Agenda and minutes

Councillor S Sheahan suggested that, as the Task and Finish Group consisted of two Members from each party, the meeting be chaired in rotation.

It was therefore moved by Councillor S Sheahan, seconded by Councillor M Specht and

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor D Everitt take the chair for the remainder of the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence received.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

There were no interests declared.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 22 October 2014

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2014.

Councillor S Sheahan referred to the group discussion and requested that his comment be amended to read “the best results were achieved when the Council and communities were working side by side”.

RESOLVED THAT:

Subject to the above amendment, the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2014 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Stronger & Safer Team Manager

The Stronger and Safer Team Manager referred to the copies of the strategy document which had been circulated showing the changes which had been made.  She sought comments from Members on the amendments and on how success could be measured more effectively.

Councillor S Sheahan asked the Stronger and Safer Team Manager to highlight where she had made changes.

The Stronger and Safer Team Manager highlighted the amendments as follows:

In section 3, reference to the Big Society had been removed, as the original strategy was written prior to the Localism Act, which superceded the concept of the Big Society.  As this legislation had now been enacted, a paragraph had been added into the strategy to reflect this.

Councillor S Sheahan welcomed this amendment.

The section regarding the requirement for Social Landlords to consult tenants had been updated and this was a factual change.

The section entitled Local Ambition had been updated to include the Council’s core values, as the original strategy predated the core values.  As these were referenced in most of the Council’s publications, the Stronger and Safer Team Manager felt that it was important that these be included in the strategy.

In section 4, the reference to Community Forums had been removed as they were no longer active.

Councillor S Sheahan sought clarification regarding the sentence which had been removed at 3.2, and asked if this had been removed as it was slightly negative and superfluous. 

The Stronger and Safer Team Manager advised that the sentence had been removed as it referred to obstacles rather than opportunities.

In section 3.3 the sentence relating to increasing satisfaction levels had been removed, as engagement and satisfaction levels didn’t always go hand in hand.

Reference to the Vision magazine had been removed as this no longer existed.

The Better Business for All section had been reworded to reflect the move towards Business Focus.  It was felt that this demonstrated that the Council engaged with a broader range of local businesses.

Councillor S Sheahan sought clarification on why paragraph 5.11 had been deleted.  The Stronger and Safer Team Manager advised that this had been removed as it referred to software which would be introduced.  She added that the software referred to had now been implemented.

Councillor S Sheahan felt that this should still be referenced in the strategy and it should state that the Council would use this software.

Councillor S Sheahan sought clarification on the proposals for the measuring success section.

The Stronger and Safer Team Manager stated that going back to the Leisure department and asking them to clarify their survey results had helped with this.  She wondered whether it would be more appropriate to report on the number and types of surveys, response rates and demographics.  She added that outcomes should also be reported, for example, what the Council was doing differently as a result.

Councillor S Sheahan commented that this whole section had been removed so it would be useful to insert the proposed replacements so these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Report of the Stronger & Safer Team Manager

The Stronger and Safer Team Manager stated that in response to Councillor M Specht’s request, clarity was sought from the Leisure team on the consultations they undertake.  She highlighted the paper which had been circulated at the meeting. 

Councillor V Richichi asked if the Council made a profit from Hermitage Leisure Centre. Councillor S Sheahan advised that it was subsidised however its performance was of an award winning level.

Report of the Stronger & Safer Team Manager

The Stronger and Safer Team Manager provided a summary of the Local Plan consultation process.   She advised that the Local Plan Advisory Committee was a cross party group which gave Member recommendations on how the Council should proceed with the Local Plan.  She advised that there was also the Local Plan Board which was an officer group.

Councillor S Sheahan advised that he was a Member of the Local Plan Advisory Committee and at the last meeting they had received a report regarding the Statement of Community Involvement.  He asked that it be ensured that the two groups co-ordinate and make sure the two policies were aligned.

The Stronger and Safer Team Manager stated that the Statement of Community Involvement would be quite specific to the Local Plan.

Councillor S Sheahan agreed but felt that the general principles would be the same and the groups could learn from each other.

The Stronger and Safer Team Manager advised that the original consultation period ran from 20 June to 19 September and was undertaken on the Council’s website.  200 posters informing residents about the consultation were distributed to libraries, health centres and Town/Parish Councils.  A consultation leaflet had been prepared to explain the consultation, and copies were sent to parish councils and shared at events.  The Community Focus officers promoted engagement at the Heart of the Forest Festival in June, Picnic in the Park in June, and Music in the Park in July.  77 responses were received from members of the public, parish councils, developers, landowners and statutory bodies. A report on the outcome was considered by Cabinet on 18 November.  The next issue was the Limits to Development, and the consultation for this would close on 9 January 2015.  Information would be going out to Parish Clerks about their villages, and Ashby and Coalville Town teams would receive information about town centre boundaries. This would comprise of a leaflet, map and links to and electronic map and website.  Consultation questions would be online.  There will also be 3 events for clerks and parish councillors to come and view the plans.  Officers from Planning, Communications and Community Focus will be there to answer questions to enable them to engage with the consultation either on the night or after they leave.  The Stronger and Safer Team Manager advised that these events were taking place on 10, 11 and 16 December.

Councillor M Specht made reference to the huge consultation that had been undertaking regarding Leicestershire County Council discharging its liability in respect of grass verges.  He asked if any more was known about why this was off the table.

Councillor S Sheahan stated that he had heard a lot of parishes were not impressed with the rates proposed.

Monday 8 December at 6.30pm.