The Chair will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. This is particularly important for visitors and members of the public who will be unfamiliar with the building and procedures. The Chair will inform the meeting whether there is a planned evacuation drill due to take place, what the alarm sounds like (i.e. ringing bells), where the closest emergency exit route is, and where the second closest emergency exit route is, in the event that the closest exit or route is blocked. The Chair will inform the meeting that:

(a) in the event of the alarm sounding, everybody must leave the building via the nearest safe available exit and gather at the Assembly points at the far side of the Car Park. Nobody must leave the assembly point until everybody can be accounted for and nobody must return to the building until the Chair has informed them that it is safe to do so; and

(b) the lifts must not be used in the event of an evacuation. Any officers present at the meeting will aid with the evacuation. It is important that the Chair is informed of any person attending who is disabled or unable to use the stairs, so that suitable arrangements may be made in the event of an emergency.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the record of the meeting held on 16 June 2022.

Link to Minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 June 2022 (Minute Nos. 1 to 11) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Members are invited to declare any interests in relation to any agenda item in accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by their Authority.

No interests were declared.

The Chair will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.

There were no urgent matters.

To decide whether to pass the resolution set out below in respect of the following items:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act:

3.  Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

5.  Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

Agreed:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 Schedule 12A of the Act:

(3)       Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

(5)       Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

The Director of South Thames Gateway (STG) Building Control Partnership introduced the report which set-out the process for approval of the Partnership’s Business Plan 2023-2026.  She said there were difficulties recruiting experienced surveyors which would be compounded by the Building Safety Act (BSA) 2022 which required all surveyors to have their competency assessed, validated and re-assessed on a regular basis.   She said that the partnership needed to adopt a more proactive recruitment and training strategy which would provide more resilience to the partnership.

The Director of STG Building Control Partnership spoke about additional financial burdens and the uncertainty of the cost-of-living crises which would impact the partnership.

Members considered the documents and raised the following comments:

·         Succession planning was key in terms of staffing resilience;

·         given the current economic climate the proposals were the only way forward;

·         welcomed the reports and had to adapt to the current financial circumstances;

·         needed to reflect their costs against the Value for Money local authorities received from the partnership; and

·         happy with the proposed recommendations.

The Director of STG Building Control Partnership thanked Members for their understanding and support.  In response to a request from a Member, the Director of STG Building Control Partnership agreed to provide more detail on costings to the next meeting for Members to review their contribution levels.

Resolved:

(1)      That the 2023-2026 Business Plan and 2023-2026 Delivery Plan be adopted.

The Director of STG Building Control Partnership introduced the report which provided updates on the current forecast for the 2022/2023 financial year and gave details against the progress of the objectives of the Business Plan 2022/2023.  She reported that during Quarter 1 a contractor had been employed to assist with workloads.  Mid-Kent Audit had given the Partnership a ‘sound’ rating following an audit and raised two areas of concern: the memorandum of understanding; and insurance cover.  The memorandum of understanding had been reviewed by each authority and was currently being updated by legal.  It would then be circulated back to each authority for review and then considered at the next meeting on Thursday 1 December 2022.  She said that the concerns they had regarding insurance had been resolved.

The Director of STG Building Control Partnership spoke about the partnerships document retention policy which they considered should be modified to a rolling 20-year retention policy.

Members raised the following points:

·         Considered that the rolling retention policy should be 15 years as that was what Government recommended; and

·         welcomed the ‘sound’ audit rating.

Resolved:     That the Monitoring Report April 2022 to August 2022 be noted and the document retention policy be modified to 15 years.