Agenda and minutes

The Democratic Services Officer will open the meeting.

1)    To note the membership of the Committee following Council on 14 May 2013.

2)    To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

1)    The Membership of the Committee following Council on 14 May 2013 was noted.

2)    Apologies were received from Councillor Magnus Macdonald. Councillor Macdonald was substituted by Councillor Nick Watts.

To elect a Chairman for the forthcoming year.

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Alan Hill as Chairman for the forthcoming year.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the forthcoming year.

Councillor Alan Hill presided over the election of a Vice-Chairman.

Resolved

To elect Councillor Peter Edge as Vice-Chairman for the forthcoming year.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Environment  Select Committee meeting held on 04 April 2013.

The minutes of the meeting held on 04 April 2013 were presented for consideration and comment.

It was,

Resolved:

To APPROVE as a true and correct record and sign the minutes.

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

There were no declarations

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

The Chairman reported that feedback from the Overview and Scrutiny Induction event held on 16 May 2013 had been very positive and reported as valuable, enjoyable and successfully delivering its objectives.

It was noted that further training is planned in terms of subject awareness, chairmanship and questioning and listening skills, and the Chairman was keen members take advantage of these further training opportunities.

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 above 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 above no later than 5pm on Tuesday 04 June 2013.  Please contact the officer named on the first page 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.

There were no statements or questions submitted.

A report from the Senior Scrutiny Officer is attached reporting on the overview and scrutiny forward work programme as agreed by the O&S Management Committee at its meeting on 25 May 2013. 

The Chairman introduced a report on legacy items and the future work programme, noting the current work programme had received approval from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee on 23 May 2013, comprising three task groups to be re-instated and a fourth constituted.

The Chairman then updated the Committee and led discussions on the topics, as follows.

It was noted that a report on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) had been due to go before Cabinet, but that this had now been delayed until further notice, with details to be provided at the meeting of Cabinet on 18 June and at the next meeting of the Committee. It was raised that frequent changes in the regulations from central government had continually hindered the work of the previously constituted CIL Task Group, and that the Task Group should be readied to respond rapidly as soon as further work was possible on the topic.

The future of the Waste Task Group was discussed, noting that a report on a future service delivery model was due to appear at Cabinet on 23 July 2013. Following discussions with officers and Cabinet the Committee was informed Scrutiny involvement was requested, but that the papers would not be approved for analysis until the public deadline of 15 July 2013. The Committee discussed and agreed to the holding of a special meeting of the Committee prior to Cabinet to scrutinize the report and present their views to Cabinet, but that the lack of appropriate time to consider the report was regrettable and should be raised at the Management Committee.

It was confirmed that Air Quality Task Group would remain a joint Task Group with the Health Select Committee.

An additional Task Group had been suggested regarding Development Services and adoptable estates, to seek best practice in the delivery of the service, with details of its remit in the agenda report. A discussion followed on the scope of the Task Group, with the suggestion the Scrutiny team prepare proposed terms of reference for the next meeting of the Committee.

The Committee then discussed other potential topics that could be added to the work programme, noting suggestions that had been raised by members during the scrutiny induction session, and the need for an investigation to determine the viability and appropriateness of topics was raised.

It was emphasised that the Scrutiny Manager had contacted all non-executive members to seek expressions of interest to enable them to be matched with task groups currently proposed as well as future task groups. It was agreed that the Chair and Vice-Chair would have delegated authority to appoint the membership of Task Groups, and that where possible the previous members should be reappointed to provide continuity.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

1)        To note the decision of the Management Committee to endorse the legacy topics and specifically those that are the responsibility of the Environment Select Committee as identified in paragraph 4 of the agenda report;

2)        To appoint the memberships of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

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

There were no urgent items accepted.

To confirm the date of the next scheduled meeting as 27 August 2013.

The date of the Special Meeting of the Environment Select Committee to discuss Waste Management was confirmed as Thursday 18 July 2013.

The date of the next Ordinary meeting of the Environment Select Committee was confirmed as 27 August 2013 at Monkton Park, Chippenham.