Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Blackdown House, Honiton

Contact: Susan Howl  01395 517540 email  showl@eastdevon.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

40.

Public Speaking

Information on public speaking is available online.

Minutes:

There were no members of the public wishing to speak.

41.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 223 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 November 2019 were approved and signed as a correct record.

42.

Declarations of interest

Guidance is available online to Councillors and co-opted members on making declarations of interest.

Minutes:

9. Economic Development in Coastal & Rural Areas - A short presentation by Councillor Mike Allen.

Councillor Mike Allen, Personal, Assists with running a food bank.

 

10. Update on the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service Consultation of future Service Delivery - Safer Together.

Councillor Ian Hall, Personal, Devon County Councillor.

 

43.

Matters of urgency

Information on matters of urgency is available online.

Minutes:

Poverty Working Panel

 

The Chairman advised that Cllr Paul Millar had requested to raise as a matter of urgency the report and recommendation of the Monitoring Officer regarding the appointment and composition of a Poverty Working Panel which would be considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 5 February 2020. 

 

The Chairman confirmed that he had accepted Cllr Millar’s request on the basis of special circumstances due to the timescales involved.

 

Cllr Millar advised that the recommendation of the Monitoring Officer included the following:

 

‘It is recommended that the Panel should be chaired by the Portfolio Holder for Homes and Sustainable Communities. In terms of the makeup of the Panel, it is recommended that this should comprise seven councillors, as per the Constitution, and that the Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Homes and Sustainable Communities to agree the membership with Group Leaders to ensure, as far as possible, a cross-party involvement.’

 

The Overview Committee discussed the proposed composition of the Poverty Working Panel, with particular reference to cross-party balance. The appointment of the Panel’s Chairman was discussed and it was noted that the motion to establish the Panel had come from members in the first instance.

 

RECOMMENDED:

 

That Cabinet;

1.    Increases the membership of the Poverty Working Panel from seven councillors, as initially recommended by the Monitoring Officer, to twelve councillors, and

2.    Agrees that the Poverty Working Panel elects a Chairman at its first meeting.

 

 

44.

Confidential/exempt item(s)

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including press) have been excluded. There are no items that officers recommend should be dealt with in this way.

Minutes:

There were no items to be dealt with in this way.

 

45.

Draft Drone Policy pdf icon PDF 303 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Tim Child, Senior Manager Property and Estates, presented the draft Drone Policy which would only apply to EDDC owned land and would ensure that the Council’s interests were protected.  Permission would be granted solely for those uses set out in the Policy and for commercial operators only.

 

The Committee noted that the requirements of the Policy would be incorporated into the appropriate signage over time as signage was replaced or updated.

 

Following discussion, it was agreed to recommend that the reference to the release of lanterns be removed from the Policy as this would be dealt with elsewhere under a different policy.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Overview Committee noted the draft Drone Policy and agreed the following recommendations:

 

RECOMMENDED:

 

That Cabinet:

 

1.    Deletes the reference to the release of lanterns from the draft Drone Policy and,

2.    Adopts the Policy.

 

46.

House of Lords Select Committee on Regenerating Seaside Towns pdf icon PDF 435 KB

Minutes:

Linda Perry, Place, Assets and Commercialisation, presented the findings of the House of Lords Select Committee on Regenerating Seaside Towns and Communities and the implications for EDDC.

 

The Deputy Chief Executive advised that questions remained regarding the response of the previous Government.  EDDC would follow up on previous commitments with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ascertain whether East Devon would see the same benefits as other areas of the country.

 

The Committee discussed the implications of the report from an economic perspective and the need to be proactive in attracting larger businesses and a younger population.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the report be noted and that the following recommendations be agreed:

 

RECOMMENDATION:

 

That Cabinet:

1.    Notes the content of the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Regenerating Seaside Towns and Communities and where appropriate that the Select Committee’s report recommendations and the Government’s response are fed into the Council’s forward planning process including service plans

2.    Uses the Select Committee recommendations and Government responses where possible to inform funding bids and influence among third parties such as HotSW LEP, MHCLG or Lottery Fund

3.    Assesses the implications of the Select Committee’s report and the Government’s response.

 

47.

Economic Development in Coastal & Rural Areas - A short presentation by Councillor Mike Allen

Minutes:

Cllr Allen presented his report on economic development in rural and coastal areas and the following issues were discussed:

·         The need for more small business units and opportunities for expansion for small businesses

·         3 year survival rates for small businesses

·         The need to attract larger businesses and retain skilled and qualified younger people

·         The poverty cycle, reliance on food banks and zero hours employment contracts

 

The Chairman advised that currently there were no planned resources to deliver economic development in rural and coastal areas.

 

The Deputy Chief Executive suggested that the Committee may wish to request an officer report to address the issues raised by Cllr Allen.

 

Cllr Allen stressed that the resources should be recommended at the current time due to the point reached in the budget cycle.

 

It was noted that all previous proposals and amendments were withdrawn.

 

Cllr Allen proposed that the Overview Committee recommends to Cabinet the resources needed within economic development and that a report be requested from the economic development team in time for the current budget round.  This was seconded and RESOLVED.

 

RECOMMENDATION:

 

That Cabinet:

1.    Agrees that the resources needed within economic development are:

·         Economic Development Manager and Senior Officer

·         Inward investment resource (specialist)

·         Business liaison resource(s) – technology vs tourism vs farming

·         Research resource

·         Place marketing resource

·         Spatial planning resource (allowing DMC comment on business applications and negotiation with incoming businesses)

·         Partnerships resource, and

 

2.    Requests a report from the economic development team in time for the current budget round.

48.

Update on the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service Consultation of future Service Delivery - Safer Together pdf icon PDF 94 KB

Minutes:

The Committee discussed the revised recommendations of the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority approved on 10 January 2020 and the implications for the service in East Devon.

 

The update was noted.

 

 

49.

Overview Forward Plan 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 193 KB

Minutes:

The Committee discussed the Forward Plan, including the four recommendations from the joint meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 15 January 2020.

 

The Forward Plan was agreed:

 

Meeting date

Topic

 

27 February 2020

 

Governance Arrangements at EDDC

26 March 2020

Items from joint Overview & Scrutiny Budget meeting on

15 January 2020:

 

Commercialisation Strategy

 

Consultancy Spend 2020 / 21

 

tbc

Items from joint Overview & Scrutiny Budget meeting on

15 January 2020:

 

Delivery at Cranbrook Town Centre

 

Seaton Wetlands Link Project

 

 

Other work was discussed and agreed as follows:

 

 

Meeting date

Priority or referral

 

Topic

 

tbc

Public Toilet Review – consultation plan

 

26 March 2020

Income generation - agreed to include in the Commercialisation Strategy (above)

 

tbc

High Street and village centre regeneration, expand to include the development of new high street in reference to Cranbrook – agreed to include in Delivery at Cranbrook Town Centre (above)

 

Low priority

Natural Capital in the Heart of the South West document

 

tbc

Business case for increase in community engagement officers, to include community focus (see below)

 

Refer to Scrutiny Committee

Review out of hours telephone system provided by the Council for residents and tenants

 

tbc

Climate change – including rising sea levels, coastal erosion, single use plastics, to determine what can be done locally as well as lobby Government and feed in to the Devon Group

High priority

Fairer funding from Government for the South West region – clarification from the Chief Executive would be needed

tbc

Community focus – include with the Business case for increase in community engagement officers (above)

 

Low priority

Promotion of EDDC services to local residents

 

tbc

Improving working with Town and Parish Councils – to be scoped

 

Covered elsewhere – remove from Overview

 

Tackling poverty – awaiting the outcome of the Poverty Working Panel

Refer to Scrutiny Committee

Review of internal recharges – understanding the breakdown of recharges, and being satisfied that these are correctly applied to be confident that the Council is as efficient as possible before examination of making further budget reductions

 

Refer to Scrutiny Committee

 

Street trading

Refer to Scrutiny Committee

 

Right to buy effect on housing stock

Refer to Housing Review Board

Delivery of housing, specifically assisted living – has been discussed by the Housing Review Board, to be discussed further by Strategic Planning Committee before being referred back to HRB

 

Medium priority

Transport – specifically fare for 16 – 18 year olds still in education by not qualifying for state help

 

Refer to Scrutiny Committee

Policy implementation – that policies put in place were being applied in practice

 

High priority

GESP involvement

 

 

Due to the workload in the Forward Plan, the Committee discussed the need to meet more often.  It was agreed to wait for the outcome of the Governance Review and to discuss the practicalities with the Democratic Services Manager.