Meeting documents

SCC Scrutiny for Policies and Place Committee
Tuesday, 11th October, 2022 10.00 am

Venue: Luttrell Room, County Hall, Taunton, TA1 4DY

Contact: Sarah Wright on 01823 357628 or Email: sarah.wright@somerset.gov.uk or  Jamie Jackson on Email: jajackson@somerset.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest

Details of all Members’ interests in District, Town and Parish Councils can be viewed on the Council Website at

County Councillors membership of Town, City, Parish or District Councils and this will be displayed in the meeting room (Where relevant).

 

The Statutory Register of Member’s Interests can be inspected via request to the Democratic Service Team.

 

Minutes:

(a)   Cllr Dingwall declared his recent membership of Westonzoyland Parish Council that he will declare in the usual way within 28 days.

(b)  There were no additional declarations of interest made at the meeting.

 

2.

Minutes from the previous Meeting held on 6 September 2022 and Extraordinary Meeting held on 20 September 2022

The Committee is asked to confirm the minutes are accurate.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meetings held on 6 September 2022 were approved and signed as correct record.

The minutes of the meetings held on 20 September were approved and signed as a correct record.

 

3.

Public Question Time

The Chair will allow members of the public to ask a question or make a statement about any matter on the agenda for this meeting. These questions may be taken during the meeting, when the relevant agenda item is considered, at the Chair’s discretion.  

Minutes:

The Chair noted that one public question/statement had been received from Peter Travis, Co-chair of the Somerset Bus Partnership:

Buses are an important issue for this Council, and I hope for this Scrutiny Board. We have the worst rated bus services in the country and that needs addressing even whilst  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Council Tax Reduction Policy Report pdf icon PDF 435 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received a report from the Assistant Director – Customer, Somerset West and Taunton Council as Lead Officer for the transition to unitary from April 2023 in relation to revenues and benefits. The first of three papers on proposals for new Council Tax scheme was presented. The Officer also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Council Tax Discounts and Premiums pdf icon PDF 348 KB

Minutes:

The second report received was on Council Tax Discounts and Premiums from April 2023 including:

-       relief on second homes

-       relief for unoccupied/unfurnished premises including those undergoing structural repairs and long-term inoccupation. 

-       premiums for vacant properties; and

-       support for care leavers, Foster Carers/Special Guardians.

The following points  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Non-Domestic Rate Discretionary Relief Policy Report pdf icon PDF 375 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received the third Council Tax report on Proposed Non-Domestic Rating (NDR) Discretionary Areas and Hardship from 1st April 2023 where it is proposed to use local discretionary relief and hardship relief.

The following points were highlighted:

·       Proposals were outlined regarding a unified approach to discretionary relief as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Somerset Local Transport Plan pdf icon PDF 170 KB

Minutes:

The Chair invited Strategic Manager, Highways and Transport – Mike O’Dowd-Jones and Service Manager, Transport and Policy - Matthew Prince (attended virtually) to present the report. The Officer apologised for not being able to attend in person.

The following points were highlighted:

·       Department of Transport announced earlier in 2022 that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Bus Service Improvement Plan pdf icon PDF 124 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited Strategic Manager, Highways and Transport – Mike O’Dowd-Jones and Service Manager, Commissioning – Natasha Bates to present the report.

The following points were highlighted:

·       As previously noted, the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) is an integral part of the Local Transport Plan (LTP).

·       Statutory requirement for an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Budget Monitoring Report - Month 5 (August) pdf icon PDF 632 KB

-       Report to follow

Minutes:

The Chair invited Lead Executive Member Cllr Leyshon to introduce the report. Cllr Leyshon outlined the financial picture continues to be very challenging which is a combination of national and local issues namely

-       Effect of national inflation on all costs, particularly energy and pay awards

-       Increased SCC energy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Scrutiny for Policies and Place Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 64 KB

To receive an update from the Governance Manager, Scrutiny and discuss any items for the work programme. To assist the discussion, attached are:

·       The Committee’s work programme

·       The Cabinet’s forward plan

Minutes:

The Chair informed the Committee that the Budget Monitoring Report would be the first agenda item for the November meeting, there would be an update on Dillington House; an additional item had been added for the January meeting; and there would be a presentation on Investment Zones at a future  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Any other urgent items of business

The Chair may raise any items of urgent business.

Minutes:

There were no other items of business.