The Chairman 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 Chairman 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 Chairman 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; 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 Chairman 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 Chairman drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 February 2019 (Minute Nos. 490 - 496) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 February 2019 (Minute Nos. 490 – 496) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

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.

(c)          Where it is possible that a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Member might be predetermined or biased the Member should declare their predetermination or bias and then leave the room while that item is considered.

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 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 consider the Annual Report for 2018/19.

The Policy and Performance Officer introduced the Annual Report to Council. It was a requirement of the Committee’s Terms of Reference to report annually to Council on what the Committee had achieved.  He drew attention to Appendix III, on page 16 in the report.  This highlighted the new focus, since July 2018, to ensure that policies were brought forward to the Policy Development and Review Committee (PDRC) as early as possible to ensure the maximum opportunity for input from Members.

A Member who had attended previous meetings of the Committee in the role as invited guest explained that the process had previously been carried out in a co-operative, and not confrontational way, and this had assisted the Cabinet Member working through a good policy, rather than it being argued about.

Members agreed that it be recommended that the 2018/19 Vice-Chairman of the PDRC presented the report to Full Council.

Resolved:

(1)      That the draft Annual Report to Council be agreed.

The Committee is asked to consider the Future Work Programme.

The Chairman introduced the report which set out the Committee’s work programme for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.  He drew Members’ attention to the amended page 20 of the report which was tabled, and which set out a list of current policies and the indicative timescale for reviewing them.  The Chairman explained that additional PDRC meetings might need to be scheduled.  He briefly outlined the items on the tabled paper, and said that papers for the Constitution Review would be submitted to the next PDRC meeting.  He also drew attention to the Public Realm and Open Spaces item where there would be the opportunity to set out some principles and guidelines for spending the £1m per annum funds committed to this project.

In response to a question about timescales and the opportunities for the PDRC to comment, the Policy and Performance Officer explained that the policies being submitted to Cabinet on 10 July 2019, would not be ‘signed-off’ and adopted at this stage, but would start the process of being reviewed by the PDRC.

There was some discussion on reviewing planning-based policies, including infrastructure, and that this was more likely to be considered within the Local Plan review by the Local Plan Panel.  A Member also considered IT policy needed to be looked at.

The Chairman suggested that the items for review be set out in more detail and expanded to highlight the different stages of the work carried out on each policy, and to indicate this in a flow-chart.

Resolved:

(1)          That the initial work programme for 2019/20 be noted.