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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Suite (Clinton / Fortescue) - County Hall

Contact: Karen Strahan, 01392 382264  Email: karen.strahan@devon.gov.uk

Note: To view the live stream of this meeting - please copy and paste the link into your browser - https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NTMxNzg4MzYtZWQwNy00MGEzLTk1ZDItMGU5MGEzNzg5Y2Nj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%228da13783-cb68-443f-bb4b-997f77fd5bfb%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22b0735e0e-6faa-4f6a-91bb-917fd50284ca%22%2c%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3atrue%7d&btype=a&role=a 

Media

Items
Note No. Item

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232.

Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2022 (previously circulated).

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2022 be signed as a correct record.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2022 be signed as a correct record.

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233.

Items Requiring Urgent Attention

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

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was no item raised as a matter of urgency.

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234.

Announcements

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed Mrs Mayes who was attending the meeting remotely 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.

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235.

Petitions

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was no petition received from a Member of the Public or the Council.

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236.

Question(s) from Members of the Council pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

In accordance with the Cabinet Procedure Rules, the Leader and relevant Cabinet Member responded to four questions from Members of the Council on the following matters:

 

·      average call waiting times for residents calling 0345 155 1015, overall and by directorates;

·      terms of reference for Devon County Council's investigation into the John Humphreys case and publication thereof;

·      support for vaccination programmes for badgers to prevent the spread of bovine TB;

·      the badger cull in Devon and numbers culled on Devon County Council owned land

 

The Leader and Cabinet Members also responded orally to supplementary questions arising from the above.  

 

[NB: A copy of the questions and answers are available on webpage for meeting and any supplementary questions and answers may be observed through the webcast of this meeting – see Notes below]

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237.

Budget Monitoring - Month 6 pdf icon PDF 258 KB

Report of the Director of Finance and Public Value (DF/22/99) outlining the Budget Monitoring position at Month 6. This Report will follow.

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

(a) that the Month 6 budget monitoring forecast and the very challenging financial position faced by the Council be noted;

 

(b) that the immediate action being taken to safeguard the financial sustainability of the Authority be supported;

 

(c) that the savings and additional income resulting from the Financial Sustainability Programme be noted;

 

(d) that the introduction of a new charge when novating contracts be agreed, with immediate effect;

 

(e) that changing the financing of the Special Educational Needs Capital Programme totalling £12.3 million from internal borrowing to external grant be approved; and

 

(f) that authority be given to change the financing of other capital projects totalling £8.7 million from internal borrowing to Capital Receipts.

Minutes:

(Councillors Biederman, Brazil, Dewhirst and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

 

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Finance and Public Value (DF/22/99) outlining the Budget Monitoring position at Month 6.

 

The Report outlined the financial position and forecast for the Authority at Month 6 (to the end of September) of the financial year and it was estimated that budgets would overspend by £6.3 million, excluding the dedicated schools grant deficit.

 

This was made up of an underlying overspend of £32.8 million reduced by £26.5 million of Financial Sustainability Programme (FSP) proposed savings and income.

 

An inflationary pressure risk continued to be present which could result in increases to the forecast overspend if it could not continue to be contained. In addition, the Cost of Living Crisis and geopolitical situation had created huge financial pressures nationally and the Council was not immune from this.

 

Immediate action had been taken to safeguard the financial sustainability of the authority for the current financial year and work continued to identify further in-year cost containment measures, including the identification of services and projects in both revenue and capital that could be transformed, modernised, remodelled, funded differently, ceased, or postponed. At Month 6, £26.5 million of in-year savings and additional income had been identified.

 

The Dedicated Schools Grant projected deficit, relating to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), was forecast to be £36.9 million, an increase of £3 million from Month 4. The outcome of the discussions with the Department for Education as part of the Safety Valve Intervention were still awaited.

 

The table at section 2.1 of the Report detailed the forecast outturn position by service area at month 6. The underlying overspend, column (c), detailed the forecast outturn position before the impact of the financial sustainability programme (FSP) being taken into consideration. The impact of the proposed FSP savings was shown in column (d) and the final Month 6 overspend or

underspend in column (e).

 

Integrated Adult Social Care were forecasting an overspend of £2.8 million and Children and Young People’s Futures an overspend of £17.4 million

and a further overspend of £36.9 million on Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

 

The remaining Directorates were forecasting an underspend of £6.2 million at Month 6. The underlying forecast position was a small underspend of £300,000. Additional savings identified as part of the FSP totalled £5.9 million.

 

Non-Service items, which included capital financing charges and business rates pooling gain were forecasting an underspend of £7.3 million. The underlying position was a forecast pressure of £4.8 million, predominantly the forecast impact of the 2022/23 pay award. The FSP had identified further savings of £12.2 million.

 

The Tactical Leadership Team (TLT) was continuing to identify, scope and develop proposals for consideration alongside monitoring and reviewing the overall progress and delivery of actions already underway. The Month 6 position reflected £28.6 million of proposed savings identified through the Financial Sustainability Programme and a high level summary by type of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 237.

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238.

Highways and Traffic Management Policy Reviews pdf icon PDF 917 KB

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/66), attached.

 

The Report seeks approval of the submission of an application to the DfT to acquire powers to enforce Moving Traffic Offences, approval of a policy for Parking Management in Communities (including Pay & Display) and a proposed policy for sponsorship and advertising on highway assets and associated infrastructure.

 

There are three Impact Assessments relating to:

 

1.    Moving Traffic Enforcement

2.    New Parking Management Pay and Display Schemes

3.    Advertising on the Highway

 

attached for the attention of Members at this meeting. They are also published on the website at https://www.devon.gov.uk/impact/published/

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

(a) that in relation to Moving Traffic Offences (MTOs)

 

(i) the submission of an application to the DfT to acquire powers to enforce MTOs under Part 6 of The Traffic Management Act 2004 in Tranche 3 of applications expected to be July 2023 be approved; and

 

(ii) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management be given delegated authority to approve future enforcement sites.

 

(b) in relation to Pay and Display

 

(i) that the proposed policy for Parking Management in Communities

(including Pay & Display) as laid out in Appendix D, be approved;

 

(ii) that the advertising of schemes in the communities as laid out in

Appendix E also be approved; and

 

(iii) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport in

consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management be

given delegated authority to make minor amendments to policy and

schemes where appropriate.

 

(c) regarding advertising on the highway

 

(i) that the proposed policy for sponsorship and advertising on highway

assets and associated infrastructure be approved; and

 

(ii) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport in

consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management be

given delegated authority to make minor amendments to the policy

where appropriate.

Minutes:

(Councillors Biederman, Brazil, Dewhirst and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

 

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/66), circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

 

The Report sought approval of the submission of an application to the DfT to acquire powers to enforce Moving Traffic Offences, approval of a policy for Parking Management in Communities (including Pay & Display) and a proposed policy for sponsorship and advertising on highway assets and associated infrastructure.

 

Regarding Moving Traffic Offences, following the introduction of new legislation, the list of restrictions available for local authorities to enforce using MTO powers was shown in Appendix A. The intention was to apply for inclusion in tranche 3, expected to be open for applications in July 2023 with powers likely to be confirmed by the end of 2023. The application would include the whole of Devon which was already designated as a civil enforcement area for parking conventions.

 

It was important that any proposed sites were underpinned by an accurate Traffic Regulation Order and that appropriate signs and markings were in place. Any equipment proposed for enforcement must be approved by the Vehicle Certification Agency. It was proposed to use DCC’s existing CCTV cameras to capture contraventions. Contraventions would be identified by a mixture of manual observations from recordings at proposed locations and artificial intelligence using externally sourced software.

 

Whilst an order covering the whole of Devon already designated as a civil enforcement area for parking conventions would be applied for, it was proposed to include a limited number of sites for the initial enforcement activity which had been identified based on concerns over safety, congestion, active travel priority or public transport reliability, as below.

 

1.            Heavitree Fore Street, Exeter – Bus Lane

2.            Exe Bridges, Exeter – Bus Lane

3.            Exe Bridges, Exeter – Yellow Box Junction

4.            Penn Inn, Roundabout Newton Abbot – Yellow Box Junction

5.            Topsham Road / Burnthouse Lane, Exeter – Bus Lane

6.            The Square (near Boutport Street) Barnstaple – Bus Lane.

 

A Spotlight Review into Moving Traffic Offences had been undertaken by the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee in July 2022. The Report recommended that the Authority applied for powers. Cabinet further noted the proposal to report to Scrutiny 12 months after the start of enforcement.

 

In relation to Pay and Display, it was proposed that a Policy be adopted to proactively review parking management in communities and introduce pay & display where there was a traffic management need. The Policy had been developed by the highways team in liaison with the Economy team and was included in Appendix D. The Policy identified 8 communities as priorities for review, a list of which was available in Appendix E and it was proposed that schemes were developed and advertised for those communities later this year.

 

The third proposal related  ...  view the full minutes text for item 238.

239.

Notices of Motion pdf icon PDF 168 KB

The following Notices of Motion submitted to the County Council by the following Councillors have been referred to the Cabinet in accordance with Standing Order 8(2) for consideration, to refer it to another Committee or make a recommendation back to the Council:

 

(a)  Bus Passes- Councillor Brazil

(b)  Housing White Paper - Councillor Cllr Atkinson 

(c)  Funding for Local Government - Councillor Whitton

(d)  Second Homes and Council Tax Premium - Councillor Brazil

(e)  Pedestrian Priority in Highways Policies - Councillor Wrigley

(f)   Environmental Protections - Councillor Bailey  

(g)  Glyphosate Use on all Council Owned Land - Councillor Hodgson 

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)   Bus Passes- Councillor Brazil

 

RESOLVED that the County Council keeps the time of free travel the same for all eligible residents as now – from 0930 Monday to Friday.

 

(b) Housing White Paper - Councillor Cllr Atkinson

 

RESOLVED that Council notes the issues raised and will continue to work as part of the Devon Housing Task Force.

 

(c) Funding for Local Government - Councillor Whitton

 

RESOLVED

 

(a) that the County Council supports the LGA and CCN in calling for the earliest possible resumption of the Government’s Fair Funding Review to ensure that the true costs of delivering public services particularly in rural areas are properly funded and the needs of all our communities – rural, coastal and urban – are met;

 

(b) that the County Council supports the LGA and CCN in calling on Government to ensure this year’s Local Government Settlement recognises the unprecedented pressures on the sector so that Councils are adequately funded to protect public services;

 

(c) that the County Council calls on Government to delay the charging reforms to adult social care services, and to reinvest funding earmarked for these proposals in local government to help ease the pressures on social care;

 

(d) that the County Council calls on Government to rebalance funding between health and social care, by allocating more of the £13bn committed to tackling the NHS backlog to Councils who can work with NHS partners to invest in preventative social care and help ease the pressure on our hospitals; and;

 

(e) that the County Council calls on Government to urgently approve the Council’s Safety Valve Intervention Fund proposal or provide temporary respite by rolling the Dedicated Schools Grant deficit forward a further year.

 

(d) Second Homes and Council Tax Premium - Councillor Brazil

 

RESOLVED that as soon as legislation allows the County Council will ask each of the District Councils to give consideration to adding the Council Tax premium on second homes to their Council Tax schemes.

 

(e) Pedestrian Priority in Highways Policies - Councillor Wrigley

 

RESOLVED that Council recognises that the safety of pedestrians and vulnerable road users is paramount in the planning, delivery, operation and maintenance of highway infrastructure and the planned review of the Local Transport Plan should be used to reinforce the hierarchy of users.

 

(f) Environmental Protections - Councillor Bailey

 

RESOLVED that it is recommended that the County Council writes to the Secretary of State for the Environment to highlight:

 

(a) the concerns about the currently perceived policy threats to nature;

 

(b) the importance of strong environmental protection alongside other statutory considerations to achieve our strategic aim of supporting sustainable and inclusive economic prosperity that improves the health and wellbeing of our residents; and

 

(c) that careful streamlining of the delivery of regulatory requirements, rather than their weakening or removal, is the most effective way of ensuring that environmental interests do not cause inappropriate delay or constraint to future growth.

 

(g) Glyphosate Use on all Council Owned Land - Councillor Hodgson

 

RESOLVED that in line with its  ...  view the full decision text for item 239.

Minutes:

(a) Bus Passes- Councillor Brazil

 

(Councillor Brazil attended in accordance with Standing Order 8 and spoke to this item)

 

The text of the motion is below:

 

‘Pensioners can travel free on buses after 9.30am. This council will introduce an enhanced bus pass which will allow those aged 80 and over or registered blind to travel free before 9.30am. A similar scheme is available in Plymouth’.

 

Members considered the Officer’s factual briefing note on the matter (CSO/22/16) which referred to the key premise of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme and that within the scheme, a Local Transport Authority could apply discretion. It highlighted where the Council applied discretion and that the Concessionary Bus Travel budget for 2022/23 was £7.6million.

 

The Cabinet considered the recommendation now before them and the actions now proposed:

 

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

 

RESOLVED that the County Council keeps the time of free travel the same for all eligible residents as now – from 0930 Monday to Friday.

 

 

(b) Housing White Paper - Councillor Cllr Atkinson 

 

The text of the motion is below:

 

Historically, the Government’s answer to the housing shortage has been to broaden access to home ownership with schemes such as the discounted sale of council housing to sitting tenants. Effectively, this has provided each buyer with a subsidy of up to £100,000 via discount entitlement. The programme has contributed little to the supply of affordable housing in a locality yet its cost to local government is and has been colossal.

 

Because such costs have been incurred by means of accepting a below market price for a publicly owned asset rather than by direct government expenditure, the true cost of the scheme to the public purse has never been easily identifiable.  However, if the government wishes to pursue its recently declared intention to promote housing association right to buy sales this would change as the associations concerned would expect Treasury compensation for the value of discounts approved.

 

What has not been identified is where would this money for the extension of the right to buy to Housing Associations would come from.  It is worth noting that when this was last proposed in 2015 it was to come from the sale of high value council houses, which proved unworkable and the proposal was dropped.

 

This Council believes that the government should instead focus its policy on increasing the supply of affordable houses through measures such as the following first-time buyer assistance proposals and social housing development proposals:

 

1.    Mandating developers to include below-market price housing for sale (as well as affordable rental) in residential developments on the grounds that the discount is effectively financed by taxing land value

2.    Lowering both the income and wealth threshold for home ownership access, to the benefit of lower income households via the shared equity model (e.g. Help to Buy).

3.    Enabling development of for-sale housing offers by state agencies such as local authorities or housing associations as a means of providing dwellings that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 239.

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240.

Question(s) from Members of the Public

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was no question from a Member of the public.

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241.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 118 KB

Minutes of the bodies shown below are circulated herewith for information or endorsement as indicated therein (i.e. any unstarred minutes):

 

[Minutes of County Council Committees are published on the Council’s Website:

Minutes of the Devon Education (Schools) Forum:  

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the following be endorsed and any recommendations to Cabinet therein be approved: Devon Education Forum - 28 September 2022.

Minutes:

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

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the following be endorsed and any recommendations to Cabinet therein be approved:

 

Devon Education Forum - 28 September 2022

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242.

Delegated Action/Urgent Matters

The Register of Decisions taken by Members under the urgency provisions or delegated powers is available on the website in line with the Council’s Constitution and Regulation 13 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.  The decisions taken and associated information can be found here.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Registers of Decisions taken by Members under the urgency provisions or delegated powers were available for inspection, in line with the Council’s Constitution and Regulation 13 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012. Decisions taken by Officers under any express authorisation of the Cabinet or other Committee or under any general authorisation within the Council’s Scheme of Delegation set out in Part 3 of the Council’s Constitution.

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243.

Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 165 KB

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Cabinet is requested to review the list of forthcoming business (previously circulated) and to determine which items are to be defined as key and/or framework decisions and included in the Plan from the date of this meeting.

 

The Forward Plan is available on the Council's website.

Additional documents:

Decision:

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Cabinet reviewed the Forward Plan and determined those items of business to be defined as key and framework decisions and included in the Plan from the date of this meeting onwards reflecting the requirements of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

Minutes:

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Cabinet reviewed the Forward Plan and determined those items of business to be defined as key and framework decisions and included in the Plan from the date of this meeting onwards reflecting the requirements of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

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244.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

Recommendation: that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act namely, the financial or business affairs of the preferred bidder or tenderers for the provision or supply of council goods or services, and of the County Council and in accordance with Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, by virtue of the fact that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act namely, the financial or business affairs of the preferred bidder or tenderers for the provision or supply of council goods or services, and of the County Council and in accordance with Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, by virtue of the fact that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Minutes:

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

 

RESOLVEDthat the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act namely, the financial or business affairs of the preferred bidder or tenderers for the provision or supply of council goods or services, and of the County Council and in accordance with Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, by virtue of the fact that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

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245.

North Devon Link Road Project Update (Part 2 item)

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/67) giving a Project Update on the North Devon Link Road, attached.

 

An Impact Assessment was previously prepared and circulated separately to Cabinet Members and was available on the Council’s website at:  North Devon Link Road - Impact Assessment.The proposed changes did not affect the Impact Assessment.

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED that the design changes to the North Devon Link Road, as outlined in the recommendations section of the Report, be approved.

Minutes:

(An item taken under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during which the press and public were excluded, no representations having been received to such consideration under Regulation 5(5) of the  Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012).

 

(Councillor Biederman attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

 

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/67) giving a Project Update on the North Devon Link Road, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

 

On 8 July 2020 Cabinet approved the submission of the Full Business Case (FBC) and award of contracts for the North Devon Link Road project (PTE/20/11).  A copy of the scope of the scheme at the time of the FBC was included at Appendix 1 to the Report and the delivery of the project consisted of a number of contracts for the construction.

 

The Cabinet noted that the strategic aims and objectives of the project aligned well with the Council’s Plan 2021-2025, and the proposed design changes outlined in the Report had little impact on the benefits.

 

In progressing the scheme, an Impact Assessment had been previously prepared for the July 2020 Cabinet meeting previously circulated. It was further available on the Council’s website at:  North Devon Link Road - Impact Assessment.The proposed changes did not affect the Impact Assessment.

 

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability, carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations) set out in the Director’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

 

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

 

RESOLVED that the design changes to the North Devon Link Road, as outlined in the recommendations section of the Report, be approved.


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