Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Keith Simmons Email:  democraticservices@tendringdc.gov.uk or Telephone  01255 686580

Items
No. Item

10.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

 

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were also submitted on behalf of Councillor Land (with no substitution),Morrison (with no substitution) and Scott  (with Councillor Wiggins substituting)

 

11.

Minutes of the Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Monday 24 May 2021.

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on Monday 24 May 2021 be approved as a correct record.

 

12.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Personal Interest, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Harris declared a personal interest in item 5, “Use of section 106 Monies” (Minute 14 below refers) , as he was a Member of the Council’s Planning Committee and, as such, was directly involved in decisions by that Committee relating to the secured of agreements under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (‘section 106 monies’).

 

13.

Questions on Notice pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38

Subject to providing two working days' notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

Minutes:

On this occasion no Councillor had submitted notice of a question.

14.

Report of the Deputy Leader/Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance. - A.1 - Use of section 106 Monies (To Follow) pdf icon PDF 112 KB

The Committee decided to undertake an enquiry into the use of secured under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (‘Section 106 monies’).  The enquiry is intending to consider where the monies are being spent across the District, what schemes are being supported through those monies, the process for monitoring use of such monies and the governance of choices of schemes/scheme details approval.

 

Minutes:

It was reported to Members that Section 106 (S106) Agreements were legal agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 between Local Authorities and developers; linked to planning permissions and could also be known as planning obligations. Section 106 agreements were drafted when it was considered that a development would have significant impact on the local area that could not be moderated by means of conditions attached to a planning decision.

 

By way of example, the Committee was adised that a new residential development could place extra pressure on the social, physical and economic infrastructure which already existed in a certain area. A planning obligation would aim to balance the pressure created by the new development with improvements to the surrounding area ensuring that where possible the development would make a positive contribution to the local area and community. The agreement could provide for a financial contribution (often referred to as an off-site contribution or commuted sum) to be made or a particular scheme or improvement could be undertaken by the site developer.

 

The Committee heard that the S.106 would vary depending on the nature of the development and based on the needs of the District. The most common obligations included:-

 

·         Public Open Space

·         Affordable Housing

·         Education

·         Highways

·         Town Centre Improvements

·         Health

 

The Committee also heard that the quarterly report was published on the Council’s website to show how and where contributions had been spent and the Infrastructure Funding Statement showed in more detail the funds received and allocated to projects across the District. The statement provided a summary of financial contributions the Council had secured through Section 106 agreements from new developments for off-site open space, affordable housing and regeneration work along with highway works completed as part of new developments through agreements under section 278 of the Highways Act 1980 (‘Section 278 agreements’).

In summary, the report provided:

 

·         an overview of what S106 and S278 agreements were

·         the Council’s internal process relating to S106 contributions

·         the s106 contributions paid to the Council in the current year

·         s106 contributions and s278 works committed for future years

·         projects delivered in the District via S106 and S278 agreements in the current year

 

It was reported to the Committee that the Council’s Planning Service maintained a register of S106 agreements and obligations. A schedule of sums was available, the intended purpose and location was maintained and updated within the service by a specific officer. The schedule was periodically discussed with managers with particular regard to any sums that may have been available for a limited remaining period. Service managers for the intended purpose of the sums were responsible for identifying potential schemes. Allocations and spend were tracked and reports through the Council’s financial reporting systems and high level budget monitoring.

 

It was also reported that Affordable Housing sums were generally spent on housing acquisitions and could be used in combination with capital receipts from Right to Buy Sales and other capital funding within the Housing Revenue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing. - A.2 - An update on Voids (To Follow) pdf icon PDF 120 KB

The Committee decided to undertake an enquiry into the use of secured under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (‘Section 106 monies’).  The enquiry is intending to consider where the monies are being spent across the District, what schemes are being supported through those monies, the process for monitoring use of such monies and the governance of choices of schemes/scheme details approval.

 

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Housing, Councillor Paul Honeywood, attended the meeting and addressed the Committee; responding to questions on the items referenced here.  The Assistant Director for Housing and Environment was also present and addressed the Committee on the matters here.

 

The term ‘Voids’ reflates to untenanted Council Homes and most commonly occurred between one tenant leaving the property and a new tenant moving in.  Void works was therefore the required refurbishment etc works before the new tenant moved into the property after the previous tenant had left.

 

Implementation of the New Maintenance Contract

 

The Committee received a report in relation to the new responsive repairs term contract and how the appointed contractor had commenced responsibility for void works on 05 April 2021. Officers considered that was appropriate to make allowance during the initial stages of the contract and some initial performance issues had been discussed with the contractor.

 

It was reported to the Committee that the initial set up period of the contract had ended in July 2021 and liquidated damages provisions in the contract would start to take effect from that point. The damages level was set to allow for lost rent and increased administrative and other costs but would apply only to the period during which the contractor had control of the properties. The time allowed for works within the contract was related to the extent of works required with a series of thresholds providing different timescales for different levels of work.

 

Once contract arrangements became fully established it was hoped that all properties would be returned within timescale or any delay offset, financially, by the liquidated damages provisions.

The detail of the contract provisions, including the liquidated damaged provisions relating to the contractor, could be provided to the Committee if that was requested.

 

Points raised following the All Member Briefing in April 2021

 

1.   “Expected inspection rate of a TDC property and what was the actual inspection rate”?

 

Members heard how the repairs and estates services for individual properties operated on an essentially responsive basis. Regular visits to dwellings did take place in the form of annual gas servicing and safety visits, electrical and detector testing and servicing and, away from those visits, the teams respond to concerns raised by tenants.   Some Committee Members asked about the potential for reports to the Council from its gas/electrical service checks as to concerns about maintenance of the properties inspected.  The Assistant Director for Housing and Environment indicated that such reports could be actioned.

 

The potential for additional inspections had been considered both in response to the voids condition question but also in relation to potential disrepair claims. That would however introduce additional costs that have to be assessed against the likely benefits achieved.

 

In response to a line of questioning, the assistant Director for Housing and Environment reported that some initial consideration had been given to a full stock condition survey of the Council’s residential properties which could be outsourced for a relatively speedy survey or brought in-house  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

Scrutiny of Proposed Decisions pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Pursuant to the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13, the Committee will review any new and/or amended published forthcoming decisions relevant to its terms of reference and decide whether it wishes to enquire into any such decision before it is taken.

 

Matters may only be raised on those forthcoming decisions at Committee meetings where the Member has notified the Committee Services Manager in writing (or by personal email) of the question they wish to ask, no later than Midday, two working days before the day of the meeting.

 

Minutes:

Pursuant to the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13, the Committee reviewed any new and/or amended published forthcoming decisions relevant to its terms of reference with a view to deciding whether it wished to look into any such decision before it was taken. The relevant forth coming decisions were before the Committee. The Committee noted the submitted list of publicised forthcoming decisions.

17.

Report of the Head of Democratic Services & Elections - A.5 - Review of the Years 2019-2021 and Work Programme for 2021/22 for the Resource and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee pdf icon PDF 119 KB

To review the Committee’s work undertaken during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 municipal years and to seek Members’ approval to a draft programme of work for the Resource and services Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2021/22 municipal year for recommendation to the Council meeting on 13 July 2021.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had before it the Overview and Scrutiny Committees Report for the years 2019-21. The Members thanked the Keith Simmons, the Head of Democratic Services and Elections, for the report, asked that their thanks be conveyed to those other officers involved in its production.  It was RESOLVED to approve the Annual Report as submitted and to invite Council to receive the report.

 

The Committee also had before it the Work Programme for the Committee for 2021/22.

 

After a short discussion it was RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND COUNCIL that, with the following change, the Work Programme for 2021/22 be approved:

 

·         the Disabled Facilities Grant item be taken off agenda for the 20 September 2021 meeting, but be left on to work programme to be programmed at a future date.