Councillor Jane Scott OBE, Leader of the Council, will give a brief overview of her areas of responsibility, followed by a chance to ask questions.
Minutes:
Councillor Jane Scott thanked the Area Board for the invitation to the meeting, and gave a brief outline of her role as Leader of the Council.
Councillor Scott had attended a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day where they had considered proposals for radical changes to the senior management structure of the Council.
The financial pressure on the Council was considerable; central government had taken 24.5% off the revenue grant. £20 million had been taken during the first year of cuts and a further £30 million would be taken this year.
220 manager posts had already been deleted and the Cabinet had also decided to remove the Chief Executive post and one Corporate Director post from the structure.
Further savings would be needed; the Council aimed not to cut or close any services in making these savings, but would try to manage services in a more efficient way.
Over £50 million would be invested into older people’s services over the next four years, as well as investing in young people’s services. There had been an increase of 40 young people during the last year who were being looked after by the Council.
The Council was keen to invest in the economy, as Wiltshire has high property values but comparatively low wages. It was hoped that people would be able to live and work in the county, instead of having to travel elsewhere for jobs.
There would also be a large investment in super fast broadband connections, to help maintain and increase businesses in the county. Part of this scheme would be aimed at getting all ages IT literate, connected up and able to use services available.
The Chairman added that the Area Board was already working strongly on local employment issues.
Questions and comments were then taken, these included:
· Could you provide an update on the decision taken by Cabinet today regarding the senior management structure? Answer: The decision was to delete the Chief Executive (C.E.) post and one Corporate Director post. Cabinet believes that the Council can be run with a political leadership and the support of very strong officers. The C.E. would be offered redundancy and the existing four Corporate Directors would be offered a period of time to apply for redundancy. After the redundancy notice period had closed, applications will be considered and one redundancy will be offered. The Council would make savings of £200k this year and £400k in a full year.
· A Parish Councillor asked about the Localism Bill and the production of Parish Plans. Answer: In the South of the county, the Core Strategy went to the inspector; he has now finished his report which was due out any time now. It is important for the community, if they have the capacity, to produce a Neighbourhood Plan, this allows them to say what kind and how much development they might have in the future and possible locations for such development.
There have been mixed messages about localism, some people think it means that you are able to say no to anything you wish, this is not the case. We need a strong Core Strategy, which depicts where jobs and homes will be in order to prevent developers having a “free for all”. We need to be strong in saying what we want with regard to the number of new houses. The rest of the county are in a different position, the document for that part of the county will go to full council in February 2012. It is currently 18 months behind the South, so the rest of the county are more vulnerable. Once this has gone to the inspector, we will look at joining up the two strategies.
· Can you assure us that the Area Board budget will not be cut next year? Answer: When we heard that the council would get less money, the Cabinet had a discussion whether the Area Boards were the right way to continue, it was agreed that they were. The financial plan for the next four years shows that we will be investing more money into Area Boards, so they are safe along with the grant funding. This particular Area Board is successful, while others are taking longer to mature.
· Are there any plans for building a university in Wiltshire, as at present our young people are forced to go elsewhere for further education when they turn 18? Answer: It is a great sadness that we do not have a university in Wiltshire, especially in Salisbury. Unfortunately there is no money or appetite from central government to build new universities. In recent discussions with Wiltshire College we understand that we are attracting students from outside the county and from abroad.
· In situations where the Council has employed agency staff, could they consider taking on more apprenticeships instead? Answer: Last year the Council cut agency staff and consultants by 50%. Agency staff are needed from time to time when we are unable to fill posts such as refuse collectors, this task still needs to be carried out so we must use agency staff to get the work done. There have been approximately 16 new apprentice positions across all areas of the Council.
· Would Wiltshire Council consider providing funding to Parish Councils and could business rates be distributed to rural areas? Answer: Parish Councils are in a wonderful position where they can talk to their communities about why they want to put the precept up and explain that a £5 raise would pay for a certain project or improvement. If the community know exactly what the increase is for, they are likely to agree. With regards to business rates, the money Wiltshire Council collects goes to central government; they then give us back a smaller amount. The Council did however decide that Parishes no longer had to fund their own elections.
· The recent decision on the development application at Hampton Park 2 made by Rt. Hon. Eric Pickles was inconsistent with the decision he made in Winchester. Answer: I can only assume that they did not have a strong enough core strategy that is why it is important for us to have a good strong core strategy which states how many houses we want to be built.
· It was reported in the Salisbury Journal that Wiltshire would not be returning to a weekly household waste collection service. Can we therefore put the funding which we may get from central government in to recycling services? Answer: The Council is trying to establish what money is available to us and what restrictions there may be on that money. Wiltshire aims to be able to achieve a level of at least 50% recycling; the only way that we feel this can be achieved is to go to a fortnightly household waste collection service alongside a good recycling service. A pilot scheme for nappy composting was being considered, to find out whether it was a service which could be provided in the future.
· Could the communication channels between the council and parishes be improved when dealing with delegation of services? Answer: There is a clear policy that services should be delegated down to the right level, in some cases there has been a blockage in the system. Now, with regards to Community Asset Transfers, when agreed by an Area Board the land can be transferred on a licence until the legal team have completed the paperwork. This allows the transfer to go ahead as soon as it is granted and prevents hold ups by other complications, as had been the case in the past.
· A Downton Parish Councillor asked for clarification on whether the grant awarded to the Downton Leisure Centre would be safe for the next 3 – 4 years or if the award was for one year only? Answer: Councillor Scott agreed to look into this and provide clarity on the situation at a later date.
Action: Councillor Jane Scott
· Councillor Devine asked for an overview on the situation of the Salisbury Vision. Answer: Salisbury District Council (SDC) had produced a vision for a high level strategic organisation to move forward three big issues for the city; these were Market Square, Central Car Park and Churchfields Industrial Estate. The Vision Board is made up of public, private and community sector members, with an independent chairman, Sir Christopher Benson.
At the moment the Salisbury Vision has been held up by the interest in the proposal to remove the large trees in Market Square, so it was decided that the Market Square aspect of the vision would go to the Area Board for consultation, to allow work to continue with other aspects such as the plans for Central Car Park, as this is at a critical stage with the developers submitting their plans.
The Chairman thanked Councillor Scott for attending and answering questions.