Agenda and minutes

Decision Required:

(1)        To confirm the appointment of District Councillor Mrs P Smith as the Chairman of the Committee for the Civic year;

(2)        To appoint a Vice Chairman of the Committee for the Civic Year.

The Deputy Chief Executive requested that the appointment of the new District Council Chairman be confirmed as the Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year. The appointment of a Vice-Chairman from amongst the Local Council representatives was also requested as well; Councillor J Salter was nominated and seconded by Ongar and Nazeing Parish Councils respectively.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That Councillor Mrs P Smith be confirmed as the Chairman of the Local Councils Liaison Committee for 2009/10; and

(2)        That Councillor J Salter be appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the Local Councils Liaison Committee for 2009/10.

(a)        Race for Life – North Weald Airfield

The Chairman reported upon the Race for Life that was taking place at North Weald Airfield that evening, which the Chairman had started before coming to the meeting. This was the sixth running of the Epping Forest Race for Life, and was taking place at North Weald Airfield with the support of the Council’s Sports Development team and the Airfield’s Operations team. A total of 3,500 women were walking, jogging or running the five kilometre course around the Airfield to raise more than £230,000 for Cancer Research.

(b)       Essex Best Kept Village Competition 2009

The Chairman reported that the Essex Best Kept Village Winners had been announced and second place in the Class Four category (population 301 to 800) had been awarded to Fyfield, whilst Theydon Bois had won one of the Merit Awards. In the Best Kept Churchyard Competition, a Certificate of Merit had been awarded to St Mary the Virgin Church in Theydon Bois.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 4^th March 2009, (previously circulated) and matters arising.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 March 2009 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To consider the attached report.

The Assistant to the Chief Executive presented a report regarding complaints against Parish Councillors alleging breaches of the Code of Conduct.

The Assistant to the Chief Executive reported that the Standards Committee’s annual report for 2008/09 had been considered by the Council on 30 June 2009 and the Committee’s attention was drawn to some of the conclusions within the report. The cost of investigations was highlighted, especially when external resources were used. The current annual budget of £5,400 had already been spent. The number of complaints that had emanated from two particular Parish Councils had indicated that perhaps there were other underlying problems for which other means should be used to resolve. There had been a lively discussion at the Standards Committee the previous evening and it was felt that further research should be undertaken on the training available for resolving difficult situations within Parish Councils. A robust approach would continue to be taken by the Assessment Sub-Committees in their initial assessment of complaints.

The Vice-Chairman, who was also a member of the Standards Committee, emphasised that eight of the ten complaints against Parish Councils related to just two Parish Councils, and that all Parish Council complaints were by one Parish Councillor against another. The time taken to investigate cases was also highlighted; the last report considered was 120 pages long. The Essex Association of Local Councils had assisted Town and Parish Councils to resolve their problems in the past and was available to help.

It was contended that only Councillors were conversant with the complaint process, hence the high proportion of Councillor led complaints. There was concern that the robust approach being adopted would lead to cases being dropped that should be pursued and that cost should not be the prime consideration. It was also felt that impartial adjudicators would assist the process. The Standards Committee should uphold the standards throughout the whole District, and that it was not helpful to isolate two particular Councils.

The Assistant to the Chief Executive advised the Committee that the investigations would not stop due to a lack of funding; the money would have to be found. The robust approach being employed was asking whether the complaint was a method of furthering a dispute by other means. The District Council was happy to assist Local Councils with their governance issues in an effort to reduce possible cases and advise them of the conciliation arrangements available to them. It was felt that vexatious complaints solved nothing and often made matters worse; whilst not wanting to add an extra level to the process, it was important to recognise a case early as being eligible for resolution by alternative means.

The Committee generally felt that complaints were properly dealt with and with due process. The budget ought be protected and Parish Councils encouraged to resolve their problems by alternative methods before involving the Standards Committee. It was suggested that joint working between the Standards Committee and the Epping Forest Association of Local Councils would highlight the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Returning Officer to give a verbal update on the recent elections.

The Returning Officer gave a verbal update on the administration of the recent European and County Council elections. This particular election had been very complex with four different elections being administered and the local councils were invited to give feedback to the Returning Officer over their conduct. Five new polling stations had been used this year and comments had been received about the use of a public house in Sheering in that the area used for voting needed better screening. At a debriefing with the electoral agents, it had been commented that in some locations the results were not being displayed promptly on the Parish notice boards.

The Committee highlighted that there had been a variance between the electoral literature issued by the County Council and District Council; the Returning Officer agreed to correct that in future. The Chairman congratulated all the staff involved in the election and counting for their efforts.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal report of the Returning Officer be noted.

To discuss the following matters raised by Local Council’s:

• Functionality of the iplan system – concern was expressed that this system was not improving, but rather had recently become almost unusable with upload/download problems and  lack of access.

• Waste Collection Services for Village Halls etc. – Local Councils were advised that EFDC had reached a decision on this matter; and recyclables which were sorted, would be collected free with other rubbish, being subject to a recharge. However, it was not clear what the charge would be. Clarification would be requested on the procedure to be operated.

• EFDC support for parishes with village planning – Local Councils felt that support was lacking for those parishes seeking to ensure local communities have some influence in the planning outcomes for their settlements through engagement in the process of Village Planning.

• Planning Enforcement – Local Councils were concerned that planning enforcement was often slow, weak and appeared to be underfunded, making it ineffective in preventing abuse of the planning system. In particular, concern had been expressed at the damage done to footpaths and highways by developers. They suggested that a planning condition should make developers responsible for damage to highways resulting from site operations.

(a)        Functionality of the iplan System

Concern had been expressed by the Local Councils that the system was not improving but had become increasingly unusable with upload and download problems, plus lack of access. The Vice-Chairman stated that problems had been experienced in viewing plans on screen as not all of the Local Councils had suitable computers. It was suggested that a Working Party be set up between the Local Councils and District Council Officers to resolve problems with the system.

The Committee was informed that a national e-plan hub would be implemented shortly, which would utilise electronic documents rather than paper plans. The new system would enable users to view the plans and any representations received for a particular application. The system would reach Local Councils in the late autumn, with a further third stage planned giving the public access. Training in the new system was currently being undertaken by District Council Planning Officers and would be offered to Local Councils in due course. The problem whereby personal computers could not view the plans had been recently fixed but there was awareness that searches could cause problems in using the system. The District Council was willing to offer advice to the Local Councils and help was also freely available from District Council Planning Officers. The District Council apologised for any long-term problems with the system but reassured the Local Councils that a number of them had now been resolved. The Local Councils were informed that their point of contact for the iplan system was the District Council’s Landscape Officer & Arboriculturist, Chris Neilan (01992 564117).

The Local Councils felt that there were some serious problems for rural communities. Many of their Village Halls, where their Planning Meetings were held, did not have phone lines and hence internet access. Abbess, Beauchamp and Berners Roding Parish Council was cited as an example; it had no Parish Office, a part-time clerk, no broadband, no internet enabled computer, and therefore no access to the plans. There needed to be good quality broadband access throughout the District before the District Council removed access to paper plans. In addition, the Parish Councils should be advised of the timetable for the e-plan implementation and specifically when access to paper plans would be removed.

The Deputy Chief Executive reassured the Local Councils that the District Council would not disenfranchise any Local Councils and the move to new technology would not prevent rural Parish Councils from accessing hardcopies of the plans. The Deputy Chief Executive offered to facilitate the resolution of the problems by arranging dialogue between the Director of Planning & Economic Development, key ICT officers and representatives of the Local Councils. It was suggested that in the short term, Parish Councils could perhaps share expertise and equipment whilst the problems were being resolved.

(b)       Waste Collection Services for Village Halls

The Local Councils had been advised that the District Council had reached a decision regarding waste collection services for Village Halls. Recyclables that were sorted would be collected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

(a)        Local Highways Panel Establishment

The Vice-Chairman contended that the District Council had acted ultra vires, that is it had exceeded its legitimate authority, when establishing the Local Highways Panel. The Parish Councils had been allocated less than the 25% membership recommended in the Guidance and had had voting rights withheld from them. The District Council was invited to amend the Constitution to give the Town and Parish Councils at least four members, all with voting rights. The Portfolio Holder had initially indicated that the operation of the Panel would be reviewed after a year, but the Local Councils felt that this should be urgently reviewed before the first scheduled meeting on 21 July 2009.

The Assistant Director (Engineering Services) stated that the Panel would look at its composition at its first meeting, but given that the County Council had only issued guidance and not a directive, and that the current establishment had been agreed by the Cabinet and endorsed by the Council, it was likely that the Panel would adhere to its commitment to review its operation after twelve months.

The Committee did not want the implementation of the Panel to be delayed, but still felt that the District Council should be requested to reconsider its decision and that the views of the Local Councils’ Liaison Committee should be discussed at the first meeting of the Highways Panel.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the views of the Local Councils Liaison Committee be discussed at the first meeting of the Local Highways Panel on 21 July 2009; and

(2)        That the Deputy Chief Executive urge the Cabinet and Full Council to review the constitution of the Local Highways Panel at its first opportunity so that there will be four representatives from the Local Councils with voting rights.

To note the proposed meeting dates of the Committee scheduled for the remainder of this municipal year:

18 November 2009

17 March 2010.

The Committee noted the proposed meeting dates scheduled for the remainder of the municipal year:

(i)         18 November 2009; and

(ii)        17 March 2010.