Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed all to the committee and set out the arrangements for the meeting.  In addition, he noted that the Vice-chairman had sent his apologies for the meeting and therefore the committee would need to elect a Vice-chairman for the meeting.

It was proposed by A Starr seconded by M Roberts

Agreed

That D Tooke be elected Vice-chairman for the meeting.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any updates from the Chairman of the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee.

There was no update from the Chairman at this time.

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 7 July 2021.

There were no questions or statements from members of the public or local organisations.

To receive questions submitted by councillors. The deadline for receipt of questions is 8.30am on Wednesday 7 July 2021.

There were no questions from councillors.

To consider a report of the Infrastructure and Delivery Planning Manager.

At the request of the committee, councillors considered a report of the Infrastructure and Delivery Planning Manager to enable them to scrutinise the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Governance arrangements and to invite the Executive Director for Place to recommend any proposed changes to the Place and Resources Overview Committee before Cabinet approval.

Councillors considered the issues arising from the report and discussion was held in the following areas:

·       Discussion on the level of community involvement in the process

·       Role of town and parish councils and work for Dorset Council in raising awareness of CIL and seeking their priorities for spend

·       Link to Neighbourhood Plans

·       Noted that smaller parishes had greater flexibility on how they used CIL funding – guidance had been provided to town and parish councils

·       Legacy arrangements in North Dorset

·       Information on the availability of S106 funding as well as CIL and what they could be used for

·       Links to work on the new Local Plan and the charging schedule for setting rates moving forward

·       What CIL funding could be used for and the categories and proportions set by the former councils

·       Arrangements to monitor progress with projects and ensuring the council got best value for money

·       The percentages of funding given were fixed and the council did not have discretion to change them

·       Work could be undertaken across county borders with neighbouring councils.

Arising from the discussion, the Chairman provided a summary of the recommendations to be forwarded to Place and Resources Overview Committee.

‘Minded to’ Recommendations to Place and Resources Overview Committee

The following points to be considered by the Place and Resources Overview Committee:

·       Regular communications to take place with town and parish councils to raise awareness of the CIL process and to provide advice so that they can engage in the process

·       An increased level of ‘up-front’ community engagement to be built into the process through working with town and parish councils in advance of the funding window to get input on their priorities for spend.  Recognition of the role for town and parish councils in bringing the communities’ views forward

·       Under the new Dorset Council Local Plan, CIL money to be spend Dorset-wide

·       To review the scoring process

·       Re-evaluate the categories and proportions for spend set by the former councils, with the aim of ensuring best value for residents in how CIL monies are spent

·       To agree a method for regular monitoring of CIL performance (suggestions made – through the council’s performance framework or the Annual Infrastructure Funding Statement produced in December each year which includes performance information).

The Executive Director of Place confirmed that having heard the debate and summary provided by the Chairman, he would progress the committee’s recommendations through to the Place and Resources Overview Committee for their consideration.

A review of the relevant Dorset Council performance dashboard to inform the Scrutiny Committee’s Forward Plan and identify items for deep dives.

The Service Manager for Business Intelligence and Performance provided an overview of the Performance Dashboard that had been set up for the monitoring of performance for areas covered by the remit of the committee.  This included an overview of the key features of the dashboard and the information that was available.  A link to the performance dashboard is provided below for information:

Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee Performance Dashboard

It was noted that a Webinar would be held for all councillors to provide a demonstration of the performance tool.

Councillors asked questions about how the database was populated and how the targets were set.  It was noted that the committee could have a role in challenging the targets set.

The Chairman highlighted three areas arising from the performance data as follows:

·       Percentage of land charge searches processed on time / Average number of days to process local land charges

·       Percentage of FOI requests answered on time

·       Percentage of Subject Access Requests answered on time

These areas would be discussed further when the committee came to consider their forward plan.

To review the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan.

Councillors reviewed the committee’s forward plan and noted items to be considered at the next meeting of the committee on 21 September 2021.

Councillors considered the items that had been flagged up through the review of the performance dashboard and it was agreed to add the following to the committee’s forward plan:

·       Local Land Charges Services – to consider the current delays – report to committee on 21 September 2021

·       Percentage of FOI requests answered on time - tbc

·       Percentage of subject access requests answered on time - tbc

Other items considered included:

·       A report was to be brought to the committee on 16 November 2021 with regard to the acquisition of St Marys to create a new special school and centre of excellence – further discussion would be held with the Chairman and officers to clarify the content of the report

·       Local Transport Plan (LTP) – the Place and Resources Overview Committee could have a role in looking at the new LTP with this committee reviewing the current LTP to consider achievements, further work required and areas to be rolled forward into the new LTP.  The brief and timing for this work needed to be determined.

To review the Cabinet Forward Plan and decisions taken at recent meetings.

The committee noted the Cabinet Forward Plan and decisions taken at recent meetings.

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.

There were no urgent items.

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.

There was no exempt business.