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Contact: Lindsey Watson 01305 252209 / Email: lindsey.watson@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
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Declarations of interest To disclose any
pecuniary, other registerable or personal interest as set out in the adopted
Code of Conduct. In making their disclosure councillors are asked to state the
agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as
part of their declaration. If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Chairman's Update To receive any updates from the Chairman of the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee. Minutes: The Chairman provided the following statement : At the Annual
Meeting of Council on 4 May 2021 it was agreed that all council meetings that
are not executive in nature, will continue to be held virtually from 7 May 2021
until such time as social distancing requirements are removed (currently
scheduled to be lifted on 21 June 2021). Where a decision is required,
committee members will express a ‘minded to’ decision in respect of
recommendations set out in officer reports, with decisions being taken under
officer delegated authority in the light of ‘minded to’ decisions expressed by
members in the virtual meetings. The reports on today’s agenda are for review by the committee, to seek comments from the committee and support for the direction of future work and also provide the committee with information to determine if any additional areas should be added to the forward plan for further review. To confirm, there are no items on this agenda that require a decision to be taken under officer delegation. |
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Public Participation PDF 66 KB To receive questions or statements on the business of the committee from town and parish councils and members of the public. Public speaking has been suspended for virtual committee meetings
during the Covid-19 crisis and public participation will be dealt with through
written submissions only. Members of the public who live, work or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area, may submit up to two questions or a statement of up to a maximum of 450 words. All submissions must be sent electronically to lindsey.watson@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by the deadline set out below. When submitting a question please indicate who the question is for and include your name, address and contact details. Questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda. Questions will be read out by an officer of the council and a response given by the appropriate Portfolio Holder or officer at the meeting. All questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting. The deadline for submission of the full text of a question or statement is 8.30am on Wednesday 5 May 2021. Minutes: A question had been submitted from a member of the public. A copy of the question read out at the meeting and the response provided, is set out at Appendix 1. |
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Questions from Members PDF 42 KB To receive questions submitted by councillors. The deadline for receipt of questions is 8.30am on Wednesday 5 May 2021. Minutes: The Chairman noted that questions had been submitted by Councillor C Jones and would be dealt with under agenda item 6, ‘Grid Capacity: Scoping Report’. |
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Grid Capacity: Scoping Report PDF 70 KB To consider a report of the Service Manager for Spatial Planning. Additional documents: Minutes: The committee considered a scoping report, which sought to ensure that the matter of grid capacity was fully considered as part of the preparation of the local plan and that the council was fully aware on the matter, so as to be able to lobby and work with providers to make the necessary improvements. The Chairman
provided the opportunity for non-committee members to ask questions and
discussion was held in the following areas: ·
C Jones
asked two questions which were responded to by the Portfolio Holder for
Planning. The questions asked and
responses provided are set out at Appendix 2 to the notes ·
Need to
look at existing grid capacity and the impact of adding related conditions to
planning consents ·
Support
was expressed for the use of a consultant to undertake work in this area ·
A
request was made to consider the use of domestic solar panels. The committee
considered the issues arising from the report and points were raised in the
following areas: · The timescale for the work would fit in with the timescale for the local plan review · Financial issues including lobbying for increased investment and how the consultants would be able to assist with this · Need to consider a wider range of green renewable energies · The consultants work would assist in understanding how capacity would affect the council’s ambitions and how the council could assist · Need to keep the scope of the review wide. The scope was currently being developed with the consultants and would include a review of energy feeding into the system · This initial scoping part of the work was about getting a sound and independent assessment of the issues and would establish a baseline to enable the council to engage in debate with all parties in this area · Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) had also commissioned a complimentary piece of work through consultants and this could also be reviewed by the committee. It was proposed by A Canning seconded by J Andrews that the committee support the three recommendations set out in the report and add a fourth recommendation as follows, ‘That the Place & Resources Scrutiny Committee wish to invite representatives of the energy supply industry to a future meeting and to require that the LEP review report of energy supply is also reported to a future meeting, alongside the Dorset Council consultants’ report.’ ‘Minded to’ Committee support for the following (i)
That the response to the Local Area
Network Plan consultation be noted; (ii)
That members support the
commissioning of additional consultancy work on grid capacity; (iii)
That the issues related to local
grid capacity as raised at this meeting are fed into the study and notified to
the provider; (iv)
That
the Place & Resources Scrutiny Committee wish to invite representatives of
the energy supply industry to a future meeting and to require that the LEP
review report of energy supply is also reported to a future meeting, alongside
the Dorset Council consultants’ report. |
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Property Strategy and Asset Management Plan Quarterly Monitoring Report PDF 127 KB To consider a report of the Corporate Director of Property and Assets. Minutes: The committee received and considered a report of the Corporate Director of Property and Assets, which provided an update on progress on the actions identified in the Property and Asset Management Strategy – Action Plan, and areas that needed to be given priority. The Corporate Director noted that further data would be included in future reports including red/amber/green (RAG) ratings. Consideration was given to the issues within the report and discussion was held in the following areas: · Hub office provision in the east of the Dorset Council area · Financial assistance agreed by Cabinet and increased capacity through restructure of the service gave reasonable confidence in the action plan timetable · Issues around vacant properties – how these were being dealt with and close work being undertaken with other services · Potential for work and communications with ward councillors, town and parish councils and communities. An example was provided of work undertaken in Weymouth · Reference to the process for dealing with low value and high value assets · Awareness of the current economic situation and how this may impact on timescales in some areas · It was hoped to be able to include performance information and financial implications in the next report · Action 11 (Joint Ventures) would need to go through the appropriate governance process. It was proposed by J Andrews seconded by M Roberts ‘Minded to’ Decision That the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee have reviewed and commented upon progress in achieving the actions identified in the Property & Asset Management Strategy -Action Plan and areas needing to be given priority. |
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Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan PDF 97 KB To review the
draft Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan. Minutes: Councillors reviewed the committee’s forward plan and noted items to be considered at the next meeting of the committee on 13 July 2021. It was noted that the report ‘Dorset Council Scrutiny Committees: Adding Value to Dorset’s Covid-19 Recovery Strategy’, had been removed from the forward plan and that the chairmen of the scrutiny committees would be considering the role of scrutiny in this area. In response to a question with regard to the scrutiny arrangements for the St Mary’s project, further consideration would be given to the governance arrangements for the project. |
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Cabinet Forward Plan and Decisions PDF 148 KB To review the Cabinet Forward Plan and decisions taken at recent meetings. Additional documents:
Minutes: The committee noted
the Cabinet Forward Plan and decisions taken at recent meetings. |
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Urgent items To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes. Minutes: There were no urgent items. |
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Exempt Business To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered. There is no exempt
business. Minutes: There was no exempt business. |
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Appendix 1 - Public Participation Agenda item 4 - Public Participation Questions from Rob Smith, Lyme Regis Town
Councillor "The Grid
Capacity Scoping Report which the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee
is due to consider on May 11th should also highlight another issue which is impacting
local residents seeking to decarbonise their homes and
cars. The Government's 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution to get us to
Net Zero includes installing 600,000 heat pumps by 2028. Part of Dorset Council's
role in helping deliver these aspirations and the aims of its own Climate and
Ecological Emergency Strategy is to facilitate these changes which will make a
major contribution to cutting carbon emissions. Unfortunately, residents who have installed electric
vehicle home chargers and subsequently plan to install an Air Source Heat Pump
(ASHP) are increasingly discovering that our electricity
infrastructure is insufficient. They find themselves paying them between £300
and £3000 (additional to the cost of these already expensive systems) to
upgrade the electricity supply to their homes. This infrastructure is owned and
controlled by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO), in our case Western
Power Distribution, regulated by Ofgem. Householders who are trying to support
the government's environmental targets, should not have to foot the bill for
upgrading the DNO's infrastructure. Surely if the Government wants to encourage domestic users to adopt
electric vehicles and renewable heat technology, these extra cost barriers
should be removed? Will Dorset Council take a lead and lobby the relevant DNO, and Ofgem, to absorb this cost
themselves, to remove this significant financial burden for residents who
are already planning to make a substantial investment in support of the
government's and the council's targets?". Response from the Portfolio
Holder for Planning This is a national policy issue, which the
government is aware of. The Council understands that the government is
currently working with Ofgem, distribution network operators and partners
through the Charging Futures Forum, to develop equitable future network
charging policies aligned with climate change aspirations and the need for
significant increase in electric charging infrastructure and domestic /
commercial heat pumps. The Council will continue to monitor these
discussions and act accordingly. |
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Appendix 2 - Questions from Members Agenda item 5 – Questions from Members Question from
Councillor Carole Jones re: Grid Capacity 1.
What is the cost to Dorset Council for the lack
of capacity on the North Dorset Business Park and in general for the town if
house building is unable to proceed, & can this be clawed by from the
provider at all? If not, is the provider not taking their responsibility
seriously and can we do anything about it? Response from the
Portfolio Holder for Planning The limited amount of electricity capacity will act as a constraint on
the full development of North Dorset Business Park in the foreseeable future
and until such time as additional grid capacity can be made available
economically. The Council is working with all the interested parties that had
previously purchased plots of land within the Park from the Council to maximise
the development of the site and support the creation of as many local job opportunities
as possible given these constraints. The Council has yet to conclude/finalise
how best this might be achieved and any associated costs. Question from
Councillor Carole Jones re: Grid Capacity 2.
As there are a number of
areas with a lack of grid capacity, - does there have to be some sort of
priority list drawn up if so, whose responsibility is this and how would this
be decided upon. Response from the
Portfolio Holder for Planning The energy providers will develop their priorities for future investment
through the Local Area Network Plans currently in preparation, and we have
responded to this consultation in order to inform that
process. We can influence their choices
through working with them on the development of their plans and our local plan,
and the further work should help us to do that more effectively. |