Present:

Devon County Council

Councillors Black, Croad, Day, Hart, Hawkins and Pennington

South Hams District Council

Councillors Howarth and Tucker

Devon Association of Parish Councils

Councillor Crawford

Apologies:

Councillors Brazil and Mumford

*33 Election of Chairman

Councillor Croad was elected Chairman for the ensuing year.

*34 Election of Vice-Chairman

Councillor Hawkins was elected Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

*35 Minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 April 2010 be signed as a correct record.

*36 Stokenham Pilot Project

The Committee considered a report by the Area Engineer (South) (EEC/10/158/HQ - text only | pdf EEC/10/158/HQ) reviewing the pilot scheme under which Stokenham Parish Council had carried out routine maintenance services under delegated authority from the County Council and South Hams District Council.

The report indicated that the district work represented approximately 80% by value, and included sweeping and litter picking, toilet cleaning and grass cutting whereas the county work representing 20% by value mainly involved the cleaning of buddle-holes, grips and easements, and some cleaning and trimming around signs on roads other than A roads. The sum allocated by the County Council was 3050.

While the pilot with a single large coastal parish appeared to have been successful for the county work, there were a number of problems with the roll-out of the county element to other parishes including; funding - the need for the County Council to retain more of the budget to deal with storms etc, and smaller parishes being likely to receive less from the county than Stokenham; health and safety/training/supervision issues relating to operatives employed by parishes; and insufficient interest from other parishes. South Hams District Council had concluded that their element of the pilot was not cost-effective and this would end in October 2010. The County Council currently had no plans to devolve the service further, although discussions would continue with Stokenham to see if they wished to pilot the county work for one more winter to establish what service could be achieved with a lower level of funding.

It was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor Pennington and

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

*37 Update on Devon Youth Service - South Hams and West Devon

The Committee considered a report from Pippa St John Cooper, Team Leader covering

staffing

premises

youth work programme

youth leisure nights and other diversionary work

inclusion work

information, advice and guidance work.

Pippa St John Cooper:

- emphasised the continuing popularity of youth leisure nights in the four market towns and the contribution they made to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour

- expressed concern about the potential impact on front-line services of the current recruitment freeze and the proposed restructuring of the Youth Service

- pointed out that she and her colleagues were always happy to talk with Parish/Town Councils and others about young people and the work of the youth service.

Members acknowledged the value of youth leisure nights which had their full support, and regarded the funding for this activity as a good investment.

It was MOVED by Councillor Croad, SECONDED by Councillor Hawkins and

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

*38 Developing Resilience in Devon Communities

Dom Maxwell-Batten, Emergency Planning Officer, gave a presentation aimed at promoting the development by Parish Councils of local emergency plans, raising awareness amongst Locality Committee members about the support available to help generate good quality plans and encouraging them to market the opportunity to Parish Councils. The presentation covered the following: the emergency planning hierarchy; risk assessment and emergency planning; flood planning for high risk communities; community emergency planning - strategy, what you can do, support materials; and latest developments.

Dom Maxwell-Batten circulated copies of Don t be scared, be well prepared - a leaflet containing emergency planning advice for families - and information on Exercise Watermark, a national flood exercise planned for March 2011. He identified the Emergency Plan produced by Halwill Parish Council (Torridge) as an example of good practice.

Committee members:

noted the presentation

acknowledged the value of local emergency plans and greater community resilience, and the importance of local ownership

agreed to promote the development of local emergency plans by individual Parish/Town Councils in their areas and that the Devon Association of Local Councils should be asked to help market such plans.

Dominic Maxwell-Batten undertook to circulate a list by District of the 57 communities in Devon defined as being of high risk from major tidal or fluvial flooding to Committee members.

*39 South Hams Strategic Partnership

The Minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2010 were noted.

Discussion took place led by Councillor John Hart (Leader of the Council) which covering the following

the working relationship of the proposed merged South Hams and West Devon Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) with the Devon Strategic Partnership (DSP), and the direction of travel of the DSP

closer integration between the County, District and Parish Councils in Devon to achieve greater service efficiencies

the proposed establishment of a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) involving Devon County Council and Cornwall Council.

A discussion paper prepared by Councillor William Mumford entitled Total Place and County Committees which proposed a more holistic approach to the work of County Committees was circulated at the meeting, with a view to the matter being discussed at a future meeting.

*40 Opportunity for Feedback from District Council and DALC Representatives

Councillor Crawford raised the issue of parking problems in Dartmouth which had been accentuated by the recent fire in the town centre. Councillor Tucker referred to concern in Totnes about the residents parking scheme. The Committee discussed the matters involved and possible ways forward, with Councillor Tucker being made aware of the consideration given by the South Hams HATOC to the Totnes residents parking scheme at its meeting earlier on 30 July 2010.

*41 Locality Budget 2009/10 Outturn and Spend to Date for 2010/11

The Committee considered a report by the County Community Strategy Officer (CX/10/87 - text only | pdf CX/10/87):

drawing attention to the Locality Budget outturn for 2009/10 (Appendix 1);

setting out recent Locality Budget spending approvals and the budget position at 20 July 2010 (Appendix 2).

Appendix 1 identified the total spend by members in 2009/10, highlighted the value of the match funding secured and showed the number of community based projects to benefit from Locality Budget funding.

It was MOVED by Councillor Croad, SECONDED by Councillor Hart and

RESOLVED

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

(b) that approval for the spending proposals set out in the report, including those agreed by the Chairman/Vice-Chairman since the last meeting, be confirmed;

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

*42 Member Development Steering Group

The Minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2010 were noted.

*43 Dates for Future Meetings

The Committee noted that meetings had been arranged for the following dates:

3 December 2010

29 April 2011

(both Fridays after the HATOC)

*44 Work Plan Summary

Economic Update

Property Rationalisation and Surplus Property.

Green Lanes

Total Place and Locality (County) Committees

Community Speed Watch Scheme

*45 Brian George

The Committee paid tribute to the long and valuable service given by Brian George, Area Engineer (South) who was retiring from the County Council, and expressed their best wishes for the future.

*DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 10.30am and finished at 12.30pm.

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