When the continuous alarm sounds you must evacuate the building by the nearest available fire exit. Members and visitors should proceed to the visitors’ car park at the front of the building and await further instructions (staff should proceed to their usual assembly point). Please do not re-enter the building unless instructed to do so.

In the event of a fire any person with a disability should be assisted in leaving the building.

59.1           The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was taken as read. 

To receive apologies for absence and advise of any substitutions. 

60.1           An apology for absence had been received from Councillor B A Jones.  There were no substitutions for the meeting.

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 24 September 2007 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct as set out in Minute No. CL.31, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

Members are reminded that they should, at all times, observe the Code in carrying out their duties and that they signed such an undertaking in their Declaration of Acceptance of Office. 

61.1           The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct adopted by the Council on 24 September 2007, and Members were reminded that they had signed an undertaking in their Declaration of Acceptance of Office to observe the Code in carrying out their duties.  

61.2           The following declarations were made:

61.3           There were no further declarations made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2011.

62.1           The Minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2011, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 

To consider the forthcoming work of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

63.1           Attention was drawn to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2011/12, circulated at Pages No. 21-23, which Members were asked to consider.

63.2           It was

RESOLVED          That the Overview & Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2011/12 be NOTED. 

To determine whether there are any questions for the relevant Lead Members and what support the Overview & Scrutiny Committee can give to work contained within the Plan.

64.1           Attention was drawn to the Executive Committee Six Month Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 24-29.  Members were asked to determine whether there were any questions for the relevant Lead Members and what support the Overview & Scrutiny Committee could give to the work contained within the Plan.

64.2           A Member indicated that, at the last meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, she had raised concern that not enough information was provided as to the reasons for items being removed from the Executive Committee Agenda with the most frequent explanation being ‘not required at this time’.  She noted that the Countywide Community Reward Incentive Scheme had been removed from the December Executive Committee Agenda with this explanation.  The Director of Community explained that this Scheme related to the recycling initiative in Brockworth and the report had not been required as it had become apparent that there would be no financial implications for the Council which meant that the Scheme could be implemented under delegated powers.

64.3           With regard to the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Level 2 (SFRA2) and Flood Water Management Supplementary Planning Document which was due to be considered at the Executive Committee meeting on 4 January 2012, a Member sought clarification as to whether this would expand on the identified strategic sites or whether additional sites would be considered, for instance, Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) sites.  He expressed concern that some of the strategic sites might not come to fruition and that it would therefore be necessary to look at other sites.  The Chief Executive explained that this would be a Member decision which would need to take account of available funding as the cost would increase with the number of sites which were considered.  A Member raised concern about the time it would take to produce and put in place a Supplementary Planning Document for Flood and Water Management and assurance was provided that, although there was a lot to be done to reach this stage, it was intended to carry out the work as soon as practicably possible and the requirements would be firmed up once the document had been produced.

64.4           It was

RESOLVED                That the Executive Committee Six Month Forward Plan be NOTED.

To discuss any issues arising from the last meeting of the County Council Health, Community & Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

N.B. Feedback from that meeting has been circulated to Members through a Member Update on Friday 2 December 2011.

65.1           Members were invited to discuss any issues arising from the last meeting of the County Council Health, Community & Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee following the circulation of a Member Update on Friday 2 December 2011.

65.2           It was

RESOLVED          That the feedback from the last meeting of the County Council Health, Community & Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee be NOTED.

To discuss any issues arising from the last meeting of the County Council Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

N.B. Feedback from that meeting has been circulated to Members through a Member Update on Friday 2 December 2011.

66.1           Members were invited to discuss any issues arising from the last meeting of the County Council Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny Committee following the circulation of a Member Update on Friday 2 December 2011.

66.2           It was

RESOLVED          That the feedback from the last meeting of the County Council Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny Committee be NOTED.

To approve the Terms of Reference for the Review of Advice & Information Centres and to agree the membership of the Working Group to undertake the Review.

67.1           Attention was drawn to the report of the Customer Services & ICT Manager, circulated at Pages No. 30-34.  Members were asked to approve the Terms of Reference for a Review of Advice & Information Centres and to nominate Members to be part of a Working Group to complete the Review.

67.2           Members were advised that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee had previously undertaken a Review of Customer Services & Advice & Information Centres (AICs) and a recommendation had been made to delay a decision on the future of the AICs to enable further work to be completed by the Customer Services & ICT Manager.  It was now proposed that a follow-up Review of the AICs be undertaken to address this outstanding requirement.

67.3           The Chairman indicated that not all Members would be aware of the previous Review of Customer Services & AICs and the Director of Resources undertook to ensure that all Members were brought fully up to date.  A Member noted that the Terms of Reference set out that one meeting of the Working Group would be sufficient to conduct the Review; however, she felt that this was something which should be determined by the Working Group itself.  It was therefore

RESOLVED          1.  That the Terms of Reference for the Review of Advice & Information Centres (AICs) be APPROVED, subject to an amendment to state that the Working Group would determine the number of meetings that would be required to conduct the Review.

2.  That the membership of the Working Group be as follows: Councillors P W Awford, Mrs J E Day, B C J Hesketh, Mrs S E Hillier-Richardson, V A Perez and M H Rowcliffe-Quarry.

To approve the Terms of Reference for the Review of Member Communication in the Development of the Joint Core Strategy and to agree to set up a whole Committee Working Group to undertake the Review.

68.1           Attention was drawn to the report of the Director of Development, circulated at Pages No. 35-39.  Members were asked to approve the Terms of Reference for a Review of Member Communication in the Development of the Joint Core Strategy and to set up a whole Committee Working Group to undertake the Review.

68.2           The Chairman clarified that the Review intended to address concerns which had been raised by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in June and July in relation to the dissemination of information to Members in the development of the Joint Core Strategy (JCS).  During the debate which ensued, a Member indicated that, since these concerns had been raised, a Planning Policy Reference Panel had been established and one of its Terms of Reference was to involve and communicate with the wider elected membership of the Council.  On this basis, he questioned whether it was necessary for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to conduct a separate review.  A Member understood that the Planning Policy Reference Panel would be focusing on the future whereas the proposed Review would provide an opportunity to consider what had happened in the JCS process up to this point and to evaluate its success.  The Chief Executive indicated that it would be 18-24 months before the final JCS was adopted and a significant amount of work was still to be done during this critical period.  It was an appropriate point to take stock of the process so far and to see what could be improved to ensure that Members had a full understanding and received proper feedback as the process moved forward.  The outcomes of the Review could be used to inform how the Planning Policy Reference Panel operated to ensure that Members were fully engaged with the process.

68.3           A Member was of the view that the Review should be conducted in public at an open meeting, as opposed to by a Working Group of Members.  The whole purpose of the Review was to provide accountability and engender public confidence and she felt that the public would question the validity of a Review conducted behind closed doors.  The Chief Executive explained that it would be more constructive to conduct the Review as a Working Group as it was a slightly more informal arena which would facilitate full and frank discussion between Members and Officers on these complex issues.  The Working Group would draft a report containing full details and recommendations which would be presented to the Committee for consideration in open business where it could be examined in more depth.

68.4           A Member felt that the Terms of Reference of the Review should be extended to look not only at communication and the dissemination of information but also at the way in which decisions had been arrived at.  The Chief Executive explained that it was intended that the Review would consider Member engagement as a whole.  The decisions in relation to the JCS had been taken by the Council and it was not within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

To consider the outcomes from the Review of the Crime & Disorder Strategic Assessment and to make any recommendations to the Community Safety Partnership.

69.1           The report of the Housing Options & Community Safety Manager, circulated at Pages No. 40-56, set out the outcomes from the Review of Crime & Disorder Strategic Assessment.  Members were asked to consider the outcomes and to make any recommendations to the Community Safety Partnership (CSP).

69.2           At the meeting on 13 September 2011, the Overview & Scrutiny Committee had approved the scope and Terms of Reference of the Crime & Disorder Strategic Assessment Review and had agreed that the Review be conducted through the use of a single half-day workshop, to be attended by all Members of the Committee.  Members of the Committee had attended the workshop on 25 October 2011 where they had been invited to contribute to the draft Strategic Assessment to consider priorities for action.  The Community Safety Plan 2012-14 was attached at Appendix 1 and comments from the Workshop were included under ‘Future Projects’.  This was the final opportunity for Members to make any further recommendations before the Plan was taken back to the CSP.

69.3           In response to a query, Members were advised that the Community Safety Plan would be a public document which would be available on the Council’s website.  A Member felt that there were some inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the Plan, for instance, many of the references to ‘Tewkesbury’ should have been to ‘Tewkesbury Borough’ and she drew attention to Page No. 46 which stated that ‘Tewkesbury has a population of 81,700’.  She also raised concern that there was a tendency to use jargon in the document and some paragraphs were long and unwieldy.  She felt that it was necessary to explain the terminology used throughout the Plan and suggested that an Appendix could be included for this purpose, for instance, Page No. 45, Paragraph 2.2 referred to ‘registered providers’ but it was unlikely that members of the public would be familiar with this term.  The Member also felt it would be beneficial to include dates for figures where possible, for example, Page No. 48 set out that there were ‘currently 264 substance misuse users recorded in Tewkesbury’ but there was no indication as to the period to which this statistic related.  With regard to the aims and actions set out at Pages No. 54-56, she was of the view that more detail should be provided to demonstrate who would be responsible for delivery and the timescales involved.  She felt that without clear identification as to how and when they would be delivered they would remain a series of aspirations rather than actions.   The Housing Options & Community Safety Manager explained that the Strategic Assessment was a partnership document and the Committee could only make suggestions to the CSP as to what might be included in the final document.  The CSP would ultimately decide on the plans it wished to put in place and actions for the forthcoming year.  The Chairman drew attention to Page No. 48 which provided statistics on the reduction of crime, antisocial behaviour, alcohol and drug misuse and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

To consider the progress made in relation to the implementation of the recommendations of the Climate Change Strategy Working Group.

70.1           The report of the Environmental Development Officer, circulated at Pages No. 57-61, informed Members of the progress made in relation to the implementation of the recommendations of the Climate Change Strategy Working Group.  Members were asked to consider the report.

70.2           In response to a Member query, clarification was provided that the Environmental Policy was the overarching Policy which incorporated the Climate Change Strategy and Own House In Order (OHIO) work.  Several elements of this work overlapped, for instance, energy efficiency work for the Council Offices building.  The outline work programme for the remaining strands of the Policy was set out at Paragraph 2.5 of the report with the Waste & Recycling Strategy planned for March 2012 and the Sustainable Planning Strategy and Biodiversity Strategy planned for March 2013.  Appendix 1 set out the recommendations which had been made by the Climate Change Strategy Working Group.  A Member noted that, although it was referenced at Paragraph 2.3, Appendix 2 was not attached to the report.  Members were advised that Appendix 2 intended to update Members as to the progress of the Own House In Order Plan and had been omitted in error.  The Appendix would be circulated to Members following the meeting.

70.3           With regard to Recommendation 6, That a range of display materials is developed (including manned and unmanned exhibition materials) that can be used not only by Officers but also by Members within their community, a Member felt that this should not be ticked as complete given that it was noted that Officers were not due to meet with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) until January 2012 to identify the options for the Gloucestershire Green Deal.  The Director of Community explained that the specific recommendation, to develop a range of display materials, had been completed and the action had been achieved.  The Member questioned whether Recommendation 4, That the Capital Grants Group review the Scheme and consider approving grants to schemes that can show they are environmentally sound, was still relevant given that the Government had halved the feed-in tariff for solar panels.  Members were advised that schemes with solar panels would continue to be considered more favourably for capital grants as they were still in accordance with the Environmental Policy even though the feed-in tariff had been reduced.  There was still a good pay-back of approximately 21.5p for a small domestic property installing solar panels and securing a capital grant would mean that an even better payback would be achieved.

70.4           It was

RESOLVED          1. That the progress made in relation to the implementation of the recommendations of the Climate Change Strategy Working Group be NOTED.

2.  That Appendix 2 – Own House In Order Update be circulated to Members following the meeting.

To receive an update on the progress of the Housing, Renewal & Homelessness Strategy Review from the Chairman of the Working Group.

71.1           Attention was drawn to the update from the Chairman of the Housing, Renewal & Homelessness Strategy Review Working Group, Councillor Mrs S E Hillier-Richardson, circulated around the table, on the progress that had been made by the Working Group.

71.2           Members were advised that the Working Group had met for a second time on 28 November 2011 and had discussed the implications of the Government Housing Strategy ‘Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England’ and the framework for the Council’s Housing, Renewal & Homelessness Strategy.  The Working Group had agreed that the Strategy should contain a number of appendices which could be easily updated to reflect changes in figures and wider policy decisions, such as the Joint Core Strategy, without having to amend the Strategy itself.  The Chairman of the Working Group indicated that she would be happy for the Notes of the Working Group meetings to be circulated to Members if they so wished.

71.3           A Member questioned whether anything could be done to encourage rainwater harvesting for new developments.  The Director of Development explained that this was picked up by Building Regulations in the highest level of the Sustainable Code for Housing.  It was therefore

RESOLVED          That the update on the progress of the Housing, Renewal & Homelessness Strategy Review be NOTED.