Agenda and minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2017 (previously circulated).

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2017 be signed as a correct record.

Items which in the opinion of the Chairman should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

There was no matter raised as a matter of urgency.

Mrs Mayes attended the meeting in her capacity as a Co-opted Member of the Council's Standards Committee to observe and monitor compliance with the Council’s ethical governance framework.

Members of the public may make representations/presentations on any substantive matter listed in the published agenda for this meeting, as set out hereunder, relating to a specific matter or an examination of services or facilities provided or to be provided.

In accordance with the Council’s Public Participation Rules, the committee received and acknowledged oral representations made by Mr G Long and Mr R Cashmore on a matter to be considered by the Committee that day, namely the Connecting Devon and Somerset Programme.

The Chairman responded, thanking Messrs Long and Cashmorefor their attendance and presentations, which would be taken into account by the Committee during its subsequent deliberations.

In accordance with Standing Order 23(2) Councillor Brennan has requested that the Committee consider this item.

In accordance with Standing Order 23(2) Councillor Brennan had asked that the Committee consider the issues of traffic congestion, air quality and permit/resident parking policy.

RESOLVED that a Task Group be set up, comprising Councillors Atkinson, Asvachin, Brennan, Brook, Chugg and Shaw, to investigate the combined issues of traffic congestion, air quality and permit/resident parking in Devon.

Joint Report of the County Solicitor and Head of Adult Commissioning and Health (ACH/17/71), attached.

The Committee received the Joint Report of the County Solicitor and Head of Adult Commissioning and Health (ACH/17/71) regarding applications and authorisations for deprivation of liberty under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard provisions; and applications to the Court of Protection for authorisation where people were subject to deprivation of liberty whilst living in the community.  The Report highlighted the risks to the Council and the proposed changes to legislation that would impact significantly in the future, the timescales for which were unclear.

Members noted that the County Solicitor and Head of Adult Commissioning and Health would report further to the Committee once the timescale for implementation of the new legislation was known.

Presentation by Mr C Garcia, Chief Executive and Ms H Hallam, Partnerships Manager, of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership.

Mr C Garcia, Chief Executive and Ms H Hallam, Partnerships Manager of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) gave a presentation to the Committee on its role in leading and influencing economic growth across Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay.

Discussion with Members highlighted the following points:

·         the LEP was one of 39 nationally, working in partnership with the private sector, local authorities, universities and further education;

·         it was a private sector company governed by the Companies Act and was audited regularly; it held no bank accounts and funding was held directly by local authorities;

·         the Annual Report had just been published and was circulated to Members at the meeting and, although lacking benchmarking information, work was ongoing to address this;

·         examples of projects benefitting Devon included the A379 Newcourt Junction, Exeter; Exeter Science Park, Connecting Devon and Somerset; Heart of the South West Growth Hub and Bridge Road, Exeter;

·         a South West Rural Productivity Commission had been launched with four South West LEPs toexplore issues around rural productivity and growth;

·         a Brexit Resilience and Opportunities Group had been set up to look at opportunities and what could be done to adapt to changes after leaving the EU;

·         the LEP had secured commitment from Government that all EU-funded projects with agreements signed before the Autumn Statement would be safe;

• the LEP supported the local authorities’ move towards creating a joint committee which aimed to improve productivity and promote economic growth; and

·         the Annual Conference and AGM was taking place on 10 November 2017 to which everyone was welcome to attend.

RESOLVED that the Heart of the South West LEP would report back to a future meeting once the outcome of the Government’s review of LEPs was known, which was anticipated to be the end of the year.

Update from the Acting Chief Officer of Highways Infrastructure Development and Waste.

The Acting Chief Officer of Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste gave a further update on fire safety in Devon schools following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, as requested at the previous Committee.

The Department for Education had since requested that checks were carried out on school premises, comprising four storeys or above and residential accommodation for children, to see if they contained aluminium composite cladding material, which was the affected material in use at Grenfell.  The Acting Chief Officer was pleased to confirm that having conducted checks on the relevant school buildings, none of the affected material was found.   The Council had decided to commission further visual inspections of all special schools in particular where, again, none of the affected material was found.

As far as the Council’s corporate estate was concerned, a further ten random tests were carried out across Devon, where none of the affected material was identified.  Nonetheless, the Council had instructed NPS surveyors to be on alert for the affected material during their regular maintenance and inspection process. This work was beyond the scope set by Central Government.

The Acting Chief Officer further reported that the Council was one of two local authorities that had been invited to sit on the Department for Education’s newly formed Estate Management Group that would be considering what advice to send out to local authorities post-Grenfell. 

Report of the Head of Digital Transformation and Business Support (BSS/17/11), attached.

The Committee received the Report of the Head of Service for Digital Transformation and Business Support (BSS/17/11) on the defence, detection and recovery processes that were in place to protect the Council from cyber-attacks. 

The Council’s ICT infrastructure was regularly scanned for technical weaknesses by both internal technology and an accredited external company. The scanning; combined with the technical protection already in place; the modern Windows 10 devices; staff training and awareness ensured that the Council remained secure and protected.

In discussion with Members, the Head of Service highlighted in particular:-

·         the focus of the team on business continuity plans if there was to be a breach in email communication;

·         assurance that agreements were in place between partner organisations to conform to certain security protocols; and

·         the need for passwords to be changed every 40 days to ensure PSN compliance.

Report of the Head of Digital Transformation and Business Support (BSS/17/13), attached.

The Committee received the Report of the Head of Digital Transformation and Business Support (BSS/17/13) on the ten year review of the Council’s joint venture contract with NPS for property consultancy services for the period April 2007 - April 2022. 

The positive outcome of the ten year review into the Council’s arrangements for property consultancy services was noted, and also that a delivery model options appraisal was being planned to help decide the most suitable future model for property consultancy services beyond March 2022.

In discussion with Members and the Head of Service, the following points arose:-

·         the Head of Service undertook to provide Members with any information they required in order to evidence the value for money performance of NPS; and

·         the contract had five years left to run and the Head of Service emphasised the opportunity now presented to forward plan.

RESOLVED that a further report be taken to the September 2018 meeting to consider the terms of reference for the delivery model review and opportunities for scrutiny involvement.

Report of the Head of Digital Transformation and Business Support (BSS/17/12), attached.

The Committee received the Report of the Head of Digital Transformation and Business Support (BSS/17/12) which provided a further update to Members following the Corporate Energy update report presented to the former Place Scrutiny Committee on 10 January 2017 and demonstrated that through the implementation of a number of energy efficiency measures, the Council had made significant progress in reducing consumption and saving costs.

The Head of Service undertook to provide further information to Members on the reason for the unsuccessful bid to the Interreg Atlantic and Western Power Distribution Innovation Fund for energy storage projects as outlined in paragraph 2.4 of the Report.

Report of the Task Group.

The Committee received the Report of the Broadband and Mobile Phone Connectivity Task Group (CSO/17/28) updating Members on work undertaken and findings to date.  The Task Group planned to engage with a number of further witnesses over the coming months including the CDS Board, Cornwall Council, planning authorities, the Council’s Highways team, Gigaclear and Airband.  Somerset County Council had also been invited to take part in the joint scrutiny.

The Task Group included Councillors Dewhirst, Ball, Bloxham and Saywell.  Councillors Crabb and Hall indicated their willingness to join the Task Group also.

The Task Group would provide a further update at the next meeting.

(a)     In accordance with previous practice, Scrutiny Committees are requested to review forthcoming business and determine which items are to be included in the Work Programme, which can be found at https://new.devon.gov.uk/democracy/committee-meetings/scrutiny-committees/scrutiny-work-programme/ 

The Committee may also wish to review the content of the Cabinet Forward Plan to see if there are any specific items therein it might wish to explore further, which can be found at:

http://democracy.devon.gov.uk/mgPlansHome.aspx?bcr=1

(b)  Commissioning Liaison Member.

(a)      Work Programme

It was RESOLVED that a Budget Masterclass be included for the 18 November 2017 in place of the Community Enhancement Fund.  A briefing note on Community Enhancement Fund would instead be circulated to Members.

[NB The Scrutiny Work Programme was available on the Council’s website at: https://new.devon.gov.uk/democracy/committee-meetings/scrutiny-committees/scrutiny-work-programme/ and the Council/Cabinet Forward Plan ws available at: http://democracy.devon.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=133&RD=0&bcr=1]

(b)      Commissioning Liaison Member

The Commissioning Liaison Member reported that they had agreed a Protocol for their role and would provide an update at the next meeting.

(c)        Bus Shelters at Mount Pleasant Health Centre – Reference from Exeter Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (Minute *10/4 July 2017)

The Committee had been invited by the Exeter Highways and Traffic Orders Committee to establish a Task Group to look at the operation and effectiveness of the County Council’s and Exeter City Council’s joint contract with Clear Channel for the provision of bus shelters in Exeter. 

RESOLVED that Councillors Asvachin and Atkinson would carry out a Member investigation and report back to a future meeting of the Committee.