The Chairman welcomed Councillor Mike Henderson to the meeting as an appointed Committee Member, following the revised political balance calculations as agreed at Council on 22 October 2014.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 30 September 2014 (Minute Nos. 258 - 267) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 30 September 2014 (Minute Nos. 258 – 267) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

A Member referred to the tabled responses to the questions raised at the previous Scrutiny Committee meeting, and asked for clarification on when the issues with the track rams would be sorted, and advised that further information had been requested regarding vacant posts within each department.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for  themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Committee is asked to review the proposed Fees and Charges for 2015/16 before submission to Cabinet and Council for approval.

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Finance and the Head of Finance to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Finance introduced the Fees and Charges report advising that the proposals were based on sound business management.  He reminded Members that some fees and charges were set in legislation, as outlined in paragraph 3.4 of the report, and that no increase was proposed in car parking charges to support local businesses.  He advised that Christmas car parking concessions had been announced by the Cabinet Member for Environmental and Rural Affairs.  The proposals set out in the report would generate an estimated additional income of £4.5k. 

The Chairman went through the report page by page and the following issues were raised:

Were the proposed increases to cover costs incurred in administering the services, or was it to provide additional income for the Council?

The Cabinet Member explained that the estimated additional income was not a significant amount and charges had only been increased by a minimum amount where it was considered reasonable.

A Member advised that the Labour Group would be making a proposal at Council regarding free parking on market days and weekends for a trial period, in-line with Government advice to support town centres and local businesses.

What was the rationale for increasing charges using the Consumer Price Index (CPI)?

The Head of Finance explained that Council contracts used CPI and it was the Government’s chosen index for measuring inflation. 

Members made the following comments in relation to Appendix I of the report.  The Head of Finance undertook to follow up any questions raised with the appropriate Heads of Service and report back to the Committee.

Car Parks

·         Why were all long-stay car parking charges consistent except for Cockleshell Walk and Trinity Road, where it was 40p less to park for over four hours?

·         What was the rationale for increasing the parking charge from 30 minutes to one hour by more than half?

·         Error on page ten of the report - Central Car Park should read Faversham, not Sittingbourne.

Car Parks Fixed Penalty Notices

Discussion ensued regarding the proposed charges; specifically whether they were sufficient enough penalties to encourage people to pay within 14 days, and whether changes to the system would reduce the workload of chasing outstanding payments, and act as a more robust deterrent.

Councillor Mike Henderson moved the following motion:

“That the charges be amended as set out below:

Lower Penalty System

Up to 14 Days £25

14 – 28 days £50

29 – 56 days £75

After 57 days £125

Higher Penalty System

Up to 14 Days £35

14 – 28 days £70

29 – 56 days £105

After 57 days £150”

This was seconded by Councillor Lloyd Bowen.

A Member referred to other Local Authority areas where there were only two charges for up to 28 days, and over 28 days, and suggested this may be a simplified way of administering the system.

A Member raised concern that some members of the public may  ...  view the full minutes text for item 312.

The Committee is asked to review the updated log of recommendations (attached).

The Chairman drew Members’ attention to the tabled paper which provided an update on progress against the log of recommendations. 

A Member expressed disappointment that there had been limited take-up by Members of opportunities to shadow service units.

The Chairman agreed and considered that it was important to continue promoting this with Members.

The Committee will receive a verbal update on the joint scrutiny of the MKIP governance and communications undertaken with Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Borough Councils.

Asset Transfer Review

The Lead Member advised that the Community Asset Transfer (CAT) policy was being presented to Cabinet on 5 November 2014, and he intended to arrange a meeting with the Cabinet Member  and Review Group to discuss this.

A Member commented that the recommendation from the Policy Development and Review Committee on the CAT policy, regarding delegated decisions, had been ignored and asked that this be followed up by the Review Group.

Contracts and Procurement Review

The Lead Member advised that this review was still in progress and the Policy and Performance Officer would be arranging meetings for the Review Group.

Joint Scrutiny of Mid-Kent Improvement Partnership (MKIP) Governance and Communications

The Chairman advised that three meetings had been held to-date involving in-depth interviews with a range of senior officers from across all three Councils.  Three further meetings were planned and it was proposed that the draft report would be ready by 8 December 2015.  A tri-partite meeting of all three Scrutiny Committees  was being held on Monday 12 January 2014 at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council to agree the report and all Scrutiny Committee Members or named substitutes were invited to attend.

Discussion ensued regarding communication issues arising from the MKIP arrangements, and a Member raised concern that it would make it increasingly difficult to speak to officers face-to-face. 

The Committee is asked to consider the Forward Plan with a view to identifying possible items for pre-decision scrutiny.

Members welcomed the improved level of detail being provided in the Forward Plan and thanked officers for their work on this.

A Member asked for further information on the Members Localism Grants, specifically detail on what organisations have received funding, the amounts, what the funding had been spent on, have the organisations used all the funding provided and do we follow up if it has not been spent?

The Senior Democratic Services Officer advised that this report had been withdrawn from Cabinet as it was for information only and undertook to raise these comments with the Head of Economy and Communities.

A Member referred to the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy and considered that SBC could be doing more to support and attract small local businesses.  The Committee agreed that this report should be reviewed at their next meeting in advance of a decision by Cabinet.

A Member requested that Sheppey Court Marshes be advertised robustly to ensure that the Council receives a good price.

Resolved:

(1)  That the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy be reviewed at the next meeting on 27 November 2014 and the Assistant Revenue and Benefits Manager and the Cabinet Member for Finance be invited to the meeting.

The Committee is asked to consider any requests from Committee Members to commence a review.

There were no urgent business requests.

The Committee is asked to review and discuss the Committee’s Work Programme (attached) for the remainder of the year.

The Chairman referred Members to the Committee Work Programme and offered to be the Lead Member for the Housing Review.  Councillors Peter Marchington, Mike Henderson and Lloyd Bowen agreed to assist on the Review Group.

Resolved:

(1)  That in addition to the item agreed above, the Committee also receives an update on welfare reform and universal credit at their next meeting on 27 November 2014.