Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED:   That Councillor Claire Kittow be appointed as Vice-Chairman for the meeting.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 22 October 2015.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 22 October 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider any business, which by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposes to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

There was no urgent business.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

The Chairman declared an interest in relation to CSC69 as a taxi driver was a relative of Councillor Mrs Collop.

Councillor Mrs Collop declared that she was related to a taxi driver in relation to CSC69 and would not take part in the debate.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman.

Councillor J Moriarty attended and spoke on item CSC67 – Customer Services and Channel Shift.

There was no Chairman’s correspondence.

To receive comments, and recommendations from other Council bodies, and any responses subsequent to recommendations, which this Committee has previously made.  Some of the relevant Council bodies may meet after dispatch of the agenda.

None.

There were none.

Cabinet Decisions

Items from the Cabinet agenda from 3^rd November 2015 to be scrutiny are as follows:

The Chairman invited Councillor J Moriarty to address the Committee under Standing Order 34. 

Councillor Moriarty stated that the Resources and Performance Panel had considered this issue however the Regeneration, Environment and Community Panel had not looked at the community aspect.  He added that an initial presentation had been given to the R&P Panel to note.  The presentation established that there was no idea of what savings would be made. 

Councillor Moriarty made reference to the comments from Councillor Devereux at the R & P meeting held on 27 October regarding consultation arrangements and the response being that if customers were asked about the proposed changes the majority would answer that they preferred to see the service remain as it was currently.  He added that as he read the report, the proposed changes would come into effect in 2016 therefore there was not going to be any consultation.

Councillor Moriarty also referred to the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) which had accompanied the Cabinet Report.  Within the EIA it stated that consultation had taken place with members of Extended Management Team, Corporate Equalities Group and the Resources and Performance Panel.  Each group considered the change a positive one overall.  However, he considered that the Council was not consulting on the important element which was the impact on the community.

He asked whether the implementation of the decision could be deferred until the amount of savings was known.

In responding to the points raised by Councillor Moriarty, the Leader stated that channel shift would provide a better and more effective service to the customer.

Councillor Moriarty stated that his point related to the fact that there was no way of measuring the changes.  In addition, there had not been any consultation carried out but the report alluded to the fact that the changes would come into force in April 2016.  He added that his concern was that the Council had not taken the opportunity to talk to people about the changes.

The Chairman stated that he had voted against this item at the Resources & Performance Panel meeting.  His concerns related to the reduced opening hours of the Downham Market and Hunstanton satellite offices.  He considered that there would be a gap for certain vulnerable people not being able to go and speak to someone.  He understood that a telephone would be provided at the Downham Market Office but not at Hunstanton.

He agreed with the report that this needed to be the way forward but still had concerns that this could affect some vulnerable people.

The Leader acknowledged the concerns raised by the Chairman, but from past statistics it could be demonstrated where the past use was.  He added that by the use of technology this would help to make sure that people had access to services at all times.   He explained that he knew how important these things were but facilities would be in place to improve services for everyone. 

Councillor Mrs Mellish stated that it was a difficult decision  ...  view the full minutes text for item CSC66a

The Chairman stated that he had asked for this to be considered by the Committee.  He stated that there had been a good discussion at the Audit & Risk Panel when it was considered, where he had asked questions regarding alternative investment options.  He also referred to the comments made by Councillor Beales at the Cabinet meeting held on 3 November 2015 regarding non-traditional investments.  The Chairman added that he would like to see the Council moving forward to look at alternative investment opportunities.

The Leader stated that he did not disagree with the comments made by the Chairman, and agreed that the Council had gone through a period of stagnation in investment rates.  He acknowledged that the Council should be looking at other investment opportunities and there were also development opportunities which would also benefit the public.  In addition, this Council had played a big role in 2 or 3 projects ie: the University Centre and KLIC. 

Councillor Mrs Collop stated that the Treasury Team had given a good report at the Audit & Risk Committee.

The Assistant Director explained that the Leader was right that the Treasury Statement had the opportunity to take non-traditional investments.  She explained that there was the opportunity to invest in property funds but investment in development opportunities in West Norfolk would have an added advantage of additional business rates.  She added that the opportunities would come through the Cabinet process.

With the agreement of the Committee, this item was taken first.

Councillor Collop stated that he had been contacted by taxi drivers regarding the proposals, and had invited two drivers to the meeting.

Steven O’Donnell and Jason Smith addressed the Committee and made the following points:

·        Some of the fees looked like they had been duplicated, for example new wheelchair accessible vehicles had additional checks carried out by the testing station and at the Borough Council.  He added that the Borough Council only checked with the operator and not the driver as it was important that the driver knew how to load/unload wheelchair users.

·        Changing name had gone up from £5.50 - £11.00.  He asked whether there was a way to do this online.

·        Door stickers at £19.98. £5.60 of that related to administration charges but the drivers could go directly to the sign makers.

·        The drivers could not pass on any additional charges as they were on a metre.

·        Wheelchair accessible vehicles cost a third more to operate.

·        The trade needed to have clear understanding of the charges.

He concluded that he was aware that the Act had been brought in by Central Government but felt that a fair balance could be sought for both the Council and drivers.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community advised that it was the Cabinet’s decision only that should be scrutinised.

The Chairman advised that several taxi drivers had written in about the issues and had attended the Cabinet Meeting.  He added that the taxi drivers were a credit to the Council but at the same time the taxi drivers were unhappy with the proposed fees.  He stated that he hoped the Portfolio Holder could reassure the taxi drivers the reasons why the changes had to be introduced.

The Leader thanked both Steven O’Donnell and Jason Smith for attending the meeting tonight.  He explained that the Council now had to cover its administration fees which should not be costing the Council money for providing the service.

The Chairman stated that the taxi drivers knew their costs, and he would ask the Portfolio Holder to take on board what they were saying.  He suggested that a meeting could be arranged with the Portfolio Holder, taxi drivers and officers, which seemed to be a sensible way forward.

The Leader explained that this was not a public consultation meeting.  The Portfolio Holder was here with the appropriate officers to answer questions from the Committee.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community stated that the taxi drivers could contact the officers present to arrange meeting.  He added that the Council could not subsidise the fees and had to recover the actual processing costs.  He further added that a Member could have attended the Cabinet Meeting under Standing Order 34, if they had any points to raise, but did not think that this meeting was the right place to do so.

The Chairman stated that this would be costing taxi drivers extra money and could impact on  ...  view the full minutes text for item CSC66c

Councillor Collop stated that he had asked for this item to be on the agenda, and stated that the report showed that the Leader had been consulted but did not indicate that Ward Members had been.

The Leader explained that the Returning Officer had a responsibility to keep polling stations under review.  The changes put forward within the report were being made to improve accessibility and an improvement to the current polling station, or in one case the Olive Branch Café was no longer available.

The Chief Executive reassured the Committee that Ward Members had been consulted but reference to this had been omitted from the report.  He explained that officers’ routinely went round and inspected all polling stations, particularly looking at issues relating to access, car parking, etc.  With regards to the proposed polling stations, he considered that these would be a better alternatives than the existing polling stations.

The Chairman asked that when looking at alternative venues, was the cost of the venue taken into account.  The Chief Executive confirmed that this would be taken into account.

Councillor Mrs S Collop confirmed that Ward Members had been consulted on the proposed changes.

The Chief Executive also explained that it was sometimes difficult to find venues.  He reported that if Presiding Officers had any difficulties with the venue during an election, then this would be reported back to the Elections Team.

Thursday, 17 December 2015 at 6.00pm

The date of the next meeting was Thursday 17 December 2015 at 6.00 pm.