Agenda and minutes

(Director of Governance)  To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

It was noted that Councillor J Lea was substituting for Councillor N Avey.

To agree the notes of the meeting of the Select Committee held on 15 November 2016.

RESOLVED:

That the notes of the last meeting of the Select Committee held on 15 November 2016 be agreed.

(Director of Governance). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a pecuniary or a non-pecuniary interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 9 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a non-pecuniary interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 9 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

Councillor J H Whitehouse declared a non-pecuniary, non-prejudicial interest in the following item of the agenda by virtue of being a trustee for Epping Forest Re-use Centre.

·         Item 9 – KPI Qtr 3 progress.

(Chairman / Lead Officer) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed the Terms of Reference of this Committee. This is attached along with an ongoing work programme. Members are asked at each meeting to review both documents.

The Committee noted their Terms of Reference and Work Programme.

Councillor Sartin asked if this Committee could scrutinise the new leisure management contract as it was included in the terms of reference. Also she had received some complaints about the squash courts from the Epping Squash Club. Councillor Bedford said that as the centres were soon to be under new management it would be prudent to let them get to grips with their new facilities. Councillor Brady responded that the squash courts may have disappeared by then. Mr Macnab noted that under the contract it was agreed that the Epping Squash courts would go from 4 to 2 courts. The 2 courts taken away would be put to other uses. It would be a good idea to have the new management company come to a future meeting (sometime in September) and explain their plans.

Councillor Janet Whitehouse asked if the different services could attend a meeting and tell us about the work they did. Mr Macnab said that the first meeting of the year usually presented the Directorate’s Service Plan, so members could then prioritise what they wanted to hear about.

Councillor Sartin noted that the O&S Chairs and Vice-Chairs would be meeting to consider the work programme of the Select Committees.

Councillor Neville reported that the online booking system for users of the sports centre had been lost. Also, could the passenger transport people who oversaw the counties bus service come in to talk to us. Mr Macnab said that we would need to focus down on what we wanted to talk to them about. As for online bookings for the sports centres that would have an app to take booking. It may also be the case that with the change over, SLM did not want to take booking beyond March.

Agreed: that the Passenger Transport officers be invited to a meeting of this Select Committee to be questioned about the district’s bus service. However the Committee would need to focus down to what exactly they would wish to question them about.

Councillor Lea asked if the land drainage people could be invited to come again at the end of the year especially due to the local plan. Mr Macnab said this could be arranged for sometime after January 2018.

Agreed: to invite the Land Drainage Officers to a later meeting of the Select Committee (in the new calendar year).

(Director of Neighbourhoods) to consider the attached report.

The Interim Assistant Director (Forward Planning) introduced the report on the government’s consultation on the Housing White paper. The White Paper provided an analysis of the issues and challenges facing both the delivery of and access to housing.  The document comprised a range of 'proposals' which were the subject of consultation and issues on which it was seeking comment.  It also provided a range of questions for comment.  The questions posed have formed the basis of the suggested response to the consultation, which was attached to the report.

The White Paper covered four key areas as follows:

·      Planning for the right homes in the right places,

·      Building homes faster,

·      Diversifying the market; and

·      Helping people now.

At this stage many of the proposals carried no firm commitment to implement, as drafted.  They would be considered further having reviewed the responses made to this consultation. Some proposals would require changes to regulation, whilst some would require amendments to national policy, including to the National Planning Policy Framework. (NPPF).

Some of the matters raised in the White Paper had already been taken into account in developing the Council’s Draft Local Plan, in part because they related to good practice in planning for places or because, as can be seen from the detailed response by officers, these were matters that EFDC already consider to be clear within the NPPF.  There were, however, a number of proposals which were likely to have implications for the development of the Council’s Local Plan, depending on the outcome of the consultations and any subsequent changes to the NPPF.

It had been announced in the White Paper that planning application fees would be increased by 20% from July 2017 if local authorities committed to investing the additional fee income in their planning department.  Many of the proposals were out on consultation and were reported to the Cabinet on 9 March 2017. It was reported that: “The service is anticipated to have a net cost to the Council of approximately £400,000 in both 2016/17 and 2017/18.  If fees were to be increased from July 2017 this would be likely to generate additional income in 2017/18 of £150,000.  As this income would have to be spent on planning functions there would not be any reduction in the net cost of the service but an enhanced service could be provided.”

It was therefore recommended that as part of the response to DCLG on the White Paper that the following was submitted:

‘The Council welcomes the increase in planning application fees and is committed to spending the additional income on planning functions.  However, EFDC wish to advise that the increase in planning application fees would be insufficient to cover the current cost of the Development Control Service.  Therefore, whilst the additional fee income would support an enhancement of the Service at no extra cost to Council Tax payers, those payers are part funding and will continue to, part fund the service even though the majority of them do not use the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) to consider the attached report.

The Interim Assistant Director (Forward Planning), Alison Blom-Cooper introduced the update on the Local Plan. It was noted that the formal 6 week Regulation 18 consultation on the Draft Local Plan finished on 12 December 2016. Since the Council decision to consult on the Draft Local Plan on 18 October 2016, Draft Local Plan policies were being treated as a material planning consideration when determining planning applications. 

A further detailed report will be provided to cabinet following the conclusion of the analysis of all responses received. All responses would also be available for public inspection as soon as possible following completion of the analysis.

Following consideration and further analysis of the comments received in response to the Draft Local Plan consultation, the next stage would be to prepare a plan for publication and to publish it under Regulation 19.  This would be the document that the Council considers was ready for examination.  There would also be more member workshops to come.

 A Developer Forum had been established alongside the progression of the Draft Local Plan to provide a basis for ongoing discussions with relevant landowners, site promoters and stakeholders.  It was important that the Council liaised closely with relevant landowners and promoters of the sites proposed for allocation within the Draft Local Plan, and with other stakeholders as required.

The Developer Forum was split into two groups, one to address the Strategic Sites around Harlow, and the other to consider those that are subject to a draft allocation across the rest of Epping Forest District.  Two rounds of meetings have been held to date, one on 2 December 2016 and one on 24 February 2017 when an update was provided on the Garden Town Programme, and the award of funding to EFDC, Harlow Council and East Herts District Council to deliver the growth required.

Officers from Harlow and East Herts District Councils were present to provide updates on their current positions to the group addressing the Strategic Sites around Harlow. Harlow Council had made clear they were currently reviewing the current objections held to the inclusion of sites to the south and west of Harlow, within Epping Forest District, in the Epping Forest District Draft Local Plan.  East Herts District Council would submit their Plan for Examination on 31 March 2017. 

The Council was successful (together with East Herts and Harlow Councils) in securing £500,000 Garden Towns funding from DCLG for the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town to support the delivery of strategic sites in and around Harlow.  This includes the four strategic sites to the South, West and East of Harlow in this District.  A joint delivery team was being established with EFDC as the lead authority and the post of Project Director was currently being recruited.

The Council had also been allocated funding by DCLG to support community led housing developments. The total sum allocated was £32,211 with 50% paid for 2016/17 and a further tranche available subject to satisfactory evidence that the money was being spent in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

(Director of Governance) to consider the attached report.

The Director of Neighbourhoods introduced the quarter 3 progress Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2016/17. The Corporate Plan was the Council’s key strategic planning document, setting out its priorities over the five-year period from 2015/16 to 2019/20. The priorities or Corporate Aims were supported by Key Objectives, which provided a clear statement of the Council’s overall intentions for these five years.

There were 49 actions in total for which progress updates for Q3 are as follows:

·         Achieved or On-Target:                        26 (53%)

·         Under Control:                           13 (27%)

·         Behind Schedule:                        4 (8%) 

·         Pending:                                                  6 (12%)

Total    49 (100%)

12 actions fall within the areas of responsibility of the Neighbourhoods Select Committee. At the end of Q3:

·         6  (50%) of these actions had been ‘Achieved’ or are ‘On-Target’

·         4  (33%) of these actions were ‘Under Control’

·         2  (17%) of these actions were ‘Behind Schedule’

·         0  (0%) of these actions were ‘Pending’

Councillor J H Whitehouse asked for an update on the St John’s Road site. Mr Macnab said that it had been sold to Frontier Estates. They will now have a  tripartite agreement and negotiations with the Town Council were still going on.

RESOLVED:

That third quarter progress of the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan for 2016/17, in relation to its areas of responsibility was reviewed and noted by the Select Committee.

(Director of Governance) to consider the attached report.

The Director of Neighbourhoods introduced the quarter 3 performance of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2016/17 and the review of targets for the following year.

The overall position for all thirty-seven KPIs at the end of the Quarter 3 was as follows:

(a)    26 (70%) indicators achieved third quarter target;

(b)    11 (30%) indicators did not achieve third quarter target, although 4 (11%) of KPIs performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator; and,

(c)   31 (84%) indicators were currently anticipated to achieve the cumulative year-end target, and a further 3 (8%) are uncertain whether they will achieve the cumulative year-end target.

Thirteen of the Key Performance Indicators fell within the Neighbourhoods Select Committee’s areas of responsibility. The overall position with regard to the achievement of target performance at Q3 for these 13 indicators was as follows:

(a)   8 (62%) indicators achieved target;

(b)   5 (38%) indicators did not achieve target, although 4 (31%) of these KPI’s performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator;

(c)   11 (85%) of indicators were currently anticipated to achieve year-end target, whilst 0 indicators were uncertain whether they would achieve year-end target.

NEI001 – How much non-recycled waste was collected for every household in the District - Councillor Whitehouse asked if residents were being educated on what they could recycle. Mr Durrani, the Assistant Director, Technical Services said that the Cabinet had agreed new policies and officers could now start enforcement procedures if thought necessary, but they would still start with trying to educate residents. They have been having issues with blocks of flats and their recycling. Councillor Bedford agreed about the problems with blocks of flats; could we write to the relevant management companies about recycling and collection of waste in general. Mr Durrani replied that they did this already but they can do more. Officers were currently starting a new project to target flats and incentivise recycling.

Councillor Sartin asked a general question about flytipping (NEI006, NEI007 and NEI008). She wanted to know if there were any records to show the number of flytips or the types of flytips that we dealt with.  Mr Macnab said that we could get this information from the ECC. Councillor Neville asked that this information be put in the Council Bulletin.

Councillor Bedford noted that the City of London had a zero tolerance towards flytipping.

Councillor Brady commented that when there was any flytipping on verges and on farmer’s land, the Council refused to do anything about it. Currently there was some asbestos by Gains Park.  Mr Durrani said that anything on the public highway we could remove, but not when it was on private land, all that could be done was to enforce its removal by the land owner. It was a funding issue and would need a change in policy.

Councillor Bedford noted that asbestos was a public health issue. Could we do something about this? He knew that there would be no easy answer to this.

The Committee went on to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

To consider which reports are ready to be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its next meeting.

The Committee thought that a short report back to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee should be given on the items covered at this meeting especially on the Housing White Paper.

To note that this is the last meeting for this Municipal Year. Meetings scheduled for the new year are as follows:

27 June 2017;

19 September;

21 November;

30 January 2018; and

20 March

The Committee noted that this was their last meeting for this municipal year and thanked the Chairman for his good chairmanship during the year.