Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Matthew Martin and Marcus Kravis.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

There were no declarations of interest received.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Resolved that the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee - Climate and Place held on 23^rd September 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

There were two public speakers at the meeting. One of them spoke about the use of public funds to burn off an unapproved H-bar on Shop Lane, Pilton on Wednesday 16^th Oct 2024.

The second one was read out preceding agenda item number 9, Task and Finish Group update.

To receive an update from the Service Manager, Governance Scrutiny. To assist the discussion, the following documents to follow:-

(a)  The Committee’s work programme

(b)  The Committee’s outcome tracker

Please use the following links to view the latest Somerset Council Forward Plans and Executive Forward Plan of planned key decisions that have been published on the Council’s website:

Somerset Council Forward Plans

Somerset Council Executive Forward Plan

The Chair asked Jamie Jackson, Governance Manager, Scrutiny to present the committees Forward work plan and Outcome tracker. However, due to technical difficulties, there was a small update.

The Chair then invited comments and questions from members and the following points were raised and discussed:

·         The Vice Chair flagged that the work programmes on the website were not up to date to reflect the current period and was advised that this would be rectified by the Democratic Services team.

To consider the report updating the committee on the Local Plan.

The Chair Invited Paul Hickson, Service Director, Economic Development Skills and Climate, and Alison Blom-Cooper, Head of Planning, to present the report updating the committee on the last six months’ worth of work.

• The report was presented to the Planning and Transport Sub-Committee as well. The key elements were presented in a member’s briefing on 10^th October 2024.
• Due to the large geographical area being covered, the governing process involved in evidence gathering is taking longer than previously thought.
• Economic Development Needs Assessment – looking at employment land need for economic development over the local planning period is progressing as expected, should be ready early next year; slight delay due to time-table changes for the economic strategy as both tie in to each other.
• The Local Housing Needs Assessment – paused because of the national planning policy consultation from the government; to be finalised once the outcomes are made available.
• Strategic Duties Assessment – looks at the flood risk across Somerset, is progressing well and due for completion in November along with new data update in early new year.
• Gypsies, Travellers, and Travelling Show People Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) – due for completion in January; delay due to additional sites identified in data in the North of the County. Expecting further surveys.
• Landscape Character Assessment – just started and will take until March to show new findings.
• Volume Function of Settlement Study – to understand the nature of settlements in the County and their sustainability.
• Town Centre Health Checks - a survey will take place to understand the view on the health of our town centres. It is in progress with a view to completion later in 2024.
• Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report – to frame the context and scope of a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) within Somerset Local Plan; establishes an assessment process to ensure that the options considered for the policies and site allocations are assessed against suitable sustainability objectives. This is being progressed with a view to completing a draft for consultation with the three statutory consultees in autumn 2024.
• Consultation and Engagement - Planning Policy to bring a Consultation and Engagement Strategy to a future meeting of the Sub-Committee once changes to the NPPF are finalised; early engagement activities progressing in the meantime.

The Chair invited the members of the committee to ask any questions, and the following points were discussed:

• A member sought clarity on the confidentiality of the data being collected from local parishes and its effects – the officers explained that the information received from the parishes is not confidential.
• How will the consultation be framed regarding public engagement? LCNs have been excluded as stakeholders but there was no subsequent report provided regarding the same – the officers explained the legal process of the consultation and how it offers flexibility. There was an update in 2023 where the officers mentioned that they didn’t want to offer discreet issues and options as a consultation stage but something more targeted, as a recommendation from external consultants; this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

To consider the report on Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA).

The Chair Invited David Mitchell, Service Manager, Somerset Rivers Authority and Jonathan Hudston, SRA Communications Manager, to present the report.

The Chair invited the members of the committee to ask any questions, and the following points were discussed:

• The committee was grateful for and thanked the SRA for their work.
• A member sought clarification on application deadlines and was advised on the same.
• What are the plans for future funding? – the officers highlighted that SRA has not had funding related issues and have multiplied what was given to them in the beginning, however, due to inflation the flat rates that were set in 2016 (1.25% Council Tax) might need to be revisited. The officers suggested that there are future plans to strategize in a way that could lead to external funding as well.
• Team working on building a resilience tool to support 200+ communities to identify the areas that would require urgent support.
• How are we measuring the targets and against what KPIs? – officers classified that this is a technical issue and not something they are involved with but can come back with numbers to show.

To consider the presentation on Month 5 Budget Monitoring Update.

The Chair Invited Christian Evans, Head of Business to present an update regarding the Month 5 Budget Monitoring. However, the report was an information item and was recommended that it be emailed to the committee due to time constraints.

To consider an update on the Task and Finish Group.

A statement was read out by a member of the public and was then responded to. The written response that was sent out is as follows:

Thank you, Mr. Orr, for your questions. Most of these questions have been answered before, however answers are repeated here, as are corrections to the misinformation contained in your statement, in the hope that this puts the record straight and ensures that Councilors are not misinformed. Taking the statements and questions in turn (as provided in advance): 

1. Your statement on the role of officers and members is noted. The Council is very clear on the role of officers and members and has applied it throughout on this issue – any suggestion otherwise is simply misleading.  

2. Your statement that nutrient neutrality is a policy is incorrect and the Council has responded to you on this repeatedly. Nutrient Neutrality is not a locally derived policy, it is a legal requirement supported by national advice from Natural England as the Statutory Nature Conservation Body.? All local authorities impacted by nutrient neutrality (approx. 70 local planning authorities) are following the same advice.? 

3. With regard to Poole Harbour and the removal of phosphate neutrality requirements these matters have been comprehensively addressed by Natural England in an Environmental Information Regulations response to Mr Orr.? However, your statement implies that if more sewage treatment works were upgraded in Somerset (like they will be in Poole) then the issues facing the Levels and Moors would be resolved. This is simply not the case. The Council won’t repeat here the explanations previously provided but for the benefit of members not immersed in the detail will reiterate Natural England’s statement that “Defra concluded that additional action beyond the LURA requirement, such as was agreed in Dorset, could not be justified.” Members are reminded that Dorset are still affected by neutrality requirements in other catchment areas, including the Chesil and the Fleet (phosphorus and nitrogen), River Axe (phosphorus), River Avon (phosphorus). Even within Poole Harbour, Dorset Council is still dealing with Nutrient Neutrality requirements for nitrogen off-set schemes. Whilst we all would like it to be the case, unfortunately there is not a silver bullet here.  

4. You refer to a ‘direction’ allegedly provided to the officers working on this issue. It is unclear where this information is coming from, but I can reassure you that officers have for some time been in discussion with the Environment Agency to understand the costs and timescales for a technical evidence base study to be undertaken for Somerset Levels and Moors. Somerset Council is not the responsible body for undertaking the technical evidence base and does not have the statutory powers to ensure delivery of the identified measures, but we are working closely with partners to progress this work. The Council has offered to fund the initial scoping phase of this work to move it at pace but are clear that we are not the appropriate body to commission such work. Updates will be provided at key  ...  view the full minutes text for item 106.

This is a standing agenda item and will provide details of information sent to Committee members in between meetings, that cover the Committee’s policy areas.