Meeting documents

EXTRACT FROM THE DRAFT NOTES OF THE CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND RESOURCES OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL - MONDAY 4^TH FEBRUARY 2008

55 DRAFT CORPORATE PLAN 2008-2011

The Chair invited Councillors Paul Crossley and Tim Ball to give their statements.

Councillor Paul Crossley said that that the Corporate Plan should refer to Zero Waste as a long term target, not an aspiration. He also said that the 35% requirement for affordable housing (under Section 106 agreement) in larger developments was very important and that most of it should be considered for social rent. He would also like to see that the Corporate Plan should be more specific in relation to students living accommodation and suggested that Council, in talks with the University, should promote that first year students stay on campus while the final year students could look for accommodation in the city. He concluded his statement by expressing his concern that this Council was moving towards introducing `stealth' taxes.

Councillor Tim Ball said that he was pleased to see that in the Corporate Plan there was a lot about buses, yet he was concerned that nothing was said about cycling. He welcomed new Park and Ride in the Corporate Plan, but there was no information on where it was supposed to be. He also said that there was a need for foresight regarding school transport for children and that nothing was mentioned about when Bath City centre would be traffic free. He concluded his statement by saying that the removal of the Community Wardens was a backward step and that there was nothing about youth facilities/centres in the report.

The Chairman invited the Head of Policy and Partnerships to introduce this item.

Following the debate between Members of the Panel, Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Resources, Cabinet Member for Customer Services and officers, these points were highlighted:

•  Consultation on the Corporate Plan should be improved in future to include all stakeholders, including those `hard to reach' groups. The Council has developed a vision for the whole in consultation with the Local Strategic Partnership and also there has been service level consultation with the Council's partners and stakeholders.

• The Corporate Plan would need to reflect the outcome of the Local Area Agreement, which would be quite clear about the priorities and also give clarity to the partners on their responsibilities.

• A Panel Member highlighted that the economic development in North East Somerset area should be looked at in order to create more jobs in that area and reduce traffic congestion to Bath. The Cabinet Member for Customer Services agreed with this point. He also said that Council would be looking to engage with Wiltshire and would explore the possibility of building Park and Ride on the boundaries with Wiltshire. The Cabinet Member for Resources added that the Council's response to the Regional Spatial Strategy would be to ensure a tie up between houses built, jobs created and infrastructure.

• A Panel Member expressed his concern on the consultation with youth services and young people on what were their needs. He also wanted to know how far the development of the Park and Ride east of Bath had gone and how it would be delivered. He concluded by saying that he had concerns on home care costs, the big energy challenge and consultation with Universities. The Cabinet Member for Resources replied that the consultation with youth services and young people would be for the Cabinet Member for Children's Services to respond. He also said that Council would be developing the plan to achieve a target for energy efficiency. He also said that there was a high level of discussion on home care costs. Home care charges were lower than in other authorities and the cost for maintaining that service and that was the reason for increase. However, there would be more consultation with stakeholders to explain the rationale for this increase.

• A Panel Member urged present Cabinet Members to carry out further consultation with the stakeholders and clear any confusion on home care charges. Users would need to understand this matter in order to feel safe and clear on what they would have to pay. All the Cabinet Members present agreed with this comment. The Cabinet Member for Resources also added that people could always contact social services staff for advice on this matter. The Chair mentioned a comment from some Members of the Healthier Communities and Older People Overview and Scrutiny Panel that the Cabinet should consider an incremental increase in home care charges.

• A Panel Member expressed his concern that Climate Change was seen in the Corporate Plan only as subject of expectations and not as a strong commitment. Any review of the Corporate Plan should have stronger priorities and actions on Climate Change. The Chair added that the relevant Cabinet Member should be looking into the review recommendations made by the former Planning Transportation and Sustainability Overview and Scrutiny Panel on Climate Change. The Cabinet Member for Customer Services agreed with these comments and said that those comments would be picked up.
  
• A Panel Member commented that the Council's commitment to PACT (Partners and Communities Together) meetings was not as it should be. He requested that there should be more representatives from the Council on those meetings. The Chief Executive replied that arrangements were being put in place to ensure that happens in future.
  
• A key issue for the Corporate Plan risk management would be non-delivery of the plan. Most of the other risks would be within the budget and financial terms.

It was RESOLVED to note the report and also to pass the comments from the debate above to the Cabinet meeting on 6^th February 2008.

56 FINANCIAL PLAN 2008-09 - 2010-11, BUDGET AND COUNCIL TAX 2008-09

The Chair invited Councillor Tim Ball to give his statements.

Councillor Tim Ball highlighted the following points in his statement: it was not evident in the budget where the 10% of savings from the Big Energy Challenge were included; massive increase in parking charges were `stealth' taxes; increase in parking charges were only for Bath and not for North East Somerset, and a question about the bus gate revenue.

The Chairman invited the Assistant Director for Finance to introduce this item.

Following the debate between Members of the Panel, those Cabinet Members present and officers, these points were highlighted:

• The Cabinet Members explained that parking charges should not be considered as `stealth' taxes as they were not hidden from the public. They also said that the bus gate did generate income from those people who were not reading signs and who committed an offence. Both Cabinet Members said that they would hope drivers would learn from their mistakes and for that reason they would expect less income from it in future.
  
• A Panel Member expressed his concern on signage for no-drive through spots in central Bath. He asked the Cabinet Member for Customer Services to consider funding signage from the income generated from the fines. He also read out concerns made by the Enterprise and Economic Development O&S Panel on libraries and Planning resources. He concluded by expressing his concerns on any future increase of Park and Ride charges. The Cabinet Member for Customer Services said that the increase in Park and Ride charges would be a modest increase and, given demand, should be achievable. He also said that signage for no-drive through spots was updated. In response to concerns about library services the Cabinet Member for Customer Services said that volunteers would be helping paid staff to maintain or improve opening hours. He concluded by saying that in the near future there would be implementation of a new id library system and that the additional resources for Planning would be working for the benefit of the user which would ultimately lead towards meeting government targets.
  
• A Panel Member expressed his concern that this Council runs a major risk on relying on income from parking charges. The Cabinet Member for Customer Services agreed with that comment in the long term and that all the Council's initiatives would need to take into account the impact on parking income.
  
• A Panel Member queried about actual figures for the capacity of all 3 current Park and Ride locations. He also asked if there any intention to open Park and Ride on Sundays due to the demand of the public travelling to Bath on Sunday. The Cabinet Member for Customer Services explained that Newbridge Park and Ride cannot provide enough spaces due to popular demand, Lansdown Park and Ride was close to that stage too while Odd Down Park and Ride was not at capacity. He also said that the provision of Park and Ride on Sunday was something that could be introduced but Council would have to consult with the bus company.
  
• On a query from the Panel Member, the Cabinet Member for Resources explained that this authority had a £2m grant withheld from the government and that this Council raised this issue of being unfairly treated. A Panel Member also asked for clarification of the significant remaining exceptional risk items in the Cabinet report. The Assistant Director for Finance responded that this was related to the Bath Spa Claims costs and Single Status.
  
• A Panel Member asked whether there would be any plans for bi-weekly waste collection. The Cabinet Member for Customer Services assured the Panel that he would not change from weekly to bi-weekly waste collection. He was looking to introduce same day collection from April 09.

• 
  The Chair read out comments made by the other Overview and Scrutiny Panels, to which Cabinet Members gave the following reply:

It was RESOLVED to note the report and also to pass the comments from the debate above to the Cabinet meeting on 6^th February 2008.

The Panel thanked the Cabinet Members who were present and also thanked the officers on this report. The Panel was pleased that this year the Budget had gone through an in depth scrutiny process.