Present:-

Councillors Moulding (Chairman), Ball, Bowden, Clarance, Edgell, Hawkins, Hill, B Hughes, Owen, Radford and Vint.

Apologies:-

Councillor Hook

Members attending in accordance with Standing Order 25 :-

Councillors Biederman, Connett, Croad, Berry, Dewhirst, Gilbert, Hart, Hawkins, Hosking and Younger Ross

Ms Fontana (Primary Parent Governor representative, People s Scrutiny Committee)

*76 Minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2015 be signed as a correct record.

*77 Young People and Employment Task Group Final Report

The Committee considered the Report of this Task Group (CS/15/9 - text only | pdf CS/15/9) which had considered how young people could be supported to access education, training and/or employment.

The Report recommended that the County Council and partners ensure the provision of truly independent careers advice and guidance, that schools provide more flexible work experience opportunities, that formal channels of integration be formed between schools, careers advisors and the business community and that the County Council offer eight week work experience placements to young people.

In discussing the issues raised in the report Members considered:

the effect of financial pressures on schools and targets based on academic achievement;

the impact of the skills gap meaning that school leavers are often not equipped with the skills required by employers;

the barriers for young people in accessing training and employment in a rural county and the potential impact on this of reduced bus services;

the importance of vocational learning opportunities for young people;

the key role which Job Centre Plus should play in helping young people to prepare for and find suitable employment;

the need for the County Council to work in Partnership with schools, careers advisors, Job Centre Plus and employers to achieve the recommendations laid out in the Task Group s Report.

the role of the Devon Education Forum in facilitating the wider distribution of the Task Group s Report within the education community.

It was MOVED by Councillor Moulding, SECONDED by Councillor Ball and

RESOLVED that the Report be commended to Cabinet.

*78 Call-in of Cabinet Member Decision: Revenue Budget 2015/16 Fees and Charges for Highways, Planning and Design Public Community Transport

(Councillors Connett, Berry, Dewhirst and Younger Ross attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item and Councillor Hughes (Cabinet Member for Highway Management Flood Prevention attended and also spoke at the invitation of the Committee).

(Councillors Moulding and Owen each declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of being respectively, a parent of a disabled child and a holder of a residential parking permit).

The Committee noted that, in accordance with Paragraph 17 ¹ of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules, the required number of Members of the County Council (Councillors Connett, Dewhirst, Greenslade, Hook, Way, Wragg and Younger Ross) had invoked the call-in procedure in relation to the decision of the Cabinet Member for Highway Management Flood Prevention, notified to Councillors on 20 March 2015, on proposed charges for disabled parking spaces, access protection makings, residential and charity parking permits and doctors spaces (i.e. the proposed charges delineated at items 7, 22.1, 22.2(d) and 30 on the schedule referred to below) on the grounds that the decision was silent on the methodology used to arrive at the new charges and what preliminary consultation, if any, had been undertaken, how much the council expected to generate from the new charges or if there were any circumstances when proposed charges may be waived due to local or individual circumstances.

The Committee also received a copy of the Cabinet Member s decision and the schedule of proposed fees and charges (CS/15/17 - supplementary information CS/15/17), which had been circulated prior to the meeting and noted the emendment of the schedule of fees and charge by the correction of a typographical error at item 30(b) by the substitution of the figure 60 for 160.

The Cabinet Member and Head of Service responded to a number of detailed questions from Members on the justification for and estimated income arising from the proposed charges, the costs of administering such charges and the alternatives explored. The Head of Service referred to the Impact Assessment undertaken previously which would have examined the impact of the proposals and any mitigating actions required, acknowledging also the non-statutory nature of a number of the services offered which the Council was not required to provide and where in the past the Council may not have necessarily recovered actual costs. Concern was also expressed at the impact of increasing charges for those with disabilities or low incomes.

The Cabinet Member and Head of Service also acknowledged and undertook to look again, in any future policy reviews, at the suggestions made at the meeting that charges could be linked to vehicle emissions and increasing the scope for charging for such things as Access Prohibited Markings on a universal basis.

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

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member s decision be endorsed.

[NB:

1. The call-in procedure may be used in exceptional circumstances where Member(s) have evidence which suggests that the decision was not taken in accordance with the Council s principles of Decision Making set out at Article 13 or the Council's Policy and Budget Framework;

2. . The Committee having neither recommended formally that the Cabinet Member s decision be reconsidered or amended in any way, the decision would therefore be implemented with immediate effect].

*79 Public Transport Budget

(Councillors Connett, Berry and Hosking attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item and Councillor Hughes (Cabinet Member for Highway Management Flood Prevention attended and also spoke at the invitation of the Committee).

The Committee noted that the Cabinet, on 10 June 2015, had invited this Committee to comment on the proposals formulated following the review of the County Council s funding of bus services prior to the Cabinet s consideration and determination of this matter on 8 July 2015.

The Committee recognised that the budget approved by the Council for 2015/16 had contained a reduction in the Public Transport Budget of 1,762,000 per annum and that the Council had, as promised, consulted on possible service reductions during which over 2,600 responses had been received. The Committee had before it the Report of the Head of Services for Communities (SC/15/9 - text only | pdf | supplementary information SC/15/9) on the outcome of those consultations and the revised proposals for Supported Bus Services Reductions upon which the Committee had been asked to comment prior to any final decisions being made by Cabinet.

Members noted that the Head of Service's Report had identified a number of areas where it had been possible to amend the original proposals in light of comments and observations received during the consultation process together with an updated assessment of cost projections; this incorporated a considerable number of revisions to the original proposed service reductions, whilst still achieving the reduced budget target.

The Cabinet Member for Highways Management Flood Prevention also commented, explaining that the Council had honoured its commitment not to leave any communities entirely isolated and the revised proposals reduced the number of affected passenger trips from 400,000 to just under 170,000 which meant that 96% of passenger trips on the supported network would carry on unaffected; he recognised that with a budget reduction of this magnitude it would not be possible to meet the level of savings required without some impact.

The Committee also noted that in referring this matter to this Committee, the Cabinet had also acknowledged the receipt of a number of representations from County Councillors (relating, inter alia, to bus services in Barnstaple, services D, P, T, F7, F17, 347, 366 and 875 and more generally to home-to school transport, shopmobilty services and hours of availability of the concessionary bus fare scheme) which it had indicated it would take into account on 8 July alongside any views expressed at this Scrutiny Committee, such as those relating to services 325 and 678. The Chairman also referred to further representations from the public made direct to Members copies of which were available at the meeting alongside those made during that formal consultation process.

The Cabinet Member nonetheless indicated his preparedness to consider the suggestions made previously and any raised at this meeting and the Head of Services likewise confirmed that this was a dynamic process, that discussions were continuing with providers and that those suggestions already received from a variety of sources since the Cabinet meeting on 19 June and those raised at this meeting or subsequently would, as time allowed, be further analysed and considered prior to the Cabinet meeting on 8 July 2015.

In subsequently discussing, examining and considering the proposals now before the Committee, Members also had regard to comments and view expressed including:

the suggested retention of Barnstaple Town service 8/10 until adequate alternative services may be identified;

reducing the frequency of buses serving Bradninch during the middle of the day to offset proposed reductions elsewhere in the area, recognising that some of the services were operated on a commercial basis;

discussing with Torbay Council the possible extension of the Torbay Supported Service 66 in replacement for the X64 service;

retaining the evening Dartmouth/Kingswear Ferry passenger services to meet onward connections.

The Head of Service also reported on work being undertaken to ensure the best use of the County Council's resources as a whole (i.e. its total transport spend) and the role of community transport in the development of a more integrated approach, acknowledging also the contribution Members could make in that work either through a Task Group or consideration at a future meeting of the Committee.

The matter having been discussed in some considerable detail and acknowledging all of the options, representations and relevant factors identified in the Head of Service s Report and/or referred to above and noting also that the Cabinet would need to satisfy itself that (i) relevant Impact Assessments had and would continue to be undertaken and updated and complied with and (ii) the evidence gathered during the engagement process supported the proposed way forward and (iii) in view of the assurances given acknowledged below, the Committee then concluded its discussions. The Chairman acknowledged that having exercised the opportunity (consistent with the Council s policy budget framework) to comment upon the proposals, there could, in his view, be no reason to suggest that the final decision to be taken by the Cabinet on 8 July would not accord with the Council s Principles of Decision Making and could therefore be subject to any further formal call-in, that process having been effectively been superseded by this consideration.

It was MOVED by Councillor Moulding, SECONDED by Councillor Ball and

RESOLVED that the Committee welcome both the opportunity to comment on the proposals and the undertakings provided by the Cabinet Member and Head of Service that the suggestions referred to above and raised by Members at the meeting would be further considered prior to the Cabinet coming to any final decision.

[NB: The Impact Assessment referred to above may be viewed alongside Minutes of this meeting and may also be available at: http://new.devon.gov.uk/impact/ ].

*80 Review of Energy Strategy

(Councillor Croad, Cabinet Member for Community Environmental Services, attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(1) and spoke to this item at the invitation of the Committee).

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment (HCW/15/36 - text only | pdf HCW/15/36) providing an update on the revised energy policy and proposed energy strategy and action plans for the Council to meet its revised targets and objectives.

Members of the Committee expressed disappointment at the lack of progress made towards the recommendations laid out in the Energy Policy Task Group s Report published in November 2014 and felt that there was an absence of short and medium term targets aligned thereto.

Acknowledging that the Council did not have financial control over schools and therefore could not enforce recommendations made in relation to this area, Members felt that the Council should have a role in promoting energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy technologies with Devon Schools and also queried the progress made on the collection of energy consumption data across the County Council s sites and financial investment in renewable energy.

The Cabinet Member for Community Environmental Services thanked the Members of the Energy Policy Task Group for their Report, which highlighted a number of areas where significant savings could be made and income generated.

The Cabinet Member acknowledged the concerns of the Committee in terms of progress made, but was clear that an invest to save model was desirable and examples such as Okehampton College showed that this was achievable.

The Head of Business Strategy Support confirmed that savings in energy consumption had been made through property rationalisation and that work was being undertaken to further look at the potential for roof-mounted solar paneling across Council sites.

The Head of Planning, Transportation Environment also advised the Committee that the current focus of the Energy Policy and Strategy is of robust energy management and that once the Council has engaged a provider for data collection services, opportunities for energy savings will be identified, potentially including energy efficient refits across Council sites.

It was MOVED by Councillor Moulding, SECONDED by Councillor Ball and

RESOLVED that the Task Group reconvene and meet with the Environmental Performance Board and the Cabinet Member for Community and Environmental Services to address any barriers preventing the recommendations being progressed and to construct a timetable for implementation, reporting back to this Committee in September.

*81 Planning Definition of the Highway Condition

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment (PTE/15/18 - text only | pdf PTE/15/18), exploring and commenting upon the suggestion for a Devon wide definition of severe within the context of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and for the Council s Development Management Committee to be made aware of representations received by the local planning authority.

In response to Members questions the Head of Service advised that when assessing the severity of the residual cumulative impact of a development the Highways Authority was required to take into account a number of issues including the type of development, hierarchy of the road, levels of traffic and the extent of the existing congestion, which meant that creating a local Devon planning definition of severe would be extremely problematic. This would also leave the Council vulnerable to paying costs if an applicant was to appeal a decision which was refused on a recommendation from the Highway Authority and appropriate evidence was not presented.

The Committee also discussed the importance of local Members being informed of planning applications in their division, and being given the opportunity to contribute to Local Planning Authority consultations, and discussed options for enabling this process.

It was MOVED by Councillor Edgell, SECONDED by Councillor Ball and RESOLVED

(a) that the County Council be advised to take no further action on the notice of motion in respect of the definition of severe impact ;

(b) that the Development Management Committee be made aware of representations made directly to the County Council, when considering their response to local planning authority consultations.

*82 Place Internal Annual Audit Monitoring Report 2014/15

The Committee received the Report of the County Treasurer (CT/15/44 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/15/44) summarising performance against the internal audit plan for the 2014/15 financial year, highlighting the key areas of work undertaken and the assurance opinions given.

Internal Audit had to provided reasonable assurance that adequate controls were in place to control operations in the Place service areas.

*83 Place Performance Dashboard

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Services for Communities (SC/15/10 - text only | pdf | supplementary information SC/15/10) outlining performance against the Council s Strategic priorities within the remit of this committee for Quarter 4 (January to March) of 2014/15.

Members welcomed the presentation of the performance data set out in the Report commenting that the information provided was clear and trends easy to identify.

It was MOVED by Councillor Moulding, SECONDED by Councillor Ball and

RESOLVED that the Report be noted and that a future Members Masterclass be held to look at the new Performance Dashboard.

*84 Future Library Service

(Councillor Croad, Cabinet Member for Community Environmental Services, attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(1) and spoke to this item at the invitation of the Committee).

The Cabinet Member for Community and Environmental Services and the Head of Libraries, Culture and Heritage Services reported on developments for the future Library Service in Devon including inter alia:

the development of a business plan for the staff mutual delivery model;

the appointment of a specialist company to assist with the transfer of the service to a staff mutual;

full engagement with library staff resulting in over 80% of staff now approving the transfer of the service to a staff mutual;

the beginning of the recruitment process for a Chair of Trustees, which would be followed by the recruitment of the remainder of the Board;

the introduction of Community Pilots which looked to provide library services tailored to suit the needs of individual communities through strong engagement, whilst at the same time reducing costs, including extended opening hours in Ivybridge and the introduction of self service in Braunton;

the move of Ashburton Library into the Post Office premises;

the receipt of funding to provide free Wi-Fi in all libraries;

the ongoing work with the National Libraries Task Force which recognised the Devon s library service as a national point of excellence.

In response to Members questions the Head of Service confirmed that the financial savings expected from the transfer to a staff mutual would include a reduction in business rates, charitable status providing access to funds and grants including EU funding, proceeds from charitable donations and gift aid, a lower cost management structure and the potential to move into lower cost office accommodation.

Members also highlighted the importance of the Council promoting and making a success of community events, including the Childrens Summer Reading Challenge, to help embed strong links between communities and their libraries.

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

RESOLVED that the update be welcomed and, once appointed, the Chairman of Trustees be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee.

*85 Place Scrutiny Committee Work Programme

That the Work Programme be agreed subject to the following additions:

the new town of Cranbrook a joint Task Group with representation from all Scrutiny Committees to investigate the development of Cranbrook;

the reconvening of the Energy Policy Task Group as per minute *79;

a Members Masterclass on the new Performance Dashboard.

* DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 2.00pm and finished at 4.50pm

The Minutes of this Committee are published on the County Council s website at:-