Agenda and minutes

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

The following substitution was declared:

Councillor David Roach for Councillor Sarah Stamp.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Paula Fox, Richard Rout, Clive Springett, Sarah Stamp and Frank Warby.

Councillors Simon Brown and Anthony Williams were also unable to attend.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2018 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2018, were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

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 she attended the Joint Executive (Cabinet) Committee on 24 July 2018, and presented the Committee’s report on items it considered on 11 July 2018, which was noted.

She also informed the Committee that the Apex Report had been deferred from the September meeting, and would now be presented to the Members on 9 January 2019 when the Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture would also be in attendance to give her annual update.

Report No: OAS/SE/18/025

[Councillor Robin Pilley arrived at 4.08pm]

The Committee was reminded that on 8 November 2017, it had received a presentation from the Cabinet Member for Operations, 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/18/025 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 Peter Stevens thanked the Committee for the questions submitted, as set out in the report.

The Committee asked a number of follow-up questions relating to EU Regulations on waste; the Haverhill Waste Transfer Station; play areas and procurement; cemeteries (including headstone topple testing; closed churchyards; grave ownership/transfers and the 1977 Cemeteries Order); bring-sites, and RingGo payments for car parking, to which comprehensive responses were provided.

In particular a detailed discussion was held on Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE).  The Chairman asked whether the Council had questioned the Department for Transport on why it would not be processing the application to transfer CPE responsibilities to Local Authorities in Suffolk in 2018.

In response the Cabinet Member shared his disappointment that progress was not being made quicker, and suggested a letter from the Committee to local Members of Parliament might help in sharing the Councils  and the Committee’s frustration.  The Service Manager (Property) explained that our local Members of Parliament were meeting with Jesse Norman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Transport on Wednesday 13 September to discuss CPE.  Also the Suffolk Public Sector Leaders Group were meeting on Friday 14 September who would also be discussing this issue further. 

The Chairman agreed to write to the Department for Transport and our local Members of Parliament setting out the Committees concerns including emphasising the lack of CPE to our residents. 

Detailed discussions were also held on play areas.  In particular when new play areas were installed that litter bins should automatically be included.  In response, officers advised that at most of the refurbished play areas, litter bins were already in place outside of the play area.  Councillor Hopfensperger suggested that there should be a policy when installing new play grounds, that litter bins should be included as part of the specification to be located outside the play area.  The Chairman concurred with the suggestion and asked the Service Manager (Operations, Leisure and Culture) whether he could look into this further.

In response to a questioned raised relating to deaths recorded each year and how many were buried; cremated, members were informed that the current ratio was 70% cremation and 30% burial using predicted death rates.

The Cabinet Member thanked the Committee for the opportunity to answer questions, and reminded members that officers were always available outside of meetings to answer any questions.

The Chairman on behalf  ...  view the full minutes text for item 253.

Report No: OAS/SE/18/026

The Committee received Report No: OAS/SE/18/026, which asked Members to peruse the Decisions Plan for the period 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019, on items it would like further information on or might benefit from the Committee’s involvement.

The Committee considered the Decisions Plan and did not request any further information on items contained in the Plan.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019 Decisions Plan.

Report No: OAS/SE/18/027

The Committee received Report No: OAS/SE/18/027, which informed Members on forthcoming decisions to be considered by the Shadow Executive (Cabinet) for the period 1 September 2018 to 6 May 2019.

The Committee considered the Shadow Executive (Cabinet) Decisions Plan and did not request any further information on items contained in the Plan.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the 1 September 2018 to 6 May 2019 Decisions Plan.

Report No: OAS/SE/18/028

The Committee received Report No: OAS/SE/18/028, which updated Members on the current status of its rolling work programme of items for scrutiny during 2018-2019 (Appendix 1).

The report also requested that Members identify questions they would like the Cabinet Member for Planning and Growth to cover on 7 November 2018.

The Committee considered Appendix 1, and at the time of the meeting had not identified any questions they wished to put to the Cabinet Member for Planning and Growth, but would submit questions following this meeting to the Democratic Services Officer (Scrutiny) by Friday 28 September 2018.

Finally, the Chairman reminded Members of the Extraordinary Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 31 October 2018, when the Suffolk County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Rural Affairs would be attending.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the update.