Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Appletree Court, Lyndhurst

Contact: 023 8028 5588 - ask for Jan Debnam  Email:  jan.debnam@nfdc.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

Apologies

 

None were received.

 

 

84.

Minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2018 as a correct record.

 

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2018 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

 

85.

Declarations of Interest

To note any declarations of interest made by members in connection with an agenda item.  The nature of the interest must also be specified.

 

Members are asked to discuss any possible interests with Democratic Services prior to the meeting.

 

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made by any member in connection with an agenda item.

 

 

86.

Public Participation

To note any issues raised during the public participation period.

 

 

Minutes:

No issues were raised in the public participation period.

 

 

87.

Democratic Arrangements - Overview and Scrutiny Panels pdf icon PDF 86 KB

To consider a revised structure for the overview and scrutiny panels, to align them with the new portfolios.

 

 

Decision:

RECOMMENDED:

 

(a)         That an additional overview and scrutiny panel be introduced;

 

(b)        That the panels be named as set out below; and that they have particular responsibility for the overview and scrutiny of the service areas attaching to the Portfolios shown:

 

O&S Panel

Portfolio

Service responsibilities

Corporate

Leader (Cllr Barry Rickman)

Political Structures

 

 

Employee Engagement

 

 

Corporate Plan

 

 

Staff Matters

 

 

Organisational strategy

 

 

Town & Parish matters

 

 

Emergency Planning

 

 

 

 

Finance, Corporate Services & Improvement (Cllr Jeremy Heron)

Medium Term Financial Plan

 

 

Financial Services

 

 

Business Rates & Council Tax

 

 

Housing Benefits

 

 

ICT

 

 

Legal Services

 

 

Democratic Services

 

 

Human Resources

 

 

Performance & risk management

 

 

 

 

Local Economic Development, Business & Innovation (Cllr Michael Harris)

Economic Development Strategy

 

 

Business Engagement & Growth

 

 

New Forest Business Partnership

 

 

Local Enterprise Partnerships

 

 

Asset Management/Property Matters

 

 

Smarter Working

 

 

Collaboration & Innovation

 

 

 

Community & Leisure

Community Affairs (Cllr Diane Andrews)

Community Engagement

 

 

Community Grants & Support

 

 

Customer Services

 

 

Elections & Electoral Registration

 

 

Community Safety Partnership (Safer New Forest)

 

 

CCTV

 

 

Careline

 

 

Communications

 

 

 

 

Community & Leisure (Cont)

Leisure & Wellbeing (Cllr James Binns)

Health & Leisure Centres

 

 

Local Leisure, Arts & Heritage

 

 

Health & Wellbeing Board

 

 

Older Persons’ Affairs

 

 

Children & Youth Affairs

 

 

 

Housing

Housing Services (Cllr Jill Cleary)

Housing Strategy (Local Housing Need)

 

 

Council House Estate Management and Rent Accounting

 

 

Council Housing Maintenance

 

 

Homelessness

 

 

 

Environment & Infrastructure

Environment & Regulatory Affairs (Cllr Alison Hoare)

Refuse Collection & Recycling

 

 

Street Cleaning

 

 

Abandoned Vehicles

 

 

Environmental Health Services

 

 

Coastal Protection & Drainage Issues

 

 

Grounds Maintenance Services

 

 

Cemeteries

 

 

Public Toilets

 

 

Sustainability

 

 

Improvement Grants & Private Sector Housing

 

 

 

 

Planning & Infrastructure (Cllr Edward Heron)

Local Plan

 

 

Development Control

 

 

Building Control

 

 

Listed Buildings & Conservation

 

 

Open Space Infrastructure

 

 

Car Parking & Traffic Management Matters

 

 

(c)     That each Panel continues to comprise 10 members;

 

(d)     That the political proportionality be as set out in paragraph 4 of Report Item 4 to the Cabinet;

 

(e)     That each Panel meets four times per year, in January, March, June and September, with

·        an additional annual meeting to appoint the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Panel, and

·        special meetings as may be deemed necessary by the Chairman of that Panel.

 

 

RESOLVED:

 

That each Overview and Scrutiny Panel be recommended to meet on the following dates and times during 2018/19:

         

Panel

Day of meeting

Recommended dates

Start time

Corporate O&S Panel

Thursday

28 June 2018

27 September 2018

24 January 2019

28 March 2019

9.30 a.m.

Community & Leisure O&S Panel

Tuesday

19 June 2018

18 September 2018

15 January 2019

19 March 2019

6.00 p.m.

Environment O&S Panel

Thursday

14 June 2018

13 September 2018

10 January 2019

14 March 2019

2.00 p.m.

Housing O&S Panel

Wednesday

20 June 2018

19 September 2018

16 January 2019

20 March 2019

6.00 p.m.

 

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet considered revisions to the structure and terms of reference of the overview and scrutiny panels to align them with the new portfolio structure and also ensure that each portfolio holder was only scrutinised by a single panel.  In addition, as a result of new legislation, there would be a significant increase in workload on housing and homelessness and a new panel was proposed that was dedicated to that function.  It was proposed that this panel would meet in the evening to give further opportunities for participation to those Members that found it difficult to attend daytime meetings.

 

It was also proposed that each Panel would, in future, meet 4 times a year, plus the annual meeting; instead of 5 times per annum as present.

 

RECOMMENDED:

 

(a)         That an additional overview and scrutiny panel be introduced;

 

(b)        That the panels be named as set out below; and that they have particular responsibility for the overview and scrutiny of the service areas attaching to the Portfolios shown:

 

O&S Panel

Portfolio

Service responsibilities

Corporate

Leader (Cllr Barry Rickman)

Political Structures

 

 

Employee Engagement

 

 

Corporate Plan

 

 

Staff Matters

 

 

Organisational strategy

 

 

Town & Parish matters

 

 

Emergency Planning

 

 

 

 

Finance, Corporate Services & Improvement (Cllr Jeremy Heron)

Medium Term Financial Plan

 

 

Financial Services

 

 

Business Rates & Council Tax

 

 

Housing Benefits

 

 

ICT

 

 

Legal Services

 

 

Democratic Services

 

 

Human Resources

 

 

Performance & risk management

 

 

 

 

Local Economic Development, Business & Innovation (Cllr Michael Harris)

Economic Development Strategy

 

 

Business Engagement & Growth

 

 

New Forest Business Partnership

 

 

Local Enterprise Partnerships

 

 

Asset Management/Property Matters

 

 

Smarter Working

 

 

Collaboration & Innovation

 

 

 

Community & Leisure

Community Affairs (Cllr Diane Andrews)

Community Engagement

 

 

Community Grants & Support

 

 

Customer Services

 

 

Elections & Electoral Registration

 

 

Community Safety Partnership (Safer New Forest)

 

 

CCTV

 

 

Careline

 

 

Communications

 

 

 

 

Community & Leisure (Cont)

Leisure & Wellbeing (Cllr James Binns)

Health & Leisure Centres

 

 

Local Leisure, Arts & Heritage

 

 

Health & Wellbeing Board

 

 

Older Persons’ Affairs

 

 

Children & Youth Affairs

 

 

 

Housing

Housing Services (Cllr Jill Cleary)

Housing Strategy (Local Housing Need)

 

 

Council House Estate Management and Rent Accounting

 

 

Council Housing Maintenance

 

 

Homelessness

 

 

 

Environment & Infrastructure

Environment & Regulatory Affairs (Cllr Alison Hoare)

Refuse Collection & Recycling

 

 

Street Cleaning

 

 

Abandoned Vehicles

 

 

Environmental Health Services

 

 

Coastal Protection & Drainage Issues

 

 

Grounds Maintenance Services

 

 

Cemeteries

 

 

Public Toilets

 

 

Sustainability

 

 

Improvement Grants & Private Sector Housing

 

 

 

 

Planning & Infrastructure (Cllr Edward Heron)

Local Plan

 

 

Development Control

 

 

Building Control

 

 

Listed Buildings & Conservation

 

 

Open Space Infrastructure

 

 

Car Parking & Traffic Management Matters

 

 

(c)     That each Panel continues to comprise 10 members;

 

(d)     That the political proportionality be as set out in paragraph 4 of Report Item 4 to the Cabinet;

 

(e)     That each Panel meets four times per year, in January, March, June and September, with

·        an additional annual meeting to appoint the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Panel, and

·        special meetings as may be deemed necessary by the Chairman of that Panel.

 

 

RESOLVED:

 

That each Overview and Scrutiny Panel be recommended to meet on the following dates and times during 2018/19:

         

Panel

Day of meeting

Recommended dates

Start time

Corporate O&S Panel

Thursday

28 June 2018

27 September 2018

24 January 2019

28 March 2019

9.30 a.m.

Community & Leisure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

88.

Discretionary Housing Payments Policy pdf icon PDF 50 KB

To consider revisions to the Council’s policy on Discretionary Housing Payments.

 

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

(a)         That the Discretionary Housing Payments policy, as attached as Appendix 1 to Report Item 5 to the Cabinet, be approved and adopted;

 

(b)     That the Service Manager Revenues and Benefits, Benefits Manager and Senior Benefits Officer be given delegated authority to make decisions under the above policy; and

 

(c)     That an annual report be submitted to the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Panel on funding allocations, policy delivery and appeals.

 

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet considered changes to the Discretionary Housing Payments Policy to reflect the introduction of Universal Credit.  The Discretionary Housing Payments Scheme was locally administered and was designed to help claimants on low incomes who had a shortfall between the amount of support they received through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit and their actual rent, with that shortfall causing hardship.  Government funding for the scheme had been reduced from £324,613 in 2017/18 to £278,541 in 2018/19.  In 2017/18 all the funding had been used, through 765 awards.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)         That the Discretionary Housing Payments policy, as attached as Appendix 1 to Report Item 5 to the Cabinet, be approved and adopted;

 

(b)     That the Service Manager Revenues and Benefits, Benefits Manager and Senior Benefits Officer be given delegated authority to make decisions under the above policy; and

 

(c)     That an annual report be submitted to the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Panel on funding allocations, policy delivery and appeals.

 

 

89.

Internet of Things pdf icon PDF 74 KB

To consider whether to allow the Council’s buildings to be used for siting stations for developing the “Internet of Things”.

 

 

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

(a)     That the proposal set out in Report Item 6 to the Cabinet be supported in principle; and

 

(b)     That, subject to the satisfactory outcome of further investigations to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the Council’s interests, the Service Manager, Estates and Valuation be authorised to agree the suitability and location of the proposed sites, to secure all necessary authorisations and assessments, and to agree a 5 year licence to permit the installations in accordance with the terms set out in Report Item 6 to the Cabinet.

 

(c)     That a progress report be submitted to the Cabinet after 6 months.

 

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet considered whether to allow aerials to be placed on the Council’s buildings to allow a local company to establish an “Internet of Things”.  The aerials would be 60 cm tall, of narrow diameter, pole mounted with a base station.  The aerials supported a Low-Power Wide-Area Network for functions such as asset tracking, remote monitoring of utilities; and monitoring of equipment used to support elderly or vulnerable adults in their homes.  In addition to offering potential applications for the Council’s business, this would be an additional income stream.  The Cabinet considered that all town and parish councils in the area should be made aware of this initiative, so they could take advantage of it if they chose.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)     That the proposal set out in Report Item 6 to the Cabinet be supported in principle; and

 

(b)     That, subject to the satisfactory outcome of further investigations to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the Council’s interests, the Service Manager, Estates and Valuation be authorised to agree the suitability and location of the proposed sites, to secure all necessary authorisations and assessments, and to agree a 5 year licence to permit the installations in accordance with the terms set out in Report Item 6 to the Cabinet.

 

(c)     That a progress report be submitted to the Cabinet after 6 months.

 

 

90.

Outside Body Appointment

RECOMMENDED:

 

That Cllr Penson be appointed to serve as this Council’s deputy representative on the New Forest Citizens’ Advice Bureau; and that Cllr Clarke be appointed to serve as this Council’s Representative on the Hampshire Archives Trust.

 

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That Cllr Penson be appointed to serve as this Council’s deputy representative on the New Forest Citizens’ Advice Bureau; and that Cllr Clarke be appointed to serve as this Council’s Representative on the Hampshire Archives Trust.