Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor T A Bond.

There were no substitute members appointed.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in respect of business to be transacted on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 July 2016 (attached) and 2 August 2016 (to follow).

The Minutes of the meetings held on 12 July 2016 and 2 August 2016 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Please note that in accordance with the agreed Protocol for Public Speaking at Overview and Scrutiny, the right to speak only applies to agenda items 12 to 15 (inclusive).

Members of the public wishing to speak must register to do so by no later than 2.00 pm on the second working day before the meeting.

There were no decisions taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 5 September 2016 in respect of recommendations from the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee.

There were no items of business for consideration.

There were no items of business for consideration.

(a)    Items placed on the agenda by a Member of the Committee or any individual Non-Executive Member

       Any individual Councillor may request that a matter is placed on the agenda of one of the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committees by providing Democratic Support with notice of the matter prior to the agenda being published.

       There are no items for consideration.

(b)    Items the subject of Call-In

       Executive Decisions may be called-in by the Chairman or Spokesperson of the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee or any three non-executive members.

       There are no items for consideration.

(c)    Public Petition

       There are no items for consideration.

There were no items for consideration.

The Team Leader – Democratic Support presented the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions to the Committee for its consideration.

RESOLVED: That the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions be noted.

The Team Leader – Democratic Support presented the Scrutiny Work Programme to the Committee for its consideration.

RESOLVED: That the Work Programme be noted subject to the inclusion of any items identified at the meeting held on 13 September 2016.

To receive a verbal update from the Director of Governance and the Environmental Protection Manager.

The Environmental Protection Manager provided an oral update to the Committee on the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) during its first year of operation.

Members were advised that while the Council had adopted a zero tolerance approach in respect of the PSPO, some discretion was applied to the issuance of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for leash offences. The FPN was £75 but if not paid it could result in a penalty of up to £1000 in court.

A total of 21 warnings and 57 FPNs had been issued in the first twelve months of the PSPO for various offences. This had resulted in 43 FPNs being paid and 1 prosecution of an individual who had committed 12 offences resulting in a £575 fine in court. In addition, a further prosecution was pending.

The Committee was that the main areas for leash offences were the beaches in Dover and Deal, Crabble Athletic ground and Deal Pier. The majority of the 8 FPNs issued for fouling offences had been in Deal and the Council was working with the Deal dog community to try and foster behavioural change.

As part of the educational campaign, the Council had microchipped 90 dogs for free and visited 9 schools where the PSPO had been discussed with children. There had also been stickers containing QR codes placed on bins and signs.

The Council currently had 2 of the 3 envirocrime officer positions on the Council filled and 100 officers had been trained to use the Incident Report Scheme books to record offences. In response to a question the Committee was advised that if the Council wanted to outsource the enforcement function it would need approval from the Cabinet.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets.

The Director of Environment and Corporate Assets advised the Committee that Kent County Council had recently completed a lorry parking count and once the information was released there would be a clearer picture of the size of the problem in the district and wider county.

The Chief Executive advised that as part of Operation Fennell, the Council was part of a multi-agency group which included hauliers and that any long term solution to the district’s transport issues required national level assistance.

The Committee was advised that the difficulty in changing driver behaviour needed to be recognised as despite warnings to the contrary, drivers still kept trying to come to Dover rather than park elsewhere overnight.

In response to frustration expressed by Members over the slow pace of enforcement action in Coombe Valley, it was stated that the Council had to operate within the legal framework.

RESOLVED:  (a)   That the update be noted.

(b)   That the results of the most recent survey on lorry parking in the district be reported to a meeting of the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee in the next 2 months and that future surveys also consult with district members and not just parish councils.

(c)   That regular updates on transport issues, including lorry parking, be included within the Committees work programme.

(d)   That it be recommended to the Cabinet that given the importance of the district as the gateway to the UK and the Continent, the Minister for Transport be lobbied to introduce measures to make it easier for the Council to take enforcement action against illegal and dangerous lorry parking in the district.

To consider the attach report of the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets.

The Director of Environment and Corporate Assets presented the report on the Future Funding for the Domestic Abuse Service.

Members were advised that the Council had contributed £11,900 per year from the Housing Revenue Account since 2014 to support the work of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors who provided specialist advice and support to the most serious domestic abuse cases.

A redesign of the service had been undertaken by Kent Police and Kent County Council with a view to addressing the increased demand currently being experienced by the service through a jointly commissioned integrated domestic abuse service. The service would not only support victims of domestic abuse and their families but also reduce the risk of harm. Kent County Council was seeking a contribution of £14,051 per year over a five year period at a total cost of £70,255 from the Council towards the cost of the service. It was intended that this would be funded from the Housing Revenue Account given the likely benefits to the service area.

Members welcomed the proposals and the benefits that the service had brought to the district. The links with social services and the importance of providing advice on the ability to opt out of the open electoral register were also discussed.

RESOLVED: That it be recommended to the Cabinet that Decision CAB38 be endorsed and that funding of £14,051 per annum for a 5-year period be approved towards the future provision of a domestic abuse service.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Governance.

The Director of Governance presented the Performance Report for Quarter 1, 2016/17.

There were 22 Green, 5 Amber and 7 Red Performance Indicators for Quarter 1, 2016/17. Members discussed the following red indicators:

Members also discussed the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) proposals for Connaught Barracks and were advised that this would need to go through the planning process. The Council was also considering its position in respect of the recent court decision in respect of the proposed Western Heights development.

RESOLVED:  That it be recommended to the Cabinet that Decision CAB44 be endorsed and that the Council’s Performance Report and Actions for the First Quarter 2016/17 be noted.

To consider the attached report of Director of Environment and Corporate Assets.

The Director of Environment and Corporate Assets and the Director of Finance, Housing and Community gave a presentation to the Committee on the proposals for the new Dover Leisure Centre.

The funding options and in particular the use of reserves against the interest rate on any loan was discussed by Members.

Members were advised that the Whitfield site had been selected as it was available and offered the opportunity to provide all facilities on one site. To provide a similar range of services in Dover would have required the facilities to be spread across several sites given the lack of available land in Dover for a single site. In addition, the number of car parking spaces was considered key to the viability of the new Leisure Centre and the feedback from operators was that the proposed 250 parking spaces was the minimum required.

The Director of Environment and Corporate Assets confirmed that the building needed to be energy efficient both in terms of retention and usage.

The Council had started consulting with Kent County Council and transport operators on the transport plan for the Leisure Centre and consideration was being given not just to travel from Dover but also the wider district such as Deal.

In respect of links to Dover, it was stated that while there was no proposed road connection to Buckland as part of the proposals there could be the opportunity for a pedestrian/cycle connection.

Members discussed the facilities mix and whether Amateur Swimming Association competitions would be held at a county standard pool. It was agreed that the potential use of the all-weather pitches for rugby would be investigated.

It was proposed by Councillor M I Cosin and duly seconded that:

(a)  That it be recommended to the Cabinet:

(i)       That the proposal to construct a new leisure centre on a new site at Whitfield identified in Annex 1 of the report, and to then close the existing Dover Leisure Centre at Townwall Street, Dover on completion, be approved.

(ii)      That the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets be authorised to appoint Faithful & Gould, as lead consultancy team, using the Scape National Asset Management, Surveying and Design Services Framework or a similar framework should that be available and advantageous to the Council.

(iii)     That the proposed facility mix at Table 1 and the recommendation of the Dover Leisure Centre Project Advisory Group, made at its meeting held on 26 July 2016 (Minute No 26), that ‘a further report be commissioned to explore the addition of a spa facility’, be approved, and the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets be authorised to appoint a specialist spa consultant to assess the feasibility of including a spa in the facility mix and a report be brought back to Cabinet in December 2016.

(iv)    That the decision on the split between borrowing and use of reserves to finance the project be delegated to the Director of Finance, Housing and Community, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Portfolio  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.