Present:-

Councillors Colthorpe, Lee, Radford and Way

Mid Devon District Council

Councillors Mrs Campbell and Squires

Devon Association of Parish Councils

Councillor Browse

Apologies

Councillor Berry and Hannon

*29 Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman

Councillors Radford and Lee were elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively for the ensuing year.

*30 Minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 15 March 2010 be signed as a correct record.

*31 Mid Devon Children s Centres

(Councillor Way declared a personal interest by virtue of being a member of the Crediton Children s Centre Monitoring Group)

(Councillor Mrs Campbell declared a personal interest by virtue of her involvement with the Culm Valley Children s Centre Steering Group)

The Committee received a presentation on the Children s Centres by Ms Janine Newbury, Children s Services Manager, Tiverton. The presentation covered the buildings used, the number of children in the Mid Devon area which were involved, how the Centres engage with parents, the partnership with Barnardos, the targeted work undertaken with particular family groups and identifying training and support for parents especially mothers.

Members asked questions and made statements in relation to monitoring the work at the centre by the County Council and Barnardos, the need to focus on the positive side of involvement with parents, transport problems and better integrated use of the volunteer car group, whether parents approached the Centre or vice-versa, the difficulties of identifying problems similar to the Baby P case, the high number of families reached in the Crediton area, the Centre s work with pre-school and toddler groups.

It was MOVED by Councillor Radford, SECONDED by Councillor Lee and

RESOLVED that this Committee receive an update report in twelve months.

*32 Mid Devon Local Children s Trust

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Children and Young People s Services (CY/10/61 - text onlyCY/10/61) on the background and work of the Trust, citing the examples of tackling anti-social behaviour and teenage pregnancies and explaining the integrated working processes. The report then went on to set out the challenges, commissioning and partnership working and concluded by noting that Lynette Grimshaw, Vice Principal of Queen Elizabeth s Community College, had been elected Chair of the Trust.

Ms Liza Jarvis, Commissioning Officer for Communities and Ms Lynette Grimshaw, Chair of Mid Devon Children s Trust were in attendance to present the report and answer Members questions. Ms Grimshaw stressed the importance of early intervention. Members questions related to the time and commitment required of the Trust s Chair and the vital 5,000 funding for administrative support. The opening of the Drop-In Centre on Saturdays was also raised. The Committee noted the report and the Chairman thanked Ms Jarvis and Ms Grimshaw for their attendance.

*33 Property Update

(Councillor Squires declared a personal interest by virtue of her spouse being a former smallholding tenant)

Mr Buzzacott, Head of the Business Transformation Unit, and Mr Matthew Jones, Senior Asset Manager, attended and distributed a Corporate Asset List for the area (excluding schools or farmland) around the Committee for information and discussion. Mr Buzzacott reminded Members that the County Council was looking to reduce its office space by 25% which it hoped to do by such measures as hot-desking and increasing efficiency. Some properties had large back-logged repairs and maintenance issues associated with them. Mr Jones picked out properties in the list, highlighted in blue, where there was current activity such as new build and disposal etc..

Members asked question and made statements in relation to:-

whether the Cullompton Library site included the Magistrates Court?

what is happening about the ex Newcombes Resource Centre site in Crediton?

what is happening with the Care Homes in the list?

does the County Council own Willand Industrial Site lease?

Mr Buzzacott spoke briefly about the future of the County Farms Estate and displayed a map showing the location of the farms in Mid Devon.

It was MOVED by Councillor Radford, SECONDED by Councillor Lee and

RESOLVED that this Committee receive an update report in twelve months but in the meantime Members are urged to provide feedback on Mid Devon properties in the list to the Business Transformation Unit on an individual basis.

*34 Feedback/Representations

There were no issues be raised by individual Members serving on other bodies. Councillor Mrs Campbell provided the clerk with a list of bodies on which she served.

*35 Mid Devon County Committee Locality Budget for 2009/10 Outturn and Spend To Date

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (CX/10/72 - text only | pdf CX/10/72) on the current budget situation as at 10 June 2010 and on the outturn position for 2009/10. The Committee noted that the report included a pr cis explaining what the allocated funding had been spent on.

It was MOVED by Councillor Radford, SECONDED by Councillor Lee and

RESOLVED

(a) that the position regarding the outturn for 2009/10 be noted;

(b) that the Committee note that the following payments were approved by the Chairman at the meeting:

Banner for Crediton Arts Centre: 650 Councillor Way

Cover for wicket and mower for Kentisbeare Cricket Club Councillor Berry

(c) that the current budget position for 2010/11 be noted;

*36 Member Development Steering Group

The Committee noted the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2010, distributed for information.

*37 Background Paper: Connectivity ICT in Devon

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Environment, Economy and Culture (EEC/10/119/HQ - text only | pdf EEC/10/119/HQ) which outlined the internet connectivity speeds available in Mid Devon and the approach that the County Council was taking to ensure that the Devon economy was not disadvantaged. The report was requested at the March meeting of this Committee.

Mr Tom Dixon, Economic Development Officer, attended to present the report and answer Members questions. He distributed a coloured map at the meeting showing the indicative speeds of connectivity across the Mid Devon area.

Members asked questions in relation to whether connectivity speed could be linked to s106 agreements, whether schools could be used as a connectivity base in rural areas and whether local businesses and residents could piggyback on to the Cullompton Library internet system.

Mr Dixon reminded Members of the successful bid by Devon and Somerset County Councils to secure 550,000 in funding to invest in community broadband pilots and that the pilot areas would be announced shortly.

It was MOVED by Councillor Radford, SECONDED by Councillor Lee and

RESOLVED that this Committee endorse and encourage the County s Economic Development service in its efforts to bring increased broadband speeds to rural areas in Mid Devon.

*38 Date of Next Meeting and Items for Future Discussion/Work programme

The Committee noted that the next meeting was due to be held on Monday 18 October 2010 at 2pm at which (a) Mr Bruce Thompson, DCC Transport Co-Ordination Services will discuss with Members DCC support for rural bus services and (b) there will be a presentation by Mr Duncan Wood, Chief Officer, Involve Mid Devon, on the work of this organisation..

*DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 2.00pm and finished at 4.05pm.

The Minutes of the Mid Devon County Committee are published on the County Council s Website at:-