Meeting documents

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the District Executive meeting held on 1 February 2017.

The minutes of the District Executive meeting held on 1^st February 2017, copes of which had been circulated, were taken as read and, having been approved as a correct record, were signed by the Chairman.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Angie Singleton and Alex Parmley, Chief Executive.

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (as amended 26 February 2015), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the Agenda for this meeting.

Members are reminded that they need to declare the fact that they are also a member of a County, Town or Parish Council as a Personal Interest. Where you are also a member of Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council within South Somerset you must declare a prejudicial interest in any business on the agenda where there is a financial benefit or gain or advantage to Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council which would be at the cost or to the financial disadvantage of South Somerset District Council. 

There were no declarations of interest made.

The Chairman agreed that members of the public present could speak at the time their item of interest was discussed. 

The Chairman paid tribute to Councillor Tim Inglefield (Blackmoor Vale Ward) who had passed away suddenly earlier that week.  Members and officers joined him in standing for a moment of silence in his memory.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture said the Council could not serve the community without the support from the partnership agencies which it funded, particularly the CASS and SPARK.  She also commended the funding to the Somerset Rural Youth Project and the Arts Organisations.

The Portfolio Holder for Equalities and Diversity said the Service Level Agreement which the Council had with Access for All represented excellent value for money as they provided advice for planning and building control applications as well as improving access to people with limited mobility to all areas of the community. 

The Assistant Director (Communities) said the service level agreements defined SSDC’s expectations from each organisation, which could evolve as the year progressed.

In response to questions from the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee, officers confirmed:-

·         The funding for Access for All was consistent with the previous year and £1,000 had been held back to commission specific project work.

·         CASS may require further funding to deal with the impact of Universal Credit, however, they were adapting and training their staff within a finite budget.

·         InspirED offered schools high quality arts projects and professional arts training for teachers.  They were not dependent solely on Academies.

·         The number of people participating in the Take Art projects varied each year depending upon funding and the programme of events.

·         The public did not have to be members of the National Trust to attend Craft exhibitions at National Trust properties.

·         The number of Youth days had increased over the years and the Somerset Rural Youth Project staff were happy to engage with Town and Parish Councils to work through issues with young people.

The Neighbourhood Development Officer and the Young Peoples Officer also spoke in support of the grant funding proposed for each organisation and outlined the work achieved by them.

During a brief discussion, Members voiced their support for the grant funding proposed and unanimously confirmed the recommendations of the report.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services advised that the Audit Commission had estimated as much as 5% of Council Tax reductions and exemptions claimed were incorrect or fraudulently claimed.  The introduction of penalties should encourage the public to inform the Council of any change in their circumstances.  Any penalties collected would be retained but would not form part of the collection fund.  He proposed the recommendations be approved by Council. 

The Revenues and Benefits Manager confirmed that the proposed penalties were £70 in the case of failure to notify a Council Tax change and £50 for failure to notify a Housing Benefit change of circumstance within one month.  He also advised that he would present a report on Council Tax and Housing Benefit fraud later in the year. 

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee said they had sought clarification that the month of April would be an amnesty period before the introduction of the penalties. 

There was no debate and Members were content to propose that the recommendations be confirmed by Full Council.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services confirmed that as a result of changes to Rural Rate Relief announced in the Government’s Autumn Statement the recommendations updated the current Business Rates Relief Policy.  Two of the recommendations proposed removing reference to schemes for which applications had now passed and one resolved an anomaly relating to the interaction between Small Business Rate Relief and Charity Relief rules.

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee commended the officers who had supported the Task & Finish group and confirmed that the Committee supported the recommendations of the report. 

In response to a question, the Revenues and Benefits Manager confirmed the qualifications to be classed as a local newspaper, and, Members asked that there be some publicity of the scheme. 

At the conclusion of the debate, Members unanimously confirmed the recommendations of the report.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services advised that the Discretionary Housing Payment Policy allowed the Council to provide additional support towards the housing costs of individuals and families in exceptional circumstances.  He thanked the Scrutiny Task & Finish group members for their assistance in reviewing the policy. 

The Revenues and Benefits Manager advised that the DWP had now confirmed that funding in this area had increased by 23% across England which would increase the SSDC grant to £287,000 for 2017/18.  Part of this funding was to mitigate the effect of the Benefit Cap which was introduced in November 2016.  He confirmed that the Scrutiny Task & Finish group members and officers had considered the existing policy and had taken advice from the voluntary groups: Mind and Shelter.  They had looked at the health and well-being aspect of the policy and sought consistency on the reasonableness test. 

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee commended the officers who had supported the Task & Finish group with case note information and said the Committee supported the recommendations of the report. 

In response to questions from Members, the Revenues and Benefits Manager confirmed that each application was individually assessed, particularly with regard to health and wellbeing issues.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to approve the revised Discretionary Housing Payment Policy to come in to effect on 1 April 2017.

The Chairman advised that the performance reporting format would alter when the Council Plan was revised.

The Performance Officer introduced the report and noted that 9 of the Performance Indicators were on target and only two were not.  Some data had now been included retrospectively for PI031 - % of calls to contact centre resolved in the contact centre.  The Performance Officer also highlighted the increase in the percentage of Council Tax collected (PI035). She said the collection rate was 2% higher than that of the same period in the previous year.    

During discussion, Members commented on the increase in the number of incidences of fly-tipped waste, which, could be due to the introduction of permits for vans and trailers at HWRC sites.  It was noted that the effectiveness of the permit scheme was due to be reviewed shortly by the Waste Partnership. 

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee commended the Housing team for the low number of households placed in B&B accommodation during the quarter.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to note the content of the report.

Members noted the following amendments and additions to the Executive Forward Plan and Consultation Database:-

·      Revised Local Development Scheme 2017-2020 – April 2017

·      Proposal to establish a Commercial Income Generation Fund – April 2017

·      Loan for Winsham Community Pub, Shop & PO – April 2017

·      Proposed Redevelopment of Yeovil Crematorium – moved to June 2017

·      Charging for Mobile Home sites – removed from Plan

·      Update on the Intelligent Enforcement Proposal for Council car parks – removed from Plan

·      100% Business Rate Retention – further consultation on the design of the reformed system - response due by 03 May 2017

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of the District Executive would take place on Thursday 6^th April 2017 in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil commencing at 9.30 a.m.