Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Email: comsec@teignbridge.gov.uk  Email: comsec@teignbridge.gov.uk

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Items
No. Item

1.

Election of Chair

Additional documents:

Minutes:

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor H Cox be elected Chair for the 2020/21 Municipal Year.

A roll call was taken as follows:

 

For the proposal: Councillors Clarance, D Cox, H Cox, Eden, Foden, Gribble, Jenks, Nutley, Rollason and Thorne   Total 10

 

Against the proposal: None

 

Abstention: Cllrs Hocking and Mullone  Total 2

 

RESOLVED 

That Councillor H Cox be elected Chair for the 2020/21 Municipal Year.

 

2.

Election of Deputy Chair

Additional documents:

Minutes:

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor Jenks be elected Vice Chair for the 2020/21 Municipal year. It was also proposed and seconded that Councillor Clarance be elected Vice Chair for the 2020/21 Municipal year.

 

A roll call was taken as follows:

For Councillor Clarance:  Councillors Clarance, Gribble, Hocking and Thorne Total 4

For Councillor Jenks: Councillors D Cox, H Cox, Eden, Foden, Jenks, Nutley and Rollason.  Total 7

 

RESOLVED

That Councillor Jenks be elected Deputy Chair for the 2020/21 Municipal Year.

3.

Declarations of interest

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor D Cox declared an interest in Minute 7 below in relation to the update by Councillor Wrigley, Executive Member for Homes and Communities, by virtue of his association with the charities the CVS and HITS.

4.

Public questions (if any)

Please submit your questions by email before 12 Noon two clear working days before the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

5.

Councillor Questions (if any)

Please submit your questions by email before 12 Noon three clear working days before the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

 

6.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 127 KB

For Committee Members to identify any areas of work for future meetings of the Committee.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee’s Work Programme as circulated with the agenda was noted.

7.

Executive Forward Plan and verbal Executive Members' Updates

The Executive Forward plan can be found here.

 

Portfolio Holders:

Council Leader, Cllr Connett - Strategic Direction

Cllr Dewhirst - Recycling, Household Waste & Environmental

Cllr J Hook - Climate Change

Cllr Wrigley - Homes & Communities

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor D Cox declared an interest in relation to the update by Councillor Wrigley, Executive Member for Homes and Communities, by virtue of his association with the charities the CVS and HITS.

 

The Executive Forward Plan was noted.

 

Executive Member Updates

 

Councillor Dewhirst – Waste and Environmental Health

Councillor Dewhirst’s update included the following:

·     The services under his responsibilities are waste and cleansing, environmental protection, and Food, health & Safety and Licensing services. Customers can access all services digitally.

·     The Environmental Protection Act set out the Councils statutory responsibilities with regard to the waste collection, recycling and street cleansing.  Waste disposal is the responsibility of Devon County Council.

·     Waste collection cost each household £51.83 per year and street cleansing cost £23.08 per annum.

·     No waste goes to landfill. Residual waste is used for energy.

·     The service is ranked highly being 23rd nationally, 2nd in Devon and 3rd in the South West in 2018/19.

·     Under Environmental Protection the Council is responsible amongst other issues for emergency planning and business continuity, the provision of community environment wardens, and pest control. 

·     Food, health & safety, and Licensing include responsibility for inspection of cafes and restaurants, and official controls such as food hygiene, corporate health and safety at work, licensing of taxis and premises.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Business Mangers and their staff be formally recognised and thanked for their time and commitment to the community during the Covid lockdown in providing for and responding to the needs of residents.

 

The full update can be seen at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CcSeUOfntY

 

Councillor Wrigley – Housing and Community Engagement

Councillor Wrigley’s update included the following:

·     The services under his responsibilities also include customer services, business improvement and development, community safety and IT.

·     The Covid lockdown resulted in emergency support for business and residents to access services online, and Council staff being supported to work remotely, all achieved by the Council’s IT provider Strata.

·     Customer Services deliver an admirable service to customers.

·     The community safety service is delivered in partnership with the Police and projects have been funded through funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner.

·     Housing delivery and affordable housing numbers set by Government were down on target due to the decrease of building work as a result of Covid lockdown.

·     The Council run a Warmer Homes service which was currently focusing on residents of park homes, and oversees private tenant and landlords, and gypsy and travellers.  A bid for £140,000 government funds was recently achieved to help home the homeless.

·     Community engagement provided amongst other services support for the voluntary sector who directly help our more vulnerable residents, again invaluable during the challenging Covid situation.

·     All staff were thanked for their commitment to the community during this time.

·     The Council recognised that the Covid situation had highlighted digital poverty, and the importance of telephone access to the Council for some residents who had difficulty with internet access.

 

The full update can be seen at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CcSeUOfntY

 

Councillor J Hook – Climate Change, coastal and flood risk management

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

BAME Notice of Motion referred from Council 28 July 2020

Annual Council 28 July 2020 resolved the Notice of Motion on equality of representation in the Teignbridge District presented by Cllr Jeffries (as per the above link).

 

The resolved motion covers the following areas of work in which there are two principal categories of work (a) work which the Council can undertake itself and (b) work particularly child and adult education which the Council should undertake with Devon County Council as detailed below. The Audit Scrutiny Committee resolved on 26 August 2020 to deal with category (a) by the setting up of a review. The Overview & Scrutiny Committees are asked to consider and recommend to Executive and how they would like to take forward the resolutions (b) from Council.

 

(a)           Review of the Governance of the Council which will comprise:

                                I.            A review of the Council’s own HR and Equalities practices (including provision for member and officer training)

                              II.            The Council setting up an advisory board to consider BAME within the context an EIA for Covid 19

                            III.            A review of the Councillor Community Fund criteria to promote projects which address inequalities and raising educational attainment within underrepresented groups.

 

(b)  [The Council to] Work with Devon County Council (DCC) to explore the prospect of making changes the curriculum to include BAME experiences, contributions, and the FACTs of History, throughout the year:-

 

[The Council to] Explore the possibility of an education transformation project in conjunction with schools that creates a suite of curriculum resources specific to Teignbridge’s History:-

 

[The Council to] Lobby Government to invest and resource changes to the curriculum across the UK through the support of organisations such as The Black Curriculum and via associated campaigns:-

 

[The Council to] In partnership with DCC, [to] conduct a review of street names and monuments within Teignbridge to assess where information plaques relevant to uncovering the history of Imperialism and links to slavery can be put in place as soon as possible.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Jefferies gave an update on her Notice of Motion (NOM) detailed in the agenda. The NOM was considered by the Audit Scrutiny Committee which set up a Review Group to look at section (a) of the NOM. Section (b) was pertinent to the OS Committees as follows:

 

(b)  [The Council to] Work with Devon County Council (DCC) to explore the prospect of making changes the curriculum to include BAME experiences, contributions, and the FACTs of History, throughout the year:-

 

[The Council to] Explore the possibility of an education transformation project in conjunction with schools that creates a suite of curriculum resources specific to Teignbridge’s History:-

 

[The Council to] Lobby Government to invest and resource changes to the curriculum across the UK through the support of organisations such as The Black Curriculum and via associated campaigns:-

 

[The Council to] In partnership with DCC, [to] conduct a review of street names and monuments within Teignbridge to assess where information plaques relevant to uncovering the history of Imperialism and links to slavery can be put in place as soon as possible.

 

DCC had put forward its own NOM and this Council could work with the County. In relation to paragraph two regarding an education transformation project in conjunction with schools she had moved this forward with the use of her community fund. Students at Winchester University had published books about local history and would work in partnership with the Council. Teignmouth Community School was also involved with this project.

 

The Committee would be able to assist in regard to the third paragraph to

lobby Government to invest and resource changes to the curriculum across the UK, by supporting the most relevant campaigns.

 

In regard to in partnership with DCC, [to] conduct a review of street names and monuments within Teignbridge, historical links should be identified and residents encouraged to reflect on the issue when using roads and parks with names linked to BAME, and suggested projects such as history walks. She did not wish the Council to rename streets, roads and areas.

 

Comments made by Committee members included that education was key to transforming behaviours and prejudices, and that recently released figures from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s ethnicity audit revealed that a black person was twelve times more likely to be stopped by the Police.

 

It was proposed that the Police and Crime Commissioner be requested to disclose further figures from the ethnicity audit for the last four years on how more likely a black person was stopped by the Police.

 

It was also proposed that a spotlight review group be set up consisting of three members from this group, and OS2 Committee be invited to also appoint three members to the group. This was seconded and a roll call was taken as follows:

 

For the proposal: Chair, Vice Chair and Cllrs Clarance, D Cox, Eden, Foden, Gribble, Hocking, Mullone, Nutley and Rollason - Total 11 - unanimous

 

The above proposal regarding figures form the Police and Crime Commissioner  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Fly Tipping pdf icon PDF 156 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited Executive Member Cllr Dewhirst to present the report.

 

The report advised on the Council’s powers, responsibilities and initiatives regarding fly tipping, in response to a councillor’s questions regarding fly-tipping cases investigated and successful prosecutions. The main legislation to control fly tipping was contained within the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Council had robust proactive and reactive strategies and procedures in place to investigate offences of fly tipping where sufficient evidence was available.  Proactive measures included the monitoring and surveillance of hotspot locations subject to regular fly-tipping and the use of publicity campaigns. Reactive measures involved the investigation of incidents of fly-tipped waste to determine whether evidence could be gathered to take action. The Council was also active in a number of multi-agency initiatives to raise the profile of fly tipping, encouraging reporting and educating householders about their legal responsibility.

 

In response to Member questions, Members would be advised of the cost of disposing of fly-tipped asbestos, and it was noted that Recycle and Reuse, and the bulky waste service were promoted to the public.

 

RESOLVED

 

The contents of the report be noted.

10.

Grounds maintenance weed control -non toxic weed control pdf icon PDF 550 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited the Executive Member for Sport, Recreation and Culture, Cllr MacGregor to present the report in response to concerns raised by Members about the Councils use of Glyphosate herbicides and alternative options available. The Council’s use of Glyphosate had reduced substantially and there was an ongoing effort to find effective alternatives. The current use was minimal, targeted and managed carefully, with the Council taking responsible measures with regards to health and safety.

 

It was noted that the Council had a legal duty to clear some evasive weeds on Council land which could be eradicated only with the use of glyphosates. 

Alternative methods were less effective and more costly, and increased weed would lead to additional financial costs.

 

It was proposed and seconded that the recommendation as set out in the reported be approved. 

 

A roll call was taken as follows: 

 

For the proposal: Chair, Vice Chair and Cllrs D Cox, Eden, Foden, Hocking, Mullone, Nutley and Rollason -Total 9 - unanimous

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)          To continue the current carefully managed use of glyphosate.

(2)          Implement the improvements suggested and reduce the use of glyphosate in parks and cemeteries by a further 20% (within current budgets).

(3)          Continue to seek alternative solutions and opportunities to reduce use of Glyphosate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.

Performance Monitoring pdf icon PDF 330 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Chair referred to the agenda report which gave an update on the delivery of the Council Strategy 2020-2030, and an overview of performance for the Teignbridge Ten Programmes. It provided the detailed performance information used to track its delivery, and advised Members where performance was not on track.

 

It was noted that Council resources had been directed to respond to the impact of the Covid situation which had resulted on some projects underperforming or being on hold. This was also the case with the impact on the community, and the local and national economy which had effected some  performance indicators.

 

It was proposed and seconded that the recommendation as set out in the report be approved. 

 

A roll call was taken as follows: 

 

For the proposal: Chair, Vice Chair and Cllrs D Cox, Eden, Foden, Hocking, Mullone, Nutley and Rollason.  Total 9 - unanimous

 

RESOLVED

 

The report and actions being taken to rectify performance issues detailed in the Appendix be noted.