Agenda and minutes

Growth and Prosperity Overview and Scrutiny Panel - Monday 5 March 2012 3.00 pm

Venue: Council House, Next to the Civic Centre

Contact: Helen Rickman, Democratic Support Officer  Email: helen.rickman@plymouth.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

71.

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 Councillors in accordance with the code of conduct.

72.

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 however under this item the Chair informed the panel that several agenda items initially scheduled on the work programme for this meeting had been postponed as they were not yet ready to be scrutinised.

73.

TRACKING RESOLUTIONS AND FEEDBACK FROM THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY MANAGEMENT BOARD pdf icon PDF 51 KB

The Panel will monitor the progress of previous resolutions and receive any relevant feedback from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

Minutes:

The Chair informed the panel that previous tracking resolutions had been completed and were therefore greyed out on the tracking schedule ready to be removed.

74.

DELEGATION FOR APPROVAL OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT TASK AND FINISH GROUP REPORT pdf icon PDF 36 KB

The panel will be provided with a recommendation for delegation of approval of the Youth Unemployment Task and Finish Group report.

Minutes:

The panel noted the recommendation in the delegation report however, at the Chair’s suggestion, agreed that the Vice Chair should also be included as part of the consultation process.

 

Agreed that delegated authority is given to the Lead Officer, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Growth and Prosperity Overview and Scrutiny Panel, to approve the final report of the Youth Unemployment Task and Finish Group.

75.

WRITTEN UPDATE ON GOVERNMENT POLICY CHANGES pdf icon PDF 59 KB

The panel will be provided with an update on Government policy changes.

Minutes:

Paul Barnard, Assistant Director for Planning Services, provided the panel with an update on Government Policy Changes, specifically the Penfold Review.

 

The panel was informed that the aim of the Penfold Review was to identify areas to support and streamline the process for securing non-planning consents alongside, planning permission.

 

In response to questions raised it was reported that –

 

(a)

more detail would be provided on this review later in the year once Government released more information;

 

(b)

Government has strongly advised  statutory consultees such as the Highway’s Agency, Environment Agency and Natural England to promote sustainable development which should result in a better synergy with spatial planning;

 

(c)

the definition of ‘sustainable development’ wasn’t considered to be clearly set out by the Government  and needed to be interpreted carefully;

 

(d)

the Council’s Core Strategy policies and supporting Area Action Plans and Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes remained the primary policy framework for considering planning applications;

 

(e)

the restrictions on listed buildings could be lessened to ‘parts’ of buildings;

 

(f)

with regards to Highway Consents,  the Government was to consult upon publicity requirements associated with Traffic Regulation Orders, including road closures, to streamline the process and allow for local decision making; a response would be provided to the panel on whether this consultation had taken place;

 

The panel noted the implications of the implementation of the Penfold Review and thanked Paul Barnard for his clear and concise report.

 

Agreed that –

 

1.

a further update on the Penfold Review would be provided to the panel in the future;

 

2.

a response would be provided to the panel as to whether consultation had taken place regarding publicity requirements associated with Traffic Regulation Orders, including road closures.

 

 

76.

LOCALISM ACT

The panel will be provided with a further update on the Localism Act.

Minutes:

Paul Barnard, Assistant Director for Planning Services, provided the panel with an update on the Localism Act.

 

The panel was informed that –

 

(a)

the Localism Act received Royal Assent on 15 November 2011;

 

(b)

the Act consists of the following sections:

 

  • Part 1 – Local Government
  • Part 2 – EU Financial Sanctions
  • Part 3 – EU Financial Sanctions (Wales)
  • Part 4 – Non-Domestic Rates
  • Part 5 – Community Empowerment
  • Part 6 – Planning Reforms
  • Part 7 – Housing
  • Part 8 – London
  • Part 9 – Compensation for Compulsory Acquisition
  • Part 10 – General

 

(c)

in terms of part I ‘Local Government’ the general power of competence has been introduced sooner than anticipated;

 

(d)

there were provisions for council’s to choose which method of governance it wished to adopt; either executive, committee system or prescribed arrangements;

 

(e)

the Standards Board for England had been abolished;

 

(f)

there were new requirements for codes of practice of which the seven Nolan principles of public life were embedded;

 

(g)

with regards to part 2 ‘EU Financial Sanctions’ Power for Central Government to pass on EU fines and other sanctions to local government (S48).

 

(h)

Part 4 ‘Non Domestic Rates’ allowed for greater flexibility to local authorities to grant discretionary relief from business rates where reasonable to do so; this was coming into force April 2012;

 

(i)

Part 5 ‘Community Empowerment’ allowed for provisions such as council tax referendums, community right to challenge, lists of assets of community value and land of community value; all provisions to come into force in April 2012;

 

(j)

the demise of the Regional Spatial Strategy would have a minimal impact on Plymouth as the Council’s Core Strategy promoted high level of growth;

 

(k)

a new Neighbourhood Planning regime has been created and that this would involve the need for Neighbourhood Forums to be created;

 

(l)

local communities would have a greater say on local developments;

 

(m)

Section 143 – financial considerations are now a material planning consideration; this enabled Planning Committee to ask what was the New Homes Bonus of the project and what is the likely Community Infrastructure Levy?

 

(n)

there was to be a major reform of the housing allocation policy;

 

In response to questions raised it was reported that –

 

(o)

Ward Councillors would have the opportunity to play a more proactive role in the planning application process;

 

(p)

specific powers were introduced 2007?? Is this date correct? Needs checking to allow council’s to impose fines with regards to rubbish collection; that power has been revoked. The power to charge for non-compliance with domestic waste recycling and refuse disposal has been repealed;

 

(q)

the panel would be provided with a copy of the community information pack when it was ready to be circulated to local community groups;

 

(r)

the Planning Committee had the opportunity to take into consideration how much weight financial issues should apply to each application; the Assistant Director for Planning Services agreed to provide this response in writing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

77.

PLYMOUTH PLAN

The panel will be provided with a brief verbal introduction to the Plymouth Plan.

Minutes:

Paul Barnard, Assistant Director for Planning Services, provided the panel with an update on the Plymouth Plan.

 

The panel was informed that the aim of the Plymouth Plan was to reduce the number of plans, strategies and partnerships that the Council currently had.  It was estimated that there was approximately 138 strategies within the council which was considered to be excessive. The Plymouth Plan aimed to be the key strategic plan for the city building on the city’s vision and priorities.

 

In response to questions raised it was reported that –

 

a)

it was important that communities were engaging with the Plymouth Plan; the first formal stage of consultation would take place in December 2012; Submission would then take place in 2013 for adoption in April 2015;

 

b)

this plan would be reviewed every five years;

 

c)

it was yet to be decided when scrutiny would have the opportunity to consider the ‘Issues and Options’ report;

 

d)

the Assistant Director for Planning Services would report back to the panel options on the role of scrutiny with the Plymouth Plan.

 

At the commencement of this item dissatisfaction was raised by the panel regarding the lack of supporting paperwork for this issue, specifically a lack of terms of reference and what the Plymouth Plan aimed to achieve. The Chair advised the panel that the Plymouth Plan was at a very early stage of development and a verbal update was the most appropriate for the panel at this stage.

 

Agreed that the Assistant Director for Planning Services would report back to the panel options on the role of scrutiny with the Plymouth Plan.

78.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 74 KB

To review the panels work programme 11/12.

Minutes:

The panel noted the work programme for 2011/12 and agreed that –

 

1.

the Youth Unemployment Task and Finish Group needed to be included onto the current work programme;

 

2.

all items not considered by the panel this municipal year were to be included on the work programme for 2012/13;

 

3.

approval be sought from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board to include on the Growth and Prosperity OSP work programme for 2012/13 the ‘relationship of Plymouth Community Homes with ward Councillors’.

 

79.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 117 KB

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 9 January 2012.

Minutes:

Agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2012 are approved as a correct record.

 

Under this item clarification was sought as to the information relating to minute 60 (o) ‘Local Development Framework Annual Monitoring Report’ regarding the buildings at risk register; the panel requested, and it was agreed that, a copy of the original list is provided to Members via email.

80.

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.