Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  Councillor D Tyler be appointed Vice-Chairman for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P Beal, G Howman and T Tilbrook.

To approve the minutes from the Corporate Performance Panel held on

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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 any item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest.

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

There was no urgent business.

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.

Councillors P Gidney, T Parish and Mrs V Spikings were present under Standing Order 34.

None.

The annual presentation comprised of two sections:

·         Neil Groves, Achievement Adviser, Early Years and Achievement Services, Children’s Services gave a presentation on the achievement of West Norfolk students at Early Years, Key State 2 and Key Stage 4 in 2018.

·         Becky Box, Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager gave a presentation on the activities that had been funded by the Borough Council to support educational attainment during 2018.

The Panel received a presentation on education achievement in West Norfolk 2018 and details of the work that had been undertaken by the Borough Council, in partnership with local secondary and primary schools, to support improvements in the results achieved.

Neil Groves and Becky Box responded to questions relating to:

·         Potential reasons for the difference in levels of performance between Key Stage 1 phonics and Key Stage 2 writing.

·         New national assessment framework which set out how to assess Key Stage 2 pupils.  Support provided by NCC to teachers by provision and training and workshops.

·         Importance of holistic approach to education.

·         Marks awarded for tests which were undertaken by pupils and how they were measured against pupils with similar ability nationally.

·         Number of academy schools in the Borough (just over 50%) – examples of success stories given. 

·         Number of local authority schools – for the 2020 annual presentation statistics to be broken down by  local authority schools/academies.

·         Ofsted Inspection regime will include a more holistic approach and will concentrate on 4 key areas:  effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare, outcomes for children and learner.

·         Provision for SEN pupils.

·         Movement in pupils between schools.

·         Engagement with schools on the Borough boundary to support improvements in the results achieved.  An example was given of recent discussions with Fakenham High School, which is attached by a number of pupils living within the Borough.

The Chairman, Councillor Humhrey thanked Neil Groves and Becky Box for the informative presentation.

RESOLVED:  The Panel to receive an annual presentation in February 2020.

The Assistant Director presented the report which provided a review of the Planning Sifting Panel after 12 months operation.

The Assistant Director presented the options that were considered as set out below:

1      Continue with the sifting panel – this is the preferred option, given the benefits considered to come from the sifting panel.

2      Discontinue with the sifting panel – going back to a system where the scheme of delegation is used as a blunt instrument without any sort of discretion which is not considered advisable.

Under Standing Order 34, Councillor P Gidney addressed the Panel and made the following comment:

‘If a Parish Council wished an item/application to be heard by the Planning Committee then the Parish Council should have the right to request this, i.e. that the sifting panel respects tis request.’

‘In addition, in such an event a member of the Parish Council and/or Ward Councillor should attend the Planning Committee to speak on that application.’

Councillor Blunt, Portfolio Holder for Development advised that he attended sifting panel meetings.   He confirmed that Members looked at comments from the Parish Councils in careful detail and the sifting panel particularly focussed on planning reasons for objections to an application.  If there were strong planning reasons given then the application would be determined by the Planning Committee.  Councillor Blunt commented that Members were encouraged to call in an application and added that Members of Parish Councils could register to speak at the Planning Committee and those that attend to present the Parish Council’s view were listened to.  The Panel was informed that both general and 1 to 1 training sessions were given to Parish Councillors.

The Chairman, Councillor Humphrey added that the Planning Committee was a public meeting and therefore Parish Councils could attend to observe the process.

Under Standing Order 34, Councillor T Parish addressed the Panel and commented that he was not against the sifting panel.  The introduction of the sifting panel had reduced officer time in writing reports for the Planning Committee and also Member time in reading the reports prior to the Planning Committee.

Councillor Parish commented that the 28 day call in period was not enough time and the full details of the application, including consultee responses, were not always available to enable Parish Councils to decide to comment on the application or a Member to determine whether to call in an application.

Councillor Parish also referred to Members being able to call in an application not within their own ward or on the boundary of their ward which may affect a neighbouring ward.

Councillor Parish asked what consultation had been undertaken in the review of the sifting panel and commented that a questionnaire could have been sent to Parish Councils, Ward Councillors and the Planning Committee before the final recommendation to Cabinet.

In response to the questions raised by Councillor Parish, the Portfolio Holder for Development explained that the original Cabinet report determined that the review was to be undertaken by the relevant  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP92

The Panel noted the Forward Decision List.

To note the Panel’s Work Programme for 2018/2019.

The Panel noted the work programme.

The Chairman reminded Members that there was an e-form on Insite requesting that an item be added to a Panel Agenda.

To note that the date of the next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will take place on 3 April 2019 at 6 pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will take place on 3 April 2019 at 6 pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.