Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor J Rose.

The Democratic Services Manager advised that no notice had been received for the appointment of substitute members.

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 attached Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 16 November 2020.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2020 were approved as a correct record to be signed by the Chairman.

To receive the Cabinet decisions in respect of recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The decisions of the Cabinet relating to recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting held on 7 December 2020 were noted.

The Democratic Services Manager advised that there were no issues referred to the Committee by Council, Cabinet or another Committee.

The Democratic Services Manager presented the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions to the Committee for its consideration.

There being no dissent indicated, it was agreed that the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions be noted.

The Democratic Services Manager presented the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme to the Committee for its consideration.

Councillor T A Bond proposed that an urgent item be included in the work programme relating to flooding in Deal. He referred to the previous scrutiny that had been undertaken in respect of this matter and requested that Southern Water be invited to attend a meeting of the Committee to discuss this further.

In respect of the Food Poverty Review, Councillor C D Zosseder proposed that the next meeting be held on 11 January 2021.

There being no dissent indicated, it was agreed:

(a)     That the Work Programme be noted, subject to the inclusion of an urgent item on flooding in Deal.

(b)     That the next Food Poverty Review meeting be held on 11 January 2021.

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 10 - 13.

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

For remote meetings, public speaking for those who successfully register will take the form of a statement of up to 500 words that will be read out by a member of the Democratic Services team.

The Democratic Services Manager advised that no members of the public had registered to speak on items on the agenda to which the public speaking protocol applied.

To consider the attached report of the Strategic Director (Operations and Commercial).

The Head of Assets and Building Control presented the Housing Stock Compliance Report. The report set out the progress that had been made towards creating a reliable compliance management and reporting framework; establishing accurate raw data and reporting performance based on the verified data.

Members were advised that the council had verified the LGSR data and, subject to one property for which the council was taking enforcement action to gain access to, was compliant.  

In terms of EICR performance, this had improved from 22% to 46.45% compliance. The data on the Strategic Asset Maintenance (SAM) database had been matched against the CORGI database and the addition of non-CORGI data was part of the process of ensuring all data was eventually held on the SAM database.

The asbestos data had not yet been verified and the focus was on communal areas where the council had a duty to manage asbestos. The secondary work to be undertaken was to develop an understanding of the asbestos risks across the council’s properties.

The Committee thanked the Head of Assets and Building Control for the excellent work being undertaken in respect of housing stock compliance.

To consider the attached report of the Head of Regulatory Services.

The Head of Regulatory Services presented the report on the Hackney Carriage Fare Tariff Request for Increase.

Members were advised that the current tariff had been in place since 2012 and had not been reviewed since then. The Cinque Ports Hackney Carriage Federation had approached the council (as the licensing authority) to review the tariff and had presented a proposed table of maximum fares as part of this process. The council had undertaken a non-statutory consultation on the proposals which had received no responses from the taxi industry. The next stage in the process was to publish the statutory notice and if during the 14-day consultation period no objections were received then the new fare structure would be brought into effect.

Members considered the impact of the proposed tariff scheme and discussed the non-statutory consultation that had been undertaken prior to this point. The need to encourage low emission vehicles was identified and the Head of Regulatory Services advised that the council was considering ways of encouraging operators to move to hybrid vehicles.

It was proposed by Councillor S H Beer, duly seconded by Councillor H M Williams, and

RESOLVED:       That it be recommended to Cabinet that Decision CAB58 be endorsed as followed:

(a)  That the table of fares presented by the Cinque Ports Hackney Carriage Federation and set out at Appendix B to the report be approved.

(b)  That the Head of Regulatory Services be authorised, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Transport, Licensing and Community, to consider any objections received during the formal statutory consultation period and to take all necessary steps to bring the table of fares into operation.

To consider the attached report of the Head of Planning, Regeneration and Development.

The Head of Planning, Regeneration and Development presented the Dover District Council Local Development Scheme report.

The Local Development Scheme (LDS) was a project plan that set out the timetable for the production of new or revised Development Plan Documents that form the Council’s Local Plan. The LDS specified the documents that, when prepared, would comprise the Local Plan for the district and it was publicly available on the council's website. It was reviewed annually through the Council’s Authority Monitoring Report.

Members discussed the changes to the Regulation 18 consultation process that had been made to deal with the requirements imposed by the pandemic and how those without on-line access would be able to engage. The Head of Planning, Regeneration and Development advised that it was hoped that at the Regulation 19 stage a more normal consultation process would be able to be undertaken. It was still possible to make changes at the Regulation 19 stage.  

There would be a number of on-line events held for town and parish councils and as part of these it would be explained how they can access documents and comment on them. There would also be a telephone line open Monday to Friday (2 hours per day) to receive comments.

RESOLVED:       That it be recommended to Cabinet that Decision CAB56 be endorsed and that the revised Local Development Scheme, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved and brought into immediate effect.

To consider the attached report of the Head of Planning, Regeneration and Development.

These documents will be published as a supplement due to the size of the files.

The Head of Planning, Regeneration and Development presented the Local Plan – Regulation 18 Consultation report.

Members were advised that the Council had a statutory duty to prepare a Local Plan under section 19 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The Local Plan was a development plan document that set out the vision, framework and policies for guiding new development in the district until 2040.

The Chairman reminded Members that in the agenda were the answers to the key questions that had been submitted on this item. Members discussed issues arising from the answers to the key questions which included:

·         Affordable housing, particularly in urban areas

·         S106 matters

·         Encouraging green development

·         Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

It was moved by Councillor C D Zosseder, duly seconded by Councillor H M Williams, and

RESOLVED:       That it be recommended to Cabinet that Decision CAB57 be endorsed as followed:

(a)  That the Local Plan Regulation 18 document, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved for consultation for a period of eight weeks.

(b)  That the Regulation 18 Consultation Engagement Strategy, as set out at Appendix 2 to the report, be approved.

(c)   That the Head of Planning, Regeneration and Development, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regulatory Services, be authorised to make minor changes to the consultation document, and to take all necessary steps to develop and carry out the Regulation 18 consultation.

It was moved by Councillor C D Zosseder, duly seconded by Councillor S H Beer and

RESOLVED:   That, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the remainder of the business on the grounds that the items to be considered involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To consider the report of the Strategic Director (Operations and Commercial) (to follow).

The Strategic Director (Operations and Commercial) introduced the Cable Car feasibility report.

Councillor M Rose proposed that an item on the opportunities from greening Dover be included in the work programme.

RESOLVED:       That it be recommended to Cabinet that Decision CAB61 be endorsed as followed:

(a)  That the report be noted.

(b)  That the allocation of £35,000 towards the project be approved.

(c)   That the next stage of establishing clear project governance across all delivery partners, completing strategic definition for the project and developing a project brief, procurement strategy and operator strategy be proceeded with.

(d)  That the Strategic Director (Operations and Commercial) be authorised, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Inward Investment and Tourism, to procure and engage the consultants.

(e)  That the Council enters into the proposed memorandum of understanding with English Heritage, on terms to be approved by the Strategic Director (Operations and Commercial), in consultation with the Solicitor to the Council.