Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1a, County Hall, Ruthin
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POINT OF NOTICE
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APOLOGIES Minutes: Apologies for
absence were received from Councillors Rachel Flynn and Cheryl Williams Apologies for absence were received from Co –Opted Member
Kathleen Jones. |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS PDF 116 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: Councillor Tina Jones declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 5 – Early Education and Flying Start Childcare Commissioning because she owned a childcare nursey and was a trustee for Wales National Day Nurseries association. Councillor Huw Hilditch- Roberts declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 – Early Education and Flying Start Childcare Commissioning because his child attended provisions at school within Denbighshire. |
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URGENT MATTERS AS AGREED BY THE CHAIR Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: No urgent matters were raised. |
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To receive the – (a) minutes of the Special Communities Scrutiny
Committee held on 11 October 2018 (copy enclosed), and (b) minutes of the Communities Scrutiny
Committee held on 25 October 2018 (copy enclosed). 10.05 a.m. – 10.15 a.m. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the Committee meetings held on the 11 October 2018 and 25 October 2018 were submitted. 11 October 2018 – Matters Arising – Page 12, Item No. 3 Review of a
Cabinet decision relating to Gypsy and Traveller site provision – Councillor Graham
Timms, confirmed he had attended Cabinet to present the resolutions from the
Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting on the 11th October for
consideration. 25 October 2018 – Accuracy – Page 15 and page 17, Item No. 5 Proposed
new waste and recycling service design – a member
suggested preferred terminology in Welsh for a number of the terms used in the
Welsh version of the minutes. Matters Arising – Page 19, Item No. 5 Proposed new waste and recycling service design – The
Scrutiny Coordinator directed members to the information report for feedback
received from Planning and Public Protection Service. Page 22, Item No.
Item No. 6 Tourism Progress Report – members received statistics in the
information report updating members on the number of visitors to the Council’s
Tourist Information Centres. RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 11 October 2018 and 25 October 2018 be received and approved as a correct record. Prior to the commencement of the following business item Councillor Tina Jones withdrew from the meeting room for the duration of the discussion. |
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EARLY EDUCATION & FLYING START CHILDCARE COMMISSIONING PDF 252 KB To consider a report by the Strategy and Development Officer (copy
attached) to seek Scrutiny’s views on decision to
recommission the childcare elements of Early Education and the Flying Start
Programme through parallel formal processes. 10.15 a.m. – 11.00 a.m. Minutes: The Strategy and Development Officer introduced the report
(previously circulated) which presented members with an overview of the
proposed process for commissioning the childcare elements of both the Early
Education and Flying Start programmes. During his introduction the officer
emphasised that both these programmes had a proven track record and were widely
appreciated by families, schools and other stakeholders. He explained
that as part of the Council’s work to eliminate poverty these programmes had
been reviewed with a view to realising maximum impact in reducing poverty and
deprivation in Denbighshire. As part of the childcare offer to be introduced in January
2019 Early Education provides 10 hrs of the 30 hour offer. This provision is
part of the Foundation Phase (FP) curriculum for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales. It
is a statutory obligation for the LA to offer this provision but it is not
compulsory for parents and carer to take up the offer. The Welsh Government
(WG) fund 10 hours of education per week per child up to a maximum of two terms
following their third birthday. This education offer can be
delivered in various childcare settings i.e. a school. Playgroup, Cylch or private day nursery. To qualify to apply for
the funding the childcare setting was required to comply with Foundation Phase
Framework, providing the appropriate environment and trained staff to deliver
the framework. Every child in the county has been able to access Early
Education since the introduction of the Foundation Phase framework in 2009.
The childcare offer seeks to enhance support for working parents and
provides childcare provision for a further 20 hours free of charge (subject to
an earnings cap). Flying Start on the other hand was a WG funded
programme specifically for families with children under four years of age
living in the most disadvantaged parts of Wales. This includes Denbighshire and
covers parts of Rhyl, Prestatyn and Denbigh. In
Denbighshire, Flying Start (FS) formed part of the Early Help services and the
Families First (FF) programme. In addition to childcare FS also provides
parenting support programmes, speech and language support, along with an
intensive health visiting service. The FS scheme funded two and a half
hours per day childcare, for five days a week and for 39 weeks a year following
the child’s second birthday until the term following their third
birthday. Childcare settings qualifying for this specific funding
received support from the FS Advisory Teacher and Teaching Assistants (TAs). Having regard to
current arrangements, WG Guidance and its own Corporate Priorities the Council
had reviewed its funding mechanisms for both the Early Education and FS
childcare services. As a result it was proposing to recommission both the
early education provision and the FS programme on the basis of ensuring: ·
quality
care services for children ·
choice
for parents and families ·
open
and fair access to funding and ·
value
for money A joint approach had been agreed between FS and Early
Education, which would result in all childcare services being recommissioned
through two separate but parallel processes, with all services being
recommissioned during 2019. New agreements would be in place by September
2019, to align with the school year and to reduce potential disruption to
children. In response to members’ questions the Lead Member for
Education, Children and Young People, the Strategy and Development Officer, the
Performance & Business Manager, and Flying Start Education Lead responded: ·
advised
that they had been encouraged by the number of new providers that had come forward
to register an interest in becoming Early Education childcare providers; · confirmed that the local authority was responsible for setting up the ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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At this juncture
(11.15 a.m.) the meeting adjourned for a refreshment break. The meeting
reconvened at 11:30 am. Councillor Tina Jones re-joined the meeting at this
juncture. |
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PERFORMANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PLANNING COMPLIANCE PDF 288 KB To consider a report by the Development Manager and Planning Officer (copy attached), which provided
information about effectiveness and performance of the planning compliance
function. 11.15 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. Additional documents: Minutes: The Lead Member for
Housing, Regulation and the Environment introduced the report and appendices
(previously circulated) which presented the Committee with an overview of the
effectiveness and performance of the Council’s planning compliance
function. In his introduction he emphasised that the purpose of the
planning regime was to regulate development and the use of land in the public
interest. It was therefore important for local planning authorities to
have an effective compliance function that was equipped to timely investigate
alleged breaches, and apply local and national planning policies to remedy the
harmful effects of unauthorised developments. In order for the compliance
service to continually improve and perform well, despite local government
funding cuts, working practices would need to be refined and collaboration with
other stakeholders would need to be strengthened. The Head of
Planning and Public Protection and the Development Manager (Planning and Public
Protection Service) outlined to the Committee the day to day work of the
Compliance Service, its overall performance and an overview of how performance
indicators were evolving nationally. They highlighted the need going
forward for a consistent approach to be adopted in conjunction with local
stakeholders if effective proactive monitoring work which delivered significant
improvements was to continue, as the Service had only one dedicated Planning
Compliance Officer who investigated alleged breaches. On average this
officer investigated circa 240 complaints per annum. Due to the lack of
resources available to investigate alleged breaches cases had to be prioritised
on a degree of harm basis, therefore alleged breaches which affected listed
buildings, conservation areas, the county’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
(AONB), protected trees as well as those that contravened the Council’s
Corporate Plan priorities would generally be given precedence over other
alleged breaches. A temporary part-time Planning Compliance Project
Officer had recently been appointed with a view to securing the delivery of the
Rhyl Town Centre Masterplan through proactively addressing the extensive number
of existing planning control breaches in the town. It was anticipated
that adopting this approach would boost efforts to regenerate the town centre
and reduce deprivation levels in the area. The Project Officer was keen,
as part of the Business Improvement District (BID) programme, to work with
local businesses in the town drawing to their attention their role in ensuring
that all businesses conformed with planning requirements and engaged with the
environmental improvement work to improve the town’s general appearance. The Service worked closely with other Council services i.e. Licensing, Housing Services, Environmental Health Service and other public services e.g. Police, Fire and Rescue Service in relation to non-compliance matters, as investigations into one alleged breach often uncovered other non-compliance matters. Therefore all services could support and complement each other’s efforts in relation to non-compliance and any associated remedial work. Effective partnership working with all services and agencies and the adoption of a proactive rather than a reactive approach to compliance work had the potential to reap both financial and environmental benefits for the Council and for residents within current financial and human resource levels. Another potential method for enhancing the proactive approach would be through the development of a charter between the County Council and the county’s city, town and community councils seeking their agreement to inform the County Council’s Planning Compliance Service of any potential planning control breaches or issues of concern within their communities as soon as they were brought to their attention. If such a charter could be drawn-up and all councils agreed to its adoption it could potentially act as an ‘early warning system’ to the County Council’s Planning Compliance Service enabling it to proactively engage with the ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME PDF 137 KB To consider a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (copy enclosed) seeking a review of the committee’s forward work programme and updating members on relevant issues. 12.00 p.m. – 12.15 p.m. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Scrutiny Coordinator submitted a report (previously
circulated) seeking members’ review of the Committee’s work programme and
provided an update on relevant issues. The
Chair stated the disappointment felt by members following the presentation of
the Committee’s observations and recommendations to Cabinet following its consideration
of the call-in of the decisions relating to proposed Gypsy and Traveller
Proposed Sites. Whilst members
acknowledged that the Committee’s observations and recommendations had been
presented to Cabinet in accordance with the Council’s Call-in Procedure Rules,
they felt that in confirming their original decisions immediately at the end of
the debate they had not given due consideration to the points raised by
Communities Scrutiny Committee. In order
to address the concerns raised and to receive a further update from the Lead
Member for Housing, Regulation and the Environment it was agreed; EXCLUSION
OF PRESS AND PUBLIC RESOLVED that under Section 100A of the Local
Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the
grounds that it would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined
in Paragraph 13 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Act. Members discussed the process that had occurred to date. It
was discussed that officers had begun to categorise objections received and
were working to analyse the objections received. It was confirmed additional
officers had been tasked with the work load. Following completion of the
analysis, a report would be presented to Cabinet. Members discussed the concern regarding timescales and
proposed Welsh Government funding. Committee members requested that a report analysing
the feedback received to the pre-planning consultation exercise be scheduled on
the Committee’s Forward Work Programme for pre-decision scrutiny prior to the report
being presented to Cabinet. Members were
of the view that adopting this approach would benefit all stakeholders. OPEN
SESSION Upon completion of the above business the meeting resumed in
open session. Discussion
focused on the following – ·
the item on the
work programme for the Committee’s next meeting relating to Ysgol
Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd was, in view of the Welsh
Government Minister for Education’s recent decision, no longer required for
discussion. Consequently the Committee
requested an information report on the matter and its implications for
federated partner school; ·
it was agreed to
invite the relevant Lead Cabinet Members to the next meeting; ·
an report on the Gypsy
and Traveller proposed site be added to the January Committee forward work
programme; ·
it was agreed to
reschedule the report relating to the closure of Ysgol
Rhewl to the March’s Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting; ·
it was highlighted
that a special meeting had been arranged for the 21 February 2019 to discuss
the issues arising from the Llantysilio Mountain
Fire. RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the forward work
programme as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be approved. |
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FEEDBACK FROM COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES To receive any
updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups. 12.15 p.m. – 12.30 p.m. Minutes: Committee representatives reported upon
their attendance at meetings as follows – Councillor Huw Williams had attended the
Service Performance Challenge for the Planning and Public Protection
Service Challenge Group. Councillor Huw Williams confirmed the meeting had been
positive and beneficial. |
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The meeting concluded at 13:00 p.m. |