Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor C E H Marfleet and Added Members: Mr C V Miller, Mrs E J Olivier-Townrow and Mr P Thompson.

It was noted that the Chief Executive, having received notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, had appointed Councillor W J Aron as a replacement member on the Committee in place of Councillor Mrs A M Newton, for this meeting only.

Councillor R B Parker declared an interest in Minute 30 – 'Central Lincolnshire Further Draft Local Plan' as a Member of the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee.

Councillor Mrs C A Talbot also declared an interest in Minute 30 – 'Central Lincolnshire Further Draft Local Plan' as the County Council's Replacement Member on the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee, with no voting rights.

The Committee was advised that the purpose of this item was to check the accuracy of the minutes and to approve them as a correct record.  Any matters arising should be dealt with as future activity under the Work Programme, as detailed at Minute 31.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2015 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To consider Call-Ins, should any be received)

No Call-Ins had been received.

(To consider proposals for Scrutiny Reviews, should any be received)

There were no proposals for scrutiny reviews.

(To consider Councillor Call for Actions, should any be received)

There were no Councillor Call for Actions received.

(To receive a report from Andy Gutherson (County Commissioner for Economy and Place), which updates Members on the progress of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan and its implication for the County Council)

The County Commissioner for Economy and Place presented an update on the progress of the Central Lincolnshire Further Draft Local Plan and invited comments from the Committee on the second round consultation, which would conclude on 25 November 2015.

Members were reminded that the preparation of the Local Plan involved three draft stages, each with public consultation, followed by independent examination and final adoption.  The first round consultation had taken place from October to November 2014.  A timetable was agreed by the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee for the remaining stages, including the second round consultation from 15 October to 25 November 2015.  The Local Plan, as detailed at Appendix A, was the version officers had recommended to the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee on 7 September 2015 and formed the basis of the consultation.

The County Commissioner for Economy and Place outlined some of the headline points, which were detailed on pages 14 and 15 of the Committee's report. It was highlighted that Members could access the Policies Map and Inset Maps by using the following link: http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/central-lincolnshire/interactive-map/120659.article/ .

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

·        It was queried whether 'blue-light' services, for example, the police, would manage with the increase in housing developments and demand.  In response to this, Members were advised that it was not a requirement on the Local Plan to take into consideration policing levels;

·        A number of concerns were raised regarding Lincolnshire's road infrastructure and whether it could cope with an increase in housing developments.  Further to this, Members felt that there would need to be improvements made to the network to ensure it could cope, for example an additional bridge on the Trent in Gainsborough and the introduction of more dual carriageways.  In response to this, Members were assured that the overall capacity of the network already exists.  However, each scheme would be expected to make the necessary changes to junctions that would be adversely affected;

·        The Local Plan would not designate any site under 25 dwellings.  Any site fewer than 25 homes would not be allocated, and instead would be determined via planning applications on a case-by-case basis, using the generic criteria based policies found in the plan;

·        It was suggested that the Committee should consider at its meeting on 28 January 2016 the South East Lincolnshire Draft Local Plan, as Lincolnshire County Council was a partner;

·        Members were advised that district councils were currently consulting on the Community Infrastructure Levy, as this was a district council function;

·        It was essential that local planning documents were brought up to date and therefore it was necessary for the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee to produce this Local Plan to ensure that there was a robust position statement in place.  The Local Plan would be implemented by 2016;

·        It was hoped that all Neighbourhood Plans would link into Local Plans;

·        Members were advised that the evidence base behind each policy decision could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

(To consider a report by Tracy Johnson (Senior Scrutiny Officer), which invites the Committee to consider the content of its own work programme and the work programmes of the Council's other scrutiny committees)

Consideration was given to a report by Tracy Johnson (Senior Scrutiny Officer), which provided the Committee with an opportunity to consider its work programme and the work programmes of the Council's other Scrutiny Committees.  Copies of the individual work programmes were appended to the report and the following updates were received: -

i)       Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

The Chairman advised that further to Minute 30 – 'Central Lincolnshire Further Draft Local Plan', as detailed above, the South East Lincolnshire Draft Local Plan had been added to the work programme for the meeting scheduled to be held on 28 January 2016.

The Member Services Manager advised Members that the Scrutiny Review Group was progressing well, with a further meeting of the Group taking place on 17 November 2015.  It was noted that this meeting would considering a draft report of Stuart Young (Executive Director of East Midlands Councils), which would also include proposals for structural change of overview and scrutiny committees.

In response to a question, the Committee was advised that the report would be presented to the meeting of County Council on 18 December 2015.  The report would not be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Scrutiny Committee beforehand as the review of overview and scrutiny had been commissioned by County Council.

A Member requested an update on three specific issues which had previously been considered by the Committee: fire alarms; defibrillator at County Offices; and NHS contributions to winter maintenance, as there had not been an update on progress since 28 May 2015. 

Members were advised that the issue concerning alarms at County Offices had been resolved by the Member Services Manager, who sent an email on 17 June 2015 to all County Councillors, which had included two sound recordings for the fire and terror alarms to enable councillors to familiarise themselves with each alarm. 

On the issue of the possible installation of a defibrillator at County Offices, Members were advised that the Executive Councillor for Finance and Property had been made aware of this matter and had commissioned a review by corporate health and safety to ascertain how many, and the locations of, any defibrillators.  Further to this, it was requested that the Chairman urgently contacted the Executive Councillor for an update on the matter, as the Committee agreed that there was a need for a defibrillator within County Offices.

With regard to the issue of the local NHS potentially contributing towards the County Council's winter maintenance costs, it was requested that the Chairman emailed the Leader of the Council to suggest that this could potentially form part of the current talks regarding devolution and the potential for future increased collaboration with partners up to and including combined authority status.

ii)      Adults Scrutiny Committee

The Health Scrutiny Officer advised that the Adults Scrutiny Committee would be holding its Financial Challenges Workshop on Wednesday 9 December 2015, between 10.00 am and 11.00 am.  The formal Committee meeting would commence at 11.00 am.

iii)     Children and Young  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.