Agenda and minutes

(Director of Governance) To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

There were no substitute members at the meeting.

(Director of Governance) To agree the notes of the meeting of the Select Committee held on 4 April 2017.

RESOLVED:

That the notes of the meeting of the Committee held on 4 April 2017 be agreed as a correct record, subject to the misspelling of Councillor D Wixley’s name being spelt Wixleyn and not Wixley in the heading ‘Members Present’.

(Director of Governance). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a pecuniary or a non-pecuniary interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 9 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a non-pecuniary interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 9 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Member’s Code of Conduct.

(Chairman / Lead Officer) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed the Terms of Reference of this Committee. This is attached along with an ongoing work programme. Members are asked at each meeting to review both documents.

The Select Committee received a report from the Assistant Director of Governance (Development Management) regarding the Governance Select Committee’s Terms of Reference and Work Programme 2017/18.

The Assistant Director advised that the Work Programme had been agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and asked Members if they wished any other business to come to this Committee. The Committee had nothing further to add at this time but noted that items could be suggested at any time during the cycle of meetings over the coming year.

            RESOLVED:

That the Terms of Reference and the Work Programme of the Select Committee for 2017/18 be noted.

(Director of Governance) The Building Control Manager Jeff Dixon will attend the meeting to give a presentation to Members on the Council’s Building Control Service and how this differs from Planning Development Control.  

The Building Control Manager, Jeff Dixon gave a presentation to Members regarding the Council’s Building Control Services and how this differed from Planning Development Control (see presentation slides attached).

What was Building Control and what does it apply to

·         Building Control was a set of standards for the design, construction and alterations to buildings to ensure the health and safety of people in or about those buildings.

·         The conservation of fuel and minimising the carbon footprint of the building throughout its lifetime.

·         To promote and establish access for all people, regardless of disability.

·         Building Control applies mainly to all new buildings, below was a list of some of the things this may cover:

o   Extensions;

o   Material alterations for example installation of heating or cooling system;

o   Replacing a roof, windows or door replacement;

o   Removal of loadbearing walls; and

o   Rewiring or extending domestic electrical work.

The Building Regulations 2010

Over the years the Building Control regulations have changed and these are now governed by the Building Regulations of 2010 and Approved Documents. These Approved Documents cover every aspect of Building Control and go from A to R. Below are the examples of Health and Safety:

·         Approved Document A Structure;

·         Approved Document B Fire Safety; and

·         Approved Document M Access to and use of buildings.

The Process

Once Building Control has been applied for there was a lot of pressure on the Building Control Surveyor to oversee the application and the many changes that could occur. The charges that applied were on a scale and took into consideration the size and complexity of the application. Consultations with the Fire Authority, Water Authority and Structural Engineers may also need to take place.

·         Approval of Plans and details;

·         Regime of site inspections;

·         Providing guidance before and during the construction.

There were two methods of application:

1.         Full Plans Applications

For this application it was common practice to use the services of an architect or surveyor.

·         Approval was obtained;

·         Working drawings were generated;

·         Structural engineering carried out; and

·         Thermal calculations carried out.

2.         Building Notice

·         Typically small works;

·         Simple projects;

·         No need for detailed plans;

·         No professional architect needed; and

·         No approval of plans.

How to Apply

The application process was simple you could apply in person, by post, online or by telephone. Once your application had been received you could start work within 48 hours and an inspection could be carried out the same day.

The Building Control Profession

In 1985 Building Control was deregulated and private practice was introduced. There were now approximately 100 practices across the country and many had regional branches, therefore competition was intense and forceful.

EFDC Operation and Performance

EFDC operated a ring-fenced trading account which met and exceeded its budget each year. Staff were recruited at Senior, Graduate and Under Graduate levels with a view to maintaining service delivery in the long term.

Councillor Chambers asked what powers did Building Control Officers have over a building that was a potential fire hazard.

Mr Dixon advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Members will recall that Overview & Scrutiny had requested that Portfolio Holders present their Business Plans at the first meeting of the new Overview & Scrutiny Cycle on the 6 June 2017.  As the Business Plans are developed on a Directorate basis, such a presentation would have required some careful choreography. However, agreement has been reached, that it makes more sense for the Business Plans to be presented to the relevant Select Committee, where there would be better alignment.  This way the Select Committees would have time to undertake a more in-depth scrutiny role regarding the numerous services which make up their Select Committees. 

On this basis, the relevant Portfolio Holders are requested to attend this meeting and take the Select Committee through their plans for the coming year.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had requested that the relevant Portfolio Holders attend the first meeting of each Select Committee to present their Business Plans, which were developed on a Directorate basis. This would enable each Committee to undertake a more in-depth scrutiny role regarding the numerous services which made up each Select Committee.

The Business Plan covers a diverse range of services including Development Management, Governance, Legal Services, Audit and Corporate Fraud.

Councillor J Philip reminded Members that development of the Local Plan was in the remit of the Neighbourhoods Business Plan. Councillor Philip then introduced the Planning and Governance Business Plan.

Development Management

To support measures to protect and enhance the green character of the district, ensuring all planning and building control applications were compliant with Local Plan policies. To support timely planning enforcement of protecting the unique character of the District.

To Implement effective change in Heritage Conservation as part of the Council’s statutory responsibility, to protect heritage assets across the district. All advice would be provided by the Council’s Conservation Team on works to listed buildings and applications for Listed Building consent.

Integrating change measures were being introduced into the Council’s workforce to adapt from manual paper based working to electronic paperless working. This would be achieved by reducing paper usage whereby all documents could be viewed and accessed electronically and to give effective support for mobile and flexible working.

The Government had introduced an increase in fees for planning applications by up to 20%. This extra income must be invested back into the service which would enable the Council to better meet its targets.

Governance

The Council were looking to improve communication standards with accessibility in terms of improved staff awareness, recognition and understanding of EFDC services and increased employee engagement.

The County Council and Parliamentary Elections held in May/June 2017 were successfully completed with no electoral petition.

The Council were looking at the possible implementation of the report management functions of the Modern.Gov committee management system. Streamlining the process for submitting reports with the aim of removing the need for report clearance meetings. Standardisation of processes for all reports.

The Council were looking to develop an on-line version of the Freedom of Information Publication Scheme which would allow the public better access to Freedom of Information data by means of a self-serve web page.  More FOI enquiries could be dealt with, without recourse of officer intervention.

Councillor A Lion introduced the element of his Business Plan which was relevant to his Portfolio.

Audit and Fraud

To successfully managing the shared services with Harlow, Broxbourne and Epping Forest Councils and deliver the Council’s audit plan for 2017/18. To check the processes are financially sound and supported by the Audit and Governance Committee, which was made up of 7 members, 5 were elected Councillors of Epping Forest District Council and two co-opted members of the public. The Audit and Governance Committee had been operating since 2015 and part of its job was to look at all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report to follow.

The Consultation Officer, Mrs V Loftis presented a report to the Committee which set out a list summarising the main consultation exercises carried out in 2016 to 2017 and some exercises planned for 2017 to the end of March 2018.

This summary showed a wide range of consultations, which the Council undertook.

Consultation Register

The Consultation Register was a list of the most recent exercises which were carried out on behalf of the Council or by the Council in the last financial year.

Some consultation was undertaken every year, such as the Local Council Tax Support Scheme which was a requirement of the legislation amending state benefits.

Also the Travel Plan Survey which gauged the various methods of travelling to the workplace to encourage more sustainable travel amongst the work force.

The Cost of Consultation

The Council undertook 8 statutory surveys and have another one planned for this year. The Council also carried out 10 discretionary surveys and planned a further three. Costs were being kept low again this year by using resources in-house and using online technology.

There were 2 surveys that made up the bulk of the costs involved in public engagement which totalled £117,288, the ‘Draft Plan Preferred Approach’ was carried out in October and made up the bulk of the cost mentioned in the report of £100,000. The Customer Satisfaction Survey with the Council telephone survey costs were approximately £15,000.

Overview

The report sets out to provide Members with a corporate overview.

A great deal of smaller local consultation took place as a routine part of day to day business which was not in the report. Such consultation tended to be undertaken in-house and at a cost of postage and officer time only, such as Housing Estate Maintenance issues. Estate maintenance surveys tend to be very small and targeted at small groups of tenants or residents.

Judgement on whether or not to include consultation on the register should be relative to the impact and local sensitivity of the subject. For example:

If the changes being proposed are likely to be either:

·         contentious,

·         an expensive project;

·         a possible cause for complaint;

·         effect a lot of people;

·         controversial; or

·         a possible nuisance to residents,

these were included on the register, however small. All dates, costs, methods and sometimes titles may be estimated and subject to change over a period.

Transformation

A major consultation with regard to the Council’s ‘Transformation’ programme was to find out how staff would react to the coming changes in the organisation. The Change Readiness Survey results were analysed and discussed by the Leadership Team. The results have been published and could be found on the Council’s Intranet.

Community Involvement

Surveys currently running were:

·         The Crucial Crew Survey for young people; and

·         An exit Survey for both Waltham Abbey and Lowewood Museums.

The work carried out on a Customer Satisfaction Survey of over 500 residents, their expectations and experiences of the Council’s customer service and their local area in the Spring.

This was to get  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director (Governance), S Hill advised the Select Committee that the Corporate Plan 2015-2020 was the authority’s current key strategic planning document. The Plan was based around the Council’s medium term priorities for that period. The Plan had been reviewed and updated with the input of Officers and Cabinet Members.

The new Corporate Plan will run from 2018 to 2023, and seeks to lay out the journey the Council will take to transform the organisation to be ‘Ready for the Future’. The plan seeks to link the key external drivers influencing Council services, with a set of corporate aims and objectives, grouped under three corporate ambitions.

The success of the new Corporate Plan will be assessed through the achievement of a set of benefits, focussed on what the Council achieves for customers. These benefits in turn are evidenced through a set of performance measures.

A Corporate Specification for each year (previously called the Key Action Plan) detailed how the Corporate Plan was being delivered through operational objectives, with these in turn linked to annual Directorate and Service business plans.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the Committee considered and provided comment on the Council’s proposed new Corporate Plan for 2018-2023;

(2)        That the Committee considered and provided comment on the proposed Benefits and Performance Measures for 2018-2023; and

(3)        That the Committee considered and provided comment on the proposed Corporate Specification for the first year of the plan, 2018-2019.

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Select Committee received a report from the Assistant Director of Governance (Development Management) regarding the Key Performance Indicators 2016/17 – Quarter 4 (Outturn) Performance Report.

The Local Government Act 1999 required that the Council made arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions and services were exercised.

As part of the duty to secure continuous improvement, a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relevant to the Council’s services and key objectives, were adopted each year by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee. Performance against the KPIs was monitored on a quarterly basis by the Management Board and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to drive improvement in performance and ensure corrective action was taken where necessary.

All indicators – The overall position for all 37 KPIs at the end of the year was as follows:

(a)       28 (75%) indicators achieved target;

(b)       9 (25%) indicators did not achieve target; although

(c)       3 (8 %) of these KPIs performed within its tolerated amber margin.

Governance Select Committee indicators – Five of the Key Performance Indicators fall within the Governance Select Committee’s areas of responsibility. The overall position with regard to the achievement of target performance at the end of the year for these indicators, was as follows:

(a)  3 (60%) indicators achieved target;

(b)   2 (40% indicators did not achieve target; and

(c)   0 (0%) indicators performed within its tolerated amber margin. 

The ‘amber’ performance status used in KPI reports identified indicators that had missed the agreed target for the quarter, but where performance was within an agreed tolerance or range (+/-). The KPI tolerances were agreed by Management Board when targets for the KPIs were set in February 2016.

The Select Committee was requested to review performance at the end of the year in relation to the KPIs for 2016/17 within its areas of responsibility.

RESOLVED:

That the Key Performance Indicators 2016/17 – Quarter 4 (Outturn) Performance report be noted.

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Select Committee received a report from the Assistant Director of Governance (Development Management) regarding the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan 2016/17 – Quarter 4 (Outturn) position.

The Corporate Plan was the Council’s key strategic planning document setting out its priorities over the five year period from 2015/16 to 2019/20. The priorities or Corporate Aims were supported by Key Objectives, which provided a clear statement of the Council’s overall intentions for these five years.

The Key Objectives were delivered by an annual action plan, with each year building upon the progress against the achievement of the Key Objectives for previous years. The annual action plans contained a range of actions designed to achieve specific outcomes and were working documents and were therefore subject to change and development to ensure the actions remained relevant and appropriate and to identify opportunities to secure further progress or improvement.

Progress against the Key Action Plan was reviewed on a quarterly basis to ensure the timely identification and implementation of appropriate further initiatives or corrective action where necessary. Quarter 4 (outturn) progress against the individual actions of the 2016/17 Key Action Plan, was as below:

There were 49 actions in the Key Action Plan 2016/17. At the end of the year:

(a)     33 (68%) of the individual deliverables or actions supporting the key objectives had been achieved;

(b)     9 (18%) of the deliverables are expected to achieve target in the next 6 months.

(c)     7 (14%) of the deliverables or actions were not completed by year-end albeit significant progress has been made. Details of the progress made are set out in the comments against the individual deliverables or actions in the attached schedule.

Eight actions fell within the areas of responsibility of the Governance Select Committee. At the end of the year:

(a)       7 (86%) of these actions have been achieved at year end;

(b)       1 (14%) of these actions are expected to achieve target in the next 6 months; and 

(c)       0 (0%) of these actions are behind schedule.

RESOLVED:

That the Corporate Plan Key Action Plan 2016/17 – Quarter 4 (Outturn) Report be noted.

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached minutes of the Joint Meeting of Development Management Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, held on 20 April 2017, and any recommendations therein.

The Assistant Director (Governance), S Hill advised the Select Committee that the last joint meeting of the Development Management Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen was held on the 20 April 2017.

Planning Protocol

The new Planning Protocol had been drafted and would be considered by the Standards Committee and Constitution Working Group, as well as the Joint Meeting of the Development Management Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen. Representations had been made by Officers from the Planning Policy Team, which would be circulated in due course. The post Annual Council meeting training would be on the current Planning Protocol as this was still valid and would remain so for a while longer.

Area Plans Sub-Committees – Seating Arrangements

At their first meeting of the municipal year the three Area Plans Sub-Committees and the District Development Management Committee had each made a decision as to where they would like members of the public to sit at each meeting. All of the Area Committees apart from Area Plans Sub-Committee East had decided that speakers only would sit in the chamber and the general public would sit in the public gallery. Area Plans Sub-Committee East advised that they would like all speakers and general public to sit together in the chamber.

S Hill stated that the Council had a duty of care to the public, Members and Officers and there was a resource requirement to look at all procedures around planning committees. A scoping paper would come to all three committees before the end of the year.

Councillor Chambers suggested that a motion should go to the full Council. Mr Hill advised that Members should not rush into a decision before they had looked at the cost implications.

Councillor Waller stated that Area Plans Sub-Committee East had reservations about spending Council Resources and therefore had decided to sit all speakers and general public in the chamber.

Councillor Philip advised the Select Committee that he would be happy to take this away and get costs and bring it back to a future meeting of the Governance Select Committee.

Review of Planning Procedures

The proceedings of the Planning (Sub-)Committees held during the preceding six-month period was evaluated and consideration was given as to whether the procedure, policy and organisation of the (Sub-)Committees required review.

An unusually large number of planning applications were expected to be received by the Council once the Local Plan had been agreed, which would put pressure on the Development Management Team and Members of Planning (Sub-)Committees. Those aspects of the Constitution which dealt with Planning matters would need to be reviewed, including delegations, to ascertain if the current rules were still ‘fit for purpose’.

Members suggested that all large scale applications should go direct to the District Development Management Committee (DDMC), and not be heard at the Planning Sub-Committees. It was also suggested that the calling-in of planning applications by District Councillors could also be revised. N Richardson agreed that the Council could do this, although more meetings of DDMC would then be needed. There was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To consider which reports are ready to be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its next meeting.

The Chairman would give general feedback to the forthcoming Overview and Scrutiny Committee on this meeting’s activities.

To note the dates of the future meeting of the Governance Select Committee:

03 October 2017;

05 December 2017;

06 February 2018; and

27 March 2018.

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings as below:

03 October 2017;

05 December 2017;

06 February 2018; and

27 March 2018.