Meeting documents

Venue: The Paralympic Room - AVDC. View directions

Contact: Craig Saunders; Email: csaunders@aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk; 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 92 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 June, 2016, copy attached as an appendix.

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 June, 2016, be approved as a correct record.

2.

Communities Team Review pdf icon PDF 103 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Will Rysdale (01296) 585561

Minutes:

As part of the Commercial AVDC Programme a review of the Communities Team had been undertaken.  AVDC was currently facing severe financial restrictions and was looking to mitigate a reduction in funding of approximately £5million by 2020/21, through a combination of income generation and efficiencies.

 

The current Communities Team was part of  the Community Fulfilment Sector and was currently made up from various sub teams including Community Safety, Community Engagement, Grants and Project Support and the Communities Delivery team. These four teams currently varied considerably in the roles that they performed and the services they offered to the community, which was a mix of services with a various statutory elements, but with the majority being non-statutory.

 

The Committee received a report that highlighted the potential changes that could be made to the services delivered by the Communities Team following the Commercial Review which had commenced in January 2016.  While a number of the community services that were delivered would remain because of the impact and value they deliver, it was believed that some services could be removed or delivered differently.  If all of the current recommendations were accepted then savings of approximately £250,000 could be achieved along with a reduction in the level of staff resources (equating to a 36% annual reduction), whilst maintaining key statutory and policy priorities.

 

Staff, trade unions and employee representatives had been consulted on the proposals.  The roles that were undertaken within the team were not process driven and the community benefit produced was exceptionally difficult to quantify or monetise, although this should not be underestimated or ignored.  Over the past few years many of the team had adopted a more commercial approach, with an emphasis placed on income generation to help cover the costs, but despite this it was a "loss" making team, in financial terms, to AVDC.

 

The review had investigated all of the teams’ undertakings and made recommendations on what was believed should be continued and also what should be stopped, changed or moved internally.  Alongside the review of the Communities team, the overarching view of Community Fulfilment had also been taken into consideration and recommendations linked to this were also included. One of the main aims when this sector was first formed was for it to become the strategic arm of the Council linking many of the existing services together to help ensure that AVDC was operating at its most efficient. The Communities Review was therefore the first step towards this and what had become clear was that some of the report’s recommendations would impact on the wider sector, in particular upon the existing Strategic Housing team.

 

The Grant Funding Programme contained within the Communities team had only recently been reviewed and considered by both the Finance and Services Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet in July 2016. The programme had been reduced over the past 6 years from £619,672 to just under £400,000 for 2016/17 and the way in which grants were prioritised had also been amended.

 

At the beginning of 2016/17  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Food Service Plan 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 214 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Lindsey Vallis (01296) 585152

Minutes:

Under European food law the Food Standards Agency (FSA) was deemed to be the competent authority.  To ensure these powers were exercised consistently across the country by local authorities the FSA had developed a framework agreement, part of which included the production by each local authority of a food service plan.

 

Service plans were seen as an important part of the process to ensure that national priorities and standards were addressed and delivered locally.  The details to be contained in the plan were specified by the FSA.  Plans had to contain the following information:-

·                    Service Aims and Objectives.

·                    Background.

·                    Service Delivery.

·                    Resources.

·                    Quality Assessment.

·                    Review.

 

The Committee received a report on the plan which had the Aylesbury Vale Food Service Plan for 2016-17 attached as an appendix.  The key features of the Plan were:-

·                    that there were 1724 registered food businesses in Aylesbury Vale.

·                    Premises were given a risk rating, A to E. Resources were targeted to ensure higher risk premises (A, B, Non-compliant C and Unrated) were inspected in accordance with the FSA Code of Practice.

·                    that the number of premises that were deemed to be "broadly compliant" with the law is 97%.

·                    in 2015/16 in total AVDC had achieved 95% of programmed interventions, and completed 100% of premises inspections rated A – non compliant C.

·                    that the plan identified areas of improvement or exploration to improve efficiency and to ensure the Council offered the best service to customers. These included:

-       Implementation of online forms.

-       Use of partial inspections or audits of premises.

-       Extending  the scope of the Alternative Enforcement Strategy.

-       Assisting with the implementation of the new premises database

-       Updating staff development in line with Food Law Code of Practice changes

 

The plan was a development of the 2012/13 plan updated to reflect the current situation and legislative changes.  The 2012/13 Food Service Plan had been subject to a full audit by the FSA in October 2012.  The FSA had revisited in 2015/16 and had been satisfied that the audit action plan had been fully implemented and the audit had been closed.

 

Members sought further information and were advised:-

 

(i)            that due to staffing issues (primarily new staff that were training to get full food service accreditation) it had been necessary to buy in contractor inspections to assist with meeting intervention targets, as necessary.  This had amounted to £12,000 in 2015/16 and was likely to be a similar amount in 2016/17.  However, overall, this arrangement was delivering savings to the Council.

 

(ii)           that AVDC had liaison arrangements with various outside bodies and with neighbouring local authorities, and met regularly to discuss current enforcement issues and ensure consistency in approach and joint working across the County.

 

(iii)          that the Food Service Agency as part of their 2015-20 Strategy was still looking at whether to consult on allowing some autonomy in how some establishments such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s, which had their own inspection regimes in place, were inspected.  SEMLEP was also looking at how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Future Work Programme pdf icon PDF 19 KB

To consider and comment upon the attached report regarding the Committee’s future work programme.

 

Contact Officer: Craig Saunders (01296) 585043

Minutes:

The Committee considered their work programme for the next 6-9 months.  A written question had been submitted to the Council meeting on 20 July 2016 concerning enforcement action associated with environmental issues and in relation to a particular planning application.

 

Whilst it was not within the Committee’s remit to consider a particular planning application due to the quasi-judicial nature of the planning process, it was however with the Committee’s remit to "assist in the development of the Council’s planning policies (excluding the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan) and other plans for the use and development of land."

 

Members considered the merit of examining in generic terms the Council’s planning enforcement procedures and agreed that they would like to receive a general report on planning enforcement to a future meeting to assist in Members’ understanding of this area.  The report could include information on :

·                    the nature of enforcement work.

·                    the basis upon which formal action could be taken.

·                    justifications that had to be shown in order to take action.

·                    the different stages in the enforcement process.

·                    the process for enforcement notices.

·                    Local Members role / how can local Members’ help?

 

In addition to this matter, the following items had been programmed for future meetings:-

 

(i)            1 November 2016 – Waste and Recycling Update, Update on flooding on the Willows development, Services provided by the Community Spaces team and Biodiversity update.

 

(ii)           20 December 2016 – Community Safety update / Strategy 2017-20 and Leisure facilities in the Vale.

 

(iii)          15 February 2017 – VAHT Annual update and ‘Pay to Stay’.

 

(iv)         22 March 2017 – no items as yet

 

Members also commented that they would like to receive information, initially via the Members’ Information Sheet, on the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), impacts on the Council of the Housing Act 2016, and on pest control.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the current work programme as agreed at the meeting be noted.