Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Rachel Flynn and Cheryl Williams

Apologies for absence were received from Co –Opted Member Kathleen Jones.

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.

No urgent matters were raised.

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.

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 11^th 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

To receive any updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups.

12.15 p.m. – 12.30 p.m.

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.