Agenda for Forest Heath Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday 11 January 2018, 6.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, District Offices, College Heath Road, Mildenhall, Suffolk IP28 7EY

Contact: Christine Brain  Email: christine.brain@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

195.

Substitutes

Minutes:

There were no substitutes declared.

196.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Rona Burt and David Palmer.

197.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 211 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2017 (copy attached).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2017, were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

198.

Public Participation

Members of the public who live or work in Forest Heath 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.

 

 

Minutes:

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

199.

Announcements from the Chairman regarding responses of the Cabinet to reports of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and any other updates from the Chairman

Minutes:

The Chairman attended Cabinet on 12 December 2017, and presented the Committee’s report on items it considered on 9 November 2017, which was noted.

200.

Annual Presentation by the Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture pdf icon PDF 276 KB

Report No: OAS/FH/18/001

 

The Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture has been invited to the meeting to provide an annual account on his portfolio and to answer questions from the Committee.

 

 

Minutes:

The Committee was reminded that on 12 January 2017, it had received a presentation from the Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, setting out responsibilities covered under her portfolio.

 

At this meeting, the Cabinet Member had been invited back to provide his annual update, and Report No: OAS/FH/18/001 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, specifically:

 

1)    Rural Communities: What proposals does the Portfolio Holder have to ensure leisure and culture is fully inclusive to all within Forest Heath, in particular rural communities?

 

2)    Rural Communities:  How does the Portfolio Holder propose to ensure that rural communities do not become the forgotten few?

 

3)    Rural Communities: Is there a specific leisure and culture programme for rural communities for 2018?

 

Councillor Andy Drummond opened his presentation by thanking the Committee for the invitation to update the Committee on matters concerning his Portfolio since January 2017, and welcomed the new format in providing questions in advance.  He was pleased that the Committee was interested in the subject of leisure provision in rural communities, and advised that by definition Forest Heath was categorised in DEFRA’s Rural and Urban classification system as a Rural District.  He highlighted a number of key points in response to the three specific questions highlighted above.  

 

The Committee asked follow-up questions on leisure and cultural provision in rural communities, to which comprehensive responses were provided.   Other areas discussed were the spending of S106 monies on leisure and culture, particularly for play areas; the Mildenhall museum which was run by volunteers; the Brecks Partnership and funding received for clearing the river and fen edge along the river Lark; and the early negotiations taking place with Suffolk County Council on the potential purchase of Brandon Country Park.

 

In particular discussions were held on the following:

 

1)   Renewal of play areas:  Discussions were had about the fact that play areas had a finite life and that there was a need to have some form of replacement programme to ensure that the facilities remained fir for purpose.  To standardise arrangements across West Suffolk it was proposed that the council should be asked to consider whether it would be prepared to support and fund a cyclical replacement programme as there was currently no defined budget earmarked for that purpose.

 

2)   Brandon new walk/run route: Councillor Silvester had some concerns regarding the new run/walk route and questioned the take-up as users had indicated to him, that they could not find the discs on the posts to follow the route.

 

In response the officer advised that the launch was well attended, and agreed to check the route and the location of the discs, which were a standard size on posts.  

 

3)   Parish Forums:  Discussions were held on the relationship with leisure through the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 200.

201.

Cabinet Decisions Plan: January 2018 to May 2018 pdf icon PDF 108 KB

Report No: OAS/FH/18/002

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received Report No: OAS/FH/18/002, which requested that members peruse the Cabinet Decisions Plan for the period January 2018 to May 2018, for which it would like further information on or might benefit from the Committee’s involvement.

 

The Committee considered the latest version of the Decisions Plan, and noted that a number of items in the Decisions Plans were programmed in the Committee’s forward work programme for scrutiny over the coming months.

 

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the January to May 2018 Decisions Plan.

202.

Work Programme Update pdf icon PDF 221 KB

Report No: OAS/FH/18/003

Minutes:

The Committee received Report No: OAS/FH/18/003, which updated Members on the current status of its rolling work programme of items for scrutiny during 2018 (Appendix 1).

 

The report also requested the Members identify questions they would like the Cabinet Member for Resources and Performance to cover in his annual update to the Committee on 8 March 2018.

 

The Committee considered the report and at the time of the meeting had not identified any questions they wished to put to the Cabinet Member for Resources and Performance.  Therefore, the Democratic Services Officer (Scrutiny) would email the Committee asking for questions to be submitted to her by Wednesday 17 January 2018.

 

There being no decisions required, the Committee noted the current status of its work programme. 

 

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