Agenda item

Report number: COU/WS/20/013

 

A.      Referrals from Cabinet: 21 July 2020

 

There are no referrals emanating from the Cabinet meeting held on 21 July 2020.

 

B.      Referrals from Cabinet: 22 September 2020

 

(These referrals have been compiled before the meeting of Cabinet on 22 September 2020 and are based on the recommendations contained within each of the reports listed below.  Any amendments made by the Cabinet to the recommendations within these reports will be notified to members in advance of the meeting accordingly.)

 

1.       Annual Financial Resilience Report (2019-2020)

          Portfolio holder: Councillor Sarah Broughton

 

2.       Financial Resilience Report – June 2020

          Portfolio holder: Councillor Sarah Broughton

 

3.       West Suffolk Local Plan Draft Issues and Options documents – approval for public consultation

          Portfolio holder: Councillor David Roach

Council considered the referrals report of recommendations from Cabinet, as contained within report number: COU/WS/20/008.

 

A.      Referrals from Cabinet: 21 July 2020

 

Members noted that there were no referrals emanating from the Cabinet meeting held on 21 July 2020.

 

B.      Referrals from Cabinet: 22 September 2020

 

Following the publication of the agenda and papers for the Cabinet meeting held on 22 September 2020, which took place before the meeting was held, the Chair confirmed that no changes had been made to the recommendations contained in the referral report.

 

1.      Annual Financial Resilience Report (2019-2020)

 

Approval was sought for the Annual Financial Resilience Report (2019-2020).

 

Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council.

 

In response to a question regarding the recent cancellation of a Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee (PASC) meeting, which was largely due to Ernst and Young, the external auditors being unable to produce its ‘2019-2020 Annual Results Report to those Charged with Governance’ report within the necessary timescale, Members were informed that it was disappointing. However, regular contact was being made with Ernst and Young regarding the current position and a report would be presented to the next PASC meeting on 19 November 2020 alongside its ‘Annual Audit Letter 2019-2020’.

 

On the motion of Councillor Broughton, seconded by Councillor Ian Houlder, it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was

 

Resolved:

 

That the Annual Financial Resilience Report (2019-2020), as contained in Report number: FRS/WS/20/001, be approved.

 

2.      Financial Resilience Report (June 2020)

 

Approval was sought for the Financial Resilience Report for the first quarter of the 2020 financial year.

 

Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council.

 

On the motion of Councillor Broughton, seconded by Councillor Sara Mildmay-White, it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was

 

Resolved:

 

That the Financial Resilience Report (June 2020), as contained in Report number: FRS/WS/20/002, be approved.

 

 

3.      West Suffolk Local Plan Draft Issues and Options documents – approval for public consultation

 

Approval was sought for the West Suffolk Local Plan Issues and Options documents for public consultation.

 

The Local Plan was important in supporting delivery of the Council’s strategic priorities and essential for the continuation of an effective planning service.  In addition, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act, (2004), required local planning authorities to prepare and keep an up-to-date Local Plan.

 

The new West Suffolk Local Plan would plan for the period to 2040 which aligned with local plans being produced by neighbouring authorities. The Issues and Options Local Plan consultation was the first of several rounds of public consultation in the local plan preparation process.

 

The Issues and Options document had three main parts, namely:

 

Part one:     spatial vision

Part two:      local issues

Part three:   settlement profile

 

Each part was summarised in paragraph 2.3 of Report number: CAB/WS/20/057 (attached as Appendix 1 to the referrals report), with the full parts contained in Appendix A. 

 

Councillor David Roach, Portfolio Holder for Local Plan Development and Delivery, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council, including that subject to approval, public consultation on the draft Issues and Options Local Plan and supporting documents would be undertaken for ten weeks from Tuesday 13 October to Tuesday 22 December 2020. The proposed engagement programme would involve a range of methods, the majority of which were set out in paragraph 4.3 of the Cabinet report.

 

A number of issues were raised during the discussion, including:

 

·         requesting that the consultation reached as many stakeholders, parish councils, organisations, groups and individuals as possible, especially during the current Covid-19 crisis. Recognition was given to the importance of member engagement within their own wards, which included encouraging parish councils to actively engage within their own communities. While Government Covid-19 safety guidelines needed to be adhered to, this would support efforts in trying to achieve a good response rate from the wider community;

 

·         the complexities and challenges faced in Brandon, which was principally due to the significant environmental constraints which presently prevented substantial housing growth in this location. A meeting was being sought with Natural England to discuss the specific environmental constraints and whether compromises could be reached;

 

·         the methods used for recording consultation responses and ensuring that the handling of personal data complied with data protection regulations;

 

·         that new homes should comply with national minimum space standards; and

 

·         ensuring typographical errors within the draft Issues and Options documents were identified and rectified as part of the development of the final versions prior to adoption.

 

Councillor Roach duly responded to questions raised, reiterating that the consultation would be carried out for an extended period and new methods of non-contact engagement were being implemented to try and reach as many as possible. He thanked members for attending the workshops which had helped shape the draft Issues and Options documents, and thanked Planning Policy officers for their sterling efforts in reaching this first stage of the local plan process.

 

These sentiments were echoed by the Chair.

 

On the motion of Councillor Roach, seconded by Councillor Patrick Chung, it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was

 

Resolved:

 

That:

1.       the West Suffolk Local Plan Issues and Options documents be approved for public consultation, as set out in Appendix A to Report number: CAB/WS/20/057; and

 

2.       delegated authority be given to the Service Manager (Strategic Planning) to make minor non-material consequential changes to the documents as necessary.

 

(Councillor Houlder left the meeting during consideration of this item.)