Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Bill Chapple, Tim Butcher and David Carroll.

To disclose any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

Of the meeting held on Wednesday 25 September 2013 to be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on the Wednesday 25 September 2013 were agreed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Page 2 - Environmental Response – Green Deal

Alex Care has advised that the Secretary of State has made the following statement about the Community Interest Green Deal.

‘The Green Deal together with the Community Trust Company received Green Deal provider status from the Secretary of State in September.  The delay to the programme will mean the offer to domestic customers will launch in early 2014’

There is still an outstanding issue around the resources that Bucks County Council will put into this. Clarification will be obtained for the next meeting.

Action: Kama Wager

Page 3 - Environmental Response – Sustainable Travel Scheme

Clarification is to be obtained if BCC have submitted a bid to the Local Partnership Enterprise Partnership for EU funding.

Action: John Lamb/Jim Simms

The Chairman advised the Tim Butcher has offered to join an informal workshop to discuss EU bids and funding with the relevant officers in early December.  Members of the Committee are welcome to part in the discussions.

An update on progression of opportunities for sourcing funding from EU, other grants and external funding is to be provided.

Action: John Lamb

An update on bids made by BCC for EU funding is to be provided.

Action: John Lamb

Addendum – the Chairman has been advised that a full bid has been submitted but the details of details of the bid have not seen.  Clarification is to be obtained.

Action: Kama Wager

Page 4 – Cabinet Response – TfB (Ringway Jacobs Contract)

The 2011 Scrutiny review recommended having two extra spokesmen for transport on the Strategic Board to provide wider member representation.  The Cabinet Spokesmen’s roles have ceased to exist in the new Terms of Reference.  The Cabinet Member now has a Deputy who can deputise for them if they are unable to attend a meeting. This will be picked up in the review work as it was seen as an important or necessary measure in enhancing member representation on the Board.  Janet Blake provides member representation on the Board.

Action: Committee Members

Page 5 – the minutes of the Strategic Management Board are to be circulated to Committee Members.

Action: John Lamb

Page 10 – Customer Focus Project

Statistics report to circulated to Committee Members.

Action: Kama Wager

The report is to be discussed (trends, and specific points/data to be captured) at the next meeting of the Working Group. 

Page 11 – Efficiency Savings

An update on efficiencies made over the last 12 months was tabled at the Working Group meeting on 16 October.

Page 13 - Grass Cutting update

A written response of the statutory requirements of the products that can be used for weed spraying and the weed spraying programme are to be provided.

Action: Sean Rooney

Clarification of the legislation and statutory requirements for hedge cutting and grass cutting on the highways is to be obtained.

Action: Ruth Vigor-Hedderly

Page 14  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

How can I have my say?

There is a dedicated public platform item where members of the public can register to speak on any agenda item or suggest matters which they would like the Committee to look at.  Written notification must be received at least 7 working days in advance of the committee meeting that you would like your issue raised. 

For further information please see:

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/assets/content/bcc/docs/overview_scrutiny/public_platform.pdf

No public questions have been received for this meeting.

There were no public questions.

For the Chairman of the Committee to provide an update to the Committee on recent scrutiny related activity.

The Chairman explained that several Working Group meetings have taken place since the last meeting of the Environment, Transport and Locality Services Select Committee.

The KPI process has been discussed at length.  Work is taking place to draw together the strands that have emerged from these meetings.

The Chairman introduced Mr Bob Cook who has appointed to the Client Team.  Mr Cook explained that he has worked in the industry for 35 years which includes 25 years at Essex County Council. Mr Cook advised that part of his role is to look at the short term contracts to support highways and to drive through any issues with contracts.

For Members to receive an overview of the S106 paper in order to prompt discussions and questions. This paper also went to the Finance, Resources and Performance Select Committee on 31^st October for their comments.

The Chairman welcomed John Rippon and Stephen Chainani to the meeting.

Mr Rippon thanked the Committee for the invitation to attend the meeting. 

Mr Rippon referred Members to the report included in the agenda pack which sets out the S106 process, the roles and responsibilities of the County Council, District Planning Authorities, and Education Authorities and a summary of financial contributions.  The report also includes three recommendations for the Committee to consider.

The following key points were highlighted;

Section 106 refers to the Town and Country Planning Act which enables planning authorities to enter into agreements with developers to place planning obligations on developers to make developments acceptable i.e. the ability to mitigate the impact of the development of highways, education and other areas.

The planning obligations are placed as a charge on the land itself and are bound by the S106 Agreement, rather than the person or organisations that develop the land.  This affects the commercial viability of the development of the site.

There are key criteria to be met within negotiations with the developers for mitigation measures.  This is covered within the Community Infrastructure Levy regulations. As part of CIL Regulation 122, planning obligations must meet three new statutory tests from April 2010;

·         Necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms;

·         Directly related to the development; and

·         Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development

Community infrastructure levy (CIL)

A number of measures within the CIL came into place in April 2010.  These reforms restricted the use of planning obligations and clarified the relationship between planning obligations and the CIL.  The levy is a new local charge that local authorities in England and Wales can choose to charge on new developments in their area to fund infrastructure.

The County Council is not the CIL collecting authority under the new scheme.  This role falls to District Councils in two tier areas.

Roles and Responsibilities

The District Councils are primarily the lead authority for planning, master planning and local development plans.  The County Council has a statutory obligation as a Highways and Education Authority.  The District Council must consult the County Council about planning applications for schools, waste/minerals sites etc.

When a planning application is put forward, the quantum, type and locality of development are looked at to assess the impact in terms of highways and education. There is also liaison with the District Planning Authorities.  It is in the interest of the County Council to engage early on in the process with developers and planning authorities.  Once the planning application is submitted, there is a timetable to be worked to.  There can be pressure to resolve significant issues in the time constraints.

The developer will submit an Environment Impact Assessment or transport assessment which sets out the impact of the development which the County Council will then assess.

If there is no objection to a development at the planning application stage, Heads of Terms for a Section 106 agreement are put together. This would include  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

A committee discussion to update all Members on the progress of review work into the Transport for Bucks (Ringway Jacobs) contract. Members to comment on and agree any outstanding evidence required and key areas/issues to be highlighted within the final report.

The Chairman explained that this is an opportunity for the Select Committee to review the areas covered at the Select Committee and Working Group meetings.

The ETL Transport for Bucks Review document was discussed to ensure that salient points, evidence and emerging themes have been captured.

25 July/21 August – Committee Members agreed that the key areas had been captured.

12 September – this was a robust meeting in terms of questioning. Tom McCabe was commended for the good work he has done in informing the Committee. Disappointment was expressed during this meeting that TfB did not produce the reports requested. The Chairman endorsed these comments.

25 September – The Committee was in agreement that the member concerns around communication issues had been incorporated into the improvement plan for the Communications and Customer Focus Project. The Committee confirmed they are happy the review is underway and is being well managed.  Joe Nethercoat will report back on progress.

Credit was given to the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation for assisting the Committee during the review process.

16 October - Tom McCabe gave an update on the internal investigation into the TfB contract and there has subsequently been oversight of the diagnostic report which mirrors a lot of the areas that the Select Committee has concerns with.

The Select Committee has touched on a wide range of issues about the contract itself and the operation of the contract both from a client and contractor point of view.  Issues have also emerged about managing expectations and works on the ground.

The lines of questioning have been distilled into key main themes to help inform the final report.

• Extension of the contract
• Lack of a longer term plan
• Strategic client capability and capacity
• Contractor Control (roles and responsibilities)
• KPIs and performance monitoring
• Efficiency Savings
• Communication

The following comments have been received from Mr Butcher

• Concern KPI’s (are there too many and is too much time spent trying to monitor wide range of them rather than focusing on key areas)
• Emphasis on outcomes and member of the public satisfaction
• Contract monitoring
• Value for money
• Prioritisation of work
• Having the right equipment to do the job in the right place
• The use of small, low capacity pick-ups vehicles which have limited capacity of the amount of material they can carry.

The draft recommendations will be available for the meeting of the Working Group on the 20 November for discussion.

Each recommendation will have a timescale attached to ensure it is measurable and can be monitored.  Updates can be requested as and when the Committee require.

A site visit will take place to the BCC/TfB depot in Griffin Lane, Aylesbury at 1pm on the 18 November 2013.

To consider and agree topic areas for the Environment, Transport and Locality Services Select Committee work programme 2013-14.

The Committee Work Programme was noted.

The results of the Member survey will be discussed at the Working Group meeting on the 20 November.

The meeting on the 6 December will include a discussion on the topics/work programme for 2014 and agreement of the TfB report to go to the January meeting of Cabinet.

A request has been received for a Call In for the Daws Hill Area Travel Link decision. An additional meeting of the Committee has been set up on the 18 December to discuss the Call In.

Fracking will be discussed at the meeting on the 4 February 2014.  An informal workshop session will be set up prior to this meeting.

·         To note the update on the Travel Bucks Policies – as requested at the 25^th September Committee.

·         To note S106 information paper as being discussed within Item 6.

The Travel Bucks Strategy report was noted.

Policy 8 needs to be looked into further as Healthwatch may be undertaking a review.  This could also link into items 3 and 7.

Action: Kama Wager

The next meeting is due to take place on Friday 6 December 2013 in Mezzanine 2, County Offices, Aylesbury at 9.30am.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members at 9.00am.

Proposed dates for 2014

Tuesday 4 February

Tuesday 4 March

Tuesday 8 April

Tuesday 13 May

Tuesday 17 June

Tuesday 2 September

Tuesday 14 October

Tuesday 18 November

The next meeting is due to take place on Friday 6 December 2013 in Mezzanine 2, County Offices, Aylesbury.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members are 9.00am.

Proposed dates for 2014

Tuesday 4 February

Tuesday 4 March

Tuesday 8 April

Tuesday 13 May

Tuesday 17 June

Tuesday 2 September

Tuesday 14 October

Tuesday 18 November