Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors M I Cosin and R J Frost.

It was noted that, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, Councillor P Walker had been appointed as substitute for Councillor M I Cosin.

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 13 March 2017 (to follow).

The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2017 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 11 to 14.

The right of the public to speak does not apply to the following agenda items: Apologies, Appointment of Substitute Members, Declarations of Interest, Minutes, the Forward Plan, the Scrutiny Work Programme, any agenda item that is not accompanied by a written report and items that are exempt business.

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 2 decisions taken by the Cabinet at its meetings held on 20 March 2017 and 3 April 2017 in respect of recommendations from the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee as follows:

·         Business Case – Single East Kent Council (20 March 2017)

·         Your Leisure Funding Arrangements (3 April 2017)

Members received the decisions of the Cabinet relating to recommendations made by the Committee.

RESOLVED: That the decisions be noted.

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.

(1)  As Chairman, Councillor K Mills, has advised that an item will be added to the work programme on the future options being considered by the Council following the decision by Shepway District Council not to proceed with a single East Kent district council.

(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.

(a)    Future Options

The Team Leader – Democratic Support advised that the Leader of the Council would be providing an update on the future options being considered following the decision by Shepway District Council at the meeting to be held on 23 May 2017.

The Chief Executive advised that although work on the proposed merger to create a single East Kent District Council had stopped following the decision of Shepway District Council there was still a desire to collaborate amongst East Kent authorities and joint working continued through the existing shared services. A case-by-case decision would be taken on whether to share further services.

The snap parliamentary election scheduled for Thursday 8 June 2017 was expected to delay decisions on proposals for local government reorganisation that other authorities had submitted to the Secretary of State for consideration.

In response to a question, the Chief Executive advised that although the Council could not get back the money it had expended in relation to the proposed merger, it had only expended a few thousand pounds from the funds that it had allocated.  

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

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.

Members requested that the links relating to the scaffolding issue discussed at the previous meeting be recirculated.

RESOLVED: That the Work Programme be noted.

To receive an update on the recommendations agreed by the Cabinet in respect of the Regent Cinema.

The Monitoring Officer informed Members that as the restrictions concerning local authority publicity (known as ‘purdah’) were in force due to the Kent County Council elections, the discussion should be confined to the Cabinet decision taken on 11 October 2016 in respect of the Regent Cinema.

The Planning Delivery Manager provided Members with an update on the Cabinet Decision as followed:

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

The Highways and Parking Team Leader presented the report on the Review of On and Off-Street Parking Charges.

RESOLVED: That it be recommended to the Cabinet:

(a)  That Cabinet Decision CAB177 be endorsed as follows:

(i)    That the outcome of the annual review of parking charges be noted.

(ii)   That parking charges continue to be frozen at their current levels, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report, with the following minor exceptions:

(1)   To agree to the proposed reduction in the maximum daily charge at those locations as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

(2)   To agree to the principle of the introduction of a charge of £7.50 for overnight parking by motorhomes on Dover seafront.

(3)   To agree to replace the current linear parking charges for coaches at Castle Hill Car Park and Maison Dieu Car Park, Dover with a charge of £7.50 for up to 8 hrs.

(4)    To increase the charge for visitor permits to £2.

(iii)  That the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets be authorised, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Access and Licensing, to make the necessary arrangements to introduce the above charges as soon as is practicable, and to make the necessary changes to the Council’s On-Street and Off-Street Parking Orders.

(iv) That the proposal that charges at Tides Leisure Centre should be withdrawn in due course to match the proposal that parking at the new Dover Leisure Centre should be free be approved and Officers be asked to bring forward proposals to enable this to be put into effect at the appropriate time, including arrangements to limit the length of stay and/or restrict use to leisure centre customers.

(b)  That free parking at Tides Leisure Centre should be restricted to users of the leisure centre only.

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

The Corporate Estate and Coastal Engineer presented the report on DDC Health and Safety Street Lighting Works.

Members were advised that the Council was responsible for over 2,000 lighting units (mostly footway) across the District and that many of these lighting units were now reaching the end of their design life with increasingly frequent maintenance and/or replacement works required.

The Council’s most recent structural survey in 2015 had identified 175 lighting units that were at risk of structural failure. While work had been undertaken to extend the life of these units by 18 months they had now reached the point where action had to be taken.

Criteria had been developed to determine the priority for replacing a lighting unit that had been removed or truncated as followed:

(a)  Have there been a high proportion of road traffic accidents during dark hours in the vicinity of where the light is being removed?

(b)  Is the light being removed providing adequate light to a highway traffic junction?

(c)  Is the light outside the entrance of the following; Schools, Hospitals, Emergency Services, Retirement Homes, Youth and Community Centres?

(d)  Is there any registered anti-social behaviour problems associated in the area of the light to be removed?

(e)  Site specific extenuating circumstances

The Medium Term Financial Plan had budgeted £90,000 for the lighting works. The cost of removing/truncating the 175 lighting units and surveying a further 310 units was estimated at £16,000 which would leave £74,000 to fund the replacement of approximately 50 lighting units.

In respect to a question about Kent County Council (KCC) adopting Dover District Council’s street lighting, Members were advised that this would only be done if the lighting met KCC’s current LED standards and the cost of doing this was several million pounds.

RESOLVED:     That it be recommended to the Cabinet that Option 3 be approved (as per Cabinet Decision CAB178) and that urgent health and safety works in relation to Dover District Council-owned street lights, including the provision of replacement lighting units where appropriate (to be procured in accordance with Contract Standing Orders), be approved.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Governance.

The Director of Governance presented the report on the Performance Report Targets 2017-18.

Members were advised that although the targets had been set against a backdrop of the need to make cost savings in most cases the target had not decreased from the previous year’s target. Where there had been a lowering of the target this had been highlighted in the schedule to the report.

In respect of performance indicator WAS010 (Residual household waste per household) it was stated that the target should have read 430kg and not 390kg as specified in the report. This reflected a national trend of increasing residual waste.

The Director of Governance advised that further information in relation to service performance was provided as part of the text element of the performance report.

RESOLVED: That it be recommended to the Cabinet:

(a)  That, as per Cabinet Decision CAB179, the key targets, as set out at Appendix 1 of the report, be approved, subject to the retention of existing Regeneration and Development Performance Indicators PLA004 and PLA001 (provided for information purposes only) and the Director of Governance making any minor changes, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources and Performance.

(b)  That a comparison with the outturn for the previous year be included.