Minutes for Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) meeting, Jul 7 2009, 6.30PM official page

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Pearson, Roberts and Weavers.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

The following declaration of interest was received:-

Member

Minute No.

Reason

Action

Councillor Cluskey

**

Personal Interest – he is a Member of Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority

Took part in the consideration of the item and voted thereon.

Minutes of the meeting held on 2 June 2009.

That, subject to the inclusion of Councillor Cuthbertson in the attendance list, the Minutes of the meeting held on 2 June 2009, be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Housing Market Renewal Director and Strategic Director (Health and Social Care).

Further to Minute No. 8 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member – Health and Social Care of 24 June 2009, and to Minute No. 16 of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care of 30 June 2009, the Committee considered the joint report of the Housing Market Renewal Director and the Strategic Director of Health and Social Care. The report sought approval of the proposed changes to the Private Sector Housing Assistance policy, which governed the way the Council provided financial assistance to homeowners, and would enable the policy to continue with updated provisions that reflected a more effective and efficient targeting of available resources. A copy of the revised policy was attached to the report.

This was a Key Decision and was currently included on the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

Members requested copies of certain housing documents.

RESOLVED: That                

(1)       subject to any comments by the Cabinet Member – Regeneration, the Cabinet be requested to approve the revised Private Sector Housing Assistance policy, as attached to the report; and

(2)       copies of the documents requested be forwarded to Members of this Committee.

Report of the Housing Market Renewal Director

Further to Minute No. 8 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member – Regeneration of 10 June 2009, the Committee considered the report of the Housing Market Renewal Director seeking approval of the Housing Market Renewal Departmental Service Plan, which would be used as a baseline for performance monitoring.

The Sefton Housing Market Renewal Departmental Annual Service Plan for 2008/11, revised to incorporate the annual plan 2009/10, was attached as an Appendix to the report.

Members requested to have sight of any future report on house prices.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the Housing Market Renewal Departmental Service Plan 2008-2011, incorporating the Annual Service Plan 2009/10, be supported; and

(2)       a report on house prices be submitted to a future meeting of this Committee.

Report of the Planning & Economic Regeneration Director. Planning & Economic Regeneration Director and the Housing Market Renewal Director.

The Committee considered the joint report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director and the Housing Market Renewal Director setting out the reasons for not producing the Stanley Road Supplementary Planning Document; providing clarification on how future decisions on planning applications on Stanley Road would be made and seeking approval to amend the Local Development Scheme accordingly.

The proposal would provide certainty to businesses and local residents on both the short and medium term future of Stanley Road, in the absence of a Supplementary Planning Document, and would ensure that the document would be deleted from the Local Development Scheme when it was next updated.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the Planning Committee and the Cabinet Member – Regeneration, be requested to endorse the decision not to produce a Stanley Road Supplementary Planning Document; and

(2)       the Cabinet be requested to approve the decision not to produce a Stanley Road Supplementary Planning Document and the Local Development Scheme be amended accordingly when it is next updated.

Report of the Legal Director.

The Committee considered the report of the Legal Director presenting a proposed protocol on Councillor Call for Action (C.C.f.A.) which would provide Councillors with a method of escalating matters of Ward concern to an Overview and Scrutiny Committee, with a view to possible recommendations to the Council’s Executive and / or other agencies. C.C.f.A. was intended to be a last resort and any Members requesting one would be requested to demonstrate that all other existing measures had been attempted. The draft protocol proposed the referral of any C.C.f.A. to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board for initial consideration to ensure its validity.

The protocol was to be formally presented to the meeting of the Council on 9 July 2009 and any comments made from Members would be reported to that meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed protocol on Councillor Call for Action be supported and referred to the meeting of the Council to be held on 9 July 2009 for approval.

Report of the Legal Director.

The Committee considered the report of the Legal Director attaching the latest Key Decision Forward Plan which contained all the Key Decisions which the Executive was anticipated to take during the above period. The Committee was advised of its right to pre-scrutinise any Key Decision which fell under its remit.

Councillor Booth raised concerns regarding the Key Decision on Stage 2 HLF Submission for King’s Gardens

A work programme session had been held during the afternoon of 7 July 2009, for Members of this Committee to consider possible items for the work programme for this Committee. The Overview and Scrutiny Officer circulated a draft work programme which had been produced as a result of the afternoon session, for consideration by the Committee.

The Chair reported that both the Community Involvement Licensing Working Group and the Watercourse Maintenance and Flooding Working Group had almost completed their respective reviews.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the contents of the Forward Plan for the period 1 July to 31 October 2009, be noted;

(2)       the Head of Tourism be requested to contact Councillor Booth with a view to providing the latest information on the Key Decision indicated above;

(3)       a Working Group be established to consider the Council’s kerbside recycling collection service and undertake the required O.J.E.U. tendering required to procure its replacement, comprised of all Members of this Committee, the Lead Member to be the Chair of this Committee, for a duration of possibly up to the Autumn of 2010;

(4)        the Libraries Assets Management Review Working Group be  re-established to undertake Stage 2 of its review, with a deadline date of Spring 2010, comprised of the following Members:-

·        Councillors Pearson (Lead Member);

·        Councillors Booth, Cluskey and Webster;

(5)       that the relevant Departments indicated below be requested to submit reports on the topics listed for consideration by the Committee during 2009/10:-

Topic

Department

Disposal of Surface Water

Technical Services / Leisure Services

Lottery Grant for Coastal Improvements

Leisure Services

Client Side of Housing Allocations (to include voids policy and hard to let areas)

Housing Market Renewal

Policy Regarding Tenants Who Exhibit Anti-Social & Criminal Behaviour

One Vision Housing

Dog Fouling

Community Safety

Air Quality Monitoring

Environmental Protection.

(6)       the Chief Executive of Sefton Chamber of Commerce, together with the Director of Regeneration, be invited to attend and address a meeting of this Committee on the activities of the Chamber, during 2009/10.

Councillor Cuthbertson advised the Committee that the Worshipful Company of Paviors had awarded their 2009 Paviors Award for excellence to Sefton Council’s Technical Services Department for the Lord Street Phase 2 Scheme.

RESOLVED:

That the congratulations of the Committee be forwarded to Stuart Waldron, Assistant Technical Services Director, on behalf of the Department, together with a request that a press release on the matter be issued to the Corporate  Communications Unit.