Items
No. |
Item |
*O&S 23 |
Apologies for Absence
Minutes:
*O&S 23
Apologies for absence for this meeting were
received from Cllr A Coulson
|
*O&S 24 |
Confirmation of Minutes PDF 266 KB
Minutes from Meeting hled on 1 September
2020
Minutes:
*O&S 24
The minutes of the Meeting of the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee held on 1 September 2020 were confirmed by the
Meeting as a true and correct record.
|
*O&S 25 |
Declarations of Interest
Members are invited to declare any
personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature
and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be
considered at this meeting.
If Councillors have any questions relating to predetermination,
bias or interests in items on this Agenda, then please contact the
Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.
Minutes:
*O&S 25
Members and officers were invited to declare
any interests in the items of business to be considered during the
course of this meeting but there were none made.
|
*O&S 26 |
Public Forum PDF 10 KB
A period of up to 15 minutes is available to
deal with issues raised by the public.
Minutes:
*O&S
26
The Chairman informed that no formal requests
had been received in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny
Procedure Rules.
|
*O&S 27 |
Hub Committee Forward Plan PDF 558 KB
If any Member seeks further
clarity, or wishes to raise issues regarding any future Hub
Committee agenda item, please contact Democratic Services
before 5.00pm on Thursday 1 October 2020 to ensure
that the lead officer(s) are aware of
this request in advance of the meeting.
Minutes:
*O&S 27
Whilst no prior requests had been received for
updates on any future Hub Committee agenda items at this meeting,
it was confirmed that each of the Task and Finish and Working
Groups would be commencing with their work on the Council’s
draft Recovery Plan in the next few weeks.
|
*O&S 28 |
A386 Transport Infrastructure - Verbal Update from the Director of Place & Enterprise
Minutes:
*O&S 28
In his update, the Director of Place and
Enterprise made particular reference to a constructive recent
conversation that he had held with the Regional Director for
Sustrans.
The Committee noted that a feasibility report had been commissioned
and would be available by the end of October 2020. Upon receipt of this report, it was intended that
all partner agencies would look to establish a way forward with
regard to improving cycling infrastructure.
In the ensuing debate, the following points
were raised:
(a)
The Committee Chairman confirmed that she was in
regular dialogue with the Devon County Council lead Cabinet
Member. Whilst not the lead authority
for the cycle project, officers confirmed that Devon County Council
was committed to providing whatever support it could;
(b)
It was acknowledged that there were Section 106
monies available that could be used to support the cycle
project;
(c)
The lead officer recognised that there was a need to
improve the dialogue between the Borough Council and the Dartmoor
National Park Authority on the cycle proposals and a meeting was to
be set up in the upcoming weeks;
(d)
With regard to the Beeching Reversal Fund application that had been
submitted by Devon County Council, there were no further updates at
this current time.
|
*O&S 29 |
Future IT Project Update PDF 388 KB
Minutes:
*O&S 29
The Committee considered a report that
presented a progress update on the Council’s Future IT
Project.
In discussion, the following points were
raised:-
(a)
The Committee felt that the manner in which the
Council had been able to successfully adjust its working practices
in light of the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic was to the great credit
of its ICT service;
(b)
Members were informed that, in response to Skype for
Business being decommissioned, the Council was in the process of
piloting the Microsoft Teams platform as an
alternative. Once officers were ready
to formally launch the Teams platform, it was confirmed that a
variety of training opportunities would be made available for
Members;
(c)
As part of the IT Project, it was noted that one of
the main objectives was to improve the customer experience (and
functionality) of the Council website;
(d)
The Committee recognised that there would be some
inevitable system downtime as the Council transitioned across to a
new website but that every step was being taken to ensure that this
was kept to an absolute minimum. As a
result of the impact, the lead Hub Committee Member emphasised the
importance of all Members sharing on their own social media
platforms any related communication messages that were released by
the Council.
It was then:
RESOLVED
That the progress of both the Future IT
Project and the evaluation of risks be noted.
|
*O&S 30 |
Ombudsman Annual Review Letter 2020 PDF 286 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
O&S
30
Consideration was given to a report that
presented the Ombudsman’s Annual Review Letter 2020.
In discussion, reference was made to:-
(a)
the role of local Ward Member(s). When
questioned, officers advised that Ward Member(s) were currently not
made aware of complaints to the Ombudsman that were related to
their local areas. In response to a
request, the lead officer confirmed that he would give this point
further consideration outside of this meeting;
(b)
the conclusions contained within the Review Letter. Members welcomed the positive tone of the Letter
and felt that this was justification for the recent effort that had
been put in by the Council to improving its internal complaints
processes.
It was then:
RESOLVED
1.
That the Ombudsman’s Annual Letter for 2020 (as attached at
Appendices A and B of the presented agenda report) has been
reviewed; and
2.
That the steps set out to ensure that the Council continues to
address complaints fairly (and in line with best practice) be
noted.
|
*O&S 31 |
Verbal Update from the Rural Broadband Working Group
Minutes:
*O&S
31
The lead Hub Committee Member for Economy
informed that the Council had now received a response from the
Department of Culture, Media and Sport in reply to concerns over
Superfast Broadband provision in the West Devon Borough
area. According to the letter, the
Member advised that 88% of households in West Devon were capable of
receiving Superfast Broadband and it was now the intention of the
Working Group to lobby for this percentage to be increased.
With regard to a recent meeting between
representatives of Connecting Devon and Somerset, it was agreed
that a more detailed update would be provided to the next Committee
meeting to be held on 10 November 2020.
|
*O&S 32 |
Verbal Update from the Financial Stability Review Group
Minutes:
*O&S
32
It was noted that the next meeting of the
Review Group would be focusing on the draft budget setting
proposals for 2021/22. In the event of
any Members having both income generation or savings ideas, then
they were encouraged to provide their thoughts to either the
Section 151 Officer or the Review Group.
|
*O&S 33 |
Joint Local Plan - Verbal Update
Minutes:
*O&S
33
Members of the
Joint Local Plan Partnership Board advised that, at the most recent
Board meeting held on 21 September 2020, all Members had expressed
their concerns over the contents of the draft Planning White
Paper. Whilst the Board had supported
the concept of a collective response being sent on behalf of all 3
partner authorities to the consultation exercise, it was also
acknowledged that this did not preclude any Member from making
representations in their own right.
The Members also advised that the Strategic
Planning Manager had recently left the employ of the three Councils
and they proceeded to pay tribute to the role that he had played in
the adoption of the Joint Local Plan.
|
*O&S 34 |
Task and Finish Group Updates (if any)
(a)
Engagement & Consultation;
and
(b)
Localities & Clusters;
Minutes:
*O&S
34
(i)
Engagement and
Consultation
It was noted that the membership of the Group had
now been confirmed (Cllrs Cheadle, Daniel, Kemp, Kimber, Leech and
Samuel) and a draft set of Terms of Reference had been prepared in
anticipation of the first Group meeting.
(ii) Localities
and Clusters
Similarly to the Engagement and Consultation Review, the Group
composition had now been approved (Cllrs Heyworth, Hipsey, Moody, Moyse, Ratcliffe and Wood) and officers informed that the
first meeting of the Group had been arranged to be held on Tuesday,
20 October 2020.
|
*O&S 35 |
Annual Work Programme PDF 250 KB
Minutes:
*O&S 35
The Committee
considered the latest version of its draft Annual Work Programme
for 2020/21 and, in discussion, the following updates were
made:
-
Members agreed a recommendation whereby it would now
be more appropriate to receive quarterly updates from the Financial
Stability Review Group; and
-
The Committee supported the proposal whereby the
‘Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000
Report’ should be presented to the Audit Committee and
therefore removed from the Work Programme.
|
*O&S 36 |
Members Learning and Development opportunities arising from this meeting
This
document can be made available in large print, Braille, tape
format, other languages or alternative format upon request.
Please contact the Committee section on
01822 813662 or email darryl.white@swdevon.gov.uk
Minutes:
*O&S
36
The Committee was reminded of the earlier
assurances (Minute O&S 29 above refers) that had been given
whereby there would be a number of opportunities for Members to
receive training on Microsoft Teams before the Council held its
remote meetings over this platform.
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