Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Councillor Furse gave his apologies and was substituted by Councillor Hounsell.

Councillor MacFie gave his apologies and was substituted by Councillor Hirst.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest, (as defined in Part 4.4 Appendix B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There was none.

There were none.

There were suggested additions to the minutes. Amended minutes will be brought to the next meeting of the Panel for confirmation and signing.

The Chair explained that a summary of the comments/questions on the Budget item from the meeting on 23^rd January 2023 had been circulated. Panel members indicated their approval of this summary which to be forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration as part of the budget discussions.

There will be a presentation on this item. Sides are attached.

Amanda George, Director of Business Change & Customer, and Marc Higgins, Head of Service – Business Change Hub,  gave a presentation which covered the following:

·  Business Change Hub Update Introduction

·  Role of the Business Change Hub

·  Principle programmes of work

·  Customer Experience programme

·  Customer Experience workstreams

·  Children and Education Transformation Programme

·  Programmes

·  Corporate Landlord model

·  Integrated Corporate Landlord

·  Development of a toolkit and processes

Panel members asked the following questions and raised the following points:

Councillor Singleton asked if the ‘customer experience’ referred to only external customers or did it include internal customers. The officer explained that customer service standards are being introduced at present. This does include internal customers as well, the work covers both.

Councillor Hirst asked how success will be measured and recommended that a balance be found around robust processes but not too much bureaucracy. The officer explained that it was not a large department and he did not want to create a bureaucratic system. He explained that it was a diverse organisation with some significant programmes of work and some small. Regarding measurement of success, the officer explained that measures regarding specific outcomes are being developed.

Councillor Hughes asked if the primary driver is to reduce costs. The officer explained that the critical driver is improvement of outcomes and how we operate.

Councillor Davis asked officers if they were confident that Parish and Town Councillors are kept in the loop. She also asked if feedback regarding Councillor Direct is followed up. The officer explained that Councillor Direct is a central email address and that the feedback has been good. Regarding Parish Councillors, this is on the radar. The service design team will be contacting them regarding ‘Fix My Street’.

Councillor Hodge asked the following questions (officer responses shown in italics):

·  Has there been investment in the unit? There has been £330k per year initially and there will be core funding from April.

·  How will you report back? We are working on governance at present, feedback will depend on the project.

·  How does the unit sit with internal audit? There is not a duplication with internal audit, we act as an internal consultancy which may dovetail with audit.

·  How do you hope to get employee buy in? This has come from the Senior Leadership Team. Work will be focused, we are not involved in business-as-usual work. Employee buy in is important, we work a lot with a service at the start to build a relationship and engagement.

Councillor Hounsell commented that it is useful to inform Parish clerks about works or surveys (eg. Surveys carried out regarding the Local Plan) as then there are less calls to local Councillors and officers.

Councillor Singleton asked if an in-house work team will be recommended. The officer stated that the Corporate Landlord Model would address this eventually. Value for money will be a consideration. Councillor Singleton asked how the Corporate Landlord Model is defined. The officer explained that there will be a strategy as to how assets are managed.

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

A report is attached. There will also be a presentation on this at the meeting.

Richard Holden, Operations Manager - Bath & Somer Valley Enterprise Zones (SVEZ), introduced the item. He gave a presentation which covered the following:

·  SVEZ – Redline boundary including highways network improvements

·  Reasons for intervention

·  Engagement Process

·  Illustrative Masterplan

·  Structural landscaping

·  Maximum Heights

·  Next Steps

·  Highways Interventions Along A362

·  SVEZ Roundabout

·  Sunnyside Road Widening

·  Thicket Mead Roundabout

·  Bat Survey/species and West Cycle Track update from WECA

·  Noise and Air Quality Assessments

·  4m Fence at Plot 12

·  2m Acoustic Fencing

Panel members asked the following questions and made the following points:

Councillor Hirst asked about traffic infrastructure, in particular the A37 link and how the traffic impact will be managed. The officer explained that he is working with a traffic management modelling team and there is a raft of data on traffic and an extensive modelling exercise. 4 key areas of mitigation have been identified.

Councillor Hirst asked if there was an update regarding ‘noise TBC’ (page 44). The officer explained that there are no disbenefits in terms of noise but a couple of mitigations have been proposed, an example being an acoustic fence.

Councillor Warrington asked if the modelling included the A37. The officer stated that this has been included, there are no physical changes proposed.

Councillor Hughes stated that he was on the key stakeholders group. He stated that the team have reached a good point and he is happy overall with where things are. The main concerns have been the employee numbers on site and avoiding retail on the site. He also explained that residents have had concerns around the delivery plan, especially in light of the business centre in the area which is closing and the gap until the new facility opens. He asked how confident officers are that this development will happen. The officer stated that he is alert to residents’ concerns regarding the closure of the business centre and is hopeful that the location can be re purposed. In terms of the delivery of the SVEZ, he explained that plot P6 and P8 have the potential for flexible working space and support for small businesses. There is a delivery strategy but there will still be a couple of years before enabling activities.

Councillor Hughes asked about the timeline. The officer stated that the highways works have to come first.

Councillor Hodge asked the following questions (Officer responses shown in italics)

·  Are there any other examples of a similar development? This is the first LDO for the authority and they are limited in the country.

·  How are the conditions enforced – who decides on this? There are a set of conditions in advance of the LDO, as it is adopted, the conditions are locked in.

·  What happens if there is non-compliance? The design codes set the parameters for the entirety of the site. Parameters are set such as the nature of the finish, colours, and materials. A compliance application would be submitted and compliance would have to be proved. It is strict – the Enterprise Zone is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

The Cabinet Member will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions on the update provided.

The Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Richard Samuel, informed the Panel that the budget papers had been published.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel. Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting officers.

The Chair updated the Panel on a potential future item regarding Council Tax surcharge. She stated that there was nothing that the Panel could do on this at present and that statutory instruments were in place.

The Panel noted the future workplan