Agenda

Key to abbreviations:

Other venues are shown in full.

Currently meetings are subject to change, postponement or cancellation.

Many meetings will be held virtually but Democratic Services will advise arrangements for individual meetings.

Committee Management System

The members’ extranet facility for the Modern.Gov system is available at:

https://eppingforestextranet.moderngov.co.uk/extranet

Members may wish to save this link on their computer or mobile devices. Queries concerning login and password details for the extranet should be addressed to the Democratic Services Manager.

Constitution

The Council’s Constitution is available at:

https://rds.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=638&Info=1

Queries concerning the Constitution should be addressed to the Democratic Services Manager

ECC Highways Portal

Up to date details of all Highways work is available at:

https://www.essexhighways.org/Transport-and-Roads.aspx

At the beginning of lockdown, some 3 months ago, Government called for local housing authorities to ensure that all rough sleepers in their areas were made an offer of accommodation as part of what became known as the Everyone In initiative. The Housing Needs Service, working in partnership with Chess, our commissioned rough sleeper support service, has identified and verified a number of rough sleepers since then and has delivered a fast response service to those at risk of rough sleeping to ensure an offer of accommodation has been made to everyone who would otherwise have no option but to remain on the street.

The work of the Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation Teams in the Housing Needs Service has meant that 15 individuals have received offers of accommodation that would otherwise have been at significant risk of contracting and spreading Covid-19.

Below is a testimony from just one of those individuals:

I have been homeless since 28th of December 2017, I currently suffer from depression which is something I deal with every day. I had been sleeping rough on the streets or sometimes on friends and families sofas. Since the coronavirus epidemic and the country going into lockdown, I called Epping Council not thinking I would actually get help, on the 1st of April 2020 I spoke to a lady called Sally Tyler, who to this day I will always be truly grateful for all she has done for me, Sally Tyler and her team did everything they could to see I was off the streets and into accommodation. I am now currently living in shared accommodation, I have support from Universal Credit, I have a plan in place on getting back to work from agencies given to me by Sally Tyler. Words are not enough to express my gratitude to Sally Tyler and her team, if I had to put it in words I would say, thank you Sally Tyler and her team for giving me another chance in life, a chance I never knew I had. Once again thank you Epping Council and all who works for you.

Our challenge is now to ensure that individuals are not returned to the streets after the pandemic and we are working hard to maximise the existing Rough Sleeper Initiative grant we have and access additional funding announced by both Homes England and MHCLG to provide staged housing solutions to those who need it. We will be piloting a new provision in partnership with Chess that will deliver supported accommodation to rough sleepers for a period of 9-12 months working with clients to tackle substance misuse issues, support mental health and increase training, education and employment opportunities for clients ahead of securing a more permanent housing solution for them thereafter.

If you would like to know more about the work we are doing with rough sleepers please contact Jennifer Gould – Housing Needs and Older People’s Service Manager.

(Further information: Jennifer Gould ext 4073)

Thank you to all that could join us on Thursday 4^th of June at 7pm for the Members Accommodation Design Update.

I was great to have 29 councillors join us and talk through the plans that Victoria and the team have planned to renovate the Civic Offices. Through the presentation Sacha talked through the plans for the Civic Offices and spent detailed time talking around the members areas and how this will look and feel moving forward.

The key points from this were

• Examples of the colour scheme and furniture were presented to the Board.  There was general agreement on style and a request to be consulted on final designs.
• The pigeons holes will be staying but looking to have a privacy cover on them.
• Lockers in the Leaders room are not used and would not be needed going forward.
• The Chairman and Leaders Office will be available for members to exclusive use and would not be available for staff or partners.  The existing booking system would be continued for these rooms.
• Members are happy for other officers to use the open plan space in the Members room during the day but would prefer sole use in the evening.
• The pictures in the members areas should be maintained.

Next steps

We would be ready to have a space created for all staff and members in September to view. This will include:

-          Furniture samples

-          Final colour scheme

-          Space layout for members area and shared spaces

If a face to face workshop is not possible then we will do a virtual presentation.

(Further information: Victoria Wright ext 2723)

• Essex Police have concerns over the fact that 4^th July will be a full moon and that the nice weather is expected to continue next weekend when pubs and restaurants reopen.
• All recycling centres will be open from Monday 6 July
• SCG will take on the responsibility of planning for the EU exit.
• One report for the group will be fed back to members of the cabinet to keep them informed and get direction.
• Potential risks to each service and the council will be included. Service Directors/Managers are reminded that there is a corporate risk sheet that should be regularly updated by each service area.
• Statistics have been shared from Central Government about the number of people who have been furloughed during lockdown, are self-employed or unemployed.
• These statistics show that businesses expect 1 in 4 furloughed staff will not return to work.
• Tourist board is keen to reopen; however, we know of at least one attraction that not reopen until 2021
• Sally Devine has been asking hospitality businesses to fill in a reopening questionnaire – Kim Durrani (KD) will continue with this if necessary.
• KD will be assessing the demand for public parking at the civic offices on Monday 29 June. It is unclear yet how this might be managed and monitored, a lot depends on the demand.
• Some cafés in Waltham Abbey have been offering a sit-down service. The names of these cafés have been passed on to EHOs.
• Concerns were raised regarding the monthly farmers’ market in Epping – those involved have asked that no shops trade on the pavements outside during this time. This is being looked into

·         The Government has temporarily changed the licencing law to allow hospitality businesses to use the pavements outside their premise.

Please see attached.

None this week

1.            Appeals Lodged

None this week

2.         Forthcoming Planning Inquiries/Hearings -

Virtual Hearing – 8^th July 2020 – EPF/3174/18 – Old Epping Laundry Site Bower Hill Epping CM16 7AD - Demolition of existing buildings and the erection of 58 no. residential units split between four blocks, along with internal landscaping and associated car and cycle  – Sukhi Dhadwar ext. 4597

3.            Enforcement Appeals

None this week

4.            Appeal Decisions

EPF/1632/19 – 178 Buckhurst Way Buckhurst Hill Essex IG9 6HZ - Proposed raised decking area – Dismissed

5.         Tree Preservation Orders

None this week

6.         S106 Agreements

None this week

7.         Changes to Planning Systems

None this week

The notification of decisions taken by individual Portfolio Holders is no longer included in the Council Bulletin.

All members of the Council receive automatic email notification of the publication of each individual Portfolio Holder decision and the call-in period for each decision commences immediately. Members wishing to call-in a decision should complete the attached call-in form and return it to Democratic Services before the expiry of five working days following the publication date of the decision. Members should refer to the Constitution (Article 6 - Overview and Scrutiny) for the rules of call-in.