Agenda and minutes

Overview and Scrutiny Management Board - Friday 21 September 2012 9.00 am

Venue: Council House (next to the Civic Centre)

Contact: Helen Wright, Democratic Support Officer  Email: helen.wright@plymouth.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

46.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made by members in accordance with the code of conduct.

47.

CHAIR'S URGENT BUSINESS

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

Minutes:

There were no items of Chair’s urgent business.

48.

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR PLYMOUTH MOORVIEW AND PLYMOUTH SUTTON AND DEVONPORT

The Management Board will have an unique opportunity to hear from the Members of Parliament for Plymouth Moorview and Plymouth Sutton and Devonport on their vision and the key priorities for the city, including the impact of the Welfare Reform Act, 2011.  Members will also have the opportunity to question the MPs.

Minutes:

The Chair considered that this was a good opportunity for joining up the work carried out at both local and national level and it was hoped that this would be the beginning of regular meetings with the city’s MPs.  The Chair reported that Gary Streeter, MP for South West Devon, had sent his apologies for today’s meeting.

 

(a)

Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth Moorview, provided an overview of the committees that she was a member of, which included –

 

 

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all party armed forces group;

 

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all party dentistry group;

 

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all party housing group;

 

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all party insurance group;

 

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all party finance group;

 

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all party confectionary group;

 

(b)

as the Shadow Defence Minister she was not permitted to sit on any of the Select Committees;

 

(c)

 

Oliver Colvile, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, provided an overview of the committees that he was a member of, which included –

 

 

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select committee for Northern Ireland;

 

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vice chair of the all party armed forces group;

 

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vice chair of the all party pharmacy group;

 

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all party water group;

 

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all party mental health group;

 

(d)

 

he was not a member of the Government or a Parliamentary Private Secretary, however, he regularly spoke in the House of Commons and in doing so tried to raise the profile of the city.

 

The following responses were provided to questions raised by members –

 

(e)

question – how were the city’s MPs going to champion Plymouth, in order to help people with mental health issues to lessen the impact of the Welfare Reform Act?

 

 

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(Oliver Colvile MP’s response) he considered that the skills base within the city needed to be improved and in order to achieve this, he would be campaigning for more private investment to aid job creation;

 

 

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(Alison Seabeck, MP’s response) she had recently questioned the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Ian Duncan Smith, on the significant impact of the Welfare Reform Act on the citizens of Plymouth (it was important to make ministers aware of the impact of their policies);

 

(f)

 

question – the council had requested a breakdown of information from the Department of Work and Pensions regarding the Social Fund, however this information had not been shared; how could the council plan for a local Social Fund replacement scheme when information was being withheld?

 

 

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(Alison Seabeck MP’s response) requested the information, so she could take this issue forward;

 

 

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(Oliver Colvile, MP’s response) confirmed that he would also be willing to take this matter forward on the council’s behalf;

 

(g)

question – in order to boost the economy, the Government was proposing to relax the planning regulations, on a temporary basis,  to allow 25 foot extensions to be built without having to seek planning permission; it was envisaged that this proposal would cause tensions between neighbours; what were the MP’s views on this?

 

 

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(Oliver Colvile MP’s response) acknowledged that there could be potential for tension between neighbours, however he considered that better communication between neighbours could resolve issues; the scheme would boost the economy by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

49.

EXEMPT BUSINESS

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) … of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Minutes:

There were no items of exempt business.