in attendence

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2018 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2018, were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.  In response to a query, the Chairman confirmed that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would expect the full set of accounts for Barley Homes to be presented when Barley Homes returned to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, hopefully in July.

Members of the public who live or work in the Borough are invited to put one question/statement of not more than 3 minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within 3 minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

There were no questions/statements from members of the public.

The Chairman advised that she attended Cabinet on 27 March 2018 and presented the Committee’s report on items it considered on 7 March 2018, focusing on the review of Barley Homes, which was noted. 

Report No: OAS/SE/18/011

The Committee was reminded that on 19 April 2017, it had received a presentation from the Cabinet Member for Families and Communities, setting out responsibilities covered under his portfolio.

At this meeting, the Cabinet Member had been invited back to provide his annual update, and Report No: OAS/SE/18/011 set out the focus of the update.

The Cabinet Member was also provided in advance of the meeting with some key questions identified by scrutiny members on areas they wished to be appraised on during the annual update, which were included in the report along with responses.

The Cabinet Member, Councillor Robert Everitt, thanked the officers in the families and communities portfolio for their work over the past year. 

Councillor Mike Chester highlighted a case in his community where a s.106 contribution was yet to be paid to the community.  Councillor Everitt acknowledged from his own understanding the challenge with the particular site but recognised general effectiveness of s.106 agreements should be addressed with Councillor Alaric Pugh, Cabinet Member for Planning and Growth.  He requested that officers provide Councillor Chester with a response in respect of the specific issue highlighted.

The Committee received assurances regarding the support provided to rough sleepers within St Edmundsbury.  Many rough sleepers had complex challenges and a multi-agency approach was required to support them.  The Chairman noted the positive work undertaken by the outreach workers.

The Committee discussed the level of engagement with health services, in particular recognising the need to ensure the health sector was engaged in local growth plans.  Examples of local good practice were highlighted, including the Haverhill Social Prescribing Scheme.

Reflecting on the Bury St Edmunds Bus Station, the Committee was pleased to note that a new tenant was due to locate to the vacant unit.  However, concern was raised at the length of time this had taken given the need to act commercially, and the Committee sought reassurance that all opportunities to secure new tenants had been taken.

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for their attendance and noted the update.

Report No: OAS/SE/18/012

It was the duty of the Committee, as the Council’s Crime and Disorder Committee designated under the Police and Justice Act 2006, to scrutinise the work of the Partnership.

The Committee received Report No: OAS/SE/18/012, which updated Members on the community safety activity in West Suffolk, including the Western Suffolk Community Safety Partnership (WSCSP) from April 2017 to March 2018.

The Chairman, Councillor Diane Hind, asked the Council Representative, Councillor Robert Everitt, to provide the Committee with further detail regarding County Lines.  It was explained that a key priority in Suffolk was to address the issue of drug running to our communities from outside of our area.  It was important to demonstrate that drug running was not tolerated in West Suffolk, and undertook preventative work to ensure a gang culture did not form in the Council’s area.  Councillor Everitt encouraged all members to support their communities in raising drug problems, and referring these to the police and the Families and Communities Officers.

Questions were asked relating to the promotion of the work of the Community Safety Partnership, and the importance of raising the profile of hidden crime.  A suggestion was made for a website presence for the Community Safety Partnership.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the report.

Report No: OAS/SE/18/013

[Councillor Sarah Stamp declared a non-pecuniary interest as the employee of a business that supported the Christmas Fayre.

Councillor Margaret Marks declared a non-pecuniary interest as a volunteer for St John’s Ambulance, which provides services to the Christmas Fayre].

The Committee received Report No: OAS/SE/18/003, which sought the establishment of a West Suffolk Joint Task and Finish Group to conduct a review into the delivery of the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre for 2019.  A joint approach was proposed since the 2019 Fayre would be run by the new single authority for West Suffolk.

The Principal Growth Officer presented the salient points of the report, highlighting the need to review the Christmas Fayre in 2019 at this time due to the extent of planning required for the event.  In response to a question raised, it was confirmed that feedback responses had been received from 581 people attending the event in 2017, and 249 responses in 2016.

Members of the Committee recognised the popularity of the Fayre and the need to provide activities that supported local businesses in the area.

Discussion was held as to the membership of the group and the importance of ensuring that rural areas and other towns were represented on the group.  However, the precise extent of involvement of Forest Heath members was carefully considered, to balance the fact that the event had historically been led by St Edmundsbury, versus the benefits from Forest Heath members giving a different perspective.  Various options were discussed including splitting the review into retrospective and forward looking elements; the former being conducted by St Edmundsbury members only and the latter being constituted by the Shadow Authority. 

To reflect the outcome of the discussion, the Chairman, Councillor Diane Hind proposed the following motion.  This was seconded by Councillor Sarah Stamp and with the vote being 8 for and 6 against, it was:

RESOLVED

That a Joint West Suffolk Task and Finish Group be established, with 6 members from St Edmundsbury’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and up to 6 members from Forest Heath’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to carry out a review of the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre and to make recommendations for 2019. 

Councillors Richard Rout, Paul Hopfensperger, Frank Warby, Margaret Marks, Susan Glossop, Diane Hind, Paula Fox and Patrick Chung had all volunteered for the group; it was therefore suggested that, whilst the above resolution stood, following the meeting, further discussion would be held with the Forest Heath Overview and Scrutiny Committee to assess their thoughts on the membership and the potential for additional members of St Edmundsbury on the group.

Report No: OAS/SE/18/014

The Committee received Report No: OAS/SE/18/014, which updated members on the current status of its rolling work programme of annual items and additional items for adoption, identified by the Committee at its scrutiny workshop helped on 7 February 2018. 

At the scrutiny workshop members were asked to pick a manageable number of new areas of work out of a total of 20 identified, alongside the previously agreed and ongoing work of the committee, for inclusion in its 2018-2019 work programme, which was attached at Appendix 1 and Appendix 1A to the report.  The Committee thanked officers for their support at the workshop.

The report also requested that Members identify questions they would like the Leader of the Council to cover as part of his overall presentation of the Draft West Suffolk Annual Report 2017-2018 on 6 June 2018.  It was agreed that members should e-mail questions to the Democratic Services Officer (Scrutiny) by Wednesday, 25 April 2018. 

Regarding the proposed review of non-idling zones, Councillor Diane Hind drew the Committee’s attention an article on transport-network.co.uk regarding signs that could be used to reduce the incidence of idling.  Members discussed matters that could be considered as part of the review including the extent to which air quality across St Edmundsbury should be considered; only encouraging stop-starting in cars designed for that purpose; the impact of traffic lights on congestion and idling outside takeaway businesses, and the ability to enforce any proposals given other challenges with traffic use. 

Councillor Diane Hind then moved the recommendation, this was duly seconded by Councillor Paul Hopfensperger and with the vote being unanimous, it was:

          RESOLVED

That the additional five items attached as Appendix 2 to Report No: OAS/SE/18/014, be adopted.