Agenda and minutes

To receive details of any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

There were no apologies.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meetings held on 5 and 9 February 2018.

The minutes of the meetings held on 5 and 9 February 2018 were presented for consideration and it was;

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

There were no announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 13 February 2018 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on 15 February 2018. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

A petition was received and the following spoke in support of the petition:

Margaret Cavanna

Lauraine Alford

Marie Hilcoat

The Chairman informed the committee that a petition, expressing concern over the thermal treatment plant at the Northacre site in Westbury, had been received via the Council’s website on 22 January which had gathered 129 online signatures.

The committee discussed the issue noting that it was important for the wider area to be taken into consideration and not just Westbury and it was;

Resolved

1.         To thank the petitioners for their time attending the Committee and to note the petition;

2.         To note the further responses from service departments provided;

3.         To make the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Waste and the Cabinet Member for Spatial Planning, Development Management and Property aware of the matter; and

4.         The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee to discuss the potential for scrutiny work in the area with the Cabinet Members, Officers and relevant select committee chairs and vice-chairs before making a decision.

A report providing feedback from the Local Government Association following the Corporate Peer Challenge that took place in November 2017; and the draft action plan which has been developed to reflect the feedback and recommendations made. The report will be circulated in a supplement when available.

Baroness Scott OBE introduced the item and thanked all those involved with the review for their contribution and hard work.

It was noted that the report was positive with the key points focusing on: The strong accessible and visible leadership; A creative and enthusiastic workforce; The quick turn around of the new business plan; Being an innovative and progressive Council; Praised on community working and relationships; Financially secure and the council was praised on how it responded to the Ofsted inspection of 2012 and how to organisation learnt from it and now stood in a good place. There were a number of recommendations suggested which would be taken into account moving forward.

The Committee welcomed the report and made comments on Area Boards and the recommendations for strategic housing sites noting the need for appropriate housing, delivering affordable housing; fairness of shared responsibility of town services and that smaller villages welcomed development. It was also noted that the idea to breakdown the business plan into manageable actions was a good idea.

Baroness Scott OBE summed up agreeing on the need to break the business plan down into actions; the need for further investment of skills for future success; to keep building on the success of Area Boards by being creative; to display openness and accountability in times of change and that communication with senior management needed to be enhanced.

At the end of the discussion it was;

Resolved

1.         To note the feedback report received from the LGA following the Corporate Peer Challenge that took place in November 2017; and the draft action plan which has been developed to reflect the feedback and recommendations made.

2.         The Chairman and Vice-chairman to consider how the recommendations of the Peer Challenge can be reflected within the OS forward work programme, to be discussed with the relevant select committee chairmen, and brought back to Committee.

3.         Committee to receive a general update on implementation of the Peer Challenge Action Plan in 6 month’s time.

A report presenting the conclusions and recommendations of the Third Party Advertising Policy Task Group for endorsement and referral to the Cabinet Member for Communications, Communities, Leisure and Libraries.

Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Chairman of the Third Party Advertising Policy Task Group, introduced the report, which was included in the agenda and thanked Henry Powell, Senior Scrutiny Officer, for his hard work.

The Committee commented on the report focusing on the need to control advertising and to keep it appropriate to the area whilst maximising revenue.

Resolved

1.         To endorse the findings and recommendations of the Third Party Advertising Task Group and, where appropriate, refer them to Cabinet for consideration and response.

2.         Regarding Task Group recommendation 5:

a)         To ask the task group to reconvene and receive an update on the development of the advertising function in 6 month’s time; and

b)        In light of that update, the task group to bring a recommendation back to the Committee regarding any appropriate further scrutiny of this area.

A report presenting the conclusions and recommendations of the Planning Committee System Task Group for endorsement and referral onwards as appropriate. The last meeting of the Task Group is on 13 March 2018. The Final Report will follow in a supplement.

Councillor Ruth Hopkinson introduced the item, on behalf of the Chairman of the Task Group, and thanked those involved with the review and to those who responded to the consultation. It was noted that a potential saving of £11,774 was identified although due to the ongoing Boundary review which could impact the number of councillors and committee structures, no pre-emptive assumptions would be made.

 The Committee had the opportunity to comment with the main points focusing on: Whether different planning committee models were considered; How in-depth the information was analysed and the need for the Task Group to wait for the outcome of the Boundary Review before assessing whether there should be a change to the planning committee structure. At the end of the discussion it was;

Resolved

1.    To note that Recommendation 5 should refer to a potential financial saving of £11,774 rather than £10,000.

2.    To ask the Task Group to meet with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Property to discuss its report and to bring any further proposals to the next meeting.

To consider the report of the Communities and Local Government Parliamentary Select Committee following its review of OS in local government and any actions required in Wiltshire as a result. This will follow.

Henry Powell, Senior Scrutiny Officer, introduced the report.

The Committee made comments noting the positives of the report and thanked the scrutiny team for their dedication and the Executive for continuing to dedicate resources to enable the scrutiny function to operate well.

Resolved

1.         To note the report of the CLG Committee review of OS in local government.

2.         To note the Government Response to the CLG Committee’s recommendations.

3.         That the Committee is kept informed of progress with the Government’s review of guidance for OS in local government and any opportunities to influence this.

4.         To note the commitment of the Executive and officers to Overview and Scrutiny at Wiltshire Council.

To receive updates from the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the Select

Committees in respect of the topics under scrutiny in their areas, including any recommendations for endorsement by the Management Committee.

The forward work plan was considered.

Resolved

To note the forward work plan.

To receive updates on recent activity on the following Task Groups:

• Financial Planning Task Group
• Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership Task Group
• Digital Strategy and Implementation Task Group
• Military-Civilian Integration Partnership Task Group

The following Task Groups gave an update:

Financial Planning Task Group

No further update – report in the agenda pack

Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership Task Group

It was noted that a meeting would be taking place in Birmingham to look at scrutinising Local Enterprise Partnership and a report would follow.

Digital Strategy and Implementation Task Group

Councillor Hubbard informed the committee that he had been attending the digital board meetings which was a great experience that had opened his eyes to help identify ways of aligning work programmes.

Military-Civilian Integration Partnership Task Group

No further update – report in the agenda pack

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 5 June 2018

The next meeting would be held on the 5 June 2018.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.